Reviewing recent research on efforts to improve the quality of public schooling in the United States, this paper focuses on evidence suggesting that negative by-products often accompany innovations and, moreover, that innovators have tended to disregard their capacity for leaving schools in worse condition than they found them. The analysis…

This paper is the third in a series of yearly efforts to identify the top public-policy issues facing higher education. Each of the 10 issues is discussed in terms of likely developments in 1996 and the near future, the issue's various aspects, and sources of further information on the issue. Issues identified and discussed are: (1) cost…

This paper is the fourth in a series of yearly efforts to identify the top 10 public-policy issues facing higher education. Each of the issues is discussed in terms of likely developments in 1997-98, the issue's various aspects, and sources of further information. Issues identified are: (1) the Higher Education Act Reauthorization (issues relating…