This paper argues that social, political, and economic circumstances provide better explanations of rural school consolidation than the advertised curricular, pedagogical, or administrative benefits. Modern views of schooling over recent decades emphasize economic development and the need to improve international competitiveness. There is a…

This paper examines two states operating under Federal Court Orders concerning deinstitutionalization of individuals with mental retardation. New Hampshire is presented as a state in which sociopolitical realities have interfered with efforts to monitor the quality of care, as the Laconia State School was closed for economic reasons, thereby…

Multicultural education has become a controversial topic in recent years, and in the midst of such controversy, there has been little agreement on a precise conceptualization of multicultural education. It is apparent that it takes many forms. A typology is presented that divides multicultural education programs into three categories according to…

A study compared the political action, attitudes, and behavior of union members and members of union households to those of individuals who are not affiliated with a union. National data from the 1950s through the 1980s on the political identification, beliefs, and behavior of union/union household members and nonmembers were analyzed along with…

The European Community (EC) is continually increasing its influence in all areas of European society, politically, economically, and now educationally. The future, it is argued, may see the EC as a supra-national policy maker for higher education as significant, as are national governments at the present time. This paper examines the role of the…

World War II was the last time when overall U.S.-Japan relations, and the economic relationship in particular, were as bad as appears to be the case in the 1990s. The United States and Japan are, respectively, the two largest economies in the world. The Japanese have the second leading market for U.S. products trailing only Canada. Japan buys more…

Between 1795 and 1993, elementary and secondary schooling in New York State shifted from a private/local to a public/state activity. That shift from local to state control and identity involved a lengthy political struggle and reveals the historical working-out of two conflicting themes in the American political tradition: popular democratic…

Drawing on the historical record and primary sources, this book portrays how Native American political confederacies of the colonial era operated and how their organization and underlying principles influenced the founding fathers of U.S. political institutions. A complementary theme of this book is the intense debate about Native American…

This paper analyzes the development of higher education and evaluates the changes being introduced at universities and university colleges in eastern Germany. The paper discusses: (1) a brief outline of higher education in the new German states; (2) main aspects of the socially essential changes; (3) the basic character of the changes; (4) the…

This essay outlines the history of social studies and the continuing push and pull of political favoritism that has marked its path since the second quarter of the century. Seen variously as too liberal, too progressive, even un-American, social studies is perhaps too sophisticated a concept for narrowly trained teachers and administrators. The…

This paper recounts the legal, political, and educational changes in former East Germany as the nation has become reunified, and considers the implications of reunification for institutional research at East German universities. After a brief sketch of legal, geographic, and demographic highlights, the decrepit conditions of East German university…

Section A of the Journalism and Media History section of the proceedings contains the following 16 papers: "Covering the 'World's Most Famous' Trial: An Examination of the Choices Made by Georgia Reporters" (Gregory C. Lisby and Linda L. Harris); "Market Segmentation and Political Capital as Supports for Newspaper Partisanship: The…

Recent changes in and issues related to political authority and educational policy, specifically, decentralization and school responsibility, are examined in this paper. The following concerns are discussed: new administrative structures for states and municipalities; allocation of block grants; political and professional control of goals,…

This book explores three major imperatives of American higher education in the decades ahead. First, colleges and universities must respond to six critical challenges: minority participation; financing quality education; replacing quality faculty; affordability; institutional ethics; and national competitiveness. Second, strong leadership is…

Controlled educational choice, defined as parental or student choice of educational programs within the public school system that is regulated for public purposes, has become a leading proposal for educational reform. This paper reviews evidence from three working models of choice: the Minnesota Postsecondary Enrollment Options program (PEO), the…