In this wide-ranging interview, Krista Tippett, a Peabody Award-winning broadcaster and the New York Times bestselling author of "Becoming Wise: An Inquiry into the Mystery and Art of Living" (Penguin Press, 2016) shares her perspective on wisdom, the reemergence of hope, and the need to talk about values.

"When did teachers became the scapegoats for factors beyond their control?" wonders Rafe Esquith in this passionate article. A 30-year veteran teacher, Esquith understands all too clearly the factors undermining teacher morale: ubiquitous tests, rules, and regulations; unfair, often ridiculous expectations; rising poverty and decaying…

I summarize a theoretical model of the social, cultural, and psychological influences on achievement-related choices and outline how this model can help us understand gendered educational and occupational choices. I argue that both gender differences and individual differences within each gender in educational and occupational choices are linked…

Much has been written about the adaptation from criminology of the "Broken Windows" theory of order maintenance in successful urban educational models. Yet, the manner in which the theory is written and discussed often misses the nuances and feel of the theory as successfully applied. This misunderstanding has lead to its conflation with the "Zero…

This article presents the author's response to Joseph Reimer's essay titled, "Beyond More Jews Doing Jewish: Clarifying the Goals of Informal Jewish Education." In his essay, Reimer has presented an approach to understanding informal Jewish education. He drives home the point that many formal educational theorists have posed regarding the validity…

The author of this article contends that current efforts at school reform--ostensibly designed to increase equality of outcomes--may actually be undermining democracy by undervaluing the wide range of talents required in 21st-century America. Many policy makers today argue that all students should have a standard curriculum that will prepare them…

Compares extracts from James Coleman's study of public and private schools to a smaller investigation by the author. (WD)

Evaluation errors may be unintentional, caused by incompetence, or intentional caused by mendacity. This report is concerned, not with incompetence, but with the production of educational assessments flawed by an evaluator's deceit. The purposes of the paper are: (1) to identify conditions under which people purposely distort evaluation reports,…

Chairman of board of IBM, John F. Akers recalls experiences landing at night on aircraft carrier and compares this to running a large corporation. Akers says to meet challenges in any endeavor, set your expectations high; find men and women whose integrity and values you respect; get their agreement on course of action; and give them your ultimate…

Jennifer James cites our society's unwillingness to take care of children, the multiracial nature of student populations, and parents' increased demands on schools as primary issues. School leaders must be skilled at communicating the school's value system to parents, while showing empathy and negotiating an acceptable agreement. Vision is the key…

In a recent survey, 70 effective middle-level administrators describe what qualities make them and their schools successful. Many mentioned superior teaching staff, liking for students, supportive parents, high expectations and commitment, delegation of leadership responsibility, focus on change, personal characteristics, professional activities,…

To direct attention to the expectations for leadership, integrity and responsibility of the doctorate, the author argues for the creation of a ritual ceremony of initiation for students entering doctoral education. Defining stewardship as encompassing a set of roles and skills that ensure competence and a set of principles to provide a moral…

For most of the college students who went south to change the race relations of Mississippi and the nation during the "Freedom Summer" of 1964, the most radical effort of the civil rights movement, lower expectations have replaced the boundless hopes of the 1960s, but the values and the commitment remain. (RM)

Historically, public schools have been expected to fulfill social, economic, and political mandates that were unrealistically optimistic. Given past and current social priorities and resources, perhaps the public expects too much from the schools. (PP)

This paper argues that there are some common characteristics that define what we label graduate professional programmes. By analysing two programmes, law and psychology--as experienced by the students--it becomes obvious that while the programmes educate their students well in the academic aspects of professional work, they do not prepare students…