Explores issues about the fairness of the present arrangement barring public support for private religious schools, showing that the arrangement is based on a consensus formed during the 1920s that established a strong conceptual separation between public and private, where religious schooling is relegated to the private sector, and cautioning…

Uses data from a survey of California elementary teachers and from student California Learning Assessment System scores to examine the influence of assessment, curriculum, and professional development on teacher practice and student achievement, proposing that successful instructional policies are themselves instructional: teachers' opportunities…

Investigated access to didactic and constructivist instruction in U.S. high school science classrooms. Data from a national sample of 3,660 students and their science teachers (from the National Educational Longitudinal Study) indicated that access to the two types of instruction varied by gender, socioeconomic status, academic ability, and course…

Explores the relationship between feminist pedagogical theory and progressive education related to classroom gender relations and construction of female teacher authority, examining contemporary applications of progressive educational theory to gender issues, addressing teacher authority (noting Dewey's writings on women), and suggesting how…

Examines the development of a separate professional identity for teachers of children with disabilities, highlighting Boston public schools from 1870-1930, tracing emergent professionalization and training among teachers in institutions for individuals with disabilities, discussing specialized training for teachers working in four special…

Explores the role of bilingual liaisons in resolving conflicts and building bridges of understanding between schools and diverse communities, discussing the representation of individuals' voices and narrative forms that engage readers aesthetically and critically; addressing multiple conflicts affecting the lives of minority language students,…

Examines assessment policy in Arizona over a decade, using interview, observation, and archival data. Policy shifted from basic skills and standardized testing to progressive reform by performance testing to high-stakes standardized testing using state standards. The Arizona Student Assessment Program is described, discussing the Academic Summit…

Presents a theory of educational change grounded in 23 years of qualitative data from one elementary school, interpreting patterns of change using the punctuated equilibrium theory of organizational change, in which short periods of revolutionary change (usually following failed innovation) are followed by long periods of equilibrium or…

Explored how fashion helped urban adolescent girls desire and create normalized images of the perfect woman, examining their stories about their bodies and how their stories and images empowered them to become healthy women. Data from group discussions, journal writing, freewriting, and written stories indicated that fashion taught girls to desire…

Grade inflation pervades U.S. schools at all levels, and it is particularly pronounced in the humanities fields and in departments, schools, and colleges of education (DSCEs). This problem presents a leadership opportunity for DSCEs to develop and implement a credible and meaningful grade distribution system to combat pervasive grade inflation.…

Using ethnographic and autobiographical accounts of segregated black schools, examines culturally relevant teaching as a political pedagogy, developing the concept of politically relevant teaching rooted in utilizing knowledge of social inequalities to empower marginalized students, and noting the importance of the political clarity of teachers…

Examines white teachers' perceptions of racism in their schools. A survey of 222 midwestern teachers indicated that most operated from an impaired consciousness about racism. Nearly half attributed racial problems to blacks. However, 40% perceived racism as coming from white colleagues, parents, or students. Most of those who witnessed racism by…

Argues that race is neither purely ideological nor purely essential, but grounded in sociohistorical ideologies and performances. The author uses this conceptualization to interpret student-teacher practice and to ground her own teacher-education practice. Discusses breaking down the individual/society dualism, meanings of race in one local…

Examines social constructs of white racial identity among adolescent girls attending a largely white, elite, private, single-sex high school. Students' voices illustrate how liberal discourses position youth and how white youth actively remake themselves in relation to prevailing meanings and practices institutionalized in private schools.…

Examined tensions inherent in relationships between Latino immigrant students and their teachers at an urban middle school. Data from an ethnographic study of students' school experiences and interviews with teachers indicated that students named teacher discrimination against Latinos as the primary cause of their disengagement from school.…