America is on the precipice of ruining its foundation for success. The movement toward a centralized education system through federal mandates and common curriculum and testing is threatening the very system that has contributed to America's success and that holds the potential for its future success: that is a decentralized, diverse, largely…

All students, including those with significant cognitive disabilities, must participate in accountability testing under NCLB regulations. Each state must provide an alternate assessment for students unable to participate in general accountability testing. Carefully designed alternate assessment systems have the potential to go beyond meeting…

Basic education in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) seems to be characterized by lecture methods of instruction, a lack of interdisciplinary approaches and a disconnection with local community problems. During 2008, a "My Community, Our Earth" (MyCOE) workshop was organized in the MENA region and involved teachers of geography,…

In this article, we argue that preparing and maintaining a cadre of culturally responsive teachers is critical to improving urban education and achieving educational equity. We discuss a collaborative, social-justice-oriented approach to teacher preparation committed to developing a stable and effective teaching force reflective of the student…

Describes a Brazilian project that aimed to improve the standard of science education in primary public schools through computer assisted learning. A neural network to analyze models is presented that was used with students 11 to 18 years old for topics on local environmental problems. (Author/LRW)

Warns of the limitations of educational reform via standards and standardization as seen in New York, NY. Focuses on "culturally responsive pedagogy," which is needed to build a system sensitive to the backgrounds and contexts of students and schooling. (CMK)

Summarizes the crises and calls for change from 1981-1988 within the Detroit (Michigan) school system that led to the creation of the HOPE (Hayden, Olmstead, and Patrick for Education) coalition. Discusses the years the HOPE coalition headed the school board and the reasons for its failure. Addresses the implications for other cities. (CMK)

This article describes how four Texas school districts responded to changed fiscal conditions following implementation of reforms designed to bring greater equity to Texas school finance. Case studies in two poor districts show that little new money was spent on improvements to the core curriculum. (SLD)

A discussion of recent trends in state educational reform stresses the importance of addressing two challenges: teaching all students higher order thinking and developing more systematic, coherent policies. The article describes the challenges, examines how state policies in the 1980s addressed them and how districts responded, and suggests future…

Recommends that undergraduate journalism and communications majors receive more thorough training in local and public affairs education. Changes in communications technology have raised the importance and accessibility of local news for national candidates, often without a corresponding rise in sophistication of coverage. (MJP)