Analyzes the political implications of two reports on educational reform: "Tomorrow's Teachers" and the Carnegie Task Force's "A Nation Prepared: Teachers for the 21st Century." Proposed changes involving career ladders, a national standards board, and abolition of undergraduate teacher education will produce power struggles over evaluation…

Out-of-date textbooks, inappropriate tests, and underprepared teachers have left mathematics in the classroom in disarray. The need for a permanent national capability to influence all agencies responsible for mathematics education is discussed. (MLW)

Considers the influence of curriculum and assessment on educational standards, within a historical and comparative perspective. Argues that higher standards can be reached, and outlines three potential steps to improvement: (1) upgrading the curriculum; (2) utilizing new forms of assessment; and (3) rethinking the concept of tracking to focus on…

The National Collegiate Athletic Association's new regulation preventing freshman athletes with low standardized test scores from participating in varsity sports, and the response of Black colleges, including a legal challenge, are discussed. (MSE)

At a conference sponsored by the Oklahoma governor and state legislature, educators and politicians met to define goals for the college system. Colleges were urged to: meet the needs of nontraditional, older students, increase involvement with the public schools, recruit minority faculty, and better educate those involved in governance. (MLW)

This North Carolina-based study argues that a reexamination is needed of the competitive position of teaching in the larger occupational structure of society and that the quality of the teaching force will not be raised merely by raising entrance or exit standards in teacher education. (JBM)

By focusing on the pleasure to be gained through art and limiting, insofar as possible, the pain inherent in growth in any discipline, we have unwittingly fostered the notion that anyone can teach art and that student art need not strive toward any standard. This demeans art and art teaching. (IS)

Every public university is engaged now in serious and ongoing accountability appraisal with significant time and resources dedicated to the task. The academy's commitment to accountability is real. Focusing on accountability for undergraduate education, one of several important functions of public universities satisfies a need, but it should not…

The purpose of this guide is to assist teachers and administrators in the implementation of relevant and rigorous collections of evidence for the Certificate of Advanced Mastery (CAM) Career-Related Learning Standards (CRLS) and Extended Application Standard (EA). This guide also provides necessary information to help schools meet the 2006-07…

To date, there has never been an empirical study that has examined the actual activities of rural principals on behalf of improving mathematics education. This monograph presents the results of the first study of rural principals' engagement with mathematics education "reform." This study posed three research questions relating to rural…

The Michigan Department of Education (MDE) recently released its second annual list of schools that have not met their Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) goals. Targets for AYP are established by the state in accordance with the federal No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) of 2001. The list, also known as the priority schools list, identifies 896 schools…

Teaching science means doing science and involves three elements: knowing content, knowing children, and teachers knowing themselves as teachers and learners. The authors describe principles and requirements that reflect National Science Education Standards for the active learning of science. They identify key ingredients for primary students and…

An ever-increasing proportion of high school students in the United States today aspire to graduate from college. Yet statistics indicate that the percentage of college students receiving bachelor's degrees has remained relatively constant over the past 25 years, that it now takes on average 6 years to get a four-year college degree, and that…

This research uses a conceptual model to examine the influence of a change in accreditation standards on a representative national sample of 203 engineering programs at 40 institutions. Based on data collected from 147 program chairs, 1,200 faculty, 4,300 graduates of 2004, and 5,500 graduates of 1994, the study investigates the differential…

At the request of Ohio's top government and education leaders, the Thomas B. Fordham Institute, National Association of Charter School Authorizers, and National Alliance for Public Charter Schools have issued a report seeking to strengthen the state's charter school program. Among its 17 recommendations are calls for closing low-performing charter…