Neglect of divergent cultural values and belief systems; perennial debates about moral, ethical, and legal questions; power struggles; and technically oriented initiatives have thwarted school-reform efforts. Initiating frequent policy changes to accommodate fads overlooks the slowness of change and the learning process in complex social…

Summarizes the five reasons why the National History Standards will have a minimal effect on history instruction in U.S. schools: (1) the controversy behind the standards; (2) the unrealistic and impractical nature of the standards; (3) competition with local policies; (4) the formulation of widely adopted textbooks; and (5) the nature of history.…

This case study discusses the influence of politics on educational technology policies and practices by tracing the effects of a change of governing political parties with differing ideologies and advisory constituencies. It begins by describing a democratic socialist government initiative based on social capital theory and emphasising connections…

This article discusses the social anarchist tradition of educational thought and practice, in order to throw new light on the philosophical discussion of the liberal-vocational distinction. Focusing on the central anarchist idea of integral education, I argue that the political stance of social anarchism is inseparable from the educational ideas…

This paper examines political influences on assessment programs and their effects on local school systems. Specifically, it describes North Carolina's political climate and examines the impact of political influences on educational assessment in the state. The political climate in North Carolina has produced a plethora of state-mandated tests,…

This monograph examines policy formation practices of the Illinois International Education Policy Study Committee (PSC) concerning implementation of the Illinois Higher Education International Education Act. In the first section, a review of the literature on various aspects of policy and policy considerations is offered including a definition of…

This paper examines the cultural politics that arise when the decision is made to place health services in schools and suggests ways in which the different discourses that surface regarding program implementation might be reconciled. The policy analyses for the paper were based on a 2-year statewide evaluation of a supplemental school health…

The options available to state education agencies (SEA's) facing decisions concerning the regulation of controversial course content are discussed in this paper, which uses the issue of whether or not to mandate the teaching of creationism as an example. The author first clarifies the issues in the debate over teaching creationism, touching on the…

Because of the increasing underutilization of school facilities in Arlington (Virginia), a case study of the management of these facilities was undertaken. The purposes of the study were to discover the political interactions leading to policy decisions on the management of underutilized facilities, to determine the actual policies that resulted…

Educational policy analysis consists of a "troika" of major components--politics (or power), technology (ideas), and service delivery (workers). Three case studies of New York City programs illustrate how the components interact in different situations. The city's School Improvement Project aims to make schools more effective in teaching…

This volume records the proceedings of a symposium in which scholars and practitioners from a variety of fields assessed present and future trends in the politics of education. It links relevant past events to significant trends in educational governance and policy-making and contributes to an understanding of the influences and demands that will…

The political economy model of educational expansion is discussed in this paper. The model holds that when education is of top priority to the political system in a country, the demand for resources by the educational system will usually be met until the high proportion of resources allocated to education threatens the capacity of the other…

The importance of political tactics to the university administrator is discussed. Policies and appropriations for higher education are ultimately decided by the legislature and governor, and thus the governing board or university administration needs to establish a good working relationship with the governmental bodies. It is suggested that…

University management is examined with regard to six major areas: decision and participation, finance, information, human flows, physical plant and equipment, and academic planning. Comprehensive long and medium term planning is proposed with the special feature of decentralized decision making. The issue of information requirements for managerial…

This article examines the linguistic problems of adult migrant workers and sociolinguistic problems of their children. The introduction states provisions for migrant workers' ethnic and linguistic rights. An examination of the actual situation leads to the general statement that linguistic rights of migrant workers are passively tolerated and not…