Reports on and responds to a list from the American Association of School Administrators detailing the "Top Ten Changes Affecting Students Since the 1960s." Argues that the list is part common sense, part nonsense, and part obvious. Concludes that there is almost nothing the schools can do about these problems because they are societal problems,…

Urban small-school proponents who desire more autonomy find charter schools appealing, since they receive public money but operate independently of the district structure. Others feel that charter schools are a stalking horse for private school vouchers and privatization, part of an attempt to undermine public education, or an abandonment of…

Legislators, politicians, and business leaders should heed research demonstrating the effectiveness of smaller schools, which often have an enhanced learning ambience. Opportunities to participate and develop life skills are much greater in smaller schools. Small schools have fewer disruptions, promote belonging, and can enhance academic…

Measured value-order responses of 31 Arab (Jordanian) and 27 American business students and studied how culturally-ingrained values were reflected in students' perceptions of people they met. Economic, political, social, and theoretical values were nearly the same for both groups; slight differences were found for aesthetics and religion. (SLD)

Discusses the nature of school restructuring in Australia and provides a justification for restructuring predicated on improving teaching and learning. Provides various restructuring frameworks, recognizes the need to clarify qualifying conditions, and addresses ways to overcome implementation problems. Ambiguity and ambivalence over…

A discussion of post-Communist changes in Rumanian higher education looks at forces and factors promoting rapid expansion and diversification in institutional structure and extensive privatization. Attention is given to how those changes were addressed by legislative and government bodies. (MSE)

The relationships between provincial and local goverments in Canada have important effects on the course of public education. School districts in British Columbia use a wide variety of political strategies to influence provincial government behavior. Greater knowledge of the nature of such political strategies by school districts would make…

Examines the debate between liberals and communitarians, offering a sympathetic reading of the communitarian critique of liberalism and discussing its implications for school reform. The article lays a foundation for a series of articles that focus on the community-individual nexus as it relates to educational theory and practice. (SM)

Analyzes five cases related to challenges to public school textbooks. Five different U.S. Courts of Appeal have considered the objections of parents to textbooks, and all five found for the defendant school districts. Reveals that what began as a grassroots parental movement evolved into a nationwide crusade that has embroiled communities. (129…

Schools in Arthurdale (West Virginia), a New Deal resettlement community for displaced coal miners, made landmark efforts to bring Deweyan ideals of progressive education to bear on community life. The article examines Arthurdale's pedagogy and history in order to illuminate ambiguities of educators' efforts to promote community, emphasizing…

Examines the effects of British government attempts to make teacher education more school based. Surveys of students at one such program indicated that while it offers great insight into school life, it may sacrifice the development of students' analytical and theoretical understanding of education promoted within higher education-based work.…

Recent British educational reforms, particularly the adoption of a national curriculum, have increased centralized control of education. Since 1988, teachers have witnessed the erosion of universities' role in teacher training, the "marketization" of the national inspection system for schools, and the imposition of school assessment…

Outlines problems in reconciling tensions among theories of citizenship, democracy, and multiculturalism in the context of capitalist societies, and resulting implications for comparative education scholars. Discusses the Enlightenment as foundation of citizenship, feminist criticism, postcolonialism, critical race theory, and social movements.…

Discusses Canadian provinces' business-oriented control of local educational systems (via mission setting, consolidation, performance measures, nonunion workforce); elimination of denominational school systems; abolishment or amalgamation of school boards; Canada's huge educational debt; early teacher retirement; alternate solutions to educational…

Mountains of data over 10 years show that the educational sky is not falling. This article deplores critics' disregard of the Sandia Report, American policymakers' test-craziness and education/economic productivity obsessions, the overrated "Texas Miracle," National Education Goals, and weighty student backpacks. (MLH)