Rather than defining and debating particular goals, educational policymakers tend to focus on the technical issues surrounding educational practice. This book considers the social and ethical orientations that structure mainstream policy dialogues and the way in which adoption of some alternative social and ethical principles would change the form…

This paper takes the position that the main premise of "The Bell Curve" (by Richard Murray and Charles Herrnstein) is that significant advantages exist for possessing an IQ toward the top of the range--advantages that pertain to school success, career, and income. The premise is that people with high IQs have naturally acquired scholarly…

This paper describes a father's reflections on his daughter Charlie's failure to pass a state-mandated standardized test; reactions of both to the failure; reactions of both to emerging events; Charlie's next challenge and her looking to the future, and final thoughts and conclusions. The paper is a collaborative effort between father and daughter…

In response to the segregation, stigmatization, and valorization that placement systems can cause, writing instructors at Ohio State University paired an honors class with a basic writing class. For each of 3 years, the paired classes met in adjoining computer-enhanced classrooms, and when the classroom dividing wall was opened, the students…

A study examined the processes and criteria of assignment to honors English classes in the context of the transition from middle to high school. Five midwestern school districts--four public school districts and one Catholic diocese--participated in the study. Data consisted of interviews with school staff, school records, and student survey…

A "best evidence" review synthesis, which incorporates features of meta-analytic and traditional literature reviews, is used in this review of studies on the effects of ability grouping on secondary school students' achievement. The focus was on 29 studies that compared between-class ability grouping to heterogeneous placements. Effect sizes were…

Academic tracking, one of the most enduring and controversial educational practices, is directly implicated as a link among education, future technical/occupational skill, and the welfare of the U.S. national economy. Tracking's most controversial feature is the potentially harmful effects of bad placement decisions based on such nonacademic…

This report summarizes the major findings of a study of 26 California high schools. The study, Paths through High School, was conducted to describe the characteristics of high school curricula in California, how they are determined and how they differ for various groups of students. Chapter 1 describes the state, district, and school levels of…

Chinese children must attend school until age 16, and education consists of elementary schools for ages 6-13 and lower middle schools for ages 13-16. While the economic planning of the national government in Beijing (China) dictates what will be emphasized, the school curriculum includes instruction in ideology, Chinese language, calligraphy, fine…

This study analyzes the impact of school structure on the friendship networks of students in desegregated schools in Israel. It highlights the importance of school features, such as the homeclass, to the formation of relationships among seventh through ninth grade students. A review of research literature on this topic is presented in the areas of…

We do not yet know for certain whether desegregation works because the goals of desegregation are so amorphous and the research conducted so far is inadequate to prove whether racial composition has an independent impact on student achievement. Desegregation is a complex issue whose nature is not known and may not be discovered because attempts to…

The paper describes a 5-year longitudinal study of a Texas school district's implementation of an individualized mainstream special education program. "Plan A" program activities and outcomes are reported for five phases (sample subtopics in parentheses): initiation in one high school, one junior high school and eight elementary schools…

Freshmen at a large suburban high school were given a questionnaire about their attitudes toward tracking or ability grouping. From the 867 students, 50 were randomly selected from each of four levels in the tracking system: honor algebra, regular algebra, fundamentals of algebra, and general mathematics. The majority of students at each level…

Defining intelligence as "current behavioral repertoire that is highly symbolic and abstract," the author relates it to the classroom management problem of tracking, including the method itself, the effect of group membership on intelligence levels, and the change of individuals' IQ levels over time. (MB)

Interviews with high school senior girls in Vancouver, Canada, who selected business courses are used to illustrate how students' knowledge of the school and of the society produces course choices that in turn tend to reproduce class and gender categories. (RM)