Recent efforts to make the mathematics curriculum consistent with the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics "Standards" will fail unless teachers' beliefs about mathematics change. Teacher educators, school officials, political leaders, and teachers themselves must first acknowledge a serious problem with the way our society views…

Japanese students are outperforming American students for less cost per pupil. Though American education tries to solve the problems with additional spending and more complex regulation and administration, it is counterproductive, and little money reaches the students. The article discusses solutions to the problem, noting national, state, and…

Questions how academia can continue to engage in knowledge production without producing and legitimating dominant discourses. Maintains that academia must accept that individuals live in a time of multiple perspectives, an absence of embracing consensus, and the deconstruction of any absolute or foundational principles of truth. (MJP)

Sketches three criteria for thinking about an assessment of teaching. Discusses assessment versus professional development, and argues that even if assessment of teaching is only a test, intended to separate the "accomplished" from the "unaccomplished," then it is not a vehicle for reform or change or professional development,…

Presents questions and concerns of a teacher who served as a scoring assessor for the Early Adolescence/English Language Arts field test of the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards, run by the Educational Testing Service. (SR)

Sketches a picture of how different institutions of learning engender different working and business environments for department heads. Discusses various departmental activities and how the departmental environment affects their success or failure. (HB)

Discusses the particular challenges of budgeting facing English department heads. Analyzes political and psychological issues related to department budget management. (HB)

The study of educational politics in the U.S. has been locked within an intellectual straightjacket variously called pluralism, pragmatism, or behavioral science. Explains the field's shift from a behavioral paradigm to a policy paradigm. Discusses various policy research and analysis streams, contributions of educational politics study to policy…

Finds that school property taxes have been substantially reduced under the new Michigan school finance system and have been replaced with new state revenues, although it is uncertain whether these new state dollars will be available in a recession. Finds that substantial disparities remain between Michigan school districts in revenues and…

Describes the experiences of four superintendents who put upholding the law--and satisfying their own conscience--ahead of political pressure. (MLF)

Responds to critical commentary about the authors' article, "The Great Speckled Bird" (1993), which addressed educational policymaking within a social context characterized by multicultural backlash. The authors point to their critics' attempts to deflect from the article's main focus, how these educational policies came to be, by…

Examines 12 black newspapers' coverage of the "Civil Rights Cases" in 1883 and "Plessy v. Ferguson" in 1896, to determine if these newspapers reflect a shift from optimism in 1883 to discouragement by 1896 over the state of race relations. Tries to determine whether these newspapers counseled their black readers to have…

Responds to an article in this issue regarding the challenge of interdisciplinary research. Suggests that the primary motivation for avoiding interdisciplinary research is political, not epistemological. (SR)

Outlines a five-step, reality-based process for dealing with special-interest groups: (1) value controversy; (2) know the school district's mission; (3) identify the interest groups; (4) choose an appropriate strategy--evasion, conciliation, bargaining, opposition, or consensus; and (5) periodically evaluate how the district has handled issues.…

A study investigated the attitudes of 48 researchers who prepare annual reports for New Zealand's public colleges and universities during a period of substantial change in the reporting process. The analysts felt the reporting changes were driven externally by legislation and internally by institutional administrators and accountants. Responses to…