Discusses policy and assessment tools needed to support literacy instruction in the future, identifying changes in literacy education policy that moved from teacher-centered professional judgments to legislative curricular mandates in the 1980s. Examines this country's policy, reading, and assessment heritage and discusses future policy and…

Based on interviews with state-level policy makers in six states, examines the policies of charter-school reform, arguing that the bipartisan support for these schools masks often-opposing viewpoints regarding the purpose of the reform. Identifies three salient and conflicting themes that emerge from the policy makers' explanations of their…

Discusses the evolution of approaches to college counseling outreach and suggests that an initiator-catalyst approach makes the most sense in contemporary college counseling and mental health settings. A brief history of outreach models and approaches is presented along with an outline of and example of the initiator-catalyst approach. Topics…

Uses three addresses given at a mid-term International Federation for the Teaching of English at the University of Witwatersrand to outline workplace realities for South African teachers. Summarizes the addresses which deal with (1) the role of intellectuals in Africa; (2) the problems of school and social reconstruction; and (3) the political…

Urges faculty involved in community public service to reject an "outside expert" role based on the discredited and outdated theory of positivism. Positivism considers the detached, rational observer the highest judge of truth, thus contributing to the detachment and negative view of most people toward politics. Supports reinvigoration of…

Presents a story that illustrates attempts to conflate theory and practice, enact critical pedagogy, and dissolve traditional boundaries. Demonstrates the axiom that the personal is always political. Argues that personal relationships as teachers and students help both parties to confront and act within the politics of the academy. (SC)

Proposes that teachers, supervisors, and administrators (in their quest to provide quality literature-based literacy instruction within a challenging political context) form a partnership as learners to study themselves, their students, and the political agenda to create a unified response to concerns of parents and legislators (including a…

Argues that a zealous focus by reading researchers on differences creates the impression of utter chaos in the field, and serves students, teachers, and the public poorly. Argues that researchers can contribute to educational policy (rather than forever nullifying one another) by focusing on the considerable consensus about literacy. (SR)

Relates how in Kentucky a legislative act was necessary before substantial change in education occurred to address the achievement gap in educational attainment. Describes how educators in Kentucky were effective advocates for legislative restructuring of schools. Notes factors that contributed to this success. (SR)

Examines the larger implications of the academic labor movement, especially in relation to democratic governance of higher education institutions. Discusses the American Association of University Professors, focusing on the rights of nontenured and part-time faculty and graduate student employees and noting how the Association works to end their…

Compares "being Muslim" in Turkey with other Islamic countries and describes the regime changes of the Ottoman Empire to the Turkish Republic. Explains evolution in Islamic understanding and discusses creationism's effects and evolution's place in the high school biology curriculum. Defines the Science Research Foundation's (BAV) and…

Examines how the social and cultural terrain of educational policy and discourse has been altered, highlighting the need for closer connections between theoretical and critical discourses, on one hand, and real transformations currently shifting educational policies and practices in fundamentally rightist directions, on the other. The real and…

Examined the political rise and fall of the Louisiana Teacher Evaluation Program (LATEP), the centerpiece of the state's educational reform efforts. Study findings suggest that the political problems encountered by LATEP arose from competing program theories and competing implementation theories. Findings underscore the pitfalls associated with…

Examined the politics of principal evaluation through a review of the literature and in-depth interviews with 14 principals and 6 superintendents. Findings show that the format and processes used in principal evaluation often vary from one district to another and that principals and superintendents frequently hold different perspectives on the…

Reviews stereotypes of Hillary Rodham Clinton (HRC) in television news. Investigates the significance to image-making of stereotypes, visual deconstruction and reconstruction, close-up shots and spectator positioning, as well as news recycling and repetition. Argues that such strategies reify a mediated collective memory of HRC which is…