Discusses events leading to the Texas legislation limiting professional education courses to 18 semester hours for initial certification and eliminating undergraduate education degrees. Noting implications for other states, the article suggests that teacher educators collaborate to develop a knowledge base, create coalitions, and provide national…

Describes two state-mandated programs for institutional accountability in New Jersey (i.e., Basic Skills Assessment Program and College Outcomes Evaluation Program), which function through cooperation between the state's higher education agency and its colleges and universities. Highlights research objectives, procedures, responsibilities,…

Reviews the implementation of the Kentucky Education Reform Act (KERA) and explores its effects on higher education. The law, largely silent about higher education, does mandate a professional standards board for teacher certification, and there are implications for teacher education. Efforts at the University of Louisville to meet KERA challenges…

This case study uses six interviews with administrators and three speeches to trace the definition of the term "at risk" in Arizona educational policy, where the definition process was used as an opportunity to enhance the prestige and power of the State Department of Education. (SLD)

Highlighting Massachusetts initiatives, examines the recent state movement toward adoption of curriculum frameworks and state assessments as vehicles for improving accountability and student achievement. Absence of standards guarantees stratified educational opportunities. Reform initiatives should include practitioners; avoid prescriptive,…

Interviews with 32 teachers in 8 California school districts examined how teachers responded to Proposition 227. Three teacher reactions were identified: outward defiance, clarification of pedagogical purpose, and anxiety in the face of change. Key factors in these reactions were teacher ideology and experiences and the course of implementation…

Various strategies used by state policymakers to influence small school districts are discussed. Incentives can be used to help small districts survive or encourage them to reorganize or consolidate. Disincentives, or "the stick," can withhold funding from small districts or establish impossible goals, resulting in consolidation while…

Argues that Mississippi has used every effort to block the higher education aspirations of its black citizens and describes the state's latest effort that involves setting higher admissions standards at the state's predominantly black universities. The history of unequal funding of higher education in the state is highlighted, as well as political…

Describes the facts and legal basis of federal court decisions in "Zelman v. Simmons-Harris," a case before the U.S. Supreme Court to determine if Cleveland's school voucher program violates the Establish Clause. Discusses the possible educational, legal, and political consequences of the Court's decision. (On June 27, 2002, the Supreme…

This review looks at the reform movements in the nation's two most populous states--Texas and California. Both states are in a desperate pursuit to demonstrate student competency of standards and achievement by way of student performance on standardized tests to meet federal No Child Left Behind (NCLB) compliance. In examining the accountability…

This article presents data from two yearlong ethnographic studies of the biliteracy instruction and development of young Latina/o children in two counter-hegemonic English immersion classes in the English-only milieu established by California's Proposition 227. The author first describes the struggle that the teachers engaged in as they sought to…

In September 1998, the California State Legislature passed SB 2042, legislation that authorized the reform of teacher recruitment, certification, and licensing in the state. Its provisions are unique in that they represent the first time in California's history that almost all of the standards dealing with teacher preparation and induction were…

Changes in affirmative action policies in some states create possibilities for "natural experiments" to observe the effect of public policy on racial and ethnic inequality in American society. This study measured the impact of Initiative 200, a ballot measure that eliminated affirmative action in Washington State, on the transition from…

The education of students is fundamental to shaping a preferred provincial, national and global future. It is also essential in maintaining Alberta's standard of living and ensuring its global competitiveness. The education system must simultaneously prepare the citizens of tomorrow while equipping the students with the knowledge and skills they…

In 1988, the Jefferson County Public Schools, in Louisville (Kentucky), received an initial planning grant from the Program for Student Achievement of the Edna McConnell Clark Foundation to focus on three "highs" in education--high content, high expectations, and high support. The school district chose three middle schools to participate…