"Focuses on the recent school movements of Boston, Massachusetts in order to explore the backgrounds and movement careers of both black and white women to whom school politics beckoned with opportunities for leadership. This study indicates that the education conflict in Boston has been a vehicle for women's participation and…

Discusses responses of high school seniors on a "Youthpoll America" survey. (IRT)

Documents the contributions of one of Africa's foremost nationalists and pan-Africanists to the development of libraries in Nigeria. Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe was able to wield political influence to ensure a legal basis for public library development, establishment of the University of Nigeria Library and the eventual creation of National Library of…

Proposes some ground rules for principled debating and then, from the standpoint of a leftist, evaluates two conservative critiques (Lynne Cheney's "Telling the Truth" and John Wilson's "The Myth of Political Correctness") of academia in light of these ground rules. (TB)

Analyzes coverage of the "Sokal Affair", in which physicist Alan Sokal submitted a fraudulent article and then criticized the journal for publishing it. Examines the four currents that overdetermined the Sokal Affair: antliberalism, anti-intellectualism, debates among the left about what constitutes a legitimate left, and the…

Describes a highly politicized controversy over banning books which caused much anxiety and anger in the school district in which the author worked. Discusses how it also generated reflection and conversation about how progressive public educators can best protect the rights of students, teachers, and parents. (SR)

Uses the case of a 1988 children's book called "Abigail at the Beach" to discuss censorship (both visible and invisible) of children's books in Britain. Discusses issues of power, economics and politics, and the status of the Children's Book in a world that is suspicious of it and unsympathetic to it. (SR)

Argues that Slavoj Zizek's writings show why the turn to theory could actually hurt the field of composition by increasing the discipline's level of ideological misrecognition concerning the economics and politics of higher education. Argues that educators should stop using theory as a virtual way of escaping their own real practices. (SG)

Examines how the presence of multiple racial/ethnic groups complicates educational politics. Interviews with participants in education politics in four cities highlight a complex arena of problem definitions and assessment of reforms. The arena is so infused with issues of race/ethnicity that groups agreeing upon some elements of the education…

Asserts that there are multiple reasons why portrayals of an educator shortage crisis may be widely accepted in spite of questionable evidence. Explores reasons that may explain perceptions or misperceptions of the shortage, including political forces that may encourage or perpetuate beliefs about the problem. (EV)

Describes the role and function of the census and discusses census taking and decision making about "counting" from two perspectives: the Supreme Court decision in Wisconsin vs New York, and the Census Bureau's current plans for the year 2000. Concluding comments explore the lessons learned from the 1990 census and the effect on the 2000…

Examines the pros and cons of several family-oriented initiatives offered by President Clinton and Senator Bob Dole during their 1996 campaigns. These include tuition tax credits, volunteer tutoring programs, across-the-board tax breaks, and school voucher programs. (HTH)

Describes how some moderate Baptist colleges find themselves at odds with conservative Southern Baptist state organizations. (EV)

Describes how, as he seeks re-election, President Bush is considering issuing a scathing critique of higher education early next year, demanding greater accountability from colleges. He may use the renewal of the Higher Education Act to attack colleges for high costs and dropout rates. (EV)

Considers how the concept of "literacy," especially intensified by the current conservative political climate, has been falsely reified as a clearly distinct "thing" that can be taught and tested in simple and standardized ways. Identifies literacy competencies as "subrosa literacy" and describes detailed performances of these abilities (including…