Critiques recent versions of pluralism by examining the concepts of culture and identity underlying them. Proposes a model of education that rejects cultural transmission in favor of a transformational curriculum that goes beyond culture. (SK)

A survey of parents and children in South Wales (794 families) identified three components of school choice: (1) selection of type of school; (2) selection of a number of schools of the chosen type; and (3) the final decision. Family approaches to choice are diverse: eclectic, fatalist, child centered, parent centered, and consumerist. (SK)

Case studies of six black parents in Britain found that they have understanding of the educational process, the system, and parental rights, a form of cultural capital necessary for effective school relationships. However, dissonance between parents and the schools suggests underlying issues of race, such as schools' low expectations of black…

A collaborative group of postgraduate students in education and their supervisors identified issues related to the long completion times and high attrition rates of education postgraduates. Students felt ill prepared for research and experienced isolation, lack of resources and structure, and changed power relationships. (SK)

Children (n=28) who were given books as babies and followed up at age 3 were compared to 29 who received no books. The treatment group had substantially greater participation in eight early literacy activities. Controls were more passive, less interested, and less able to sustain concentration. (SK)

A network-analytic framework for understanding minority socialization illuminates institutional and ideological forces that hinder access to social capital and institutional support for minority children. Successful socialization goes beyond learning to decode the system: it entails learning to manage life in multiple worlds. (SK)

The theory that strong external accountability improves school performance fails to recognize the importance of internal accountability and insufficient efforts to develop organizational capacity. A study of 24 restructuring schools found that schools with strong external accountability tended to have low capacity; strong internal accountability…

Argues against the use of theory in educational inquiry, contending that the meaning of theory is unclear; both personal theory and grand theory inhibit creativity and methodology; and less structured problem solving and ad hoc approaches are more likely to result in pluralistic ideas. (SK)

An enactivist model of cognition proposes that thinking occurs through interaction, not in individual minds. As experiences in an inner-city elementary school suggest, an enactivist approach blurs lines between knower and known, teacher and student, and teaching and learning are better understood as mutual, evolving practices. (SK)

The personal experience of a teacher and a lesbian is used to explore whether and how a teacher should disclose sexual orientation to students. Examines prevalent assumptions about coming out (providing role models for gay students, opposing homophobia) and offers alternatives. (SK)

Reviews recent trends in school effectiveness research from a British perspective. Discusses the achievements of school effectiveness research in destroying assumptions of school impotence in the face of family background. Examines criticisms of effectiveness research, recent research themes, factors associated with school effectiveness, positive…

Reviews findings of four national Scottish surveys of science achievement, 1985-97, within the Assessment of Achievement Programme (AAP). Examines AAP responses to changing educational policy and the increasingly political context of national achievement monitoring. Discusses the AAP's contributions to development of standards and practical forms…

In 1999, Scotland's "Higher Still" will incorporate all upper-secondary academic and vocational courses in a unified curriculum and assessment system for postcompulsory education. Higher Still's objectives, strategies, and "system architecture" are compared to those of Austria, England, Finland, France, Germany, Norway, and Sweden, studied by the…

Examines the persistence of prejudice, especially about language, at a time when multicultural educational objectives are (apparently) widely accepted. Discusses belief in the "bilingual deficit," views of culture within Scotland, the role of cultural "markers" in religion and language, acculturation in various contexts, and needed tasks within…

The LACE (Local Authority Current Expenditure) report on comparable local education expenditure in Scotland, England, and Wales, 1993-95, found that Scottish expenditure was 23% higher than in England, largely from the higher incidence of local authority-educated children in Scotland. However, the LACE report excludes several important variables…