Currently, there is a national level debate on security-based school safety policies and practices, particularly in relation to the presence of police in schools. Decisions about school safety are discussed at the district level by administrators and board of education members who may not be aware of the importance of utilizing local data to…

According to a proverb often referring to the misery that prevails in restricted if enlightened surroundings, "It is dark under the lamp." Urban areas have emerged as centers of excellence as far as economic development is concerned. People coming from diverse cultural, professional, and economic backgrounds live in cities. Gaps their…

Research suggests that the limits of teacher autonomy are defined by educational policies. Educational policies, however, are driven by political culture. This study examines the relationship between teacher autonomy and political culture and how this relationship varies with teacher and school characteristics. Using the "2011-2012 Schools…

This case study focuses on a 2008 incident where Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) vans appeared near a K-5 elementary school. It was the first time school personnel experienced the impact of federal immigration agents policing illegality in their school community, and the event set off a chain of decision-making choices as to how…

This qualitative study explored Teach for America (TFA) alumni teachers' discourse on Arizona language policy, conducted with eight teachers in the Phoenix metropolitan area who received their professional teacher preparation from TFA, a national organization that uses alternative paths to certification to place teachers in low-income schools.…

This paper discusses and analyzes the federal government's and the state's role in school desegregation and how state and federal policies interface on this subject. (AM)

Explores the establishment of current relationships between urban school districts and the Texas Education Agency. Discusses the formation of formal and informal structures through which the Agency communicates with school districts to develop and implement policy. Provides background with a review of literature and extensively discusses the Urban…

This essay outlines the theoretical framework surrounding the debate on school desegregation and offers a reanalysis of the role of research in school desegregation. (Author/AM)

Discusses contradictions and tendencies inherent in the dominant ideology and formal structure of educational governance. Notes increasing turbulence in the current social and political environment of education that accentuate these factors. Proposes that within the turbulent environment, contradictions and tendencies may become a source of…

Discusses political action by and on behalf of parents. Suggests ways that existing interest group theory can further our understanding of how parents' interest is or is not represented in educational policy making. (Author/GC)

Centers on importance of ideological thought systems in shaping political and organizational actions in educational governance. Argues that the ideological factor (1) links (or fails to link) school board members to their constituencies, (2) defines problems and processes for policymaking, and (3) communicates a mandate for action to school…

Investigates problems in the Chicago Public Schools by examining political and legislative processes, key players, and key events that created the Illinois legislature's unprecedented decision to turn total control of this school district over to the Chicago mayor's office. Addresses this issue through Kingdon's work on the first two phases of the…

Reviews the role of the federal government in the development of national school desegregation policy over the past 35 years. Concludes that desegregation requires active federal support, but desegregation effects are limited by political backlash and conflicting judicial interpretations. Suggests a future federal role. (FMW)

Assesses major findings and recommendations of the education commission reports and discusses issues and topics that they avoid. Argues that the inadequacies of the reports derive from the defective nature of the commission process itself. Also argues that even if the commission reports had never been issued, American schools would be on the mend.…

It is very difficult to know who controls such educational agencies as the home, television, the churches, youth groups, and factories. Control of the schools shifts a little bit daily among such forces as social class, American business, the sexes, teachers, administrators, racial and ethnic groups, the citizenry, the courts, and the young. (JM)