The accelerating demographic and economic changes within our society, the deepening racial divide, and the elusive quest for equality and justice make multicultural education and understanding the culturally diverse student imperative. The gap between the rich and poor has widened, visible signs of the racial crisis have become stark, and the rate…

This book represents the most thorough exposition on the present understanding of the impetuses, debates, legalities, and effectiveness of school uniform policies that have rapidly entered the discourse of school reform in the United States. In it, David Brunsma provides an antidote to the ungrounded, anecdotal components that define the…

The men and women profiled in this book spring from diverse backgrounds. Each was elected or appointed to his or her position, and all have wielded political leadership in ways that have had a profound impact on the lives of their fellow citizens. The book highlights the lives and achievements of 250+ individuals with the qualities to have become…

Over the last decade, a series of educational reforms have increased opportunities for private companies to play a role in public education. For instance, school districts have sometimes looked to private companies to manage poorly performing schools. The accountability provisions of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 may further increase such…

Public school funding in America comes from federal, state, and local sources. Because nearly half of those funds are generated by local property taxes, the American system generates large funding differences between wealthy and impoverished communities. This paper reports on the characteristics of these financial inequities. It notes that sharp…

This collection of papers, purposely written in jargon-free language, is designed to inform policymakers, business leaders, educators, and civic-minded parents about the abiding complexities of urban school reform and the linkages between the success of schools and the vitality of cities. After the "Introduction: Learning from the Past"…

For one educator, an assistant professor of English with a specialization in writing, the short but dramatic move "up the block" from the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) to DePaul University eight miles north occasioned an adjustment to a radically different institutional personality and student body, despite similar street…

Many U.S. citizens including educators, community leaders, youth workers, other human service persons, and young people tend to be apolitical, timid, cynical, or disdainful about the political process. But knowledge of the political process, when properly applied, is portable wealth and eminently usable power. Every vote can count when backed by…

Since 1869, Vermont has operated a viable voucher system in 90 towns. During 1998-99, the state paid tuition for 6,505 K-12 students to attend public and private schools. As discussions about vouchers and educational reform grow, critics contend that vouchers are a new, untested concept and therefore must be implemented on an extremely limited,…

A growing number of private companies have emerged with the mission of providing educational services to public schools and districts. Partnerships between public schools and service companies, though not novel, only recently have become high-profile and prolific. Although welcomed by educational reformers, partnerships that involve outsourcing of…

On March 11-12, 2006 the FPRI's Marvin Wachman Fund for International Education hosted 44 teachers from 16 states across the country for a weekend of discussion on teaching about India. Sessions included: (1) Why It's Important to Know about India (Ainslie T. Embree); (2) Early Indian History (Richard H. Davis); (3) Modern Indian History (Marc…

This document is intended to provide a quick reference to the newly enacted statutes passed by the 2005 Legislature that affect K-12 education in Nevada. The document does not provide the specific details needed, in many cases, to carry out the requirements of the statutes. Each bill as enrolled should be referred to when specific wording and…

In 1987 a project was undertaken to assess the status of African Americans in the United States in the topical areas to be addressed by the National Research Council's Study Committee on the Status of Black Americans: education, employment, income and occupations, political participation and the administration of justice, social and cultural…

This paper presents an alternative view of shared governance within higher education institutions, examining the major problems encountered by institutions as they implement a shared governance model. Based on a review of the literature, it argues that shared governance, though increasingly popular in recent years, is an issue that should be…

This document was designed to help the California Legislature address long-term and short-term concerns in K-12 legislation. Part 1, which focuses on a suggested K-12 master plan, presents some preliminary conclusions from the governor's office about the role of the state in education. This section outlines governance changes since 1970 and…