This document presents a social profile of Rocky Ford, a rural town in southern Colorado with population of approximately 5,000. The report can be used as a decision-making tool by local citizen educational-accountability committees who are examining forces inside and outside the community. The profile was prepared as an outgrowth of the studies…

The Voting Rights Act contains different provisions, some of which apply throughout the country and some of which apply only in those states and local jurisdictions that meet the conditions and tests spelled out in the act. This booklet explains the general provisions of the act, including the following: voter qualifications, civil suits and…

A newly developed course on education in contemporary China is described. Objectives, curriculum materials, teaching strategies, learning activities, and evaluation are briefly outlined. The three-credit, college-level course explores educational policy and practice in the People's Republic of China since 1949, with emphasis on the…

This paper examines some of the factors involved in the dissatisfaction theory of local school governance. This theory holds that change in school board policy comes about through voter dissatisfaction expressed at the polls, since there is no other way for citizens to express their desires. School board "culture" dictates that the board…

The case of Bertell Ollman, who was denied a University of Maryland department chairmanship and who contends it was due to his Marxist beliefs, is described. Ollman is invoking the Fourteenth Amendment to protect his First Amendment rights to free speech and to hold employment regardless of his political convictions. (LBH)

When results were compiled on New Jersey's statewide test of basic skills last year, only 31.25 percent of the 10th graders in Paterson surpassed the State-set minimum score in reading and only 34.2 percent in math. No school district had a lower percentage in reading, and only two had lower percentages in math. Discusses how the school district…

This article makes the case that the University of California at Berkeley's nuclear labs at Los Alamos (NM) and Livermore (CA) are really weapons laboratories run by the military. (B B)

The success of higher education depends upon its steering clear of political involvements, but in Latin America this appears to be different. There institutions of higher learning are inextricably wedded to politics and political movements. This article reviews and analyzes higher education and politics in Latin America. (Author)

Uses Israel as an example to examine three variables--size, organizational mode, and political value system--and their effects on educational policy making and planning at a national level. Argues that in Israel's case small size, centralization, and democracy interact to create a new type of planning behavior termed the enlightenment approach.…

Describes social trends that, since the 1960s, have spawned new forms and uses of standardized testing, including educational growth, shifts in the locus of school control, and politicization of education. Discusses the new state-mandated tests. Presents a set of propositions to guide understanding of the testing debate and controversy. (KH)

Ten marketing concepts to consider are discussed including: assigning a protagonist, understanding of institutional mission, testing purpose against constituencies, planning effectiveness, positioning, politics, prioritizing, promotion and publicity, choosing representatives with a sense of passion, and performance or delivery of promised…

Explores reasons why environmental education becomes "diluted, deleted, and dissolved." Identifies three obstacles to environmental education stating that they will not be overcome until teachers take into account the different types of environmentalism and recognize the role played by curriculum in schooling and the maintenance of power…

Considers the fundamental values underlying American public school finance and investigates how these values have been reflected in the work of "founding fathers" such as Ellwood P. Cubberley, George D. Strayer, and Paul Mort. Demonstrates that public school finance in a democracy is a function of politics as well as economics. Includes 40…

An interview with four leaders (L. Brown, A. Halpern, S. Hasazi, and P. Wehman) on the conceptualization and implementation of transition programming for handicapped students focuses on such issues as the role of political factors, the possibility of effective school/adult service agency coordination, the importance of social skills, and emerging…

The fiscal problems faced by higher education are placed in a broad political economic context so strategies for coping with declining resources can be better evaluated. At the national level, fiscal crisis theories are used to examine broad changes in higher education spending patterns. Regional variations are examined. (Author/MLW)