Innovation is often driven by crisis, and Rutter (2011) began her chapter by reminding everyone of the crisis confronting the United States in the early 1980s and how that provided impetus for the development of professional development schools (PDSs). In a complementary companion chapter, Neapolitan and Levine (2011) take the reader through…

This article is about the changes in educational reform that have adversely affected teachers and their principals. With the new evaluation system, teachers and school leaders will be evaluated partially on student success. Other educational reforms include the discontinuing of New York State Regents Exams in January and in August. A…

The focus article "Road Maps for Learning: A Guide to the Navigation of Learning Progressions" by Black, Wilson, and Yao (this issue) is a veritable tour-de-force, covering a great deal of education ground while spanning the heights from models of the interplay among curriculum, pedagogy, and assessment to interpretations of student…

A growing number of American families are choosing to homeschool their children. While research evidence is limited, evaluations of student outcomes suggest that homeschooling is successful for participating students: They do well in their learning environment, perform as well on national college assessment tests as traditional high school…

Argues that performativity is a new mode of state regulation that makes it possible to govern in an "advanced liberal" way. For example, it requires individual practitioners to organize themselves as a response to targets, indicators, and evaluations. For some, this is an opportunity to achieve success, while for others it portends inner…

Reviews current governance problems in education and details the range of possible governance models for post-industrial schooling. After describing problems that governance must address, the paper describes various possibilities for school governance in the future. Five types of control processes are considered. Ideological foundations of an…

In this discussion paper, I seek to understand the complex interaction between notions of "professionalism" and gendered identity constructions against the backdrop of increased state regulation and demands for performativity in the early years. I seek to explore the ways in which "teacher professionalism" is constructed by…

The recent release of another critique of accreditation provides an opportunity to sort through some of the mass of ill-informed rhetoric in Washington regarding the nature and limitations of collegiate approval processes. The new report, "Why Accreditation Doesn't Work and What Policy Makers Can Do About It," comes from the American Council of…

Although both the University of California and the California State University systems have the option to use plus or minus grades in student evaluations, the Board of Governors of the California Community Colleges (CCC) does not allow the use of such a grading system. Since 1985, the CCC's Academic Senate has lobbied the Board to allow local…

Responds to the article "Opportunities Lost: Teachers Learning about the New York State Social Studies Framework" by S. G. Grant. States that Grant loses an opportunity to provide the type of social analysis needed to extricate teacher educators from their complicity in New York State's regulation of teaching by misconstruing…

A new development in teacher education is the involvement of accrediting agencies, legislatures, and the federal government in mandating standards, curriculum, and assessment at all levels of education. The effects of this development on teacher education are examined, and changes needed within teacher education and administrator education…

This report examines current assessment and eligibility practices relating to special education programs, and proposes changes to current policy and practice that will encourage and support a process that emphasizes determining student need, designing effective interventions, and evaluating outcomes. The paper views the emphasis in federal and…

A specialist in law and college athletics and the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Director of Enforcement discuss federal and state attempts at regulation of college sports. The first outlines reasons for, scope of, and success of congressional involvement. The second looks at similar issues at the state level and the NCAA's…

This article describes events that have shaped gifted education, including: deployment of Sputnik, the Marland Report, advocacy organizations, curriculum differentiation, brain research, gifted residential schools, the Richardson Study, the Javits Gifted and Talented Students Act, "National Excellence: A Case for Developing America's…

The California School-to-Career Plan, developed by the state Governor's office with funding from the federal School-to-Work Opportunities Act of 1994, outlines a system of workforce development emphasizing partnerships between schools and business and the integration of academic and vocational education. The Plan has several implications, however,…