A growing number of advocacy groups, educators, and families are concerned that something important is missing from modern public education. They recognize the necessity of students making progress in their math and reading abilities, but they fear that a narrow focus on those subjects has caused schools to neglect other essential aspects of…

In 2003, William Boyd spoke of the nation's "double crisis" of educational performance and legitimacy. Indeed, he said, these twin components "interact and reinforce one another" (Boyd, 2003, p. 11). The more attention that is paid to the underperformance of the schools, the more the nation seems to suffer a loss of faith…

Use of local environments and stakeholders to illuminate the school curriculum, and increase ownership of it, has been demonstrated by international research as an effective means by which to make the curriculum more relevant and engaging to students. Localism is a key tenet of the Government's policy platform, and in education policy the…

In this article the author seeks to look at the policy on Academies from a broader perspective, briefly touching on issues of democracy, autonomy, governance and accountability and arguing that the policy must be considered holistically. Individuals should focus not on an Academy or Academies in isolation but on their relationship with the rest of…

The marketization of education cannot serve as the guiding principle in constructing the modern school system, nor can it be directly transplanted from modern enterprise system. Because the modern school system is a kind of "educational institution" rather than an "economical institution", what it should focus on is not the…

National standards are antithetical to democracy and national arts education standards are antithetical to the cultivation of art. An alternative is creation of local standards that arise from community circumstances. Meta-standards can help guide communities in the formation of local standards. (SK)

Discusses the political and legal issues in minimum competency testing. Indicates that local educational policymakers and administrators must resist further centralization and take action to devise their own programs. (JOW)

Describes new strategies which rural schools must begin to employ in order to realize their full potential, and the part P.U.R.E. (People United for Rural Education) should play in implementing the new strategies. (AN)

The abolition of the Inner London Education Authority brings new challenges for adult education. Individual boroughs may try to build interdependent educational services, develop inter-borough support systems, and address the issue of fees in preparing adult education opportunities for the whole community. (SK)

Two currents of liberalism and their views of state role in relation to school finance, local control, educational equity, and school voucher initiatives are discussed. (DF)

New York City's community school boards are too weak and buffeted by too many special interest groups to effectively represent parent interests or serve as successful agents in the decentralization process, though at least one board and the parents it represents show that stronger action is possible. (Author/PGD)

Several authors discuss block grants. The first author offers a brief overview of the history of federal grants in education and advances five arguments in favor of block grants. Others summarize the Reagan administration's proposals on block grants and note several arguments against such grants. (WD)

Suggested are basic ways in which a system of educational research and development may meet the demand for successful R&D, from the formulation of research questions to the utilization of results. Stressed are local ownership of school-based R&D, the development of applied research efforts, and the utilization of outcomes. (RAO)

Assesses the effect of the changing social and political environment of education on the nature and patterns of school board elections. Infers that board elections are becoming increasingly politicized in spite of the historic ideology that education is and ought to be an autonomous and nonpolitical function of government. (Author/MK)

Basic tenets of citizen control of education at state and local levels are well established historically and remain intact after three centuries of U.S. educational experience. This paper advocates substantial change in the structure and management of local governments. Too many change proposals are cosmetic. Kentucky and Memphis-Shelby County are…