This report presents information from the February 1997 Select Seminar on Excellence in Education. The Select Seminars have been held since 1985 as a form of professional development, offering a forum for educators to consider major issues and make written recommendations to improve the quality of education. Participants in the 1997 Seminar were…

In the past 10 years many countries have implemented large-scale reforms of their public educational systems. The origins of reform programs in four countries--Canada, the United States, England, and New Zealand--are presented here. The text focuses on four aspects of reform: (1) the sources of reforms as initially proposed by governments, the…

This paper explores the education policy adoption process in the Texas legislature and role of professional educators in influencing critical decisions relating to the inclusion of students with disabilities in general education classes. This case study traced the wielders of power, power interactions, the actors and sources of their power, and…

A study explored rates of learning and political interest among students in the "Introduction to American Government" course at a community college. The study was sparked by calls for program review and outcomes assessment that are commonplace on contemporary American campuses. The study featured a pretest/posttest methodology and…

Present attempts to transform the meaning and purposes of schooling through a radically reformed notion of leadership are examined in this paper. The first part presents a framework that explains the mechanisms through which school cultures are produced, reproduced, and transformed: pedagogy, curriculum, assessment, and discipline. The first…

Various perspectives on the highly complex textbook debate are presented in this book, which includes essays by educators, publishers, policymakers, and scholars. Currently, the advocates of higher academic standards, coherence, and quality occupy the strongest position in the debate. Part 1 looks at textbooks from a historical perspective. The…

This document justifies U.S. government funding of the Southern Regional Consortium of Colleges of Education (SRCCE) proposal for a Educational Leadership Research and Development Center (ELRDC), reviews the formulation of the research and development agenda, lists the several steps leading to the establishment of the center designated to…

This annual compilation contains four articles addressing issues of growth and diversity in American higher education. Three articles examine student life in evolving institutions, especially the relationship between official missions and student cultures, followed by two essay reviews, one that examines the current debate surrounding the history…

This paper examines the development of the Merchandising Management Program at Michigan State University and the development of a teaching module which focuses on the shifting economies in eastern Europe, particularly Poland, as they change from command to market economies. An overview of Polish retail trade required the development of a study to…

This study explores the reasons for high turnover within rural superintendencies from the perspective of local boards of education. Forty-one school districts with 600 or fewer students in a southwestern state were identified as experiencing high superintendent turnover (having employed three or more superintendents within the past 5 years).…

This paper examines conflicts and collaboration between industry and universities regarding sponsored research and freedom of publication, particularly in the United Kingdom. An opening section notes that the values of the market and the university are in fundamental conflict which presents problems for institutions attempting to work in…

This report presents the historical background of New York State's normal school system, the system that predated the centralized organization of the State University of New York (SUNY) system. New York's first state normal school was established in Albany in 1844. Nineteen years later the state began to provide support for the normal school at…

In the past and present, the communities of Mount Desert Island in Maine have faced the issue of school consolidation. In 1948, the four towns of Mount Desert Island each had their own high school and several elementary schools. Despite an extensive survey and community discussion, the vote to consolidate into one high school was defeated in 1949…

This paper examines the college board governance system of the 23 Colleges of Applied Arts and Technology in Ontario, Canada, with an assessment of specific issues related to the system's effectiveness and suggestions for improvement. Contextual factors currently affecting the role of governing boards are discussed including a decline of…

This publication consists of an essay entitled "Managerialism and the Academic Profession: The Case of England," by Martin Trow, along with a commentary on the essay by Paul Clark. Trow argues that over the past decade British higher education has undergone a more profound reorientation than any other system among industrial societies.…