Elected school boards' skeptical eyes can guard against bad management practices and ensure that different voices get heard. Problems with board governance are a product of too little democracy. A democratic reform strategy would make board elections partisan, hold them on the same day as elections for more prominent state or national offices,…

The educational discourse chronicling the experiences of African American educators continues to be limited, while the anthropological and sociological literature appears to be more inclusive. Educational literature in regards to African American educators since 1966 continues to focus on how African American educators maintain the status quo and…

This book is an introduction and guide to school-based management, a decentralized form of organization in which decisions that have traditionally been made by a superintendent or school board are made by the local school. Chapter 1 provides an overview of decision-making in public school systems starting with a brief history of the trend toward…

Conclusions reached by the Illinois State Board of Education Study, released in May 1985, that small schools are inferior and inefficient, that Illinois has too many schools, and that over half its schools should be closed seem to be an educational step backward. Without linking the two concepts, the study implies that school consolidation will…

This article closes off a debate in this journal between the author and James D. Kaminsky concerning the latter's philosophical analysis of a "Freedom and Authority Memorandum" delivered to South Australian public schools in the early 1970s by then Director-General of Education, A. W. Jones. (TE)

Argues that Canadian Indians should establish their own universities and exert complete control over them. Compares higher education in Saudi Arabia and Nigeria, using Saudi Arabia as an example of a country that managed to reap the benefits of Western educational expertise without sacrificing its own culture and values. (JHZ)

Explores the linkages between Thomas Hardy's poem "The Darkling Thrush" and the thrush scene in George Orwell's novel "1984." Suggests a variety of enrichment projects for students that deal with aspects of these two works. (RBW)

Argues that the centralized, bureaucratic model of education management has created more problems than solutions. Contrasts the current situation with an earlier model defined by local autonomy and personal commitment. Explores a broad set of issues and approaches designed to make arts education more autonomous and less divisive. (MJP)