Examines the relationship between the curriculum and the assessment practices of a group of 14 teachers to determine the degree that change efforts directed at teachers' curricular and instructional approaches have affected other areas of professional practice. Findings indicate that teachers still rely on traditional assessment methods, although…

Describes project that provided technical assistance to elementary and secondary teachers at six sites while collecting data on problems encountered and educators' evolving concepts of alternative assessment. Key difficulties in understanding were teachers' focus on classroom activities rather than student goals, uncertainty about specifying…

Examines family beliefs about alternative educational assessment, using observations of 84 families' interactions and surveys of 172 families' beliefs about assessment, teacher ratings of children's efforts and involvement on alternative assessment measures, and discourse analysis of parents' interactions during interviews and assessments.…

The literature shows a strong connection between education standards and economic development, but the mechanisms are many and complex. Four human capital development approaches are available: redesigning and rebuilding the foundation (scrapping the back-to-basics approach); stressing applications skills required by high-performance organizations;…

Surveyed teachers, counselors, and building admistrators in seven public and three parochial Midwestern high schools regarding their views about appropriate role of employment for high school students. Educators generally support limits on student employment during high school, dependent on age or grade level. Imposing such limits is up to…

Survey of 500 teachers of sexuality education in New Jersey shows differences between richer and poorer districts. Teachers in rich districts get more parental support and have greater access to training, colleagues, curricular guidance, instructional materials. Sexuality education is more likely to be required and is taken by more students.…

Although postsecondary correctional education (PSCE) programs are available in most state and federal prisons, some taxpayers object to such "largesse" in the face of increasing higher education costs. This article addresses the most common objections to PSCE programming, refutes those arguments, and demonstrates the wide-ranging positive results,…

National standards and assessments (President Clinton's Goals 2000 Act) are being proposed to improve schools. This article reviews the bill and examines equity issues, including disparities in instructional conditions among racial/ethnic groups. Using tests to change teaching and learning reflects overreliance on top-down policy, distrust of…

Presents a strategy for identifying schools that are restructured across several dimensions. Analyzes data from a nominated sample of restructured schools to discover relevant dimensions and criteria and degree of restructuring. Schools tended to meet more criteria in the areas of student experiences and teachers' professional life; significantly…

The potential of educational finance reform to create more uniform, equitable educational opportunities for minorities and low-income students may exceed previous desegregation efforts via court litigation. This article discusses the ability of state-controlled finance reforms to meet a major segregation goal (improved educational quality)…

Examines a metropolitanwide school desegregation plan's effects on the attitudes and experiences of a few suburban school teachers. Instead of deploring their school's changing demographics, these educators welcomed the new racial and ethnic diversity contributed by African-American students. The plan increased teacher awareness of the school's…

The governance of teacher education in the context of systemic reform must adopt a policy posture congruent with current constructivist learning forms. Governance must stimulate teacher education to become fully professional, committed to knowledge and inquiry, constantly attuned to its own competence, and caring of its many clients. Establishing…

Outcomes-based education (OBE) views itself as drastic break from current inequitable educational practices and means of providing educational success for all students. Reexamines OBE from a multiparadigm perspective of organizations and educational administration. Although certain OBE facets may be empowering to students and teachers, much of the…

Discusses emerging educational service delivery systems for homeless children and youth, stressing policy implications for overcoming barriers to their education. Mainstream program models fit the intent of the 1990 Mckinney Act amendments. Programs should address individual and family resource needs through interagency collaboration and provide…

Describes how parents in two communities constructed their roles in a social context shaped by economic resources, local notions of home-school relations, and information networks. Examines parenting as a social activity internalized by individuals through their daily interactions. Shows how family-role perceptions and school practices are…