This article is the third of three on "Sources of Authority in Education." All use the work of Amy Gutmann as a heuristic device to describe and explain the prevalence of market-based models of education reform in the US and the business-influenced Global Education Reform Movement. The other two are "Negating Amy Gutmann:…

This article presents both sides of the debate as to whether urban teachers need structure or freedom, and then takes a stand on urban teaching in the current high-stakes assessment climate. First, we trace the 30-year development of American educational policy in the area of structuring teaching. Then, we present research from proponents of…

The aim of this essay is to advance understandings of current efforts to democratize disciplined approaches to educational innovation and improvement in the US and other countries, with a specific focus on the macro-level policy contexts of improvement research in education. In the US, earlier analyses examined these policy contexts from a…

In the United States, as public demands for quality teachers have escalated, there has been a corresponding increase in national policy efforts to tie the standards of student success to teacher preparation, licensing, and evaluation. This conceptual paper examines how national authorities used specific policy tools to usurp the state's…

The Goals 2000: Educate America Act, the centerpiece of the Clinton administration's education reform program, provides a fascinating case study of the challenges facing an activist administration in trying to craft federal legislation that can provide national direction and leadership in a highly decentralized education system. Goals 2000…

This policy update discusses provisions of the Goals 2000: Educate America Act which directly influence the experiences of high school-age students with disabilities as they prepare for the transition from school to work and adult life. The paper discusses: (1) purposes of the Act; (2) the eight National Education Goals of Title I; (3)…

Raising academic standards and eliminating achievement gaps between advantaged and disadvantaged students are America's prime national educational goals. Current federal and state policies, however, largely ignore the fact that the childhood poverty rate in the United States is 21%, the highest in the industrialized world, and that poverty…

This document records the proceedings of a Congressional hearing on the role of the federal government in education policy. Statements are provided by Richard Riley (Secretary of Education), Bret Schundler (Mayor, Jersey City, New Jersey), Tommy Thompson (Governor, Wisconsin), and Representatives, William L. Clay (Missouri), William F. Goodling…

Considers how the State Systems Change granting process has emerged as way to promote systemic educational reform. It identifies similarities and differences among three major systems change initiatives in special education (i.e., transition), vocational education (i.e., school-to-work), and general education (i.e., Goals 2000). (DB)

Volume 19 of the newsletter of the National Association for Bilingual Education, which spans the period from September 1995 to August 1996, contains a variety of articles on issues and developments in bilingual education policy and programs, including: two way bilingual education; language information from the 1990 Census; cultural influence and…

This book on the results of education for students with disabilities considers a number of issues, including what outcomes should be expected and how they should be measured and reported, school reform, the possible role of Goals 2000/Educate America Act, and alternative views on identifying outcomes and setting standards such as those of the…

Work-based education (WBE), including traditional vocational education and other career-focused programs, was an important curricular component in American schools for most of the 20th century. The 1990s was a period of substantial change for work-based education (WBE). Spurred on by a concern about the international competitiveness of the…

"The ERIC Review" is published three times a year and announces research results, publications, and new programs relevant to each issue's theme topic. This issue explores systemic education reform via an overview of systemic reform, a description of the Kentucky example, and an article, "Roadmap to Restructuring" (David T.…

In 1994, Congress reauthorized Title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act and passed the Goals 2000: Education America Act. Together, these two laws were supposed to support the development and implementation of standards-based, systemic reform initiatives in the states. Despite these high hopes, Goals 2000 and Title I faced a number of…

The Board on Testing and Assessment of the National Research Council convened a workshop in 1994 to help policymakers and others better understand the complex issues emerging from the standards-based educational reform movement. This bulletin synthesizes the workshop discussions. It is organized around four major themes that emerged from the…