Developmentally appropriate homework plays a critical role in the formation of positive learning beliefs and behaviors, including a belief in one's academic ability, a deliberative and effortful approach to mastery, and higher expectations and aspirations for one's future. It can prepare children to confront ever-more-complex tasks, develop…

Superintendents across the country have shared their frustration with planning initiatives that consume valuable chunks of time and energy without yielding a viable tool to drive improvement and accountability. In this article, the authors provide an example that reflects the actual experience of a school district whose identity they are shielding…

The Arizona State University Downtown Phoenix campus is a grand-scale exemplar of a city-university partnership. Its demonstrated impacts are economic, social, and educational, transforming both the city and the university. The magnitude of the investment of $223 million by the citizens of a city in a state university is unparalleled in higher…

Questions that the general public may have about the six national educational goals formulated by President Bush and the U.S. state governors in 1990 and the administration's plan for educational reform are addressed in this digest. Ten questions and brief answers are presented in the following areas: defining the goals; the attainability,…

Education is important because it directly affects our social quality of life, individual opportunities, national economic competitiveness, and other dimensions of life. Unfortunately, the true value of education is often only recognized by its absence. Although economic competitiveness is only one byproduct of national education quality, it does…

Discusses economic imperatives for change in U.S. education; roots of educational underachievement; and conditions faced by U.S. children. Offers recommendations for changing the education of poor and minority students and calls for change in the way society treats poor children. (BB)