Keeping our competitive edge in the world economy requires focused policies that lay the groundwork for continued leadership in innovation, exploration, and ingenuity. America's economic strength and global leadership depend in large measure on our Nation's ability to generate and harness the latest in scientific and technological developments and…

The 1987 publication "Workforce 2000" included the following predictions for the remainder of the 20th century: (1) the U.S. economy would grown at a relatively healthy pace; (2) U.S. manufacturing would be a much smaller share of the economy in 2000; (3) the workforce would grow slowly, becoming older, more female, and more…

This paper discusses impressions held by Moscow State University (Russia) students about American values. In class discussions and written assignments, students were asked to comment on thirteen values, giving their perceptions of American attitudes in each case. The values included: personal control over the environment; change; time and its…

Differentiating and ranking (D/R) mechanisms (norm-referenced testing, grouping, competition, busing differences) within the school isolate the culturally foreign and define them as inferior to the culturally dominant. The D/R factors constitute a vehicle by which the school commits symbolic violence. (Author/CM)

This paper explores the nature of markets in higher education, the policy mechanisms related to their implementation, and questions regarding their impact. Various forms of market-oriented policy instruments now employed in many countries are reviewed including taxes, subsidies, and regulations. Potential problems limiting the impact of…

Presents a lesson plan that requires students to use their research and analytical skills in studying the social and economic importance of small business. Activities include interviewing local business owners and producing a written summary, developing a survey showing and explaining area land use, and researching opposition to Wal-Mart stores.…

Surveys of Australian college faculty, conducted in 1977 and 1993, provide data for tracing trends in workload. While time devoted to teaching and research have remained stable, changes at the margins of academic workload are considerable. These tasks are largely generated by demands of institutional competition, accountability, and quality…

Provides a classroom exercise using the restrictive tariffs on sugar to examine issues of protectionism and international trade. Discusses related issues such as the North American Free Trade Agreement and the formation of large regional trading blocks. Includes a hands-on calculation of the economic impact of the quota on consumers. (MJP)

Constructs a model applying evolutionary biology theory to the development of children's sense of justice. Maintains that competition for scarce resources causes many of the moral problems involving justice. Examines the place of emotions in the sense of justice. Hypothesizes rules of justice that predate cultural history. (CH)

Charts the changes in student opinions, regarding the fairness of pricing and profits, from beginning to end of a first-year college economics course. Students answered morally ambiguous questions involving product markets and prices. Student belief in the fairness of free market pricing increased dramatically. (MJP)

Describes a computer software program that allows students, working independently and interactively with the computer, to select alternative market conditions and/or policies and view the results numerically as well as graphically. Discusses options and models provided by the software as well as classroom applications. (MJP)

A survey of 22 current and former medical school deans identified two forces in the health care environment that have had a profound impact on their role as deans and which frequently posed conflicts between clinical and educational enterprises: decline in resources available to medical schools following an era of abundance, and unprecedented…

Goals 2000 is the offspring of "A Nation at Risk," a 1983 teacher- and school-bashing report. IBM CEO Louis Gerstner named the problem and defined the solution, claiming the need for choice, competition, and technology, recasting students as human capital, and marketizing the teacher/community relationship. Tables summarize critics'…

A discussion of the literature on cooperative learning and demographic trends in American education focuses on factors contributing to academic achievement in an increasingly multicultural school population. Research suggests that cooperative learning groups achieve only in the presence of two essential conditions: group goals and individual…

This document contains three papers from a symposium on learning organization practices. "The Beliefs of Managers as Facilitators of Learning in Learning Organizations" (Andrea D. Ellinger) reports selected findings from a qualitative study that examined the perceptions of managers regarding their beliefs, behaviors, triggers, and…