Minority youth are a complex and diverse population in America who are often misunderstood, misclassified and misrepresented. These youth face a school system that has been teaching an inaccurate and negative narrative about who they are and a system that does not understand their unique needs. Using the findings from studies on Arab American…

Schools are beset with a serious "alienation gap" between teachers and students that is no less a problem than the "achievement gap." Increasing student voice is thought to be one means to fill the gap, for it activates agency and thereby decreases passivity. The extent of agency ranges from attentive adult listening to strong student leadership.…

The systemic reform exemplified by the Kentucky Education Reform Act of 1990 (KERA) requires the coupling of top-down state mandates with bottom-up advocacy and leadership. This research on an Eastern Kentucky school district details the dynamics at the district's main high school, as people struggle to build both a community of learners within…

This paper compares the two educational sectors in Romania K-12 schools and higher education seeking to understand why reform in the K-12 educational system has failed while higher education reform has been more rapid and effective. The analysis uses concepts from U.S. organizational theory, such as school climate, school culture, and permanently…

Radical educational change cannot take place in isolation from societal change. American schools see themselves as agents of the society, charged with transmitting the values and behaviors considered central to the maintenance of society. Critics of this functional view of socialization suggest schools should be instruments of radical change.…