Eminent historian and educator Larry Cuban provides a thorough examination of, and challenge to, past and present definitions of what constitutes educational success in the US. Cuban argues that in the history of American education, standards of achievement and inadequacy--as well as the reform efforts issuing from them--have been neither stable…

Focuses on the critical role of the superintendent and of district level policies in creating preconditions for local school improvement. Describes the dilemma of school leaders who must make important policy decisions in the face of time pressures and political demands. (JOW)

Praises Harold Silver's book "Education, Change, and the Policy Process" for its complex, thoughtful essays justifying the use of history to make informed educational policy. Questions Silver's strong focus on top policymakers and his failure to acknowledge policymakers' usual reliance on intuition and ordinary knowledge, not scholarly studies.…

The job of superintendent is tough and demanding. Although conditions seem to be getting worse, the job has always been demanding because of its origins and its relationship with the board of education. As the job developed, dominant conceptions of leadership developed. The three dominant conceptions--teacher-scholar, administrative chief, and…

Examines why instructional, curricular, and political reforms return again and again. Rejects the common explanation that reforms fail because of a lack of rational proposals and implementation, and suggests political and institutional causes. (FMW)

Presents the views of six former presidents of the American Educational Research Association (AERA) on the future of the AERA and of educational research in general. Most, although not all, agree that the AERA should become more politically active than it has been and should adopt positions on specific educational policy questions. (SLD)

While state curricular mandates may bring compliance, the notion that they can change what happens between teachers and students in the classroom is inherently wrong. States must set broad goals, establish broad outcomes, hold districts accountable through periodic reviews, and also devote ample resources and energies to those ends. (MSE)

Explores what happened within the Washington, D.C., school system as a result of the judicial decrees in Hobson V. Hansen and why the school system responded the way it dis. Focuses on the internal political and organizational responses to the decrees. (Author/IRT)

This paper describes and analyzes the political and organizational effects of school consolidation in Arlington. Existing research on consolidation is criticized and new directions for inquiry are suggested. (Author/EB)

Test misuse is neither isolated nor recent. It is a problem that cannot be easily solved. While test misuse may be reduced or managed, it cannot be eliminated. Test misuse has cut across America's social, economic, and political institutions, including schools. The most flagrant abuse of a test is what happens to the results of the Scholastic…

A tension has long existed between Americans' intense faith in education and the slow pace of changes in educational practices. Citizens have attempted to improve the future by arguing about how to improve youth through education, but actual school reforms have rarely matched expectations. Why this situation has occurred, and why such resistance…

This paper analyzes the planned and unplanned and external and internal forces that influence curriculum. Three questions guide the analysis of curriculum change in American schools during the 20th century: what forces changed curriculum? what forces maintained stability? which forces are amenable to planned change and are appropriate candidates…