The schooling of Gypsy children has become a major challenge for the Spanish educational system. After centuries of, first, exclusion and then segregation in separate schools, an egalitarian policy and a sudden enforcement of compulsory schooling have resulted in difficulties and conflicts in numerous Spanish schools. The specificity of the Gypsy…

Hong Kong's economic fortunes have always depended on trade with China. By the mid-1980s, the colonial higher education system was catering to only 6% of the 18-20 age cohort and there was a backlog of adult learners who had been denied access. The Open Learning Institute of Hong Kong was launched in 1989 to overwhelming public response. It…

It is generally supposed that a curriculum should engage students with worthwhile knowledge, which requires an understanding of what it means for something to be worthwhile: a substantive conception of the good. Yet a number of influential curriculum theories deny or undermine one or another aspect of the key assumption upon which a meaningful…

If history teachers' aim is to teach students how to think, why not ask: What forms of thought do historians use, and what specific techniques will inculcate these forms? In this article, the author proposes a fundamental shift, from courses with a focus on the mastery of data to courses with a priority on learning the historian's craft. The…

New teachers are unprepared for school politics and the conflicts they experience with administrators, colleagues and policies. Research and practice on mentoring often ignore organizational contexts. This article explores these under-examined contexts, asking: (1) What do mentors need to know and be able to do in relation to school and district…

States have created "alternate" routes to teacher certification. Comparison of alternate and college-based programs reveals clear trends in recruitment but a mixed picture regarding development of expertise. Alternate certification represents a radical departure from the current norm of teacher preparation. Several factors have led to…

This book uses an examination of admissions policies, especially affirmative action, at the University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley), to explore higher education and its role in public debates about access, equality, and social change. Chapter 1, "The Admissions Furor: Battle Cries or More Confusion?" casts the personal side of…

This book argues that efforts to improve the effectiveness of public schools are ironic and harmful to the family. It asserts that "pushing schools toward becoming one-stop service centers" whose mission is to care for the "whole child" is at the same time decreasing parents' responsibility to care for their children, turning schools into…

Within the past decade, the British government imposed a national curriculum, embraced open enrollment, and shifted decision-making authority away from the district offices to the schools themselves. This report describes England's scheme of local management and gauges its impact on various aspects of the education service. It also examines…

This text provides a comprehensive treatment of curriculum theory and is organized around the concept of Reconceptualization from the institutionalized aim of improving practice incrementally to the goal of understanding curriculum practice and experience from a variety of perspectives. After an introductory chapter, Chapter 2 reviews the history…

This monograph draws on case studies of school-community partnership projects in four rural southeastern school districts in order to elaborate a thorough description of school contextual factors in the rural Southeast. In 1986, Appalachia Educational Labaoratory (AEL), one of nine federally funded research and development laboratories, received…

This collection of 26 essays examines the historical position of Harvard University as one of the nation's most influential institutions. Included are: (1) "Introducing Harvard: A Social, Philosophical, and Political Profile" (John Trumpbour); (2) "How Harvard is Ruled: Administration and Governance at the Corporate University"…

This publication reports the major discussions at a conference that was held to improve the policy education efforts of extension workers responsible for public affairs programs. It begins with abstracts of the 22 presentations. Four papers deal with public policy education in the 1990s: "To Inform Their Discretion: Policy Education and…

Ethiopia, a country with 82 distinctly different languages and ethnic groups, has recently emerged from decades of civil war. In the process of restoring civilian rule, alliances have formed between a wide spectrum of local interest groups. Education generally, and language policy more specifically, continues to be one of the most contentious…

Preparation of teachers for home-school-community partnerships will be most effective if it is based on a foundational approach that makes teachers aware of the social and political context of teaching and cognizant of the economic, social, and political demands that are placed on schools. A foundational approach to home-school-community…