Describes the philosophy and operation of schools based on the ideas of Celestin Freinet, founder of the Ecole Moderne movement. Discusses the child-centered approach, cooperative-learning techniques, and participatory decision making that are characteristic of these schools. Points out that the curriculum frequently emphasizes contemporary social…

Presents highlights from a conversation via BITNET on education policy and priorities for the Office of Educational Research and Improvement. The electronic discussion took place over 3 weeks with approximately 700 participants. Themes of balancing kindergarten through grade 12 education and higher education and the government's role in research…

Explores student and youth organizing and campus activism. Two major issues in current and future campus organizing are reproductive choice and national service plans as proposed by the Clinton Administration. Campus organizing can instill the principles of empowerment in the activists who will be the leaders of tomorrow. (SLD)

In their challenge to dominant modes of representation, their appropriation of consumer culture, and, in their impatience with cultural representations that distort realities of the present and possibilities for the future, young people have created cultural forms that speak to the loneliness, exclusion, and injustice of U.S. society. (SLD)

Suggests that library media centers and public libraries are among the main institutions responsible for providing information on teenage pregnancy. Argues that the treatment of teen pregnancy as an "epidemic" by the United States government and the media, and the representation of pregnant girls in young adult fiction contribute to gender…

Argues that teaching for social justice is a viable science-education goal. Claims that the issues and challenges among science educators in Western and non-Western cultures are more similar than different, and that it is incumbent upon all cultures to contribute in meaningful ways to the development and environmental sustainability of our global…

Depicts a service learning program that focuses on homelessness and housing in which the students work in an urban neighborhood (Yonkers, New York) for a week as a means for developing the students' understanding of urban politics. Believes that this program may encourage students to integrate community development work into their professional…

Considers the role of social-science research in school desegregation efforts as a background to this collection of written reports, depositions, and testimony in the March 1996 hearings about whether the St. Louis (Missouri) school district had achieved unitary status, having done all it could to eliminate the wrongs of a racially dual school…

Presents the results of an undergraduate research project using geographic concepts and terminology to document the public perception of crime in a small New Zealand town. Original data were culled from a questionnaire which addressed such issues as direct victimization, fear of crime, and behavior restrictions and adaptation. (MJP)

Identifies and discusses recent decisions and upcoming cases of the Supreme Court that are likely to be of interest to teachers. Educational issues addressed include Internet access and censorship, affirmative action, sexual harassment, drug testing, and the separation of church and state. Includes a brief description Supreme Court duties. (MJP)

Updates cases and issues previously discussed in this regular column on human rights in Canada, including racism and anti-Semitism, laws on hate crimes, hate sites on the World Wide Web, the use of the "free speech" defense by hate groups, and legal challenges to antiracist groups by individuals criticized by them. (DSK)

Describes how applied developmental science (ADS) integrates developmental research with policies and programs promoting positive development or enhancing life chances of vulnerable children and families. Maintains that ADS contributes to social justice, promotes outreach, and serves as a model of how higher education may engage policymakers,…

The high-school problem is nothing new. In one of his early writings, James S. Coleman, the brilliant sociologist who later wrote the famous report on the equality of opportunity for education (the "Coleman Report") and the first study of public and private schools, identified the essential high-school problem: "our adolescents today are cut off,…

This article concerns an issue that often remains implicit within the public debate about affirmative action and related race-conscious education policies: What role do contested moral ideals play in the disagreement about affirmative action? As background, the article first outlines what a moral disagreement is and then goes on to examine the…

In his critique of academic writing about and public consumption of government policy and law, Jonathan Jansen uses his argument of the symbolic functions of education law and education policy as a basis for explaining the lack of progress in achieving equity and justice under "Brown v. Board of Education" (1954) in the United States and…