Student development has become a buzz word within the student affairs profession and the concept of student development has become the guiding paradigm of the student affairs profession. Unfortunately, this embracing of student development lacked the necessary critique or debate essential to academics. This digest provides an abstract of a major…

In contrast to the educational reform reports of the 1970's, which criticized schools' irrelevance, inequality, and authoritarianism, the flood of reports that appeared in 1983 focus on the danger to the nation's global preeminence and military defense caused by mediocre education. Although most reports uphold a commitment to equity, this is…

This digest examines the role of school psychologists in improving educational opportunities for children and adolescents. A variety of issues that affect children and their ability to learn are discussed: widening social class differences and increases in the number of children living in poverty; changing value systems; family disintegration;…

Even though middle schools are important in retaining at-risk students, the organization and curriculum of most of them do not meet the developmental needs of young adolescents. Improvements should focus on making middle and junior high schools function less like large, impersonal high schools and more like caring, nurturing elementary schools,…

This brief retrospective outlines major points in the history of American Indian education and major issues in Indian curriculum and teacher training. From the arrival of Europeans until recent times, formal schooling for American Indians has been controlled by others--first missionaries, then the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA). After World War…

The gap between Generation X and earlier generations represents much more than age and technological differences. It reflects the effects of a changing society on a generation. Social changes such as the increase in single-parent households and households with both parents working, corporate downsizing and layoffs, limited opportunities for career…

This digest introduces some definitions of multiculturalism, demonstrates why a multicultural curriculum is particularly important to community colleges, and provides case studies to illustrate ways in which multiculturalism is being incorporated into the curriculum. It suggests that multicultural courses be designed and offered to enhance…

Civic education is the teaching of knowledge, skills, and dispositions needed to become a responsible and effective citizen of a representative and constitutional democracy. Although civic education has been part of the core curriculum of elementary and secondary schools since the founding of the United States, in recent years leaders in…

This digest addresses city and state takeover as a school reform strategy, outlining the emergence of takeover in the past decade, discussing promises and limitations that takeover offers, and synthesizing the research to date on takeover's effectiveness. A notable trend over the past decade is greater implementation of takeover reforms,…

Children of migrant farmworkers are among the segments of the population most difficult to educate. Data from 1974 indicates the average migrant student had a 40% chance of reaching ninth grade, an 11% chance of reaching 12th grade, and a less than 10% chance of graduating from high school. Factors correlated with students quitting school are…

The dual challenges of competing in a world market and rapid technological advancements have necessitated redesign of the workplace into an innovative work environment known as the high-performance workplace. This environment requires knowledge workers capable of solving problems, creating ways to improve the methods they use, and engaging…

Multicultural education has become a controversial topic in recent years, and in the midst of such controversy, there has been little agreement on a precise conceptualization of multicultural education. It is apparent that it takes many forms. A typology is presented that divides multicultural education programs into three categories according to…

Current approaches to educating at-risk students are the result of several shifts in thinking over the last 35 years, and a new way of defining at-risk students is needed to permit changes in school policy and practice to meet these students' needs. Cultural deprivation was originally considered the single cause of at-risk status. Subsequently,…

Women and minorities are underrepresented in technology-related careers for many reasons, including lack of access, level of math and science achievement, and emotional and social attitudes about computer capabilities. Schools and teachers can use the following strategies to attract women and minorities to high-tech careers and prepare them for…

With the release of "A Nation at Risk" in 1983, Americans focused on the report's declaration of "a rising tide of mediocrity" in the schools, which suggested unacceptable results in the education of America's children and youth. Concurrent to the missives levied at schools' lack of progress with academics and other…