The normative elements underlying efficiency are more complex than generally portrayed and rely upon ethical frameworks that are generally absent from classroom discussions. Most textbooks, for example, ignore the ethical differences between Pareto efficiency (based on voluntary win-win outcomes) and the modern Kaldor-Hicks efficiency used in…

Purpose: This paper aims to consider how students and teachers engaged in political work in their design and enactment of critical literacy workshops in one US elementary school facing pressures of accountability and standardization. Design/methodology/approach: As a collaborative team of university researchers and classroom teachers, the authors…

Critical thinking enjoys almost universal support, except when applied to controversial topics. Yet it is these topics that are often the most effective initiators of critical thinking exercises that improve students' rational approaches to challenging problems. The use of controversial issues to promote critical thinking requires an institutional…

"Harvard Education Letter" is published bimonthly at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. This issue of "Harvard Education Letter" contains the following articles: (1) Talking 'bout Evolution: High School Science Teachers Share Strategies for Dealing with Controversy in the Classroom (Nancy Walser); (2) Standards-Based…