Includes "On the Common Core of Learning" (Kennedy); "Constitutional Implications of National Curriculum Standards" (Arons); "Arguments against National Performance Standards" (Fulk, Mantzicopoulos, Hirth); and "The Painful Lessons of Introducing the National Curriculum in England" (Foster). (SK)

Current mathematics reform policy conflicts with the political and social dilemmas facing math teachers in urban schools: math course tracking, fiscal inequities, and failure of traditional assessment to meet the needs of underserved children. Policy decisions must be based on an expansive view of equality. (SK)

Standards in art education contradict the nature of art: the unexpected, the imagined, the explorations and creative discoveries. What must be communicated is the importance of the arts and aesthetic education, the nurture of informed understanding of art, and meaningful standards that emerge intrinsically and are not imposed extrinsically (SK)

Voluntary national standards will not correct the gross inequities in the educational experiences of poor children and do not address the question of "Whose knowledge is of most worth?" Content standards enable schools and policymakers to avoid addressing the substantive causes of student failure. (SK)

The language minority label masks the complex linguistic and educational needs of the labeled groups. Equity and assessment issues and knowledge about language-minority education must inform standards. National standards must not be used as a tool of opposition to cultural and linguistic diversity. (SK)

This chart presents the focus, format, status/timelines, implementation plan, dissemination plan, professional development, and contact information for standards in arts, civics/government, economics, English, foreign languages, geography, history, mathematics, physical education, sciences, social studies, industry skills, and health. (SK)

Recent trends in the English curriculum--little more than changes in emphases--do not constitute a utopian "new English." In fact, one trend, revealed in some current studies of the high school English curriculum, involves a return to the "old" tradition of instruction in the great masters of English and American literature. The studies imply a…

This inaugural journal issue presents the perspectives of Massachusetts Bay Community College's faculty, administrators, and students on various aspects of community college education as practiced at the college. The journal contains the following articles: (1) "Adult Second Language Beginning Reading," by Ann Hilferty; (2) "Making Education a…