Using multilevel analysis on a sample of academic-track 12th graders in Israel, compared gender inequality in course taking of mathematics and sciences in Arab and Jewish high schools. Findings show gender inequality to be almost nonexistent in Arab schools, but prominent in Jewish schools. Differences are explained by the differences in…

Studied beyond students' failing scores on a state reading assessment to investigate the needs of struggling students and implications for policy. Results for 108 students in 17 elementary schools suggest that scores on state tests mask distinctive and multifaceted patterns of students'reading abilities that require dramatically different…

Studied the long-term outcomes and costs of the Success for All program using data from the Baltimore Public Schools, Maryland. Success for All students completed eighth grade at a younger age, with better achievement outcomes, fewer special education placements, fewer retentions, and at the same educational expense. (SLD)

Conducted a cost-benefit analysis of a federally financed comprehensive early childhood program, the Title I Chicago Child-Parent Centers. Used data for 1,539 program and comparison group children. Findings show that an established public program can provide benefits that far exceed costs. Outlines key elements of program effectiveness. (SLD)

Governors who put education at the center of their agendas and aspirations act in a long-standing tradition of American political leadership. Among those who did so are leaders who made an imprint on U.S. history both during their gubernatorial terms and afterwards. This paper describes how governors and gubernatorial aspirants can exercise…

Examines the use of educational indicators to serve educational policy ends, the potential benefits and dangers of various uses, and how to forge guidelines for appropriate relationships between indicators and policy. Indicators should not be used as administrative controls or policy levers, but to illuminate educational activities and processes…

Evidence from the National Educational Longitudinal Study of 1988 suggests that teacher ratings are influenced by student characteristics such as race and ethnicity, family background, gender, and school sector. This article examines why the influence of race and ethnicity seems most pronounced in public schools, compared with Catholic and…

A study of five decentralized school districts reveals many reasons why recentralization could occur, including lack of accountability provisions, lack of effectiveness, retrenchment, central office reluctance to share power, and union hostility. Unless districts approach decentralization thoughtfully and with commitment, they may abandon the…

The idea of resistance (and empowerment) in critical pedagogy is rooted in traditional notions of Marxist vanguard politics that consider the trade-unionized white male working class as the entitled leaders of the revolutionary movement. Marxism fosters a theory and practice of elitist leadership notions that is replicated among contemporary…

Using data gathered in interviews and observations, this article examines the effects of formal policy structures on the work of professionals dealing with adolescent sexuality. Informal structures and policies initiated by these professionals are discussed, along with the mechanisms used to develop and communicate them. Recommendations are…

Explains why Jonathon Kozol's first six books about the need for public education reform have neither penetrated educational curricula nor influenced educational reformists or practitioners. His messages and observations, although sensitive and substantive, vent so much rage and anger that readers run for cover. The exception is "Savage…

Examining the contemporary school choice debate yields arguments that are education, economics, governance, and policy driven. To "break the exclusive franchise," school districts are increasingly sponsoring school operation and education services supplied by multiple sources, and states are discussing sponsorship of schools by entities other than…

Over the past decade, Great Britain has experienced various education policy changes geared toward giving parents greater school choice. However, the main purpose of movement toward greater choice is not to build a fairer, more generous educational system, but to end egalitarianism and rebuild a differentiated system more closely aiding social…

The current school choice debate reflects inevitable tensions between private and public education goals. Dramatic social geographic shifts since World War II may have changed the meaning of "private" and "public" so that a new public-private arrangement has evolved. This article discusses the origin of "private citizenship," identifies its key…

Examines rebirth of the school choice idea in the 1980s. Attributes interest in choice to renewed interest among conservatives and unprecedented changes in sentiment toward public education among liberal policy scholars, African-American parents, and state governors. Employs the state relative autonomy theory of political power and the garbage can…