This article uses the lens of education to elucidate multidimensional transformations affecting gender equity in the process of democratization in CEE, SEE, and FSU countries. First, the article suggests that postsocialist transformations in these areas have not automatically resulted in greater gender equity across the region but rather have led…

This article discusses moral education in contemporary Belarus. It offers an insight into the problem of educational change in post-Soviet societies in general and investigates the need for moral education reform in Belarus in particular. It provides a brief description of the situation with respect to moral education in some former Soviet…

This article provides a theoretical discussion of the concept 'object' within Cultural Historical Activity Theory (CHAT). It also introduces some of the methodological considerations that are raised in the study of the formation and transformation of objects of activity. A research project is described in which a theoretical discussion concerning…

The paper is part of a wider study into how women's studies was introduced in the academic curriculum in the United Kingdom, Canada and the USA. It looks at the sexual politics of the academy during the 1970s and 1980s, and at how they are now remembered. Women's studies was inextricably bound up in the politics of feminist activism in the period,…

School moral education in any country is carried out in a particular social and cultural context. The renewal of policy and practice in moral education in China has come about because of a rapidly changing Chinese society, as a result of the government's 'reform and opening up' policy since the end of the 1970s. The consequent changes in the…

In this article we present a discussion of micro-contextual and macro-contextual influences on principals' decision-making compiled from survey and interview data gathered from an extensive study into the ethical decision-making of school principals in Queensland during 2000. We show that there are a number of micro-contextual influences at play…

There has been much hoopla surrounding the notion that charter schools may be a viable option for urban youth. However, the existing information on this issue may be easily dissimulated considering less sloganeering about charter school theories and more research on how charter schools enhance the academic experience of the students they serve are…

This article discusses the new school finance concept known as adequacy, which attempts to estimate the costs of meeting state-established education standards for all of a state's public education students. Moreover, this article will attempt to shed light on the subject by highlighting recent trends within the adequacy movement, the political…

An investigation into the declining supply of principals in two states in Australia revealed that a mosaic of issues surrounds the overall trend towards fewer applications for vacant positions. Looking beyond systemic factors influencing this trend--factors such as the increasing workload of principals--this study discovered why some schools are…

Schools are increasingly expected to address the needs of gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender students. However, the controversial nature of sexual orientation programs and policies makes this a politically sensitive undertaking. This empirical study analyzes the extent to which public school districts across the United States have implemented…

On the silver anniversary of the U.S. Department of Education, participants on all sides of the perpetual debate over the proper role of the federal government in education are taking its survival for granted. The Cato Institute this year issued its customary biennial call for Congress to demolish the department. Based on interviews with some of…

The authors examined the conditions that promote or discourage engagement in the classroom among kindergarten students. Engagement included learning behaviors (on-task behavior) and pro- and antisocial behavior. The authors examined 3 policy-manipulable features of kindergarten classrooms: (a) whether the class met for a half day or full day, (b)…

Genealogies, or histories of the present, create critical spaces to remind us of the non-necessity of that which we consider necessary to our lives (Burchell 1993). Further, genealogies of governmentality attempt to create this space with a focus on how conduct is conducted. In this paper I suggest that genealogies of governmentality are one way…

After decades of debate inside the educational community, literacy policy has recently moved to the larger stage of national politics. Prior to 1997 no federal bill had specifically addressed child literacy as an issue. But in the 2000 presidential campaign, George W. Bush regularly touted his record on literacy, and he and his wife Laura, a…

When President Bush signed the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) into law on January 8, 2002, neither the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) nor the National Education Association (NEA) was on record supporting the new legislation. What has transpired since the enactment of the statute is the story of the two organizations' different approaches…