In discussing the human and cultural implications of scientific discoveries and knowledge, the biological concept of carrying capacity is explored. Maintaining that human beings are truly animals answering to principles that govern all animals, the author addresses the need for human populations to work within the context of culture and carrying…

Examines the ways in which school-level policies and procedures influence students' probabilities of being placed in the accelerated track in mathematics in middle school and high school. Data from interviews with 52 school administrators show that substantial variations exist among districts in student opportunities for the accelerated…

Describes the work of Mary Hunt and the Scientific Temperance movement to mandate teaching about the nature of alcohol and narcotics in the public schools. Examines the struggle over organization and planning within the public school system. Discusses organization in the Scientific Temperance movement's response to public school administration and…

Examines the social factors that contribute to the tensions surrounding the debate over bilingual education. Discusses the "English-only" movement, the "English-Plus" coalition, and shrinking funds for bilingual education at a time of rising acceptance of its benefits in the educational community. (JB)

Asserts that the relationship between geography and citizenship education has been used to include geography in the British curriculum. Describes how early geography instruction was linked to imperial strategies of the government. Discusses how geography education changed through the World War I, World War II, and post-war periods. (CFR)

Changes in the education system of Zimbabwe since the 1940s, principally in the integration and provision of improved opportunities for African Americans, are reviewed. Political factors, integration efforts, teacher education, literacy education, and plans to develop higher education opportunities are noted. (MSE)

Contends that, although educational improvement policies in Latin America during the 1960s and 1970s achieved quantitative goals, structural deficiencies blocked efforts to make education equitably available throughout society. Concludes that cumulative partial innovations seem to be more successful than attempts at massive change. (CFR)

Examines Zimbabwe's 1980-87 teacher education reform designed to change its educational system. The paper appraises dilemmas encountered by the Ministries of Education and teachers' colleges responsible for implementation, noting that struggles in Zimbabwe's political economy are dialectically related to contestations in the teacher education…

Three years after the passage of the Chicago Public Schools Reform Act, Stephen K. Hayt School in Chicago (Illinois) has shown some successes, but neighborhood politics have hampered progress as ethnic groups and others dispute issues. In addition, cuts in the citywide school budget left teachers scrambling for supplies. (JB)

Comparative case studies assessed how the micropolitics of educational reform in two elementary schools affected one southeastern district's effort to professionalize teaching. The results indicate that teachers can use micropolitics to resist reform that, in these cases, legitimated centralization and control, and to heighten their control of…

Postwar transformation of U.S. cities gave new form to longstanding racial and economic educational inequities, intensifying barriers to achievement facing disadvantaged students. By concentrating disadvantaged students in inferior innercity schools, educational problems are intensified. Bureaucratic school systems do little to address new…

Presents results of a study exploring how demographic trends are affecting political support for public education. Explains that the study expected and found that parents would support increases in public school taxes more than nonparents. Suggests that political ideology was a stronger indicator of support for public education than was…

Examines Papua New Guinea's Basic Skills Program to promote teacher competency, particularly in English and mathematics. A study explored 53 teacher college lecturers' perceptions of the national examinations. The lecturers considered that the examinations were neither valid nor reliable, disrupted college life, and were based on political…

Contends that the attainment targets of the first draft of the National Curriculum for Art neglect art appreciation and limit rather than liberate children's creative powers. Concludes that the biggest concern is how to reconcile the demand for a tighter curriculum structure with the need to preserve an important place for personal spontaneity.…

Discusses the potential impact that the America 2000 reform effort might have on social studies and citizenship education. Argues that the preoccupation of America 2000 and the business community is short-sighted. Calls for social studies educators to recommit themselves. (CF)