Kimball begins this essay by comparing the start of the "golden age" of liberal arts education as the period between about 1950 and 1975 when American higher education's revenue and enrollments of colleges and universities grew enormously. During the subsequent silver age of academe, ending in the Great Recession of 2008-2009,…

In education, contemporary discussions of standards and standardisation often appear incidentally, as part of the critique of particular standardisation projects, such as national or international assessments and comparisons. This review essay focuses not on particular standards but more broadly on how standards develop, how they participate in…

This article will briefly review resources in youth ministry--two groundbreaking classics and a recent surge of good work--that can guide the footsteps of those who work with teens within faith communities. The best resources for ministry with teens engage mind, body, and spirit--always moving toward the practical step of inviting new action in…

While virtually all sex education books for teenagers focus on sexual health, Jo Langford's "The Sex EDcyclopedia" offers comprehensive and empowering information specifically for teen males about their sexuality and how it may be positively experienced. This review examines the strengths of "The Sex EDcyclopedia" as a sex education resource and…

Education in the United States was in a state of "crisis" at the time of the 1983 release of "A Nation at Risk," the landmark report on the US education reform. This was the time when the rising Japanese economy started threatening the post-war US economic dominance and conservative figures such as Ronald Reagan gained popular support. Subsequent…

In "Engaging Science Policy from the Side of the Messy," Patti Lather explores the relationship between science and policy. In this review Rosser explores how Lather argues for the use of all forms of research to make policy that is democratic, complex and messy.

This article analyzes the 2002 Coretta Scott King Award book by Mildred Taylor entitled "The Land". The novel and its author are situated within a tradition of historical fiction written by and about African Americans. I then offer an analysis that utilizes Critical Race Theory as an interpretive tool for examining the ways Taylor embeds meanings…

The Canadian young adult novel "The Maestro" by Tim Wynne-Jones foregrounds the relationship between imagination and subjective agency. While Burl uses his imagination at the beginning to protect himself from his abusive father, his fantasies become dress rehearsals for small performances that allow him to try on new identities and exercise…

Jenny Robson's "Savannah 2216 AD", a dark, futuristic novel for young adults, provides a strong critique on much of the world's predilection for saving Africa's animals at the expense of those human communities who are perceived to be in the way of the preservation of the continent's remaining wild spaces. Using Robson's novel as template, this…

The authors review "White middle class identities and urban schooling," by D. Reay, G. Crozier and D. James. This book focuses on the perspectives of white middle-class parents who make "against"-the-grain school choices for their children in urban England. It provides key insights into the dynamics of class practising that are played out in these…

The author reviews three books that provide complementary and thought-provoking insights. The three books under review are: (1) "Reproducing class: education, neoliberalism, and the rise of the new middle class in Istanbul," by Henry J. Rutz and Erol M. Balkan; (2) "Technology, culture, family: influences on home life," by Elizabeth B. Silva; and…

This article presents a review of "Lost youth in the global city: class, culture and the urban imaginary," by Jo-Anne Dillabough and Jacqueline Kennelly. In many ways the "juke-box boys" would today form a stratum of the "lost youth" that Jo-Anne Dillabough and Jacqueline Kennelly discuss in their thoughtful account of young people on the urban…

There are many challenges that lie ahead for families of children with special needs. It is indeed a time for conquering the unknown and diligently exploring the options in an effort to locate, understand, and ultimately embrace the as yet undiscovered beauties of the new setting. This paper will consider some of the issues relevant for parents,…

Two reviews of an ambitious comparative study of elementary classroom practices and realities in the United States (Michigan), England, France, Russia, and India. There is no single definition of best practice in education, for both means and ends are culturally specific. Recent English educational policy emphasizing a generic definition and…

Post-industrial society, late modernity, globalization --- all these are terms that appeal to a changing reality in many of its manifestations; the labor market: the family; education; gender values; ways of thinking the world, space and oneself; and so forth. In such a world of many important transformations, the construction of youth and gender…