With the federal No Child Left Behind Act underscoring the wide variation in what states demand of their students, people on both sides of the political aisle are again making the case for national standards, curricula, and tests. It wasn't so long ago--during the Clinton and George H.W. Bush administrations--that similar proposals went down in…

The author disagrees with Homer Simpson who claims that "...cartoons don't have any deep meaning. They're just stupid drawings that give you a cheap laugh." He argues that The Simpsons have a deep meaning in the same way as the works of Jonathan Swift and George Orwell. The message in The Simpsons, Swift, and Orwell is that those in charge do not…

Examining a range of visual images of executions, both legal (the executions of convicted murderers) and extralegal (the lynchings of innocent African Americans), in still photographs and in Hollywood films, the authors suggest that while such images may flatten and neutralize the popular debates and politics surrounding the issues, this is not…

The 20th anniversary of the Bhopal calamity fell on December 3, 2004. The world's worst industrial disaster in Bhopal, India, happened because of inadequate maintenance by Union Carbide and poor monitoring by the Indian authorities. Malfunctioning safety measures, inappropriate location of the plant, and lack of information about the identity and…

It is not difficult in today's political climate to understand that good campaigning is redefining the common language of the times for your own political benefits. There are common threads that weave through political arguments. These common threads are the terms and phrases that take on different meaning for each candidate. They entice the…

As post-Independence but still ethnically divided Cyprus enters Europe and speaks the idiom of multiculturalism, the fear of Others and otherness become re-inscribed in its cultural self-projections and the politics of the history of education. This article argues that the post-Independence fascination with roots and derision for otherness has…

This article seeks to understand the effects of educational change on the people in the change environment through a focus on the micropolitics of change. The views of individuals involved in a specific restructuring process are examined within the context of the current literature on the micropolitics of educational change.

It appears that the worst name a person can be called is "politician." And the worst thing a person can be accused of doing is "compromising." This article asserts that negative attack-ad campaigning, so prevalent in recent years, has made the vocation of politician appear less attractive to young citizens. It indicates that the difference between…

This short paper is a response to Richard Smith's "Abstraction and finitude: education, chance and democracy". In his paper Smith contends that a rationalist agenda dominates education and democracy today, and that this agenda by rendering us insensitive to the tragic dimension of life, breeds a sense of "hubris", or arrogance towards fate which…

Neo-liberalism has reached a new stage in the United States, buttressed largely by the almost seamless alliances formed among the Bush administration, religious fundamentalists, neo-conservative extremists, the dominant media, and corporate elites. This article explores the various ways in which neo-liberal cultural politics works as a form of…

For over 30 years official disapproval of confessional approaches to religious education in community (formerly county) schools has been the norm. However such forms of religious education persist. Some arguments put forward in favour of non- confessional religious education are now shown to be weak. Confessional religious education is now thought…

The article is a response to the contributions the special issue of Death Studies on continuing bonds. The contributions indicate that the conversation among scholars has clarified our thinking on how bonds function in individual grief. The author discussed two issues to help keep the conversation moving: (a) the relationship of continuing bonds…

This document provides an overview and history of the land-grant system, as well as copies of the original and amended legislation affecting the land-grant colleges. Land-grant colleges or universities have been designated by their state legislatures or Congress to receive the benefits of the Morrill Acts of 1862, 1890 and 1994. The original…

This paper presents the "Report to the Legislature: Department of Elementary and Secondary Education Strategic Plan". This was a year of transition in public education. After former commissioner David Driscoll retired in August 2007, Deputy Commissioner Jeffrey Nellhaus filled in as acting commissioner for nearly nine months until newly…

The No Child Left Behind (NCLB) has had a great impact on states' policies in assessing English language learner (ELL) students. The legislation requires states to develop or adopt sound assessments in order to validly measure the ELL students' English language proficiency, as well as content knowledge and skills. While states have moved…