Standards-based assessments were prescribed as the cure for the poor accountability of public schools. Billions of dollars have been spent on curricula, tests, and scoring rubrics so that federal and state agencies can rank schools in terms of student achievement. Over the past twenty years, standards-based education has become the defacto, only…

Indonesia has seen several recent attempts to devolve control over the curriculum to the local level. Rather than catalogue all of the problems encountered in the course of their implementation, the present contribution focuses on a single reform, the Local Content Curriculum (LCC). Analysis of local responses to this reform provides insights into…

Should lecturers who teach political philosophy hide their personal political beliefs? This question becomes interesting when lecturers face what seems to be morally repugnant policies, such as massive human rights violations. In such cases is there a conflict between a lecturer's civic and political obligations and his/her academic and…

In this report, Connecticut's Task Force on Charter Schools recommends enacting legislation to establish six pilot charter schools to begin operation in fall 1994. As public schools or educational programs operating under a State Board of Education charter, charter schools would be: committed to quality student outcomes; staffed and controlled by…

The "first wave" of educational reform has applied "top-down" mandates to raise standards and ensure accountability. These reform strategies often fail because they ignore the necessity of changing people's behavior and the everyday realities confronting schools. According to 16 superintendents participating in the National…

This paper synthesizes literature on the topic of professions in general and the teaching profession in particular. The paper is organized into three sections. The first section emphasizes the history and fundamental aspects of professions in the United States. The second section looks specifically at the teaching profession, using fundamental…

A study attempted to delineate the parameters of practice that are referred to as literature-based reading instruction and explored the perspectives of the teacher, the students, and the researcher about the use of literature in three different literature-based classrooms. Six teachers (third grade or above) were identified, teachers who were…

The theoretical and practical notions of school-based management (SBM) are critically examined in this paper. Literature is summarized pertaining to the definitions of SBM, philosophical and theoretical issues, leadership, productivity, the degree of innovation, market factors, and funding. Conclusions are that structural change does not always…

Basic issues in nursing education, practice, and public policy initiatives and preliminary recommendations for action are discussed, based on research conducted by the National Commission on Nursing. Findings are based on public hearings, a review of journal articles since 1975 and state studies and policy documents since 1977, and a survey of…

This study examines the collective perspective that teachers in schools have about the relationship between the supervisory expertise of the principal, teacher work autonomy, and school environmental robustness. Supervisory expertise, and teachers' satisfaction with the supervisory process, is measured with the "Fidelity of Supervision…

This paper presents a case study of a female elementary principal whose tenure was ended with a negotiated reassignment to a lower administrative position. The case is presented from the subject's perspective with data gathered through an open-ended interview. The initial questions were designed to gather background information relative to the…

This document reports on a review of the leadership literature, a cross-sectional correlation study, and a series of in-depth teacher interviews, all of which were parts of an effort to better understand the conditions under which a principal can lead. The correlation study makes use of S. Kerr's theory that the effect of the leader's behavior on…

Teachers' attitudes toward their work influence the way in which they implement educational policy. Literature on the subject is reviewed. The effect of past policies on teacher attitudes and how teachers might influence future policy decisions are discussed. (JL)

Contends that academic freedom in terms of its common and constitutional meaning is clearly and narrowly bounded. Focuses on the academic freedom of individual college and university faculty members based on the Constitution. Finds that court decisions favor the institution rather than the faculty member. (MLF)

Discusses the phenomenon of burnout among human service professionals in general, and librarians specifically, and argues that lack of professional autonomy is the true underlying cause. Suggested measures for eliminating or coping with burnout include activities at the individual, professional, and societal levels. (10 references) (CLB)