Minorities educated in urban school systems are unlikely to select themselves into teacher training programs. This article shows the direct connection among societal conditions, the quality of schooling offered minority children, and minority teacher recruitment. Suggestions for developing alternative certification and recruitment approaches are…

Integration is essential but succeeds only in schools that have fundamentally changed their organization and teaching strategies. High expectations, opportunities for students to work and learn together, the use of language for real purposes, and continual reexamination of successes and problems are necessary elements in an effectively integrated…

For almost two centuries, poor children have been seen as a threat to society because neither parents nor existing community institutions could control their unacceptable behavior. Compulsory education for so-called at-risk children has produced another problem: poor academic performance. This article argues for eliminating graded schools and…

Teachers generally feel unrewarded and underappreciated. Most oppose merit pay and extending the school year and desire higher pay and more authority. The most frequently mentioned problems are parents' lack of interest and support, lack of proper financial support, pupils' lack of interest and truancy, and lack of discipline. Other results are…

Shows how a grassroots, interracial coalition is working to restructure Chicago Public Schools. Under the new Illinois legislation, Chicago's present school board will be disbanded, teachers will be hired by merit, principals will lack tenure, and education rebates to facilitate school choice may be available. Includes three references. (MLH)

According to a survey of large school districts, the ratio of central office managers to students enrolled ranges from 1 administrator per 1,650 students to 1 administrator per 161 students. The average ratio was 1 administrator per 561 students. Western school districts appear most efficient. The ideal: 1 administrator per 1,000 to 1,200…

By the year 2000, school decentralization could become another unfortunate, ineffectual pendulum swing. According to this article, a dynamic, ever-changing system of decentralization and centralization balances the benefits of local administrative autonomy with the pursuit of unified goals and helps each leadership level understand its…

Advertised as a response to a secondary school's crisis in Great Britain, the Education Reform Act (1988) is actually engineering a crisis by attempting to change the nature of British society and politics. Traditional arrangements are yielding to a more centralized educational finance system, a national curriculum, and increased teacher…

Complains that the relevance of research to educational reform evaporated in 1985 when the William Bennett/Chester Finn team began to promote reform by rhetoric. A reorganized Office of Educational Research and Improvement (OERI) then abandoned plans to forge a strong link between researchers and practitioners. (MLH)

Replies to Crandall's claim that Finn had disrupted a decade of solid research in the Office of Educational Research and Improvement Office (OERI) regional educational laboratories. According to Finn, these labs have wasted taxpayers' money. Currently, states command school policy and finances, and key decision-makers are governors and…

Minnesota is leading the school choice movement, but Governor Perpich's promotional tours may be somewhat premature. This article examines the open enrollment concept and its consequences, including charges of elitism and application of private enterprise principles to education. Open enrollment contradicts the legislature's duty to establish a…

Examines presidential attitudes toward education and speculates on how a second Reagan term or a Mondale presidency would affect education. (MD)

President Reagan lists six steps for returning excellence to American education: restore discipline, end drug and alcohol abuse, raise academic standards, encourage good teaching, restore local control, and teach the basics. (MD)

Presidential candidate Walter Mondale outlines his strategy for improving education. He proposes closing the skill gaps through the development of better curricula, upgrading teachers' skills, reduction of paperwork, and bolstering the teaching profession. (MD)

A model presidential nominating convention gathered 4,000 students from three states in May 1984 and selected Gary Hart as the Democratic nominee. Preconvention training prepares students to run the convention themselves while learning the political process in action. (MD)