Those who teach in the field of English and the language arts have seen their subject and their teaching enter the discourse of politics and become the topoi for popular discussions about the crisis in public education--they find themselves caught in a rising tide of public opinion against what they stand for intellectually and professionally.…

What should educators do with students who do not meet standards? Ideas and strategies that educators can use to answer this question are outlined in this book. Rather than relying on forced social promotion, schools can and should offer students a variety of helpful options, such as remaining in the same classroom with the same teacher for…

This paper discusses problematic issues related to teacher education in the Professional Development School (PDS) environment, noting the assumption that partnership between the academy and the public school via PDSs is the foundation of all teacher development. It cautions that while partnership is now deeply embedded in the United States, there…

This book examines issues related to problems in workforce education for Latinos and Latinas in the United States. Chapter 1, "The Landscape of Latinos, Education, and Work," presents an introduction and background information. Chapter 2, "The Politics of Workforce Education," discusses current legislation that has negatively…

This paper presents a discussion by a group of specialists on education in the Muslim world, looking at the United Nations Development Program's Arab Human Development Report of 2002, "Creating Opportunities for Future Generations," and noting three major deficits that need to be addressed: the freedom deficit (political freedom), the…

These two papers offer critiques of two essays that appeared in "Essays in Twentieth-Century Southern Education: Exceptionalism and its Limits," edited by Wayne J. Urban. The first paper examines Linda Buchanan and Philo Hutcheson's interpretation of the debate which underscored the well-known conflict between Booker T. Washington-W.E.B.…

Seven case studies illustrate how rural people and communities have resisted the arbitrary limits of public policy. In contrast to one-size-fits-all education policy, a history teacher in rural southern Texas motivated his Mexican American high school students to collect oral histories in their community, develop them into a curriculum, and teach…

This paper provides an introduction to the mandate of the Standards of Practice and Education Unit of the Ontario College of Teachers and describes how the College is proceeding to address several challenging tasks. The tasks include the licensing of teachers trained in Ontario or other jurisdictions, disciplinary procedures, and in the…

This book presents a case study of a Puerto Rican community in an industrial city, exposing conflicts surrounding the education of language and ethnic minority children and the resistance of many "Anglos" toward parents and community as sources of knowledge. Over 9 years, data were collected from bilingual families living in Steel Town,…

These proceedings present papers from a workshop for policymakers from member states of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) that focused on higher education in transitional economies. After a brief overview of the workshop and the participating countries, reports are presented on Cambodia, China,…

This book examines civic capacity and urban education politics in 11 large cities, highlighting change at the citywide level. Chapter 1, "The Scope of the Problem," introduces the subject. Chapter 2, "The Challenge of Change in Complex Policy Subsystems," suggests that education may be a "high-reverberation" policy…

This book examines the nature of persistent poverty in two impoverished towns in the coalfields of Appalachia and the Mississippi Delta and a contrasting social milieu in a prosperous but remote rural mill town in northern New England. Drawing on 350 in-depth interviews and census data, the book analyzes the dynamics of poverty, politics, and…

This paper analyzes educational finance reforms initiated in Ontario. It outlines the changes in governance, funding, and curriculum and states that reforms were implemented without proper support and forethought, resulting in chaos. The report details how the rise of a conservative government in the province led to a desire to reduce taxation and…

Historically, participation in school affairs gave rural people a working knowledge of how democracy functioned. In the late 19th century, power shifted from the voice of the many to the voice of a few, as "expert" opinion increasingly influenced state legislators, governors, and national political leaders. The push to consolidate…

Explores some basic theoretical questions pertaining to positive discrimination in education, drawing from empirical experiences of several countries that have practiced it in one form or another--the United States, India, Malaysia, and Sri Lanka. Encompasses policies and practices that have variously been called reverse discrimination,…