An analysis of Ohio's school choice options and the likelihood of their implementation from the conservative perspective is provided in this paper. The following issues are examined: conservative arguments for school choice; the extent to which conservative arguments are related to conservative movement themes; the extent to which conservative…

This paper argues that a conservative, illusory, and technocratic rationality pervades recent educational policymaking in New York State. A document called "A New Compact for Learning," published by the State Education Department in March 1991, is analyzed to show that technocratic rationality, a functionalist theory of educational…

In Old China, working women had no rights in such matters as politics, economy, culture, society, and family life. Women were governed by the Chinese feudal society tradition. When "new" China was founded in 1949, working women made up the 7.5 percent of the total work force. By 1983, the number of working women had increased to 36.5…

This paper reports a portion of the data from a larger study designed to examine the high school principal's influence on the classroom behavior and thinking of teachers. Data were derived from semistructured interviews conducted with a selective sample of 6 principals and 33 teachers in a suburban school district in the southeastern United…

This booklet focuses on reform of the professional portion of initial teacher preparation. Following an introduction entitled "Professional Education Under Attack," the booklet is organized into three sections. The first section evaluates the validity of four common criticisms of professional education of teachers, including those made…

Findings of a longitudinal study that explored the impact of recent educational reforms in England on the nature of the relationship between headteachers and lay school governors are presented in this paper. Recent legislation, notably the 1986 Education Act (No. 2) and the 1988 Education Reform Act, have increased governors' and consumers' power…

Newspaper layout and design studies ignore politics, and most studies of newspaper politics ignore visual design. News layout is generally thought to be a set of neutral, efficient practices. This study suggests that the political position of Peruvian newspapers parallels their visual presentation of terrorism. The liberal "La Republica"…

It is indeed a problem, perhaps even a crisis, that many Americans are ignorant of "The Tempest," the Civil War, the location of the Persian Gulf, the Constitution, or the chief justice of the Supreme Court. However, if conservative humanists continue to ostracize, scorn, and ignore both media studies and the media themselves, the result will not…

This paper compares the process and structure of institutional research with three ways of conceptualizing science. The first section examines the scientific method as a process of disciplined inquiry, then compares institutional research to that process. The second section compares the logical structure of institutional research with the logical…

Although proponents of "heavy" phonics instruction (intensive, systematic phonics instruction carried out extensively) argue that the literacy gap between minorities and the middle class can be closed by teaching phonics, heavy phonics instruction seems to be a tool for widening rather than closing the literacy gap between non-mainstream…

As English departments face the 90s and beyond, the pressure will only rise to define and justify the role of the English professor in the academy. Three current debates suggest the indeterminate future of English departments, which now represent a multi-faceted discipline. First, the canon debate must be resolved; second, the teaching role of the…

When the state legislators of Illinois mandated a full-scale statewide assessment program in reading/language arts, the Illinois Association of Teachers of English (IATE) made its stand clear: that tests for Illinois students must be created, designed, and executed by Illinois English/language arts educators, and that a writing sample was an…

In discussions of media education, mass communication educators have allowed the professional media industry to define the boundaries of dialogue, leaving the academy to respond, defend, and rationalize. This approach has allowed the professional industry to operate for too long under three gross and inaccurate assumptions: (1) that educators have…

The values and desired lifestyles of college freshmen from the classes of 1980 through 1985 are examined, based on University of Michigan survey results. The following goals were rated by the freshmen: a good marriage and family life, strong friendships, finding purpose and meaning in life, finding steady work, achieving work success, making a…

This study surveys the history of school finance equity in Illinois after the major reforms introduced in that state in 1973 and then evaluates the success of the Illinois general grant-in-aid system. The authors describe the reform coalition that altered Illinois school funding in 1973 and trace the rise and subsequent erosion of those efforts.…