Presents Mina Shaughnessy's 1976 speech, given at a time when great financial crisis threatened to result in the wholesale disestablishment of basic writing programs. Notes grave perils, and outlines some of the truths uncovered through the experience of Open Admissions in higher education, truths that are indestructible despite retrenchments and…

A former professor, current professional organization administrator, and scholar discusses the nature of changes occurring today in higher education, focusing on the contemporary academic climate, politicization of academic life, and what is happening to general education and the liberal arts. Topics discussed include cultural and ethnic diversity…

Notes the California's Reading Task Force's heavy emphasis on phonemic awareness (PA) evaluation and training. Argues that although evidence shows that phonemic awareness will emerge by simply reading, California's school libraries--ranked near last in the nation--would require a massive commitment to rise to the task. Argues (in an ironic tone)…

Parents can help the United States separate school and state by separating their own families from state schooling. If the government cannot be trusted to tell the truth if it ran the newspaper, it cannot be trusted to tell students the truth in its schools. There is a movement to separate school and state supported by educators, scholars,…

The academic success of home schooling has been repeatedly documented. There are now 1.23 million children being home schooled in the United States Home schoolers have been a key part of the coalition fighting nationalized testing. They have also been disproportionately subject to child abuse investigations by social workers. As a result, they…

Asserts that composition specialists must pay attention to technology issues. Offers suggestion of Web sites for critically informed action on technological literacy to try to ensure that all Americans have real access to the technologies underlying the quickly changing forms of literacy. (SR)

There is little research-based analysis of education's past or prospective contribution to the constitutional reconstruction of Scottish participatory democracy. Describes the constitutional changes occurring in Scotland and the relationship between educational research and policy. Analyzes positive and negative elements of educational research…

Explores district leaders' roles in implementing a year-round schooling reform. Examines experiences of four Florida districts, stressing social, political, and fiscal contexts. Leaders promote innovation by acting humanely and openly, and by eschewing unfulfillable promises. Creating widespread support, being flexible, and crafting a climate for…

The Improving America's School Act funds numerous small programs that dissipate its purpose and increase its vulnerability. Congress is debating extension of federal roles into areas such as social promotion, parental rights, reading programs, class-size reduction, and national voluntary tests. Changing budget rules pits education against military…

Although vouchers were popular among 1970s leftists, a political standoff has kept them unavailable to 99% of urban school children. This article debunks common arguments against vouchers and advocates a system that awards substantial voucher amounts (a 20% spending boost) to needy students, thus mollifying conservatives and progressives. (MLH)

Fearing security problems, a congressional committee on Chinese espionage recommends that foreign students and other foreign nationals be barred from using supercomputers at national laboratories unless they first obtain export licenses from the federal government. University officials dispute the data on which the report is based and find the…

Sets the current public debate about gender and schooling in England into a historical and a United Kingdom-wide context, addressing the highly politicized context in which educational research on gender has taken place over the past 20 years, discussing the feminization of teaching, and examining attacks on English schools for failing boys as a…

Although schools are planning and implementing local area networks and Internet access, acquiring and maintaining technology can be exceptionally costly. Administrators must decide between pedagogical need versus a political, reactive "keeping up with the Joneses" mentality valuing high student-to-computer ratios. Schools need more…

A small, well-regarded Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education (FIPSE) program that finances innovations in higher education has resisted a push by Congress to influence which institutions should receive grants. Its new round of awards includes only one of 11 institutions suggested by Congress. (MSE)

Presents conclusions about school failure in European countries reached by the European Symposium on School Failure. The conclusions focus on the conceptualization of school failure, acceptance of the problem by governments, frequently adopted solutions, more coherent solutions, and implications for teacher education (prerequisites, the…