This paper situates the notion of foreign language (FL) standards within a larger culture of standardization grounded in (1) the context of FL education, (2) the larger political and educational context of standards based reform and standardized assessment, and (3) the pervasive linguistic culture and ideology associated with the notion of…

This paper argues against Australia's "One Literacy" (English only) movement, explaining that in recent years, there have been efforts to clear the curriculum of non-literacy subjects and activities, and noting the difficulty of determining what is and is not a curriculum distraction. It also notes that elementary students' English…

This paper--part of a collection of 54 papers from the 48th annual conference of the Education Law Association held in November 2002--discusses open-meeting laws. All 50 states have adopted laws that require school officials to conduct their business in open sessions before the public and the press. This paper examines the Brown Act, California's…

This anthology is intended to serve as an introduction to some of the big issues that shaped and continue to shape policy, practice, and debate over public schooling. Perspectives on these issues are presented in 32 chapters: (1) "The Educational Situation" (John Dewey); (2) "Progress or Regress?" (David Tyack and Larry Cuban);…

The No Child Left Behind (NCLB) mandate has pushed the debate on how to educate the limited English proficient child to the forefront. Thus, criticism abounds in several states surrounding the effectiveness of bilingual education programs in our nation's public schools. The opponents state that bilingual education is not working; it is an…

This paper reviews the history of how trustees are selected to boards of public institutions of higher education and offers specific recommendations to improve the selection process. The paper notes a trend toward an overall decline in the effectiveness of boards and reports that the major factor identified in several recent analyses is the…

This guide explains the regulations that govern Head Start staff's political participation and lobbying activities in an effort to assist staff in becoming politically proactive and strengthen the voice of Head Start. The guide begins with an introductory section which describes the regulations for political involvement with which Head Start…

Almost unnoticed, growing numbers of working poor people are entering politics at the community level in dozens of major cities in Texas and across the United States. These people are unusual because they view politics as a long-term process to build relationships, new institutions, and humane communities. This book tells the story of a new kind…

Many Canadian provinces are looking to Alberta for guidance about charter schools. This case study examines the closure of one charter school to identify the obstacles other schools may face. This study uses critical policy analysis and the "politics of interpretation" to examine the political context of educational policy issues. While…

Two features limit the value of legislatively mandated high-stakes tests such as Alaska's Benchmark and High School Graduation Qualifying Exam as accountability tools in the current standards-driven environment. First, the sheer numbers of tests administered have led to a reliance on multiple choice and short-answer questions, with only minimal…

This article addresses a number of common confusions that characterize much of the debate about the status of American Sign Language (ASL) as a foreign language option. The article begins with a broad overview of the nature and characteristics of different kinds of signing as they are used in the deaf culture and between the deaf and hearing…

After Britain returned control of Hong Kong to China in July 1997, a new language policy required all schools to switch their teaching medium from English to Chinese in September 1998. Those schools that wanted to continue to teach in English had to obtain special permission. Only 100 of 400 schools successfully obtained such permission. This…

Intended to provide background information to state leaders as they play an increasingly visible role in reading programs, this policy brief notes that too many students are not reading at grade level and apparently are not receiving adequate opportunities to catch up to their peers. The brief is in 7 sections. The first is "How Well Are Students…

This book is for administrators, teachers, policymakers, educational reformers, and community leaders who are concerned with achieving greater social justice in education. It provides an in-depth understanding of the challenges to schools brought about by lingering views of race, gender, ethnicity, and class, showing how the inequalities of the…

Since 1994, at least three children of migrant workers have been maimed in Georgia packing houses while waiting for their parents to finish work. In this personal narrative, a former migrant educational outreach worker describes one such incident in May 1996, in which a 2-year-old lost his hand to the machinery of a Georgia onion packing shed. The…