The author reviews the changes in China's educational policy since the downfall of the "Gang of Four," emphasizing the nation's return to stricter academic standards and credentialing. (SJL)

Beginning with an historical review of public school role in the mediation of social and ethnocultural class conflicts, political problems for curriculum policy makers are discussed. These problems are created by the simultaneous needs for the curriculum to maintain and change society. (CP)

Some observations on current educational policy analysis are made by Stephen K. Bailey. Discussion is centered on the federal bureaucracy; the need for communication between the educational community and the government; and current trends in federal policy decisions. (MH)

Using the Claremont Group's four-stage model of educational decision making, the author analyzes trends in California toward state control of education. He discusses the implications for educators of increasing policy control by politicians and legislators. (SJL)

This study compared state disparities in the diagnosis of students with learning disabilities. It found that state prevalence of learning disability was moderately explained by demographic and sociopolitical factors (unlike four common physical disabilities) and that these same factors strongly predicted the extent of mainstreaming and the size of…

Argues that Americanization has not been a successful goal for educational programs in the United States that contain culturally and linguistically diverse students. Explains that there is a need to go beyond multiculturalism, developing forms of education that allow all children to participate in meaning making. Discusses educational equity and…

Examines the role of politics in the Juvenile Justice Educational Enhancement Program's effort to use evaluation research data to inform Florida's juvenile justice education policies and practices. Two examples illustrate that by maintaining an overriding commitment to its evaluation research purpose, the Juvenile Justice Educational Enhancement…

Discusses educational development in China, examining two divergent educational systems: education for the disabled and education that promotes athleticism. Examines social and political context within which educational policy is formed and enacted. Analyzes new boundaries of educational specialization and diversification. Observes trend toward…

Describes and comments on rationale for moral education under socialism in Soviet Union. Discusses current Soviet children's literature as attempt to systematize and coordinate moral education and political socialization in elementary and secondary schools. Cites evidence of reconstructionist ideology in curriculum and planned educational…

This paper compares and contrasts American and Australian special education, noting the overlap in general issues such as federal/state government role, legal/judicial involvement, identification practices, funding, mainstreaming, and parent advocacy. Specific policies and practices which have evolved along separate paths due to historical,…

This examination of the New American Schools Development Corporation initiative in Bensenville (Illinois) details the controversy over the reform effort and argues that factors such as school governance, local control, and school finance played major roles in determining program outcomes. The importance of political influences in reform efforts is…

This commentary examines the political rhetoric evident in the education reform movement. Specifically, the paper questions what becomes of children with disabilities when schools feel pressure to improve standardized test scores and questions why educators are not included in the task forces of the National Governors' Association initiative on…

Examines the texts of 12 historians with access to educational directives produced by the Victorian Department of Education since the 1850s to determine the effects of curricular requirements on female enrollment in mathematics courses. Argues that girls were prohibited from taking arithmetic and mathematics because of other curricular…

Issues raised during a 1990 seminar on effects of programs and policies for foreign students and study abroad are reviewed. Specifically, concerns about national policy and institutional responses in light of changing patterns of foreign student flows and against the background of the new global economic and political setting are examined.…

Describes the response of an urban school district to the unexpected enrollment of large numbers of newly arrived immigrants. Focuses on the processes that resulted in the implementation of an alternative high school and its abrupt closure a year later, and explores the implications of these decisions for policy and practice. (SLD)