Teaching students to act as citizens significantly enhances preparation for college and career. It is incumbent upon the National Council for the Social Studies to provide guidance to states and local districts to develop social studies standards to achieve this goal. The recommendations presented here focus on the principle that standards…

This article presents an interview with Gilberto Garcia Batista, who is professor at the University of Pedagogical Sciences. The interview is conducted by Annette Hestres García, a doctoral student at The Pennsylvania State University in the Dual-Title Lifelong Learning and Adult Education/Comparative & International Education and Women's,…

While Massachusetts has received accolades for its high scores on the National Assessment for Educational Progress (NAEP) and Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) tests, absolute results from standardized tests tend to correlate strongly with family income and parental education. The Massachusetts Consortium for Innovative Education…

Concerns about the professional development of teachers have a political dimension as governments around the world engage in the discourse on global standards and want to improve the quality of their school education. Increasingly, teachers are feeling the pressure of securing high achievement scores and large-scale assessments of student learning…

The adoption of the Common Core State Standards by 46 states and the District of Columbia represents a dramatic departure in U.S. education. In the past, national efforts to improve education have been directed by the federal government and have emphasized resources or organizational structure. In contrast, the Common Core State Standards in math…

The authors comment on Porter, McMaken, Hwang, and Yang's recent analysis of the Common Core State Standards for Mathematics by critiquing their measures of the focus of the standards and the absence of an assessment of coherence. The authors then consider whether the standards are an improvement over most state mathematics standards by discussing…

The school desegregation plan in St. Louis is still plagued by pleadings and appeals. The plan has successfully improved educational programming, cooperative relationships, and student achievement; but the quality of the educational experience has yet to be evaluated and the reduction of the pupil teacher ratio has not come about. (VM)

States and the federal government have made efforts to encourage the implementation of career education. It appears to be one of the viable alternatives for bringing about educational reform that could result in the improvement of the quality of education. (CT)

A strategic approach for establishing continuous quality improvement (CQI) efforts in vocational special needs education includes defining CQI and building a rationale for its use, establishing a quality council, developing short- and long-range goals, and implementing CQI-related practices and principles. (Author)

Can Total Quality Management (TQM) improve the performance of school systems in meaningful ways? This paper evaluates the soundness of TQM as an improvement program for education by comparing its philosophy and prescriptions with the mounting theoretical and empirical wisdom on introducing and sustaining large-scale organizational change and more…

Discusses the need for quality child care in schools. Topics include the meaning of "good quality"; the child as part of the family; the school of the 21st century; reasons for child care in school; benefits to schools and communities; and school-linked child care as a way of life. (AEF)

For faculty members to perform at the highest levels of excellence institutions must design and implement an array of appropriate incentives and support systems effective for different faculty needs and characteristics. Collegiate and corporate illustrations are provided. (Author/MSE)

This paper examines four issues relevant to planning the use of funding resources for installing a career development system for practitioners in the early childhood education field. The first issue concerns the need for a career development system. Arguments for the importance of such a system are based on the need for a dynamic career ladder and…

Asserts that updating teachers' technology skills is crucial to enhancing the excellence of Catholic schools. Delineates the careful planning and system of evaluation that must be set up for staff development and the implementation of training objectives. (VWC)

The problems of Individual Education Plan (IEP) utilization with handicapped students are analyzed and compared to the developing use of Individual Transition Plans (ITP). Considered are issues of accountability, relevance, quality, feasibility, and preparedness. (DB)