(1990). The Urgency for Change: School Reform and Quality Education for Hispanic Youth. Publication No. 90-03. This paper looks at the successful initiatives and unforeseen problems that have arisen in Massachusetts public education since the passage of the Public School Improvement Act of 1985, with a focus on the needs of Hispanic Americans. There is overwhelming evidence that the specific needs of Hispanic Americans are neither being identified nor met by the three major reform initiatives that have been introduced in the areas of state-parental choice, privatization of schools, and site-based governance. In view of the estimated future need for skilled workers, the business community has begun to spend resources on basic skills education and advanced training for employees or to form alliances with schools. The paper suggests the following planning efforts to address Latino needs: (1) early intervention programs; (2) parent training and involvement; (3) linkages with colleges and universities; (4) personalized and cooperative learning and peer tutoring; (5) involvement of community and…
(1979). The Condition of Women in Higher Education: A Decade of Progress, an Uncertain Future. Background Paper. Information on the participation of women and minorities in all fields and at most levels in American colleges and universities is presented, the condition of these underrepresented groups in the academic profession is examined, and future trends for the profession are projected. Enrollment data by type of institution, level of study, and various fields of study are presented for a number of decades, and in some cases from 1920-77. The number of doctorate degrees granted to women from 1973-76 by the 99 leading institutions is indicated. Appended materials provide a more detailed analysis of the availability of recent doctorate recipients with a detailed listing of subfields. Data indicate that since 1965, the number of women baccalaureates produced in an academic year has nearly doubled, and the proportion of women awarded doctorates has doubled in the past decade. Minority students are underrepresented in universities and professional programs: over 50 percent of all black college…
(1988). Selection of the University Librarian. An OMS Occasional Paper. This report on the process by which a university librarian is selected is based on interviews with key participants in searches for library directors at five medium to large universities, each of which had selected a new university librarian within the two years prior to the survey. It was found that the five universities–one private, one state-related, one member of a statewide university system, and two state universities (one rural and one urban)–had a number of common characteristics which contributed to a successful search, including relative openness with respect to the process, a clear understanding of affirmative action guidelines, a commitment to the library by academic officers, and interest from the three major constituent groups, i.e., librarians, faculty, and administrators. Several critical factors in the search process that were common to the searches were also found: (1) careful attention to the composition of the search committee; (2) management of group dynamics…
(1981). Transition from School to Work: Issues Affecting Young Women. Discussion Paper by the National Advisory Committee on Women and Education. With a rising level of female school leaver unemployment, and recent cutbacks in traditional areas of women's employment, it has become a matter of urgency for positive, comprehensive action to be taken within the education system of New Zealand to encourage young women into a wider range of vocational opportunities. A coordinated policy from intermediate school level through tertiary is needed; and it must take account of the sex segregation in prevocational and vocational preparation and the concept of sex role stereotyping and its effect on the socialization of girls and boys. Issues requiring consideration include (1) the common core curriculum in forms 1-4 and the availability of all subjects to both girls and boys; (2) subject choices of girls and boys at senior secondary level when prevocational choices are made; (3) the quality and impact of career education programs; (4) the preparation and training of the counseling and teaching staff; and (5) affirmative action programs…
(1978). Proceedings, Conference on Public Policy and Education: The Making of Policy. Case Study: The Impact of Office of Civil Rights Rulings on Local Policy Making in Education. This document presents an overview of issues concerning the relationship between Federal, State, and local governments in education, the impact of Office of Civil Rights' (OCR) rulings on educational policy-making in New York City, and views held by various individuals towards the impact of such rulings on local policy-making in education. Michael Usdan points out the impact of politics on such issues as educational finance, civil rights and affirmative action, church-state relationships, Federal influence, and teacher negotiations. Norman Redlich provides a geographical review of racial desegregation in the United States as an introduction to his case study presentation of New York City and Office of Civil Rights rulings. Ongoing litigation between the New York City Board of Education and the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare (HEW) concerning HEW's rejection of the Board's application for a basic grant under Emergency School Aid Act (ESAA) is described in the case study…
(1977). The University of Alabama: A Study in Bureaucracy. Some of the bureaucratic forces that affect the University of Alabama are discussed. External forces include the federal and state governments, the statewide coordinating body for higher education, accrediting agencies, and the university system under which the institution operates. Other forces are at work internally that compound the bureaucratic process, usually in the name of planning or efficiency or accountability. One way in which the Legislature of Alabama responded to its growing interest in education was the creation of the Alabama Commission on Higher Education (ACHE). Three different budget requests are compiled by the university: one for the university system, one for ACHE, and a third for the state budget office. While each contains essentially the same dollar figures as the others, it is prepared in different forms, based on the requirements of each agency. Passage of a budget by the state legislature is not the end of the process, because the next budgeting cycle…
(1986). Closing the Gap: Forty Years of Economic Progress for Blacks. This report presents the findings on the long-term economic progress of American blacks. The report consists of seven sections. The first is a general introduction. Section 2 describes major changes in the racial wage gap for males from 1940 to 1980 and identifies the distribution of wage gains among important subgroups in the black population. Section 3 describes differential racial trends in schooling and the income benefits associated with education. Section 4 deals with the influence of two dimensions of geographic location: black migration to the North and the increasing urbanization of the black population. The extent to which education and place of residence \explain\ trends in black-white wage ratios are summarized in Section 5. Section 6 discusses the implications of three historical developments in recent black economic history: the invention of the mechanical cotton picker, the declining workforce participation rates of low-income blacks during the 1970s, and affirmative… [PDF]
(2000). The Principal's Legal Handbook. Second Edition. This handbook for elementary and secondary school principals contains several chapters on topics important to building level administrators. Each chapter summarizes relevant state and federal court decisions and statutes, concluding with recommendations for practice. The handbook is divided into four sections: students and the law, special education and the law, teachers and the law, and school and the law. The first section contains seven chapters on topics covering the First (expression), Fourth (search and seizure), and Fourteenth (procedural and substantive due process) Amendments; student discipline; child abuse; student-to-student sexual harassment; and student records. The second section contains seven chapters on topics that cover the federal laws protecting students with disabilities and recent relevant cases in which the courts have interpreted those statutes as they apply to student discipline and transition, parents' rights, infectious diseases, and physical access. The…
(1987). Current Crisis/Recent Trends: The Black Family in New York State. Report of the Task Force on the Black Family. There is a crisis in the black family; at its core is the inextricable linkage of low educational achievement, high unemployment levels, and limited opportunities for access to stable jobs at adequate wages. This report is directed at an examination of the causes and the consequences of this essentially economic crisis, providing a brief historical overview of major social and economic trends affecting black families in New York State. The following major categories define the underlying trends in New York: (1) poverty; (2) low income; (3) unemployment; (4) lack of family formation because of limited economic options; and (5) inadequate human services in areas such as education, health care, child care, foster care, and housing. Each of these is explored in detail. Data on the following are provided: (1) causes of the crisis; (2) blacks in the labor market; (3) the labor market and family heads; (4) occupations, industries, and geographic location; and (5) the labor market status of…
(1978). The New Woman and the Old Academe: Sexism and Higher Education. Discrimination against women in U.S. society and the academic world is detailed in the eight chapters of this book. Inconsistencies in American society, and arbitrary societal standards that have perpetuated discriminatory behavior toward women are examined. Part I focuses on the socialization process that women undergo as Americans and as women students. It is suggested that historically women who have come from the lower class have not had the funds or parental encouragement to pursue a college degree. Women from middle class backgrounds have been confronted with a homemaker role model they were expected to emulate. The major portion of the volume, Part II, deals with sexism on campuses and the role of women in academe. Arguments concerning single sex colleges and the need for changes in higher education to meet the challenges of a modern world are presented. The arguments are illustrated with reports from Vassar College and Smith College. Alternative course offerings and women's…
(1991). Underrepresentation and the Question of Diversity: Women and Minorities in the Community College. Within the context of the history of educational discrimination and related social movements in the United States, this book examines the underrepresentation of women and of racial and ethnic minorities in community college leadership. Chapter 1, \Finding Equality in Egalitarian Educational Institutions,\ presents the premise of the book, that community colleges have not met their responsibilities to these underrepresented groups. In chapter 2, \Confronting the Language of Diversity,\ the debates concerning equality and inequality, the meaning of justice, the critical role of culture, and American democracy and pluralism are explored. Chapter 3, \Women: Expression and Experience in Academic Literature,\ looks at the historical and philosophical premises upon which the \woman question\ rests, and reviews recent findings concerning the role of women in education and leadership. In chapter 4, \Minorities: Expression and Experience in Academic Literature,\ the dilemmas and controversies… [PDF]
(2002). What Matters Most. American School Board Journal, v189 n9 p28-30 Sep. Argues that school boards must focus on improving academic achievement within the context of budget cuts, the No Child Left Behind Act, and the U.S. Supreme Court's recent decision that educational vouchers are constitutional. Recommends affirmative school-board action such as developing school-community partnerships. (PKP)…
(1988). One-Third of a Nation. A Report of the Commission on Minority Participation in Education and American Life. After the year 2000 one-third of the American population will be members of minority groups; neglecting minorities will have disastrous effects on the nation. The United States has made some progress in improving the lives of minorities, but America is presently moving backward–not forward–in its efforts to achieve the full participation of minority citizens in the life and prosperity of the nation. Statistics on American minorities are provided. Past federal programs that have benefited minorities are reviewed. A national commitment must be made toward the goal of enabling America's minorities to attain a quality of life as high as that of the white majority. The following strategies for success are identified: (1) institutions of higher learning should strengthen their efforts to increase minority recruitment, retention, and graduation; (2) national leaders should identify and implement policies to stimulate economic growth and restore national solvency; (3) elected officials… [PDF]
(2018). Not a Monolith: Recognizing and Championing Asian-American Diversity. Journal of College Admission, n241 p54-56 Fall. Bias–both perceived and real–dictates how Asian-Americans view the college admission process. "The Harvard case" is a lawsuit brought by Students for Fair Admissions Inc. (SFFA). The group, led by conservative legal strategist Edward Blum, sued Harvard in 2014, claiming there was evidence proving bias against Asian-American students in the admission process. The US Department of Justice backed the lawsuit in early September and the case has a chance of making it to the US Supreme Court. If it does, it could be used as a vehicle to rewrite federal law on the use of race as one factor in the college admission process. Asian-Americans are often lumped together as a monolith in the world of college admission but there are so many factors to consider. How many generations a student's family has been in the US, the various languages spoken by Asian-Americans, and the fact that many Asian students are undocumented–it all plays a role…. [PDF]
(2018). The Epistemic Goods of Higher Education. Philosophical Inquiry in Education, v25 n2 p116-133. In this paper, I investigate two clashing perspectives regarding the good of the university: a socioeconomic and an epistemic perspective. I position current writing on the university in the philosophy of education as being largely socio-economic and contrast this view to an earlier tradition of writing about the university that I position as mostly epistemic. Following on from this discussion, I review the university's role in the distribution of social and epistemic goods. I hold that the university directly controls only the latter, not the former and hold that whatever socio-economic roles the university plays in society, it must do so through the distribution of knowledge in society. Next, I explore what this means for the university's socio-economic functioning: I hold that seeing the good that the university distributes as knowledge places limits on its socio-economic functioning. Lastly, I ask what the university can do to promote epistemic justice in how it conducts teaching… [PDF]