Offers an instructional unit about city-states in Ancient Greece and provides an instructional design model that may be used in similar efforts. Appropriate for grades 6-12, this unit acquaints students with Greek city-states, their locations, main characteristics, social and political structures, origins, and evolution. (GEA)

A definition of profession incorporates two fundamental characteristics: (1) It is a self-regulating and self-disciplined voluntary association; and (2) it is based on a scientific framework. Discussions of the teaching profession are not addressing the matter of legal authority implicit in the concept of professionalization. (MT)

Increased policymaking activity at the state level will increase the states' demands for relevant data to guide educational reform. This article presents a state assessment model serving three major purposes: (1) facilitating policy development; (2) mobilizing and sustaining political support for schools; and (3) improved educational quality.…

Constructive strategies to pursue in cases of opposition to an established school board policy include the following: (1) persuade colleagues to consult with the board attorney; (2) share sources of information; (3) confine comments to the issues; (4) ask tough questions; and (5) work to get better board members. (MLF)

Recently increased public concern for educational quality and America's international competitiveness has produced a more favorable climate for improving K-12 science education. Two principal federal agencies, the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the Department of Education (ED), have differing "investment portfolios." ED provides…

Argues that organizational control ideologies serving elites are prevalent in schools as well as in corporations. Schools, as meeting places for those in and those out of power, develop complex cultures, which those in power see as "irrational." Illustrates how school cultures incur difficulties because elites define them as…

Argues that economic constraints for educational planners and the political/ideological context in which educational decisions are made have changed despite the demand for educational expansion with reduced spending. Suggests development of new strategies to increase public spending and improve educational quality. (Author/TRS)

Authors conclude from literature survey that children worldwide fear nuclear war. Resulting feelings of powerlessness, hopelessness, and resignation may be heightened by adults' inappropriate response to and denial of threat. Article suggests systemic interventions directed at familial and larger social systems to allay fears. Also recommends…

The Holmes Group Report takes on faith the primacy of teacher quality and fails to question how curricular, instructional, and administrative considerations contribute to educational outcomes. Differentiated staffing is not new, only the names are different. Reform proposals constitute a major political debate over the role of public education.…

Discusses Mechanics' Institutes and British working-class intellectual life during the nineteenth century (a time period later than generally studied) as a contributor to the spread of evolutionary socialism. Many people preferred non-vocational subjects such as geology and physiology; they were concerned with natural history and new evolutionary…

The authors focus on the organizational context of training evaluation and discuss the following main themes: What organizational factors need to be considered? What sort of objectivity can evaluation studies aspire to? What can training gain from approaches to evaluation originating outside the training literature? (CT)

Examines the historical, political, and economic context of differentiated schooling. Argues that tracking perpetuates inequality. Evaluates the influence on education of the politics of economic scarcity, social conservatism, and assumptions about abilities and the role of schools in providing equal opportunity. (KH)

The fate of the individual who is singled out for oppression is explored. Specific examples are provided. International organizations trying to keep the issue of human rights before the public are described. (RM)

The Local Government Act of 1972 redefined local government boundaries in England and reduced the number of local education authorities. Ancillary corporate management "reforms" ultimately reduced the chief education officer's power, enhanced ruling party and chief executive power, and heavily politicized the education service. (49…

A school superintendent advocates cooperation between the school board and the superintendent but points out that there needs to be a strict distinction between their two roles. The board adopts policy; the superintendent administers policy. (MD)