Designed for high school economics students as a public service project of the American Fletcher National Bank, the booklet examines America's decreasing productivity rate in terms of the efficiency. Natural resources, labor, skilled management, and capital are essential to the productive process. When there is an increase in the cost of the…

The Citizen Bee is a national competition for high school students sponsored by the Close Up Foundation. The main guide is a survey of U.S. history, culture, government, economics, and geography addressed to students and designed to prepare them for that competition. The guide is divided into 13 chapters: (1) "The Revolutionary Spirit,"…

The "Speak for Yourself" curriculum is one element of the Lutheran Brotherhood's "Respecteen" national youth initiative. Designed for seventh and eighth grade students, this program encourages students to develop an awareness of contemporary social issues, inspire communication about those issues among students and their…

Parental choice represents a promising approach to school improvement; it eliminates the excessive regulation, inefficient operation, and ineffective service that characterize the public monopolies that American schools and school systems have become. However, school reformers should bear in mind the following key points: (1) school performance…

The need for training in basic skills in the workplace in Britain has been produced by demographic changes, new technology, changes introduced in firms, the European Single Market due in 1992, and the required competitive bidding for some contracts. Workbase, a nonprofit organization, offers training and support for training organizations, Local…

This book lists and describes opportunities for teenagers to participate in organized science and math activities within and without the classroom. Students may participate at the local or school level by joining clubs and interest groups and by entering fairs; at the national level, by entering competitions of various sorts; and at the…

This working paper reflects the conviction that three areas of change are needed if America's higher education system as a whole is to make optimal contributions to the economic health of the country; it is based on the premise that at this time higher education is far from fully contributing to the economic well-being of the United States. The…

Each year the New York State Mathematics League (NYSML) and the Atlantic Region Mathematics League (ARML) hold mathematics competitions for secondary school students. This document contains the questions used from 1973 to 1985, and the ARML questions used from 1976 to 1985. For each competition listed the book provides: (1) power questions; (2)…

A guide to mutual gains bargaining (MGB) is presented for faculty union leaders and college administrators, as well as school systems. MGB is based on applied behavioral sciences concepts and the use of bargaining teams and emphasizes problem-solving and improving communications and campus relationships. Two different uses of the mutual gains…

The tension between competition and cooperation within the various sectors of higher education are considered by the president of the American Council on Education. In American society, the tension is between the pursuit of individual goals and commitment to the collective good. In higher education, competition for high achieving, traditional-age…

This document presents reports of three studies focused on cooperative pedagogical strategies. The first concerns individualistic and cooperative goal structures in high school mathematics achievement. Two general mathematics classes were taught a unit on percents, one with a cooperative and the other an individualistic goal structure. The…

Fifty-two fourth and fifth grade students, randomly assigned to three groups (1) competitive, (2) individualistic, and (3) no feedback control, received differential feedback regarding their performance in two 40-minute computer assisted mathematics sessions per week over six weeks. Attributions regarding academic outcomes in computer assisted…

Noting that education is viewed as the route to success in American society, the paper argues that education has not lived up to this promise. Emphasis on conformity and regimentation, fostering of competition and exclusion behaviors, classism, racism, and a microfocal perspecitive of social problems serve as barriers to full realization of the…

In response to education reform mandates, rewards and incentives such as career ladder and master teacher programs are being designed to break lock-step salary schedules and to retain competent teachers. While these "pay-for-performance" plans seem acceptable to taxpayers, few realize that such approaches have already been tried and…

These five congressional hearings examine the United States educational system and consider its redesign with an eye toward the skill needs of the future. The goal of the hearings is to develop a comprehensive legislative agenda to enable the next Congress and the next administration to take the necessary steps to provide U.S. industries with…