Seven major trends are reflected in the current task force and commission reports on education. The first, "back to basics," stresses intellectual skills, but often at the expense of the affective domain. The second emphasizes the relationship between education, work, and the economy, but the direction schools should take remains…

Contrary to expectations a decade ago, the United States has not buried the dichotomy between vocational education and academic education. Instead, as shown by the publication of the report, "A Nation at Risk," the academic community is again declaring war on the vocational education establishment. This report, which stresses the need…

Three English courses, based on the idea that subject matter, basic skills, and values are three separate areas that can be taught simultaneously, are described in this paper. The course described in the first section, "Women and Literature," combines interesting thematic material and values clarification with practice in traditional composition…

Discusses the "American jeremiad"--a pervasive ideological theme portraying a national mission and our failures in achieving it--and the influence of this ideology on elementary and secondary education. (MCG)

This set of five digests provides an overview of the issue of attaining excellence in vocational education. The first digest deals with effective schools research, characteristics of effective schools, implications of effective schools research for high school vocational education, and strategies for improving school effectiveness. Covered in the…