Analyzes a number of unpublished primary sources to reveal some of the politics and problems involved in the efforts to establish a self-regulating governing body among teachers in Victorian England. Specifically discusses the lobbying brought by the College of Preceptors, an organization promoting the interests of private teachers. (MJP)

Reform of higher education in Chile in the 1980s and its effects on the structure, governance, and finance of the system are examined. Changes introduced in the 1990s are seen as resulting from the democratic government's policies, and it is argued that the main issue currently is the policy and legal framework for the system as a whole. (MSE)

Conflicting policy decisions, scaling difficulties, teacher resistance, and mediocre results are slowing adoption of authentic student-evaluation measures. With more conservative state leadership, California and Arizona rejected performance assessment, and other states have followed. Despite various setbacks, new assessments are becoming the norm.…

Canada's Exemplary Schools Project, a study of 21 secondary schools nationwide, involved continual tension between the need for a coherent and shared national research approach and the need to allow local variation and initiative. A member of the national coordinating committee explores how this tension affected research design and the writing of…

Reviews a book suggesting that public education built on democratic values guarantees an equal education for students from all social, racial, and cultural groups. The book addresses how issues related to race, politics, and social class have clouded educational improvement efforts in California and describes classroom activities and teaching…

Paper illustrates how a prominent Chinese educator (and former student of John Dewey) experimented with Dewey's philosophy in Chinese teacher education, creating a normal school in rural China that prepared rural teachers, enhanced village renewal, encouraged school-community relationships, and met China's unique challenges and needs. (SM)

Provides a comparative analysis of the provision of INSET in the local education authority, grant maintained, and independent sectors in the North and Midlands of England. Surveys of schools' headteachers suggest that the market has a limited effect on determining INSET choice, and that considerable inequalities exist in access to inservice…

Focuses on recent First Amendment case law and proposed legislation that has shaped and will continue to influence judicial affairs. (KW)

Research studies fail to support bilingual education theory, despite Hispanic parents' extensive lobbying to have their children taught in Spanish. Many Hispanic parents now realize that bilingual education has not served their best interests. The vast majority of limited-English-proficiency students receive English-as-a-Second Language…

Under a new plan, the federal government will pay $400 million to 42 teaching hospitals in New York over six years. In return the hospitals will cut by 20-25% the number of residents they train by 2002. The intent is to reduce drain on the Medicare Trust Fund providing graduate medical education subsidies. Other reforms are included in the plan.…

Compares the work of two advisory committees: the Sixth Scottish Advisory Council on Education which produced the 1947 report, "Secondary Education," and the Committee Appointed to Survey Secondary Education in New South Wales (Australia), which produced the "Wyndham Report" in 1957. Concludes that the committee's relationship…

This paper argues that the essential social function of schools is to teach people their place, which can become material for ruling elites. Focusing on urban students, the paper emphasizes that teachers must learn to become political in order to help build a just social order. (SM)

Four co-editors of an Aztlan anthology discuss the state of Chicano studies and where it is going. Responses ranged from the need for regional diversity to recognizing feminist perspectives. They agreed that Chicano studies has always asked such questions as part of the process of reinventing itself in order to reinvest itself in its cultural and…

Examines debate over educational language policy in Botswana and Tanzania. Proposes that descriptions of classroom practice are necessary for effective educational language planning. Describes bilingual code switching and reliance on teacher-centered recitation routines. Argues that more creative and effective teaching and learning can be…

The firing of the director of the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia after a 20-year tenure and similar changes in other states have raised concerns that higher education policy boards face tightened political control. Some Virginia legislators feel the dismissal has left the council with little credibility, and substituted political…