Discusses the relationships between fiscal stress in California public schools after the passage of Proposition 13 and high school curricular changes. Reports that school staff and parents interviewed in California's Big Eight districts perceived reduced course offerings in similar areas and understood the intimate ties between financial pressures…

Develops a theoretical context for understanding the evidence on effective schools. Analyzes how effective schools have surmounted a central problem of inner-city schools, recruiting and retaining good teachers. Argues that because principals in effective schools focus on improving student achievement, teachers have concrete, realizable goals…

Interviews with low-income parents revealed that they were aware of the class character of local schools and believed that high-income schools were superior. Ninety-four percent favored social class school desegregation, believing that their children would thereby obtain a better education and better preparation for social interaction in adult…

Social studies peer work groups (PWGs) in fifth grade classrooms were more frequent than math PWGs and involved a broader variety of student behaviors and cognitive levels. The majority of social studies groups were cooperative in both task and reward structures. For both subjects, student involvement was highest in cooperatively task-structured…

Reviews two books by Henry Giroux that consider the relations among schooling, culture, and power, and that argue for a critical science drawing on contemporary European and American Marxist cultural analyses and critical structural traditions. Argues that Giroux's work provides an important theoretical perspective for a method of study and…

Analyzes differences in achievement levels between Sephardi and Ashkenazi grade 6 students and overall achievement levels in 24 Israeli urban elementary schools. Finds that schools with higher levels of between-classroom segregation had larger ethnic achievement gaps. (FMW)

Reviews 100 lower court decisions since the 1982 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that mandated access to education for handicapped students. Concludes that the courts have remained willing to support parents in obtaining services for their handicapped children. (FMW)

Explores John Dewey's contributions to the recent debate over the role of the classics in the college curriculum. Argues a "modified Deweyan solution" advocating flexibility in the selection and study of classic texts. (FMW)

Reports a study on minimum competency testing in American high schools. Discusses the effects on students who fail to pass it, and the perceptions of educators and administrators about the value and barrier aspects of these tests. Implications of the findings for research, policy making, and educational practice are explored. (JS)

Suggests that teachers' thinking expand beyond planning and decision-making to encompass all aspects of contemplation. Examines subject matter in children as objects of teachers' contemplative concerns. Discusses expansion of researchers' and teacher educators' attitudes toward teachers. (Author)

Discusses historical aspects of the Christian school movement in the past century as it evolved into one of the fastest-growing branches of private education in America. Compares and contrasts salient themes from Alan Peshkin's profile of a Fundamentalist academy in Illinois and Susan Rose's comparative analysis of a charismatic day school and a…

At the aggregate level it appears that the state share of public school financing has shifted from parity to dominance. However, there is substantial diversity among states. Through a synthesis of the literature on fiscal federalism, political culture, state politics, and public policy, explanations are offered for this interstate divergence.…

The policy issues confronted by state governments in the area of early childhood programs are examined. Important points in decision making are the contents and financing of the programs and the trade-off between cost and quality. Three appendices include data sources, financial information, and policy options. (Author/VM)

The Americanization movement and civics education can be interpreted as symbolic action sanctioning a particular status order with certain definitions and interpretations of social phenomena. The purpose most commonly attributed to it is the transformation of immigrants. The movement is biased toward cultural homogeneity and the anonymity of the…

Advocates a quantitative sociological approach to measuring curriculum differentiation and its effects. Research should combine survey with observational methods to examine measures of track organization and instructional activities that are sensitive to organizational and instructional conditions that differ across schools. (Author/BJV)