The last few years (2004-05) have been filled with commemoration, reflection, and scholarship around the landmark Supreme Court decision, "Brown v. Board of Education" (1954). It was right and proper to take a 50-year retrospective at one of the more significant court rulings of the 20th century. It was also important to look at the…

Included in this edition of the "In-the-Know" Access & Equity Newsletter are: (1) State Losing Black Instructors (Gina Smith); (2) Time to Join Together to Seek "Economic Rights" (Darla Moore); and (3) "Advancing Diversity in Higher Education--Diversity Digest" (Mark Giles, Ed.), which is a reprint of an article…

There are more than 700 million current Internet users, but the world population is approximately 6 billion (Trend 2001), indicating that computer technology is used by less than one-eighth of the population. Computers are becoming common tools in schools, often viewed as a democratic panacea despite the costs involved and despite the fact that…

Two seminal reports on the state of education advantage and disadvantage in so called "rich nations" were released in 2002 by the international agencies OECD (2002a) and UNICEF (2002). These complex reports are brought to the attention of those at the very centre of the education debate, the general public, through the public media. What…

Although the 1954 "Brown v. Board of Education" U.S. Supreme Court decision changed the face of American education forever, few individuals at that time could have fully realized its far-reaching implications. Certainly, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People Legal Director Thurgood Marshall in his arguments was…

This study explored the perspectives of a group of teacher educators of color in an effort to capture their perceptions of teaching and teacher education. The purpose of the study was to find out what teacher educators of color bring to their work and to the teaching profession--what are their experiences, goals, intentions, passions, challenges…

In the "Columbia Law Review," Harry Jones (1974) illustrates five general and sometimes overlapping purposes of the law. They include the preservation of the public peace and safety, the settlements of individual disputes, the maintenance of security expectations, the resolutions of conflicting social interests, and the channeling of…

A major school district in Philadelphia has been taken over, handed out and chopped up. The for-profit Edison schools opened in Philadelphia, just as Dallas had asked them to leave for a lack of measurable improvement in schools. Linda Darling-Hammond frames this article around what happened in Philadelphia because she feels that in some ways it…

After describing both average scores, dispersion, and social inequalities in achievement in the various countries included in the latest Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) study, this article relates those "products" to country economic and cultural characteristics. It then explores relations between student scores and…

Gloria Ladson-Billings explains in her chapter that, in part, the promise of "Brown v. Board of Education" has not been realized because it was premised on black inferiority. She elaborates that "instead of addressing the underlying pathology of the defendant--White supremacy"--the evidence, case, and accordant ruling…

There is concern that the nation's schools are not preparing students to excel in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields. At both precollege and postsecondary levels, much effort is needed to create and implement powerful STEM curricula, prepare and support highly qualified teachers, deliver effective instruction, and give…

The study reported in this article was focused on the first field experience in a teacher education program developed around themes of equity and social justice within a larger framework of inclusive education. The community-based field experience entails one-on-one mentoring in which elementary preservice teachers (PSTs) work with African…

How do practising teachers and educators enrolled in a Master of Education program view the urban-rural divide in Australia and elsewhere? Using postings to a discussion board, this article looks at teachers' awareness of social justice and equity issues as they affect educational provision in the rustbelt areas of the cities, and amongst…

Increasing standardization and multiple layers of accountability spelled out in local and national education policy today call for a more complex understanding of multiculturalism and its relevance to education. As schools become more diverse, educators must rededicate to ensure equity and social justice, creating opportunities for every student…

The Wingspread Conference Series (2003-2005), "Strategies to Strengthen the Relationship between Higher Education and Society", brought together scholars, institutional and national leaders, community activists, and graduate and undergraduate students to examine the current and evolving relationships between higher education and society. The goals…