This essay traces the history of the school reform movement from colonial times to the present. Public school reform tends either toward equalizing educational opportunity or higher academic achievement, but seldom both. The essay asks the question: Can public school provide equal educational opportunity and be excellent too? By tracing the…

Youth violence has reached explosive levels in California. California youth have become both victim and aggressor. Between 1988 and 1991, youth homicide rates almost doubled. During the 1988-1989 school year, schools officials reported 69,191 student-to-student assaults and confiscated 5,107 knives and guns. State and federal legislation has…

This second edition of "SOS" provides parents with guidance for handling a variety of common behavior problems based on the behavior approach to child rearing and discipline. This approach suggests that good and bad behavior are both learned and can be changed, and proposes specific methods, skills, procedures, and strategies for parents…

The collection of discussion papers from an October 1995 conference in South Africa focuses on the implications of the country's new National Qualifications Framework (NQF), a policy initiative for reform and renewal of post-apartheid education, for language teaching and testing. Papers include: "Introductory Comments: Language Assessment and…

The cultural and gender factors affecting the experience of Latino/Latina graduate students in the United States are examined. An introductory section offers background information on Latino participation in higher education, drawing on some recent literature, and on the Council of Graduate Schools' Latino Project, a qualitative ethnographic study…

This book presents a series of autobiographical profiles that demonstrate how educational organizations often marginalize and silence different groups. The book suggests that the development and critical analysis of personal histories of those who have been silenced and denied access in schools and in society represent ways of attaching meaning,…

This document uses extensive tables, graphs, and narrative to report on the status of Kentucky higher education, and was undertaken to establish a broad-based system for evaluating and rewarding success. The seven goals of the strategic plan adopted by the Council on Higher Education (CHE) addressed: (1) quality programs, (2) an educated…

This report summarizes the Engineering Curriculum Transformation Project (ECTP) instituted at the University of Maryland during the 1995-1996 academic year. This initiative focused on facilitating the development of engineering course curricula based on diverse learning styles, more inclusive examples, and the incorporation of diversity and…

This project investigated the acceptance of innovation and change as it related to a specific education change of prior learning assessment (PLA) at the University College of the Fraser Valley (UCFV) in British Columbia, Canada. The study explored the barriers that existed against students who wanted to have experiential and workplace learning…

In the face of social changes that are increasing the demand for available, affordable, quality child care, it is difficult to continue to think of child care as a purely private issue. This book presents an analysis of the state of American child care. It evaluates child care policies and the national attention given to young children and their…

The experiences of Canadian women in adult basic education and literacy (ABEL) were examined in a national research project during which 2 contact women from each of 12 ABEL programs across Canada spend one-half day each week "researching" their program's "woman-positive" activities and the consequences of those activities for…

A study examined four exemplary elementary schools that have successfully implemented language development programs for limited-English-proficient (LEP) students as part of a school-wide restructuring effort. The schools are: Del Norte Heights Elementary (El Paso, Texas); Hollibrook Elementary (Houston, Texas); Linda Vista Elementary (San Diego,…

The 16 chapters of this book explore, from a British perspective, a range of strategies, both institutional and individual, developed to foster an environment conducive to learning for university students. Section 1 concentrates on systems and structures to assist student learning while Section 2 offers applications at both the undergraduate and…

Coping with students who display social adjustment problems can be frustrating. However, teachers can take actions toward minimizing classroom conflicts by socializing students into a classroom environment conducive to learning. Modeling prosocial behavior is the most basic element for enhancing student socialization. In situations in which…

This proceedings contains reports from nine states on welfare reform efforts and their effects on community colleges. Reports are presented from the following states: (1) South Carolina, reviewing the state's efforts to create an alliance with local businesses to train a self-sufficient work force; (2) Wyoming, revealing that a skills training…