Despite the growth of a variety of alternatives to the neighborhood high school, most students in big-city school systems still attend large comprehensive high schools that serve a particular residential area. The authors contend that the extreme concentration of educational need at these schools is often overlooked by policymakers, school reform…

This report presents a summary of findings from the Emerging Pathways project, which seeks to identify the diverse needs and characteristics of adult learners, understand patterns of enrollment in credit and non-credit-bearing courses and offer advice to postsecondary institutions and policymakers committed to adult learners' success. Among its…

Too often, conversations about Latinos in education are based on ignorance. Put simply, ignorance is "not knowing." As often as not, people in these conversations assume they know more than they actually do--based on individual experiences or cliches shared by others--rather than on data. Excelencia in Education addressed this by providing…

The National Public Policy Education Conference is held annually to improve the policy education efforts of extension workers responsible for public affairs programs. The 1994 conference addressed the following topics: (1) ethical perspectives in public policy education; (2) transition of food and agricultural policy; (3) building human…

This report describes the progress made by AID (Agency for International Development) in mainstreaming attention to gender throughout its strategies and programs to increase the overall effectiveness of its development assistance. The highlights from fiscal years 1991 and 1992 illustrate both the impact achieved and the momentum gained. Divided…

Many of the difficulties in educational reform arise because of deep ideological problems concerning education, problems that generally have their roots in liberal democratic theory. This book explores the varied and conflicting themes in public education. Chapters 1 and 2 discusses liberal democratic theory that permits a plurality of…

This paper hypothesizes that the cost differential between primary school and middle or secondary schooling will affect household decisions to invest in any one schooling level in Ghana. Human capital investment is usually modeled in an intertemporal optimization framework in which households or individuals maximize the present value of life-time…

This report was prepared in connection with work related to programs for support for population training in English-speaking countries of Africa. The United Nations Secretariat has so far provided technical assistance for the establishment of demographic training and research centers in 14 English-speaking countries in Africa. In compiling the…

Although it is true that education is an investment, there are risks associated with relying too strongly on the metaphor of education as investment. The main problems with the investment metaphor are as follows: (1) it pushes aside the notion of education as a consumption good that people want for its own sake; (2) the human capital approach can…

Written by some of the foremost experts on rural America, this book focuses on policy-relevant research on the problems of rural areas. In each chapter, rural policy needs are identified by examining the flow of events and rural sociology of the 1980s. Chapters are: (1) "Critical Times for Rural America: The Challenge for Rural Policy in the…

This document contains 10 essays based on papers presented at a 1991 conference on the changed role of overseas education in development. The book discusses the impact of the end of the Cold War and a rapidly changing economic environment on the rationale for international student and faculty mobility. The practice in developing nations of…

Cooperative Extension Service personnel from 13 Southern states attended a conference on rural revitalization, focusing on Extension's role in (1) economic development, (2) human capital, and (3) infrastructure; 17 of the 22 papers presented are divided among those categories. Three of the remaining papers provide respectively, an overview of the…

This report synthesizes the initial findings of a roundtable discussion related to both immigration and poverty and outlines some preliminary public policy conclusions in order to clarify immediate immigration policy proposals and potential poverty policy implications for the labor market relationship between Hispanic immigrants and disadvantaged…

The United States is faced with two serious economic problems: declining productivity growth and rising unemployment. These problems have become severe in the last decade. Both problems are caused by a number of factors, but experts fail to agree on which factors have most contributed to the problems. This paper examines the relationship between…

Human suffering in India will continue as long as population growth is not checked. A change in this trend is dependent on the citizens of the country. Population education is an important priority in India. Included in this document are four essays covering various socio-psychological aspects of population issues and designed to be of use to…