Landon Mascareñaz and Doannie Tran propose that, even as events of this decade have exposed stress points in existing top-down, closed systems within education and other public institutions, they have also created prime opportunities to rethink and redesign those systems in ways that encourage civic participation and invigorate local democracy. In…

This book's title, "I Used to Think... And Now I Think...", is borrowed from an exercise often used at the end of teacher professional development sessions, in which participants write down how what they've learned has changed their thinking. The resulting essays model the ongoing process of reflection and growth among those deeply committed to…

After her school wins the coveted United States National Secondary Education Award, a school principal embarks upon an educational odyssey. The principal discovers that the reasons for winning the award are a sham! As her school falls apart, she begins to reflect on the stagnant school organization and the ineffective prescriptions for…

The number of staff members serving American higher education institutions has more than doubled in the past twenty years, as occupations in technology, development, government relations, and even athletic administration have grown as never before in the history of the academy. As the number, variety, and importance of these positions have grown,…

The public schools in the US should go beyond teaching fundamental skills in a democratic society. The teachers should be allowed to interact with students as whole persons and new policies should be developed that treats the schools as a whole community because the future of the children and democracy depends on them.

This highly acclaimed volume in the "Defending Public Schools" series is now available in paperback from Teachers College Press. It is a practical, necessary addition to the work of administrators, teachers, policymakers, and parents as they negotiate the difficult path of how to best teach and educate today's children and youth. This…

This article closes off a debate in this journal between the author and James D. Kaminsky concerning the latter's philosophical analysis of a "Freedom and Authority Memorandum" delivered to South Australian public schools in the early 1970s by then Director-General of Education, A. W. Jones. (TE)

Fifty years after "Brown v Board of Education" inequalities in public education are evident in the disproportionate numbers of Black and Latino students who are held back, often do not graduate from high school, or are removed from school by unforgiving zero tolerance discipline policies. The National Center for Educational Statistics…

The research agenda for arts education presented in this report is a challenge to researchers, foundation directors, and policymakers. The intellectual stimulus for this report was the publication of "Critical Links: Learning in the Arts and Student Academic and Social Development" (2002), conducted under the leadership of the Arts Education…