This collection of four papers addresses the choices that students, teachers, and school administrators make in regard to their education and career paths. They include: (1) "Understanding Entry into the Teaching Profession" (Eric A. Hanushek and Richard R. Pace), which analyzes the characteristics of teachers in public elementary and…

Urban school superintendents from Pennsylvania and New Jersey met to consider issues related to the improvement of urban secondary schools. Although the public is pessimistic about all urban public schools, it regards secondary schools with particular pessimism. There are 70 urban high schools in New Jersey and 81 in Pennsylvania. Superintendents…

A detailed description is presented of the types, functions, performance levels, governance, administration, and funding of public examinations in 14 Sub-Saharan African countries with different educational traditions, based on English, French, or other backgrounds. The countries are: (1) Kenya; (2) Lesotho; (3) Mauritius; (4) Swaziland; (5)…

This document consists of the separately published test booklet, two student answer booklets, and test administration guide for Alberta's beginning-level French as a second language test. The student test booklet contains instructions, largely in English, and questions, largely in French, on aspects of daily life in and out of school. Three…

This paper offers an examination of the transformation of higher education over the last century with a focus on some current tensions and some ideas for responding to the rapidly changing environment. Early sections of the paper describe the "massification" of higher education in which 40 to 50 percent of the population participate in…

Policies and practices related to grading at 14 colleges and universities (8 public and 6 private) and how they have changed between 1980 and 1990 were studied along with the grading orientations and practices of over 500 faculty members. Changes between 1980 and 1990 that may have affected grades include greater prescription of the curriculum,…

This report documents the experiments by the Getty Center for Education in the Arts to research and develop content and teaching practices in school visual arts programs. An 18-month Rand Corporation study, begun in 1982, investigated discipline based art education (DBAE) visual arts programs in 7 cross country school districts. The study's two…

Educational technology planning and investment activities in the 15 states of the Southern Regional Education Board (SREB) area are described. Information was gathered through an informal telephone survey, brief state reports, and a recent survey of state contacts. States that currently have educational technology plans locate central authority…

The purpose of this guide is to help new librarians in Idaho get started at their jobs. It provides a basic overview of library administration, policy, procedure, activities, and services. The following topics are covered: library law; working with the board of trustees; formulating and writing policies and procedures; budgeting and finance;…

This document presents recommendations of the Council of Administrators of Special Education (CASE) regarding the development of a future agenda for a unified (regular and special) educational system. Ten recommendations--five addressing policy and five addressing actions--are included, with a discussion of rationale and implications of each. The…

Teaching for understanding is a concept that portrays teachers as guides, coaches, and facilitators of student learning. This book, which provides concrete illustrations of what teaching for understanding entails, is divided into chapters as follows: (1) "Introduction: New Visions of Teaching" (Milbrey W. McLaughlin, Joan E. Talbert);…

The primary purpose of this book is to serve as a basic text on the black family as an institution. To facilitate an understanding of the black American family, an analysis is presented of the various sociocultural forces that shape both the structure and functions of the family as well as the way the family has experienced changes. Larger forces…

The levy-grant system that operated under Britain's 1964 Industrial Training Act was the most effective incentive mechanism for increasing the volume and improving the quality of training. Strengths of the act's Industrial Training Boards (ITBs) were employer-funded training, collection of data on training in companies to guide planning, and…

This document provides the agenda for the California Community College Board of Governors (BOG) meeting for December 10, 1993, held to inform, explain, and gain a meaningful understanding of the recommendations of the Commission on Innovation (COI) report titled "Choosing the Future." The COI report was prepared in November 1993 and…

This report highlights recent legislation in Minnesota and California concerning charter schools, schools designed and run by teachers under contract with a public sponsor, and provides a brief overview of the issues involved in the establishment of charter schools as a strategy for improving public schools. In Minnesota, charter school…