In the historiography on curriculum reform during the progressive era, one interpretive lens has dominated the study of 20th-century reform for more than 40 years: the idea of the "social efficiency" doctrine. In this historiographical essay, the authors briefly trace the rise of social efficiency as an idea in curriculum history, identify the…

Many readers may recall that this author wrote an open letter to President Obama in 2010 where he took issue with the emphasis on math and science education resulting in the marginalization of social studies and citizenship. In this column, he has selected and written about websites that focus on the election process. The author hopes this will…

Even before 2011's 9.1-magnitude earthquake and the devastating 15-meter tsunami that followed, Japan had been struggling with tremendous economic and demographic challenges that had forced significant changes to its tertiary education sector. In particular, these challenges had played a crucial role in the development of Japanese continuing…

African American students have been underrepresented in higher education since the 1960s. The study of this disparity has caused many researchers to consider the social and institutional correlating relationships that could contribute to the declining retention rates for African American students in higher education. The purpose of the grounded…

In praise of isolation: Who says professional learning communities (PLCs) are a better way? The author says the PLC trend is but the latest education fad that is not helping teachers or students. PLCs, says the author, represents an administrative, clinical ideal of collaboration. He blames legions of high-paid consultants, and says that all along…

The present study was a qualitative study that sought to examine the experiences and perceptions of international counseling graduates (ICGs) who had returned to their home country to work, focusing on the effectiveness and relevance of the training they had received in the United States. Participants were also asked to outline the roles they…

After reviewing the evolution of attitudes to poverty and education we note how it influenced the early provision of schooling and the emergence of a global agenda for international development and universal education. At first, this agenda was grounded in the Enlightenment values that inspired the Universal Declaration of Human Rights but…

Several previous studies have found that Chinese students perceive teacher-student relationships and student-student relationships more favorably than American students. In this study we examined if the same holds true with respect to teachers' perceptions. Also examined were both students' and teachers' perceptions of conduct problems. The sample…

We explored the notion of what constitutes literacy, particularly as it pertains to individuals who are blind or with visual impairments, including those that do not use Braille as their primary way to access and produce text. Four groups of stakeholders participated in the study: a) college students who were blind or with visual impairments, b)…

This article presents a collection of personal perspectives of three academics and one ministry official from various countries in the Asia-Pacific region, namely, New Zealand, Hong Kong, Malaysia, and Thailand, on the importance of inclusive education. These perspectives offer an insider's understanding of the universal and country-specific…

Pedestrians were stopped in the street and asked about their views on the teaching and learning of mathematics and English for boys and girls. Many commented on the importance of teachers for both subject areas; some respondents self-identified as teachers. In this article we present findings on the gendering of mathematics and English and the…

The progressive education movement was known in Spain from its very inception, and in fact many of its pedagogical theories and practices reached Spain before reaching other European countries. Yet traditional historiography has always maintained that Spain was never integrated in the progressive education movement, a misconception that helps…

This paper presents findings from interviews conducted in December 2011, with seven Shuar mothers of children in an intercultural bilingual school in the southern Amazon region of Ecuador. This study had two objectives: (1) to foreground the perspectives of Shuar parents towards intercultural bilingual education (IBE) as implemented in the Shuar…

This article argues that high-stakes educational testing, along with the attendant questions of power, education access, education management and social selection, cannot be considered in isolation from society at large. Thus, high-stakes testing practices bear numerous implications for democratic conditions in society. For decades, advocates of…

This article illuminates the ways in which resistant youth challenge attempts toward cultural homogenization within public school systems. We trace how youth from historical and lived traumatic experiences such as African American, Native American, and youth with histories of domestic violence, navigate the dominant narrative of pity and…