Advisement is a key component of personalized education. Usually, teacher advisors remain with a small group of advisees while they attend a particular school. The anonymity of large schools can be mitigated by creating school learning communities and/or schools-within-schools. Successful examples are profiled. (15 references) (MLH)

A federal case (West v Derby Unified School District #260) involving a middle schooler's suspension for drawing a Confederate flag (in violation of a school racial-harassment policy) juxtaposes students' rights of free expression with public schools' unique needs. Speech (or artistic expression) that disrupts the educational process must be…

Discusses findings and implications of the Texas Poll of Elementary School Teachers. Fifth- and sixth-grade teachers spend more time teaching just science than do teachers in lower grades. Most teachers believed science is not a high priority at their school. Insufficient time, materials, and resources are limiting factors. (15 references) (MLH)

This case study of the commercialized teaching profession in Costa Rican higher education urges circumspection; the term "efficient and productive change" camouflages the state-sanctioned commodification of the instructional enterprise. Courses are becoming proprietary courseware, machinery for selling intellectual capital is emerging,…

Ghanaian educational reform has come with many attendant problems that mitigate against school success. Educators are concerned about low funding, weakening teacher morale, absence of textbooks, inadequate infrastructure, inefficient administrative procedures and structures, and underqualified teachers. Reforms must rely on local skills and…

To prepare 21 study-abroad students for a trip to Kenya, Iowa State University's Study Abroad Center, in conjunction with Kenyatta University, developed an orientation-program model focused on academic development, multicultural development, and cultural assimilation. Sessions covered informational resources, orientation, study-abroad courses, and…

Describes a followup study to previous research into midcareer educators' tendencies to label older colleagues as resisters to Oregon schools' restructuring efforts. Results show that such attitudes stigmatize individuals and inhibit their responses in ways that hamper the change process. More respect for lifelong professional learning is needed.…

The U.S. Supreme Court decided that quadraplegics like Garret F. cannot enter the schoolhouse gate without supportive medical services--vastly different from ordinary nursing services. Are there limits to what government should provide for disabled students? This new responsibility level poses problems for schools and confounds Congress's original…

Examines a moderately sized Washington school district's efforts to move beyond strategic planning as a segregated activity toward thinking strategically about long-term plans to govern both tactical operations and the district's future. Top management grew to recognize the legitimacy of multiple external and internal constituent claims. (25…

Builds a case for studying principals' dilemmas, discusses lack of studies in non-Western contexts, and briefly reviews Hong Kong schooling reforms. Describes how 15 Hong Kong principals managed various dilemmas and the managerial consequences. Although dilemmas may be generic across cultures, their formation and management seem culturally…

Analyzes significant phenomena observed while developing and implementing Hong Kong's school-based management policy. Findings from an evaluation of 12 schools revealed that major SBM program components (teacher and parent participation, systematic planning and reporting of school activities, and flexible resource use) can contribute to school…

Human-rights education can be realized in the science classroom. Taught from a critical postmodern perspective, science can serve the interest of social justice while embracing a teaching dialectic fostering critical social consciousness. First, science educators must examine scientific theory's role in promoting both human welfare and injustice.…

Summarizes trends in New Zealand's Sixth Form Certificate assessment, explains teacher views about it and a sixth-form major subject area (science, represented by National Standards Syllabus biology, chemistry, and physics), and discusses findings in the context of the National Qualifications Framework. Official scrutiny over this exam has…

Although state services for immigrants are quite generous, immigrant communities have struggled, socially and economically, to enter mainstream Swedish society. A growing sense of transgenerational isolation is evident. Education of immigrant children is characterized by "negative tolerance" and lack of bilingual support. Conceptions of…

Three broad challenges to Thailand's educational system (participation, effectiveness, and resources) have deep, far- reaching consequences for the teaching profession. Major problems include teacher shortages in critical areas; low salaries; and recruitment, qualification, and professional-development inadequacies. Teacher/leadership programs are…