This study explored the perspectives of a group of teacher educators of color in an effort to capture their perceptions of teaching and teacher education. The purpose of the study was to find out what teacher educators of color bring to their work and to the teaching profession--what are their experiences, goals, intentions, passions, challenges…

In the "Columbia Law Review," Harry Jones (1974) illustrates five general and sometimes overlapping purposes of the law. They include the preservation of the public peace and safety, the settlements of individual disputes, the maintenance of security expectations, the resolutions of conflicting social interests, and the channeling of…

In this article, the author identifies two current--and competing--discourses concerning teaching and public education in general. One is the "official" discourse, embodied in "No Child Left Behind" language, with a focus on accountability, standards, credentials, and testing, accompanied by punitive measures for failing to…

Concerns for social justice have called Catholics and others to be compassionate and supportive to children with disabilities by establishing schools and other learning opportunities to nurture this population. Special education as a field has developed over the past 40 years. This study examines the incidence, context, and nature of special…

One-third of all U.S. school children attend school in rural settings. Rural schools are much poorer than urban America, with most of the poorest counties in the United States located in rural areas. Equity is a concern not only in terms of race, class, gender, disability, and sexual orientation, but also in terms of being geographically located…

This article offers responses from various authors to the article "Incarnational immersion-based learning in cultural contexts: A charity model," by Dr. John Trokan (2005.) Mount St. Joseph's program on incarnational immersion-based learning, as described in the article by Dr. John Trokan, will have the participating students' eyes…

A major school district in Philadelphia has been taken over, handed out and chopped up. The for-profit Edison schools opened in Philadelphia, just as Dallas had asked them to leave for a lack of measurable improvement in schools. Linda Darling-Hammond frames this article around what happened in Philadelphia because she feels that in some ways it…

This report, the first in a series of four 1996 releases of students' opinions, represents a continued effort by MetLife to provide insight and understanding to the issues of violence and social tension in American public schools. The survey focuses on the social climate of the nation's public schools from the perspective of public school students…

At the heart of multicultural teacher education is the concept of justice. To understand justice, preservice teachers must understand injustice. Segregation by race and social class is perhaps the most egregious of all the educational injustices that mock the professed core values of America as a democratic society. In fact, segregation is related…

After describing both average scores, dispersion, and social inequalities in achievement in the various countries included in the latest Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) study, this article relates those "products" to country economic and cultural characteristics. It then explores relations between student scores and…

Helen Keller was someone who worked throughout her long life to achieve social change; she was an integral part of many important social movements in the 20th century. Her life story could serve as a fascinating example for children, but most picture books about Keller are silent about her life's work. In this article, the author examines the…

Confusion and furies about issues such as gender and sexuality present themselves as counternarratives about schooling. Rather than treat them as situations for educational administrators to manage or evade, the author proposes to use these counternarratives to fundamentally reframe educational leadership to be a profession proud of and skilled at…

Gloria Ladson-Billings explains in her chapter that, in part, the promise of "Brown v. Board of Education" has not been realized because it was premised on black inferiority. She elaborates that "instead of addressing the underlying pathology of the defendant--White supremacy"--the evidence, case, and accordant ruling…

There is concern that the nation's schools are not preparing students to excel in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields. At both precollege and postsecondary levels, much effort is needed to create and implement powerful STEM curricula, prepare and support highly qualified teachers, deliver effective instruction, and give…

The study reported in this article was focused on the first field experience in a teacher education program developed around themes of equity and social justice within a larger framework of inclusive education. The community-based field experience entails one-on-one mentoring in which elementary preservice teachers (PSTs) work with African…