Fall 2003 / Vol. 3, No. 4
The Near End of Bilingual Education
In the wake of California’s Prop 227
Ignorance and Confidence
Mark Twain once said, “To succeed in life, you need two things: ignorance and confidence.” Despite the irony, Twain may have been on to something when it comes to standards-based education reform. Ignorance and confidence were about all I had going for me when I was elected to serve as president of the Virginia Board [...]
Sensitivity Training
The Language Police: How Pressure Groups Restrict What Students Learn
by Diane Ravitch
Progressively Worse
Getting It Wrong from the Beginning: Our Progressivist Inheritance from Herbert Spencer, John Dewey, and Jean Piaget
by Kieran Egan
Amrein and Berliner defend their study; so does the AFT
One would think that economist Michael Podgursky ("Fringe Benefits," Check the Facts, Summer 2003) would analyze teachers' salaries through the lens of supply and demand.
Let’s Not Play Favorites
Last year, the U.S. Supreme Court declared the city of Cleveland’s school voucher program constitutional because it took a neutral stance toward religion. Both religious and secular schooling options were available to parents. Now the political and legal struggle shifts to the states, where opponents of vouchers are pinning their hopes on the so-called Blaine [...]
Critical Demagogues
To the egoistic and asocial being that has just been born, [society] must, as rapidly as possible, add another, capable of leading a moral and social life. Such is the work of education. -Emile Durkheim, 1911 “Critical pedagogy,” a body of education theory represented by the writings of Henry Giroux, Peter McLaren, Michael Apple, and [...]
Tug of War
A fierce debate over civic education in America’s public schools has erupted in response to the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. Broadly speaking, liberal approaches to civic education have emphasized the need to resist jingoism and to explore why America induces such hatred in certain parts of the world. By contrast, conservative responses to [...]
The Politics of No Child Left Behind
The scene in January 2002 was a civics text come to life. Flanked by jubilant members of Congress and standing in front of a cheering crowd, President George W. Bush declared the start of a “new era” in American public education with the signing of the No Child Left Behind Act. The new law represented [...]
Puzzled States
In January 2002, President George W. Bush signed a comprehensive revision of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965. Known popularly as the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act and passed with strong bipartisan support in Congress, this new legislation promises an important shift in efforts at all levels to improve the quality of [...]
Disabling the SAT
The College Board undermines its premier test
The Neutrality Principle
Joshua Davey was once intent on becoming a minister, a plan that cost him his publicly funded scholarship to Northwest College. Now the plaintiff in a high-profile case before the Supreme Court, Davey decided to attend Harvard Law School upon graduating from Northwest. The law regarding vouchers is in the midst of fundamental change. About [...]
The Power to Perform
Attracting nontraditional leaders to education will require increasing their authority and compensation, conditioned on getting results
Out with the Old
University-based school administration programs are incoherent, undercapitalized, and disconnected from the districts where graduates are most likely to seek employment. There is much to be learned from the way business and the military train their leaders
Lifting the Barrier
Eliminating the state-mandated licensure of principles and superintendents is the first step in recruiting and training a generation of leaders capable of transforming America’s schools
Who Should Lead?
Most states require that school principals and superintendents be licensed. To earn a license, they must take courses in administration at a college of education. Are these rules really necessary? Clearly, nothing is more critical to a school’s success than the ability of the principal to establish a sense of mission, set goals, and motivate [...]
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