"Straight A's: Public Education Policy and Progress" is a biweekly newsletter that focuses on education news and events both in Washington, DC and around the country. The following articles are included in this issue: (1) NCLB Turns Five: Key Players in Reauthorization Process Celebrate Fifth Anniversary of Landmark Education Law, Begin…

Traces the history of the "compulsory-cure" model of United States education (in which students are assumed to need "curing") that is currently in use. Notes the problems caused by accepting and perpetuating this educational model. (JT)

This paper estimates the effect of a state-imposed curriculum mandate on the academic achievement of US public school students. By 1998, 14 states across the US had mandates that high school students should take an economics course. For these states, the proportions of public schools students taking high school economics was around twice that of…

Despite any international declarations to the contrary, basic education comes in practice to be conveniently regarded by governments as being synonymous with the level of schooling that the State stipulates is free and compulsory. Thus the operational definition of basic education is quite variable internationally and often does not include…

Some educators have suggested that compulsory attendance legislation should be eliminated or that the number of required years be reduced. They assert that some students cannot be successful in school and others lack the willingness to learn. This paper presents findings of a study that examined the effect of student attendance and grades. The…

Forms of social control used by schools to maintain order are no longer appropriate, and may be contributing to further disruption and violence. (SK)

The biggest problems with public schools is that they are public, big, compulsory, and pluralistic. Their powerlessness to achieve a broad consensus for common methods of socialization harms the education of both students who come to school already socialized and those whose background of deprivation did not give them these social values. (SK)

Discusses the origins and historical background of the "Decree on Measures Necessary to Provide Universally Accessible Primary Schooling in Moscow Guberbia" that was passed in April 1896. Explains that before the "Decree," there had been practically no primary schools in Russia. Provides some excerpts from the…

Author contends that student religious clubs have a constitutional right to exist in the public schools, because such meetings are within the scope of the First and Fourteenth Amendments of the United States Constitution. Landmark Supreme Court church-state decisions are cited. Available from Emory University School of Law, 1722 North Decatur…

Reviewing public education versus private education concerns, the author outlines the dangers of privatization and presents a strong argument for strengthening public education. (MD)

From time to time during the past 100 years individuals or organizations have suggested, or seriously proposed, the establishment of a Federal department of education. Immediately after the Civil War the early advocates, led by Henry Barnard, almost succeeded in their plan. In 1867 a bill creating a department of education, introduced into the…

Examines the role of the working class in the expansion of the American public school system from 1870 to 1900. In contrast to progressive and recent revisionist theory, the nature and limits of social conflict is identified as the key to explaining the growth of public education in the United States. (Author/RH)

Discusses issues surrounding the development of mass compulsory schooling and explores the possible development of a theoretical framework for analyzing the effects of such schooling. Concludes that compulsory attendance laws make little difference in rates of school attendance. Rather, social conditions create the environment in which laws become…

The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that a state law compelling a child's attendance at a public school constitutes a violation of the parent's liberty interest under the 14th amendment. In Canada, however, courts have held that their equivalent to the 14th amendment does not encompass the liberty of parents to choose how to educate their children.…

Although their perspectives differ, this volume's contributors agree that the home schooling movement offers an intriguing critique of traditional education. While nationally publicized school improvement measures call for increased bureaucratization, professionalism, and standardization, a growing number of families are choosing to forego…