State and federal governments have appropriated increasingly greater portions of decision-making policy from local school boards. This chapter discusses the politics and governance of local school districts, summarizing three major theoretical perspectives (decision-output, competition-participation, and dissatisfaction theories) and relevant…

Reviews 30 years of research, concentrating on ongoing reform initiatives and 18 programs designated as effective with at-risk students. Identifies broad, overarching conditions essential for transporting isolated successes to all schools serving at-risk students. Outlines key characteristics of two promising models: community in schools and…

Moral choice for educational administrators involves using conventional democratic principles as well as postconventional actions grounded in principles valued by administrators that are not covered by conventional morality. Presents two case studies involving the application of democratic principles and the formation of independent judgment in…

The United States needs more citizens who question the morality of using military power to conduct foreign affairs and who can ethically weigh federal spending and industrial, environmental, and social priorities. Instead of bemoaning students' dismal math and science performance, we should address their woeful ignorance of history, literature,…

Examination of educational reform efforts in the United States and United Kingdom suggests that, although both seek improvement, approaches differ greatly. The British tradition of high academic standards for the elite is being extended to all ability levels, whereas the United States approach is to strengthen testing without compromising…

Presents a sampling of the citations in the ERIC database dealing with democratic participation. Includes works on citizenship, teaching about democracy, citizens' roles, civic education in the schools, sources for materials, and the proper role of schools in preparing students for active citizenship. (DK)

Examines origins and implications of consumership ideology (belief that market-driven governance policies alone can solve the U.S. education crisis) as related to the school choice movement. If consumership replaces citizenship as education's ethos and driving force, the public school system will vanish. Self-interest and competition will triumph…

Discusses efforts in New York City and New York State to revise and expand the social studies curriculum to reflect a multicultural outlook. Argues that the study of history must respect the integrity of the past and not teach myth as history. Includes ideas on promoting democratic values, teaching social history, and teaching imaginatively. (DK)

Findings from a survey of rural school administrators in Oregon include profiles of three superintendent-principals that practice democratic leadership. Findings contrast with a national study that painted a discouraging picture of rural schooling in which few superintendents had a vision of working with people in collaborative ways. (LP)

Presents the Bill of Rights of the United States Constitution. Provides teaching suggestions, a review quiz, and includes the five points of the Miranda Warning. (CFR)

Discusses the place of moral education in Spain's educational system. Contends that the particular political and social context in which Spanish education has developed has caused moral education to acquire a special nature that is different from even neighboring nations. (CFR)

Asserts that, although active citizenship is heralded as the goal of social studies, few textbook studies have attempted to define or examine civic participation. Reports on a study of the treatment of citizenship in four widely used third-grade textbooks. Finds that, although the texts are largely supportive of mainstream political values, they…

Notes 1990 is UNESCO's International Literacy Year. Presents alternative ways of overcoming illiteracy in Latin America. Suggests major contributing factors concern the region's weak economy. Argues the state's role is decisive in transferring resources to marginal sectors. Views literacy as a basic human right and that it allows for democratic…

Describes how the growing pervasiveness of computers and telecommunications influences knowledge and idea exchanges required by democracies for survival. Technology makes it possible to abuse an underdeveloped popular epistemology by influencing mechanisms of publicity and privacy. Challenges presented by technology, and the university's role in…

Presents examples of Afrocentrism that encourage African and African-American inclusion in the curriculum. Examines work by three Afrocentrist educators who discuss capitalist, democratic, and liberationist Afrocentrism. Each asserts the need for the connection of Afrocentrism or African and African-American history to fight racism and promote…