At a time of bitter national polarization, there is a critical need for leaders who can help us better communicate with one another. In "A Search for Common Ground," Rick Hess and Pedro Noguera, who have often fallen on opposing sides of the ideological aisle over the past couple of decades, candidly talk through their differences on…

The phrase "21st-century skills" is everywhere in education policy discussions these days, from faculty lounges to the highest echelons of the U.S. education system. Broadly speaking, it refers to a push for schools to teach critical-thinking, analytical, and technology skills, in addition to the "soft skills" of creativity, collaboration, and…

This chapter first examines how the Obama administration was able to promote its K-12 agenda using the vehicle of economic stimulus policy, and how that agenda compares with prior federal and state education policy. As a basis for explaining President Obama's policy choices, a second section discusses the ideas and political dynamics shaping his…

The author reports on House and Senate bills that take different stances toward funding formula-grant programs and Obama administration initiatives. Key education programs, including Title I grants for disadvantaged students and aid for special education, would get flat funding for the 2012 fiscal year under a measure approved Sept. 21 by the…

From his very earliest days in office, Tony Blair believed that if he was to achieve his broader educational reforms then the teaching profession itself needed modernising--it had to become a "21st century profession". This paper charts the background to this aspiration and the complex range of interrelated policies used to achieve that…

In Texas, the members of the State Board of Education (SBOE) are elected in a partisan election. One of the duties of the State Board of Education is overseeing the writing of curriculum standards for the various content areas. A call went out to educators across the state, asking for volunteers to write the standards. Committees were formed for…

This book is intended to serve as a stimulus for discussion of what is needed to provide all American children with a world-class education opportunity and to make education a top priority in every state and the country as a whole. A range of contributors offer a diverse number of possible solutions to the current educational crisis in American…

This collection brings together many of the world's leading sociologists of education to explore and address key issues and concerns within the discipline. The thirty-seven newly commissioned chapters draw upon theory and research to provide new accounts of contemporary educational processes, global trends, and changing and enduring forms of…