Considers the student behavioral problems that afflicted colleges in the Early Republic and the solutions college authorities ultimately enforced. Highlights the struggles to combat student disorder at the University of Pennsylvania, in particular the role of Provost Frederic Beasley, and focuses on the growth of meritocracy. (CMK)

Argues against a definition of poststructural theory as generating inaction and as antithetical to concepts such as "agency" and "choice." Suggests that poststructuralist theory may have implications for practice by examining the practices in regular schools and a school for "behaviorally disturbed" children. (CMK)