An educator of special education teachers reflects on his childhood, the current conservative political movement as it affects people who are poor or disabled, the current inclusionary reform movement in special education, and how to best serve youth with emotional or behavioral disorders. General education is seen as inherently inadequate to…

Hungary's political leaders are stepping up pressure on state-supported colleges and universities to make substantive changes in their organization, administration, and curricula, after several years of aborted experiments in consolidating the system. The government says it can no longer afford to support the existing higher education system, and…

Asks who benefits from illiteracy to reveal the political implications of literacy's empowering potential. Observes literacy's ultimate capacity to overturn power structures and redistribute wealth and resources at international, national, and local levels. Relates the literacy problem to colonialism and its legacy. Offers examples of literacy…

This article introduces four papers addressing problems of higher education in Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Poland, and Yugoslavia. Issues identified include overcoming the Communist heritage, the separation of teaching and research, low student numbers, appropriate diversification of higher education, increasing access, the role of the state, and…

A discussion of the changing relationship between the state and higher education in nine industrialized countries looks at conflicting requirements for institutional accountability, different models for the relationship; politics and governance; the developing role of central intermediary agencies; changing perspectives of student protest; and the…

Describes the experiences of American educators on a tour of "kindergarten" (preschool) programs in China, and highlights the major characteristics of child care and preschool in that country. Addresses funding, staff training, enrollment, child-staff ratios, health and immunization, parent involvement, politicization, materials and…

A discussion of medical education in Germany, particularly since unification of East and West Germany, looks at the number of practicing physicians in Germany and their practice settings, number of medical students, medical school admission policies and curricula, and nature of postgraduate training. Proposed reforms are outlined, and the…

Summarizes the academic and nonacademic literature on the provision of child welfare services to Canadian Native people, focusing on the impact of the contemporary political climate on such policy from the 1960s to the present. Recent literature on the subject stresses the need to examine the root socioeconomic causes for the problems facing…

Societal changes will continue to have profound effects on postsecondary education in the twenty-first century. Advances in information technology will require institutional researchers to balance quantity and quality of information, data on multiculturalism must be better used, the political context will make international exchange of information…

Election of Bill Clinton as President has injected Washington, DC, with optimism, but few observers believe his promises will be accomplished without eruptions of conflict, frustration, and acrimony. The 103rd Congress must face pressing issues immediately, concerning health care and benefits, higher education financing, and research and…

Examines the relevance and contribution of universities to national development in economic, sociocultural, and political dimensions. Discusses rates of return, employment, vocational curricula, equality, and ideology. Concludes that a major problem in developing nations is ambivalence of universities stemming from their international and national…

Discusses the experiences and ideas of Anton S. Makarenko, an early influential Soviet educator known for his children's labor collective school that operated in the 1920s near Poltava. Examines Makarenko's legacy for the current educational reform movement, which emphasizes methods that combine instruction with social production and seeks ways to…

Using public school reform efforts in Chicago (Illinois), this essay attempts to provide a theoretical framework for understanding how the educational governance system responds to political and social value conflicts and discusses how opposing interests have periodically compromised rather than resolved these conflicts. (SLD)

This paper describes Florida Uniting Students with Exceptionalities, a public school/university collaboration to implement inclusion strategies for meeting needs of students with mild disabilities in a district engaged in general education restructuring. The paper reviews the philosophical, political, policy, and logistical challenges encountered;…

Addresses the relationship between cities and technology. Reviews various interpretations of scholars writing about consequences of urban technology and infrastructures. Notes current scholarship concentrates on segments. Contends the past can shape urban future and historians need a sense of the whole. (NL)