Presents the National Education Association (NEA) president's views about education and the teaching profession, particularly successes and failures of the education reform movement. Chief concerns are securing high quality education for all children; improving teachers' leadership roles, evaluation, motivation, salaries and training; and…

The controversy over intelligence testing is more often influenced by political considerations than empirical research. A survey of 1,020 experts found that a majority agree that (1) intelligence can be defined; (2) heredity plays a role in individual and group IQ differences; and (3) intelligence testing in schools should continue at its present…

Profiles Atlanta's first Black superintendent, Alonzo Crim, who discusses 11 years of achievements, particularly the creation of a "community of believers" perception in the public mind. Board members and teachers provide evaluative commentary. (KS)

Describes dilemmas for United States universities and for political and professional leaders in the Third World that result from an ambivalence in the relationship between the universities and Third World countries. Argues that as more foreign students enroll in United States universities, the dilemmas will become more acute. (SB)

Economics education is a real necessity. Today, for example, when the United States is trying to maintain its position as a worldwide industrial power, students must be taught about the international nature of our economy. An educated citizenry will be less likely to automatically accept economic panaceas offered by politicians. (RM)

Based on his own experience, a school executive counsels against using a hard sell in promoting a bond issue, since Washington State public disclosure law requires that school levy material printed and distributed by the school system be strictly limited to factual information. (TE)

Distinguishes three types of "mavericks" (single-issue advocaters, aspiring politicians, and administrative meddlers) who often complicate school board operations and offers six maxims for dealing with them, including understanding board members' personal motivations and conducting board business as openly as possible. (JBM)

The author's suggestions for dealing with single-issue board members include preparing for potential problems before "mavericks" take their seats, being fair to the maverick member's single issue, alerting mavericks to public pressure, and conducting a board self-analysis session. (JBM)

Though frequently forecasted and referred to, the so-called information society is likely but not necessarily inevitable. Questions are raised about such a society, including its impact on work, commerce, health, education, entertainment, politics, intergroup relations, families, and the impact of anticipated changes on the quality of life.…

This document represents the second of two volumes presented in "Study of the Impact of the Statewide Systemic Initiatives Program" (Norman L. Webb and Iris R. Weiss). In an effort to evaluate the impact of the Statewide Systemic Initiatives (SSIs) on student achievement and the lessons that could be learned from the National Science Foundation's…

This report documents the extraordinary crisis facing Florida's public schools and provides evidence that Amendment 9--a proposed constitutional amendment to reduce class sizes--is a cost-effective and invaluable first step to rebuilding its troubled public schools. The report also sets the record straight about the long-term benefits of investing…

This report argues that evidence exists for the case that the charter school movement is largely a failed reform. The report puts the charter school movement in the context of dissatisfaction with public schools and the public sector in general. It then describes the claims for charters made by the early charter school advocates, emphasizing the…

Bringing charters to scale remains a major challenge. To learn more about barriers to the expansion of high-quality public charter schools and how they might be removed, the National Charter School Research Project (NCSRP) at the University of Washington and the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools convened a meeting of leaders from…

This paper is intended to contribute to the general literature on international teacher exchange in citizenship education. This paper was presented at the 48th Annual Conference of the Comparative and International Education Society on March 11, 2004 in Salt Lake City, Utah. (Methodology) The author reports on the content and evaluation of two…

This article addresses the problem of inept, ineffective, and mediocre governing boards at America's colleges and universities. It maintains that substandard governance can almost always be traced to one of two culprits, or both: (1) most boards are orchestras of soloists; and (2) many boards tend to either lionize or trivialize the president.…