Remarks by the Minister for Education and Skills underscore the accountability that public institutions and the teaching profession carry for assuring the success of the nation's education enterprise. This article challenges assumptions about the nature of education that are critical to the accountability and testing regimens currently in favor…

In 1990 two Baltimore, Maryland, schools began an educational experiment. The Barclay School, a public elementary and middle school, won permission to bypass the city's curriculum and adopt the program of the Calvert School, a private elementary school. Test scores and writing skills of Barclay students have improved using the back-to-basics,…

Discusses six steps backward in public elementary schooling: behavior modification, decoding skills, individualized instruction, mastery learning, grouping, and teaching basics. (SR)

A longstanding debate in education pits advocates of liberal curricula against advocates of "back-to-basics," fundamental education. The study described in this publication examined the long term results of a fundamental elementary school that began operating in August 1978 with 347 students. During the 1989-90 school year, the first…

Examines educational quality as a concept, contending that quality in education is declining in developed countries. Delineates ways to prevent poor academic performance, invigorate the teaching process, and use educational and vocational guidance. (KO)

President George W. Bush's approach to education policy has earned him cautious plaudits from otherwise hostile critics, who see much to admire in the implementation of standards for education. However useful such standards for testing students' technical skills like arithmetic and reading, they create problems for less-standardized processes like…

This study compared the academic achievement and other outcomes of three public fundamental elementary schools with three regular elementary schools in a metropolitan school district. Modeled after the John Marshal Fundamental School in Pasadena, California, which opened in the fall of 1973, fundamental schools differ from regular schools in that…

U.S. public education has always been value laden, and a straightforward approach concerning what values will be taught is an appropriate policy. In spite of U.S. pluralism, a relatively common set of traditional values is possible and desirable. Three assumptions have been accepted in this essay: (1) no one lives a value-neutral life; (2)…

A series of focus group studies conducted by the Public Agenda Foundation explored public reactions to educational standards in 1993. This study revealed broad and spontaneous support for the idea that higher expectations will produce higher achievement. The strong endorsement of higher standards was also a manifestation of the public's concern…

Recent reports on educational reform tend to encourage a return to enforced uniformity in American public schools. If public education is to compete successfully with private education, however, increasing numbers of magnet schools should be established to provide diversity and genuine choice among public schools. (JBM)

This series of three brief articles, written by the Nebraska commissioner of education, addresses schools for the future. It proceeds with two assumptions: (1) all students can learn and can learn at much higher levels than they are now doing; and (2) schools should be ready and able to teach all kids. The first article addresses, generally, the…

To examine long-term effects of a fundamental elementary education in Mesa (Arizona), this study assessed student characteristics, academic achievement based on standardized testing, and social interactions based on high school extracurricular activities. Students who had attended the fundamental school for 6 complete years, had remained in the…