The last few decades have seen many attempts to "reform" education across the world. Those reforms have been spurred on by the perceived low standards, by the number of young people who are seen to be educational failures, and by the need for a "skilled workforce" if our respective countries are to compete successfully in an…

In this article, we examine the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) as an example of a unique node within larger policy networks composed of new policy entrepreneurs (e.g., venture philanthropists, think tanks, private "edubusinesses" and their lobbyists, advocacy organizations, and social entrepreneurs). These new policy…

In this address, the author builds the case that a new political economy of education, dominated by what Pauline Lipman calls the "neo-liberal social imaginary," is changing the moral context in which educators imagine their professional roles. The author argues that educators are placed in relation to others in rather complicated…

Readers readily identify with characters in literature; therefore, educators must be acutely aware of the overt and underlying messages conveyed in Newbery Medal books. In this quantitative content analysis with a qualitative component, the researchers employed nonparametric measurements to examine Newbery Medal books from the 1920s to the 2000s…

This paper examines ways educational leaders engaging with doctoral research have worked for students' participation in education systems. Twenty-four interviews were conducted with educational leaders of schools, colleges, and districts in England and the US doing doctoral research. The findings reveal that the leaders identify US and English…

Since prayer was banned from the public school systems in 1962 and all religious references have been censored, the American Public School System has become completely secular in nature. Children today face a great deal of peer pressure especially when bad behavior is constantly glamorized in both the media and the press. Because of the lack of…

The third pillar of No Child Left Behind emphasizes determining which educational programs and practices have been proven effective through rigorous scientific research. This study addressed Davis, Darling-Hammond, LaPointe, and Meyerson's (2005) call for a "need for additional research to determine the impact and relative importance of…

The authors consider Ladson-Billings' (2006) charge to reframe the way the "achievement gap" is viewed, and put forth the metaphor of "bankruptcy" as a way to acknowledge the educational debt and educational inequity and move towards debt forgiveness in public education. Specifically, the bankruptcy metaphor is used to examine…

This essay explores the ways in which the ancient Greek concept of parrhesia, defined as "frank speech and telling the truth as one sees it," can help facilitate the development of both intellectual courage and democracy as a way of life. It theorizes dimensions of parrhesia for the purpose of better educating a civic self-image rooted…

Across the United States, school districts are working to turnaround their lowest performing schools in order to meet the requirements of Adequate Yearly Progress mandated by the "No Child Left Behind Act" of 2001. These failing schools are facing district, state, and federal sanctions of closure, takeover, or restructuring. A new…

In this article, the author examines the role that teachers play in the moral development of American students. Historically, one of public education's purposes in America has been the development of moral citizens. However, educators currently face more academic accountability due to No Child Left Behind. Consequently, teachers must strike a…

No Child Left Behind has increased the demand for evidence of student achievement in America's public schools. As a result, the importance of the role of superintendent as instructional leader has increased. Some superintendents have responded to this demand by mandating that principals increase their presence in classrooms; yet, research on…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to focus on a case study, framed as an ethical dilemma. It serves as an illustration for the teaching of moral literacy, with a special emphasis on social justice. Design/methodology/approach: Initially, the paper provides a rationale for the inclusion of case studies, emphasizing moral problems in university…

In this much-needed volume, Nel Noddings uses her extensive experience at every level of schooling to challenge the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB). Noddings invites readers to think critically about the ideas underlying NCLB, the reform movement that shaped it, and the processes it has put into play. She considers such questions as: Is money the…

This article analyzes CEE's and NCTE's current positions related to political action and highlights the increasing need for public intellectual and political activism as an integral part of organizational policy. Using Lakoff's (2005) concept of cognitive/linguistic framing in political discourse along with Kuchapski's (2002) characterizations of…