Discusses the importance of specifically examining African American male student involvement in campus activities, reviews literature regarding gains and outcomes associated with involvement, highlights recent participation rates of African American males and offers reasons for their reluctance, and presents strategies for increasing African…

A partnership between British Telecommunications (BT) and the Communication Workers Union resulted in a part-time bachelor's degree program for BT employees. The union played a key role in establishing the credibility of the program. Concerns included employee access to the program and manager resistance. The need to sustain workplace learning…

An Illinois district created a collaborative contract agreement that lays a foundation for future multiyear contracts. In the process, participants learned to build a participative district atmosphere benefitting all three leadership parties, seek compromise, avoid unnecessary contract language changes, allow minimal publicity about sessions, and…

Discusses findings of two (British) research projects initiated by the National Union of Teachers: a survey of NUT school representatives' views of EAZs and an evaluation of teachers' role in EAZs. Despite provision of high-quality professional-development opportunities, many teachers at EAZ schools feel that they do not "own" the…

In the Canadian pulp/paper industry, management is focused on worker flexibility for productivity. Unions view workplace learning as a threat to job control and security. Although learning new skills enhances individual workers' flexibility and employability, collectively it weakens the union through job losses. (Contains 56 references.) (SK)

This article, using unbalanced panel data on 16 affluent OECD countries, tests the effects of diverse aspects of globalization and deindustrialization on unionization trends. In contrast to the recent studies focusing on the conditional role of labor market institutions, this study underlines the role of two structural factors in transforming…

In this article, the author asks, what will it take to create and support a core teacher workforce in school systems that now must be redesigned for the high-stakes assessment environment of No Child Left Behind? School systems were beginning to address this question just as high stakes and high standards were being mandated across the nation. At…

Though the advent of collective bargaining represents a significant development in the history of American education, most research and commentary about public schools focuses on other matters. It is a curious omission, especially after nearly five decades of extraordinary union growth. As the authors assessed its impact for this essay, they…

The problem of teacher incompetence is a serious one, affecting large numbers of American public school students. There is a significant discrepancy between estimated rates of incompetent teachers and the number of teachers actually dismissed on grounds of incompetence. This study sought to uncover the perceptions of teachers regarding a…

In this article, the author claims that the steady corporatization of American higher education has threatened to relegate faculty governance, never strong, to the historical archive. In public institutions, faculty disempowerment has been codified by law--legislatures, the governor or county executive or their staff, or state boards of higher…

The attitudes among social workers toward labor unions are a topic of significance. Historically, social workers have had an ambivalent relationship with unions. This article analyzes the extent to which unions matter to social workers and whether unions represent the interests of professional social workers. The relationship between social work…

The possibility that the No Child Left Behind Act could trump provisions of collective bargaining agreements with teachers has hung in the air as an open question since before the measure became law in 2002. But it should not anymore, says a report released last week asserting that the teachers' contracts have the winning hand. The debate began as…

The question of European trade unions' approach towards vocational training is an interesting example of a broader issue, involving both the role played by non-governmental actors in shaping the social dimension of the integration process, and the need to develop a social dialogue in the Community. In this context, the establishment of Cedefop in…

The ideal of "bildung" as a goal for higher education and research (HER) in European Union member states is losing ground to more pragmatic goals such as innovation and growth. This shift in the policy perspective about the role of science in society has given rise to a system of multi layered governance which in turn is progressively…

In response to Mr. Ayers and Mr. Klonsky, Mr. Duncan argues that Chicago's Renaissance 2010 initiative is holding adults accountable by closing low-performing schools rather than trapping children in a failing educational environment.