In this essay, Benjamin Baez and Susan Talburt analyze the U.S. Department of Education's Helping Your Child Series to consider how the government of children, families, and schools reflects a concern with two seemingly unrelated political objectives of neoliberal projects: creating responsible, self-reliant citizens and making schools more…

The centerpiece of former Governor Elliot Spitzer's education reform agenda was a set of performance agreements between the state and designated needy school districts. Known as Contracts for Excellence, or C4E, these agreements would eventually be linked to over a quarter of the new state aid proposed in the governor's first budget. C4E districts…

According to William Raspberry, U.S. schools are already doing a good job of teaching children who come to school ready for learning. The problem with America 2000 is that the $700-800 million price tag is too small; billions are needed for establishing child service centers and other support services to ensure optimal learning. (MLH)

Historical changes in the emphasis and focus of Project Head Start from 1965 to the present are briefly reviewed in this paper. Head Start was conceived of as primary prevention designed to enable children from lower income families to obtain educational prerequisites to formal schooling. The early years of the project were also characterized by…

To promote effective evaluation of the 4-H program, develops a matrix that identifies unintended and intended consequences of the program. After discussing objectives and activities of 4-H, concludes that the program has effectively incorporated good delivery modes and appropriate selection of materials to make an important contribution to…

This essay serves as an introduction to a group of papers addressing different issues involved in developing a suitable definition of educational adequacy. After characterizing the congressional mandate underlying this series of reports, identifying the fields represented by the reports' authors, and describing the specific questions these…

The deregulation critique of the federal role in education asserts that education can be as productive with less federal intervention. This critique can be broken down into three groupings of separate criticisms. The first group denies the value or feasibility of federal goals. These criticisms insist either that federal goals are not worthwhile…

This paper focuses on the National Sex Equity Demonstration Project, a joint effort of the University of Miami and the Broward County School Board funded by the Women's Educational Equity Act Program. The author concludes that the project made a modest, but important, contribution to the definition of educational equity. (Author/DWH)

Vocational education is a must if the United States wishes to compete with the Europeans and Japanese. It cannot be relegated to secondary status in schools. The federal government must play a major role in seeing to a balanced approach to the economic and social goals of vocational education. (CT)

Issues in school choice are examined in this paper, with a focus on the link between the political philosophy of Education 2000 and the likely civic, economic, and religious consequences for the United States. The first part briefly identifies selected attributes of the conservative and liberal philosophies regarding capitalism, democracy,…

The Assessment Policy Committee of the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) has directed the NAEP staff to focus the 1985-86 Assessments of Reading, Mathematics, Science, and Computer Competence on the higher-order skills. Each Learning Area Committee worked independently developing three-dimensional models. These defined what could…

In the lean times ahead, school board members may find a rare opportunity to improve education. Reordering priorities is now a political and financial necessity. Decline of support from both the federal government and local taxpayers is causing school boards to look increasingly to state capitals for assistance. (Author/JM)

The following recommendations on curriculum development are presented: (1) Federally sponsored research and development in education has had a beneficial effect on American schools, and promises to be even more effective if responsible, long-term policies can be established and followed; (2) Freedom of choice and cultural diversity can be…

The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) is a federally funded, nationwide survey of educational achievement in 10 academic fields. The program is examined to determine whether viable alternatives exist to measure educational achievement. The information produced by NAEP concerns the educational achievement of 9-year-olds;…

Suggestions for a new role for the Department of Education's regional offices should reflect the new goals and purposes of federal services to education as well as the needs of regional education clients. The U.S. Congress set 7 purposes when it created the Department of Education, and present Secretary of Education Terrel H. Bell established 12…