Challenges Wilbur Brookover's response to the author's article "It's Time We Changed the Effective Schools Formula" appearing in the November 1987 issue of "Kappan." The author's Pennsylvania studies show that certain variables such as classroom climate, emphasis on basic skills, and time-on-task were inconsequential in predicting a school's…

Describes Getty Center for Education in the Arts, which espouses the ideas and skills of art production, art history, art criticism, and aesthetics and involves four activities related to the visual arts: (1) creating art, (2) perceiving and responding to art works, (3) understanding the place of art in culture and history, and (4) making reasoned…

Empowering teachers involves developing their status, their knowledge, and their access to decision making. Describes some special programs funded by private foundations that have helped develop teachers' feelings of empowerment. (MD)

Discusses how educational reform produces contradictions that can effectively turn exceptional teachers into mediocre teachers by using mandated curriculum. Includes seven references. (MD)

Introduces the topic--measurement of educational progress--which is discussed in the following five articles. (MD)

Outlines the definition, uses, and current trends in assessment of educational systems known as "educational indicators." Includes 22 references. (MD)

Noting large gaps in the information available about schools in the United States, the author reports on current efforts across the country to rectify the situation and make comparable data available. Includes eight references. (MD)

Because there is no agreement on the goals of educational monitoring systems, states face problems when collecting and reporting on information in their school systems. Includes five references. (MD)

Outlines the benefits and risks involved when using educational indicators. If educational indicators do not capture the quality of instructional practices and do not affect local planning and policymaking, they can be destructive. Includes 18 references. (MD)

The author speculates on whether a first-class set of educational indicators would favor district, state, or federal initiatives and whether they would strengthen and increase the professional discretion of teachers. Includes 32 references. (MD)/Author)

Argues that it is incorrect to view educational performance indicators as vastly more troubled than unemployment indicators. The differences between the educational and economic systems have important consequences for the development of indicators. Includes 11 references. (Author/MD)

Discusses the importance education issues should have in presidential politics while reviewing educational reform issues. Outlines ten impediments to school reform. (MD)

Provides a ten-point education platform for speech writers of governmental candidates to consider. (MD)

A composition teacher from a school in Chicago's South Side describes her experience enticing hard-to-reach students to write in her classroom. (MD)

Examines some areas in which change is required if the schools are to meet students' needs. The areas include desegregation, finance, teacher training, instruction, and planning. Argues that the schools, parents, and the larger community must work together. (IRT)