Collected here are six National Education Association (NEA) position papers in the form of booklets that address issues raised by the report of the National Commission on Excellence in Education. The booklets are entitled: (1) "A Guide for Teachers to a Nation at Risk and Other Studies"; (2) "Teachers' Views About High School";…

This report reviews and summarizes 28 reports on the status and enforcement of civil rights legislation. All aspects of federal law and policy that deal with equal opportunity for racial and ethnic minorities, women and the elderly are investigated in the following areas: (1) administration of justice; (2) education; (3) employment rights; (4)…

This paper presents a broad overview of affirmative action in the United States, in regard to the provision of equality for Blacks, Hispanics, and women. Section I presents a brief history, while section II summarizes current policies that require or encourage the conscious use of race and sex as a remedial device in allocating jobs or educational…

The major activities of the National Advisory Council on Women's Educational Programs during 1977 are recorded in this report. The National Advisory Council on Women's Educational Programs was developed as part of the 1974 Women's Educational Equity Act (WEEA). The Council is mandated to advise the Assistant Secretary for Education on the…

This paper discusses the relationship between education and earnings, explaining that most states still consider college preparatory courses to be electives, and the skills and content needed for further education are not typically reflected in state high school assessments. It discusses the implications of this mismatch for young people, focusing…

The first part of this report consists of the findings of the Citizens' Commission on Civil Rights on the record of the Clinton administration on civil rights. Six years into President Clinton's term, he continues to speak with understanding and empathy about the plight of people trapped in racial and ethnic isolation, but his administration has…

In concert with statewide initiatives, individual colleges and universities must continue to renew their commitments to ensuring equal opportunity and eliminating vestiges of segregation, through recruitment, admissions, and financial aid and working in the public schools to increase minority interest in college. The federal role must become…

Our present factory-model educational system, now desperately undergoing "restructuring," was never intended as a social equalizer but as a great American academic and social sorting machine. The archaic, restrictive goals of America 2000 are doomed, along with narrowly defined intelligence quotients. A more revolutionary, restructuring…

This essay discusses the effects of feminism on educational policy in Australia and the role of feminist educators in developing and implementing the feminist agenda. It also examines the conditions framing Australian feminist work in education. The essay reviews the gains that girls and women have made in educational attainment and employment, as…

Both the state and the federal governments have been interested in two categories of educational variation--with the type of education offered and with the type of learner to benefit from the education. State and federal interest in promoting equity and equal opportunity overlap with each other and with the interests of local schools and…

Drastic reform of the nation's public education system is called for in this paper. It is argued that technological advances and social changes in the past quarter century have given schools a new role and purpose, particularly with regard to the education of blacks. Specific changes which have been implemented in the Michigan Public Schools are…

This document, a part of the final report of the National Study of American Indian Education, examines Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) boarding schools, of which there are 77 among the 226 BIA schools in 17 states. The document concerns itself with the history, value of, and necessity for boarding schools in general. It is pointed out that, in…

Voluntary efforts to promote racial integration in K-12 schools have met strong resistance from the courts in recent years, despite the long history of court involvement in desegregation litigation. Race-conscious policies have invoked both the integration ideals stemming from Brown v. Board of Education and the diversity rationale in higher…

A discussion of public policy and access to higher education in the United States surveys the federal role in higher education since the 1960s through legislation and litigation, focusing on access for poor and/or minority students. Suggestions are made for action by the Clinton administration to address the current challenge. (MSE)

This issue celebrates Southwest Educational Development Laboratory's (SEDL's) history and touches upon new work. This issue includes an article on the need for educators to have access to relevant, high-quality research findings and to be able to apply those findings to their local settings. It also discusses briefly the three randomized…