Albert Shanker made a significant mark on American political life and altered the politics of education and teacher unionism, though his politics often caused controversy and conflict. Through his long career as a teacher union leader, he helped revolutionize the nation's labor movement and its educational system, utilizing strategies from…

This paper reviews the literature on teachers as researchers, tracing the roots of the subject back to Dewey. The paper notes problems with implementing the concept in teacher education programs and in the schools. It also provides a plan for promoting teachers as researchers and suggests a way of supporting the plan. (SM)

Presents survey responses from over 1,000 black alumni of seven prestigious colleges and universities to determine whether college-educated, middle- and upper-class blacks are the most alienated, radicalized, and disenchanted group of African Americans. Comments from some responders on the benefits afforded blacks who "know their place"…

Articulates parameters for a democratic philosophy of sexual education. Aims to accommodate ideological pluralism related to sexuality while simultaneously ensuring the provision of the necessary information and skills to facilitate sexual health. Proposes that sexuality education ought to be centered on the democratic consensus on the right to…

Despite Democrats' and educators' concern over the first Republican-led reauthorization of the Higher Education Act this year, Republicans supported the bill. Some observers feel the support is a G.O.P. survival strategy, and will not continue; some conservatives feel the party is caving in to higher education interest groups' demands. (MSE)

Describes why and how assessment and accountability can and have become destructive forces. Offers a historical perspective, and examines the crux of the problem: "polluted test scores." Offers examples from the Texas Assessment of Academic Skills test, and from Chicago's summer school program. Points to directions educators might take…

Discusses (from the point of view of the coordinator of Vermont's statewide, portfolio-based writing assessment) the dangers of assessment, and how it can freeze or frustrate students or teachers. Uses examples from Vermont to argue that vigilance is necessary to ensure the survival of personal voice and style in this era of standards. (SR)

Looks at what has been happening to the notion of being a "good" English teacher during a period when increasingly this has become a political and professional issue in England. Outlines the pattern of change for English teachers in England, including positive and negative outcomes of the last few years. Indicates what might be learned…

The sexually charged "Kids" was one of the most controversial films about teenage sexuality and youth of 1995. The pessimism and one-dimensionality of the film foster a conservative pedagogy and politics that fail to break dominant discourse about subordinate youth in this country. (SLD)

Summarizes a study examining the dynamics of a set of (British) education markets over a 39-month period. Secondary schools in three adjacent local education authorities served as laboratories for researching choice and competition. The market's disciplinary effects are clear. The education market reinforces opportunity advantages of middle-class…

For the Educational Left to gain emancipatory ground, the outcome-based education reform movement must be considered as a hopeful democratic sign. This article analyzes and critiques OBE, arguing that teachers must assume personal responsibility for grounding democratic hope within policy. A transitory democratic framework may prove a useful…

This study investigated parental socialization of adolescent political reasoning from a Vygotskian cognitive socialization perspective. Discussions between mothers and their adolescent sons or daughters were examined using a transactive dialogue system and were related to the adolescent's age and gender and to family parenting style. As predicted,…

Assesses the possible impact on academia of the Hopwood decision in which the U.S. Court of Appeals ordered the University of Texas to stop considering race as a factor in making its admission decisions. The author explains how race-blind admissions threaten private universities' ability to pursue affirmative action policies as allowed pursuant to…

The controversy surrounding Pennsylvania's efforts to implement its version of outcome-based education (OBE) is a cautionary tale of contemporary public school reform. Religious conservatives have succeeded in undermining OBE in Pennsylvania, and their ambition is to affect the direction of public educational policy nationwide. (SLD)

Reading is a strategic activity. Readings are intended to make something happen and keep something else from happening. One professor discusses her struggle to situate her readings of students papers in their projects and questions and respond as a teacher to inaudible student messages. (SM)