Traces developments in American education from its inception in colonial days when the public schools were intended to be "above politics, free of contamination produced by political controversy, disagreement, and discord." Discusses the current state of education, with stress on the loss of consensus. Journal available from American Academy of…

Criticizes the view held by an increasing number of contemporary philosophers of education that the main focus of educational philosophy should be practical, rather than theoretical. Suggests that the primary aim of philosophers of education should be to contribute to the philosophical understanding of education, not to solving its day-to-day…

The findings of a national study of student attitudes toward their school counseling programs are presented. (Author/MLF)

In response to the perceived uneasiness about the state of citizenship education in public schools, the article focuses on various studies and reports on political illiteracy, examines the isolation of most social studies programs from the community, views the role of students in the community, and recommends that students be more actively…

Describes and evaluates the use of the Personalized System of Instruction (PSI) to teach an introductory public policy course on the college level. Also discusses student performance and evaluations. (Author/DB)

Offers observations regarding the current condition of sociology teaching at the college level (undergraduate). Suggests ways in which institutions can enhance the quality of undergraduate teaching and reviews some probable reactions to such efforts. (Author/DB)

Focuses on higher education in socialist societies including USSR, Hungary, Romania, East Germany, and Poland. Topics discussed include the need for improvement in higher education, access to higher education institutions, political influences, general characteristics of educational systems, and the need for qualified personnel. (Author/DB)

The article discusses a study undertaken to evaluate the impact of selected innovative social studies curriculum project materials with regard to three variables--extent of classroom use, user liking, and effectiveness in promoting learning compared to traditional programs. Findings indicated that recent social studies materials have had a…

Describes an approach to research into teaching and learning in higher education which has been experimented with at Manchester Polytechnic in Manchester, England. The approach centers around helping teachers to develop their own teaching tools instead of offering them ready-made teaching tools. (Author/DB)

Continues the comments of author Neil Postman on the current state of education. Discusses the "back to basics" movement, standardized testing, and what went wrong with the "relevancy" revolution. (FL)

Demonstrates how one's ideology and perspective on the role of politics in implementation affects one's view of public sector productivity. Presents two approaches, a Quality Productivity Ratio (QPR) and a Service Productivity Rating (SPR). Using illustrations from the field of higher education, emphasizes the usefulness of the latter approach…

Longitudinal research demonstrates that: (1) initial consensual goals are formalized incrementally over time; (2) directions of these changes are influenced by constituencies participating in policy formation as well as broader social movements; and (3) evidence for longitudinal implementation studies needs to be garnered from a confluence of…

Examines benefits derived by college students in a political science fieldwork course and correlates student characteristics with various levels of course benefits. Findings indicated that major course benefits included developing good coworker relationships, increasing theoretical knowledge, and forming career preferences. Students who benefited…

Describes an innovative technician training program devised by the psychology department of Georgia College to meet student and regional applied psychology needs. (DB)

Presents the findings of a library survey, part of the Public Library I&R (Information and Referral) Project, to assess the nature and extent of I&R services. Discussed are simple and complex information-giving, constructing a public resource file, and a comparison model of high and low profile services. (SW)