The article summarizes the changes in public education that have resulted from 15 years of legislated citizen participation in education in Quebec. The article includes comments and conclusions based on the Quebec experience. (SB)

In setting performance standards for schoolchildren, the school system not only announces what students must know; it specifies what it presumes it can teach. Tests of competency should be merely a monitoring device to indicate whether the system is meeting its obligation to students. (Author)

Reviews the issues behind, and proceedings of, the Arkansas court case in which the constitutionality of a law requiring a balanced treatment of creation science and evolution science in public schools was challenged. Summarizes testimony of key witnesses for both sides. (DC)

The debate about cost as it pertains to medical technology misses the mark by not pressing on the central problem of increased prevalence of chronic illness. Far from cost containment, what are needed are additional services which may in the end reduce total costs. (Author/MJL)

The McLendon decision compelled the state legislature to provide unprecedented procedural protection to untenured faculty in dismissal processes. The institutions can take precautionary measures in hiring faculty, but it is questionable whether many faculty will risk litigation in any case. (MSE)

Outlines the Court's reasoning in "Norwick," in which it held that aliens can be excluded from teaching positions, and suggests a model for "governmental function exception" of aliens. Available from University of Connecticut School of Law, 1800 Asylum Avenue, West Hartford, CT 06117. (Author/IRT)

Examines the "Holdman" case and discusses how the constitutional and legal requirements of Hawaii's Equal Rights Amendment should serve to redress sex discrimination in athletics. Available from University of Hawaii Law Review, University of Hawaii School of Law, 1400 Lower Campus Road, Honolulu, HI 96822. (Author/IRT)

Extension of contract scope has influenced local educational policy in two ways. It has decreased control by politically accountable officials, and it has created a potential roadblock to political responsiveness towards inner-city community groups. (JN)

A California court ruling that part-time community college faculty are temporary and therefore have limited access to the state community college tenure system is discussed and criticized. (Journal availability: Wm. W. Gaunt & Sons, 3011 Gulf Drive, Holmes Beach, FL 35510, $6.50.) (MSE)

North Dakota established the State Board of Higher Education, a constitutional body, in order to remove higher education from the political sphere, but there is little judicial clarification of the degree of autonomy. Judicial decisions in nearby states indicate institutions may not be interfered with by a state legislature. (MLW)

This article will argue that cost-benefit analysis persuasively demonstrates that truth-in-testing laws are socially and economically justified but often fall short of providing a comprehensive regulatory scheme adequate to correct the market dislocations generated by an unregulated testing industry. (Author)

Proposition 13 and other legislation have adversely affected finances available for school planning. Suggested solutions included early involvement of development teams with community and district planning staffs and the use of advisory committees and professional private-sector research consulting firms. (MLF)

Discusses nine major forces buffeting the California Public School System in the years 1970 through 1980: educational reform movements, declining enrollment, public dissatisfaction with education, the Serrano Decision, collective bargaining, Proposition 13, court-ordered integration, the voucher movement, and the proposed 1980 statewide spending…

The growth in the minimum competency testing movement stems not only from a concern with what students are getting from their schooling, but also from a desire to make sure that the public gets a return on its investment in education. (Author/RLV)

Examines differences and similarities in role conception between principals participating in a state-sponsored restructuring program (the Centennial School Program) and nonparticipating principals. Findings from a statewide survey of administrators show that CSP principals generally report practices and attitudes congruent with program elements.…