The factory model of organization that resulted from the ascension of industry and economic expansion between 1897 and 1921 was applied to education as well as business. National recommendations aimed to standardize rural education, but local application of these unilateral templates reflected local rural cultures. Examples discussed are…

This paper reviews and discusses political models that bear on policy-making processes. The first part of the report deals with the merits of the "elitist" versus the "pluralistic" frameworks used to analyze the exercise of power in local communities. This review of the theories serves as a basis for a subsequent discussion of…

This paper was commissioned by the Education Commission of the States to identify the educational needs of Puerto Rican students in the mainland United States. A historical overview of Puerto Rico, Puerto Ricans, and their relationships with mainland United States is presented with a focus on the Puerto Rican emigration to the mainland. The role…

Acceptance or rejection of school policy hinges on the role played by formal and informal groups within the community power structure. Kimbrough's research suggests that formal groups are subordinate to the informal power structure in establishing policy, though formal groups make important contributions to decision-making. Some researchers…

Efforts of Native organizations, coordinated through the National Indian Brotherhood, resulted early in 1973 in acceptance by the Canadian Department of Indian Affairs of the policy paper, "Indian Control of Indian Education", which legally gives Indian, Metis, and Inuit people control over their own schools. The paper explains the…

In recent years, parents and other citizens have lost their influence over local school boards because of increasing enrollment and district consolidation, lack of contact between board members and classroom teachers, teacher organization and subsequent veto power over boards, and the bureaucratization of educational systems. To alleviate this,…

Describes two Tanzanian reform programs: Education for Self-Reliance and Decentralization. The first supports programs to make education relevant to rural life, correct elitist biases, and improve students' attitudes toward rural living. The second, already instituted in primary and adult education, seeks to promote community participation in…

Empowering grassroots efforts in literacy is paramount in the literacy education movement. Six issues face literacy work, research, and policy in the United States today: (1) although there are many exciting and innovative literacy projects being conducted, their lessons are unexamined and they are not part of a larger organizing strategy; (2)…

This study examined a school district before and after its school board changed from appointed status to elected status to determine if there were significant differences in the board's handling of constituent demands. School board minutes were examined and demands were analyzed for a six-month period under the appointed school board, then…

Drawing largely on data from Los Angeles, but with reference to other cities where appropriate, this paper attempts to clarify the distinctive positions taken by advocates of community control as opposed to proponents of administrative decentralization. While community control is essentially a political demand, oriented toward citizens influencing…

Literature on public school curriculum development since 1950 is reviewed to determine who is determining curriculum policy-making. There is an increasingly political approach to curriculum questions on the part of the general public. (Author/VW)

Argues for local control of education by Native Canadians. Position based on benefits of parent responsibility, rather than on criticism of Canadian Indian policy or treaties. Examines Indian education history, noting positive examples of Native communities taking educational responsibility. Concludes local control makes good educational policy.…

Chinese "people-managed schools" began in the 1940s as popular voluntary village schools providing flexible relevant education to rural peasants, but are regarded today as low status and low quality. This change reflects the Chinese Communist Party's incremental move away from both decentralized decision making and populist education to…

In this interview, Albert Shanker, president of the United Federation of Teachers of New York City, executive vice president of the American Federation of Teachers, and vice president of the AFL/CIO, discussed such topics as the following: his participation in a meeting of labor leaders with President Ford on September 11; the potential influence…

A lunch program on the Lower East Side with kosher meals for Jewish children and Italian meals for Italian children and a health program in which visits to students' homes are a regular service are a small part of the efforts made 50 and 100 years ago to meet the needs of New York City's immigrant school children. The implications of such a…