Highlighting Massachusetts initiatives, examines the recent state movement toward adoption of curriculum frameworks and state assessments as vehicles for improving accountability and student achievement. Absence of standards guarantees stratified educational opportunities. Reform initiatives should include practitioners; avoid prescriptive,…

Describes the transformation of the philosophy of the teacher education program at the University of South Africa from a traditional, fundamental pedagogical approach to a pluralistic problem-centered approach that encourages trainees to develop their own creative potential. Course outlines and anticipated outcomes are included. (Author/MSE)

Examines whether lists of "effective school" characteristics are universally valid or internationally transferable. Demonstrates difficulties when applying Western school-improvement strategies in the context of South African schools struggling to establish some acceptable, minimal level of functional effectiveness. Describes three…

Today's competitive climate is pressuring public school educators to improve schools in an environment dominated by parent and consumer choice. This article draws on two studies involving Australian principals that illustrate difficult ethical situations. Most participants found the values of marketing and economic rationalism to be inconsistent…

The president of California State University, Northridge, at the time of the 1994 earthquake reflects on the decisions she made following the disaster, concluding that leadership in such a crisis is dependent on an individual's value system and that leadership is seen in performance, not position. Specific examples are discussed, including…

Reviews the history of county fairs and their role in providing agricultural education, transmitting traditional values and skills, and encouraging intergenerational learning. Summarizes experiences of rural youth who have, as a result of participating in the Bauer County Fair (Wisconsin), increased their understanding of and commitment to rural…

Explains the results of a survey given to over 1,000 students in Sakskaii Raion, the Republic of Crimea. The survey consisted of questions concerning what personal qualities the students' valued and whom would they wish to emulate. Students overwhelmingly valued intelligence and chose to emulate family members. (MJP)

Focusing on assessments of the performance of one fourth-grade student, the article makes a case for teaching and moral perception (the capacity to comprehend the unique needs and aspirations of individual students), arguing that assessing students in the absence of moral perception is a serious mistake. (SM)

Presents a rather obtuse and apologetic defense of "The Bell Curve," claiming that the authors have been wrongfully accused of racist tendencies while admitting the many examples in the book that support the claim. Maintains that the book objectively examines important issues of class, intelligence, and social stratification. (MJP)

Argues that oftentimes simple parallel constructions and choice of examples reflect an unconscious bias in history textbooks. Reveals a number of these, particularly related to the United States' treatment of minorities in World War II. Advocates using strategies to identify and challenge biases in history textbooks. (MJP)

Utilizes the General Collectivism Index (GCI), a survey questionnaire, to compare cultural characteristics between Mexican and U.S. college students. Responses suggested Mexican students possess greater collectivist tendencies, especially in interpersonal relationships. (MJP)

Examines the ways that adult narrators address the child reader in fictions written for children in moral education. Analyzes these relationships and considers their pedagogical implications. Specifically considers the personification of children's behavior by animals in these stories and connects this to a shift in the contemporary concept of…

Overviews the career of Helen Lewis as sociologist, social activist, teacher, writer, researcher, and mentor. Helen Lewis discusses growing up in segregated Georgia, her unorthodox approach to education, her fight for social and economic equality, her instrumental role in the development of Appalachian Studies programs, and how social activism…

Describes two teacher education projects that invited teacher educators to consider the imperatives of education for sustainability, to critique, trial, and share their work, and to interact with members of the international and national community in order to find ways of addressing the global crisis of education, environment, and sustainability.…

Howard Gardner reflects on how students who learn in different ways might grapple with deep epistemological questions. Gardner advocates teaching disciplines that present our culture's image of what is true, beautiful, and ethical. His understanding pathway should appeal to children possessing a strong existential intelligence. (MLH)