Piatt, Bill (1997). Black and Brown in America. The Case for Cooperation. Critical America Series. It is necessary to be blunt in approaching relations between brown and black Americans. Whether African Americans and Hispanic Americans want to admit it or not, in many areas they are in conflict that simmers and is not usually verbalized. Yet the two groups have much in common. Both arrived in what is now the United States before whites, and both have faced discrimination at the hands of whites, particularly with regard to education. For the largest part of the history of the United States, Black and Hispanic children have been educated separately from Whites and separately from each other. Blacks have faced overt segregation, and Hispanics have faced the segregation caused by tracking and exclusion. Even when Blacks and Hispanics are able to enroll in a quality public school, the unequal enforcement of discipline causes additional problems. Affirmative action policies have helped ease discrimination in higher education, but these policies are under attack. In the future, it may…

(1998). Technology for Education. IDRA Focus. IDRA Newsletter, v25 n7 Aug. This theme issue includes five articles that focus on technology for education to benefit all students, including limited-English-proficient, minority, economically disadvantaged, and at-risk students. "Coca-Cola Valued Youth Program Students Meet Peers Via Video Conference" (Linda Cantu, Leticia Lopez-De La Garza) describes how at-risk student tutors learn to use e-mail, fax, and video equipment through participation in a video conference with other student tutors. A sidebar shows how the program supports Texas middle school academic standards. "Financial Aid: Challenges and Possibilities for Minority Students" (Felix Montes) discusses the increasingly hostile environment towards minorities exhibited by higher education institutions following court decisions weakening affirmative action, and reviews four financial aid and college information web sites. "Creating a Grade Book on the Computer" (Charles A. Cavazos) presents step-by-step instructions for… [PDF]

(1977). Last Hired, First Fired: Layoffs and Civil Rights. A Report of the United States Commission on Civil Rights. The effects of the 1974-75 economic recession on the effort to ensure equal employment opportunity for the Nation's minority groups and women are examined in the first section of this report, which documents the layoff of disproportionately large numbers of minority and female workers during the recession, generally resulting from the fact that many were only recently hired and thus had earned little seniority. It is concluded that the recession seriously eroded affirmative action gains of recent years, frustrating the intent of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Executive Order 11246, as amended, and other programs enacted to help minority and female workers narrow the historic economic gap between them and white male workers. The likelihood of continuing high unemployment and future economic slowdowns, which threaten not only vulnerable minority and women workers with low seniority, but many white males, particularly youths, as well, is analyzed. The social costs of such… [PDF]

(2004). Chronicle of Higher Education. Volume 51, Number 12, November 12, 2004. Chronicle of Higher Education, v51 n12 Nov. \Chronicle of Higher Education\ presents an abundant source of news and information for college and university faculty members and administrators. This November 12, 2004 issue of \Chronicle for Higher Education\ includes the following articles: (1) \The Transcendent Role of Chaplains\ (Schaper, Donna); (2) \Offbeat Director's Sophistication Isn't Always Accompanied by Emotional Maturity\ (Sterritt, David); (3) \Presidential Libraries Are Valuable Reflections of Their Eras\ (Nelson, Michael); (4) \Peeping Tom's Juvenile Jaunt\ (Showalter, Elaine); (5) \Seeing a Life through Biography, Letters, and Fiction\ (Walker, Pierre A.); (6) \Illegal Trafficking in Arms, Drugs and International Scholarship\ (O'Neil, Robert); (7) \Liberal Groupthinker Is Anti-Intellectual\ (Bauerlein, Mark); (8) \Liberal Arts: Vocation vs. Vocational\ (Stone, Elizabeth); (9) \The Butterfly Effect\ (Fogg, Piper); (10) \Shifting from West to East\ (Labi, Aisha); (11) \Does Affirmative Action Hurt Black Law… [Direct]

Williams, Albert P. (1980). Predicting Performance in Medical Education Continuum: Toward Better Use of Conventional Measures. Medical school admissions and performance in 10 medical schools were assessed in relation to prediction using conventional measures. The origin of the research was an attempt to determine the effects of affirmative action on academic medicine. For the 10 schools, admissions decisions were analyzed, and an attempt was made to model statistically what factors were used in the decision-making. Additional areas of analysis were the effect of the state of residence on the chance of an individual's being admitted to at least one school, the performance of minority and majority group students on the National Boards, Part I and II, and performance on specialty board exams, specifically the exam of the American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM). It was found that only three schools fail to use the science score on the Medical College Admission Test (MCAT) for admitting minorities as well as the majority. Data are presented that show admission probabilities in 1975 for two hypothetical…

Carr, Leslie G. (1997). "Color-Blind" Racism. Examining race relations in the United States from a historical perspective, this book explains how the constitution is racist and how color blindness is actually a racist ideology. It is argued that Justice Harlan, in his dissenting opinion in Plessy v. Ferguson, meant that the constitution and the law must remain blind to the existence of race because color-blindness was the best way to insure white dominance. The progression of racist ideology in the United States from its Christian form to its evolutionary form to the current "color-blind" form can be understood as a consequence of changes that have occurred in the means and relations of production. Chapter 1, "Theories of Ideology," explores Marxian, anti-Marxian, and semi-Marxian theories as they relate to racism. Chapter 2, "Christianity, the Constitution, and Slavery," continues the historic exploration of racist ideologies, as do Chapters 3 through 6, titled "Sharecropping and the Rise of…

Dawson-Threat, Janice, Ed. (1997). Transformation: Reinforcing Bridges to the 21st Century: Proceedings of the Annual Missouri Conference on Blacks in Higher Education (7th, Kirksville, Missouri, April 24-25, 1997). These proceedings present summaries of presentations and roundtable discussion sessions from a Missouri Conference on Blacks in Higher Education. Session summaries are: (1) "Measuring Inter-Racial Differences and Attitudes" (O.C. Bobby Daniels); (2) "Flight of the Maple Leaf Canada Economic Outlook: Impact on Women" (James E. Bell); (3) "Bridging the Diversity Gap Through Collaboration" (Floyd Harris and others);(4) "The Heartland's Alliance for Minority Participation (HAMP)" (Richard Presberry, Charles Sampson); (5) "African-American Students in Higher Education Conservative Institutions: Addressing Failure and Enhancing Success" (Mamadou Niang); (6) "Black Women in the Academy" (Constance Adams and others); (7) "African-American Students at Predominantly White Institutions via Networking: Understanding Your Rights" (Ernest E. Middleton); (8) "Five Steps to Cultural Pluralism: Advocacy for All Students"… [PDF]

(1996). Organizing for Schooling. IDRA Focus. IDRA Newsletter, v23 n7 Aug. This newsletter focuses on schoolwide approaches to issues of major concern to educators, from the perspective of providing equal education for all children. "Supporting School Improvement in Reading through Professional Development" (Rogelio Lopez del Bosque, Abelardo Villarreal) describes a professional development program that empowers administrators and teachers to take ownership of a student-centered curriculum that, in turn, motivates students to adopt new reading strategies. The program also builds capacity in the school district to initiate and sustain positive change. "Desegregation to Inclusion: Embracing a Full Spectrum of Diversity" (Laura Chris Green) discusses a full inclusion program in which teacher support teams and regular, bilingual, and special educators merge their expertise to help individual students and restructure their classrooms as needed for all students. "Alternative Schools: Short-term Solution with Long-term Consequences"… [PDF]

Johnson, Beth Hillman, Ed. (1996). Higher Education Collective Bargaining: Back to "CB" Basics. Proceedings of the Annual Conference of the National Center for the Study of Collective Bargaining in Higher Education and the Professions. School of Public Affairs, Baruch College (24th, New York, New York, April 1996). This collection of 18 papers review the fundamentals in collective bargaining in higher education. Areas discussed include arbitration, grievance preparation, the collective bargaining process, diversity, technology, staff bargaining, and faculty and staff participation in employee involvement schemes. An annual legal update is included. The papers are: (1) "Higher Education Collective Bargaining: Issues for the 21st Century" (Stephen Trachtenberg); (2) "Higher Education Unions in a Time of Change: Collective Bargaining and Affirmative Action" (Terry Jones); (3) "Recent Trends in Collective Bargaining in Canada" (Donald C. Savage); (4) "Reflections Upon 25 Years of Faculty Unionism" (Arnold Cantor); (5) "Compulsory Arbitration of Discrimination Claims under Collective Bargaining Agreements" (Nicholas DiGiovanni, Jr.); (6) "Arbitration in Faculty Higher Education" (Nicholas Russo); (7) "Grievance Preparation From the… [PDF]

Floden, Robert E. (2004). "Brown's" Influence on Education and Education Research: "Critical Insights, Uneven Implementation, and Unanticipated Consequences". Review of Research in Education, v28 p1-184. In recognition of the 50th anniversary of the Supreme Court's decision in "Brown v. Board of Education" (1954), this volume of "Review of Research in Education" looks at education research linked to issues addressed in that decision. In the "Brown" case, the court asserted the central importance of the government's role in education, and reversed the previous legal doctrine that had permitted "separate but equal" schools for Black and White children, setting the stage for court-ordered school desegregation in the decades to follow. The chapters in this volume recognize the tremendous significance of the "Brown" decision and the subsequent "Brown II" decision (1955), in which the court laid out principles for the manner and timing of compliance with the order for the elimination of segregated schools. These chapters also discuss research that has looked at both the limits on the effects of the decision and the ways in which… [Direct]

Mitchell, Faith, Ed.; Smelser, Neil J., Ed.; Wilson, William Julius, Ed. (2001). America Becoming: Racial Trends and Their Consequences. Volume I. [Proceedings of the Research Conference on Racial Trends in the United States (Washington, D.C., October 15-16, 1998)]. This collection of papers explores past and current trends among African Americans, Hispanic Americans, Asian Americans, and Native Americans in the context of a white majority. The papers, presented at the 1998 Research Conference on Racial Trends in the United States, provide analyses of racial and social dynamics and recommendations for future research. The book details demographic changes that have moved America beyond black and white into a complex multiethnic environment. The 14 papers include: (1) \Introduction\ (Neil J. Smelser, William Julius Wilson, and Faith Mitchell); (2) \An Overview of Trends in Social and Economic Well-Being, by Race\ (Rebecca M. Blank); (3) \An Overview of Racial and Ethnic Demographic Trends\ (Gary D. Sandefur, Molly Martin, Jennifer Eggerling-Boeck, Susan E. Mannon, and Ann M. Meier); (4) \Hispanics in a Multicultural Society: A New American Dilemma?\ (Albert M. Camarillo and Frank Bonilla); (5) \Trends among American Indians in the United States\…

Doucette, Don, Ed. (1990). Leadership Abstracts, Volume 3, Numbers 1-20, 1990. This series of abstracts from the League for Innovation in the Community College and the Community College Leadership Program is published approximately bimonthly and distributed to the chief executive officer of every two-year college in the United States and Canada. Addressing a variety of topics of interest to community college administrators, this complete set of 20 issues for 1990 includes: (1) \Beyond Affirmative Action: Leadership Diversity That Works\ (J. R. Gilliland); (2) \Staffing for a New Century: An Opportunity for Institutional Renewal\ (M. Jenrette); (3) \Building Communities: A Checklist for Evaluation and Discussion\ (N. Armes; K. McClenney); (4) \Renewing a Mature Community College\ (J. L. Hudgins); (5) \Leadership for Teaching and Learning\ (K. P. Cross); (6)\Statewide Articulation Cannot Be Done Tongue in Cheek\ (A. R. Southerland; And Others); (7) \Partnerships with K-12 School Districts\ (A. D. Arnold); (8) \Strategies for Serving Underprepared Students\ (R. C…. [PDF]

(1999). Postsecondary Education Opportunity, 1999. Postsecondary Education Opportunity, n79-90 Jan-Dec. Each of the 12 issues of this 1999 publication contains 1 or more analyses of postsecondary educational opportunities. Titles of the individual analyses are: (1) Parental Educational Attainment and Higher Educational Opportunity (number 79); (2) Refinancing Higher Education, 1952 to 1997 (number 79); (3) State Outreach Efforts to Students from Low Income Families, 1996 (number 80); (4) Why College? Private Correlates of Educational Attainment (number 81); (5) Refocusing Student Financial Aid: From Grants to Loans, from Need to Merit, from Poor to Affluent (number 82); (6) Metropolitan Status and Higher Educational Opportunity (number 82); (7) Chance for College for Dependent Students from Low Income Families by State 1992-93 to 1997-98 (number 83); (8) A Merit-Aware Model for College Admissions and Affirmative Action (William J. Goggin, number 83); (9) Changing Industrial Employment Effects on Men and Women 1939 to 1998 (number 83); (10) Hope and Lifetime Learning Tax Credits… [PDF]

Culpepper, Dawn; O'Meara, KerryAnn; Templeton, Lindsey L. (2020). Nudging toward Diversity: Applying Behavioral Design to Faculty Hiring. Review of Educational Research, v90 n3 p311-348 Jun. This narrative and integrative literature review synthesizes the literature on when, where, and how the faculty hiring process used in most American higher education settings operates with implicit and cognitive bias. The literature review analyzes the "four phases" of the faculty hiring process, drawing on theories from behavioral economics and social psychology. The results show that although much research establishes the presence of bias in hiring, relatively few studies examine interventions or "nudges" that might be used to mitigate bias and encourage the recruitment and hiring of faculty identified as women and/or faculty identified as being from an underrepresented minority group. This article subsequently makes recommendations for historical, quasi-experimental, and randomized studies to test hiring interventions with larger databases and more controlled conditions than have previously been used, with the goal of establishing evidence-based practices that… [Direct]

Felix, Eric R.; Trinidad, Adri√°n (2020). The Decentralization of Race: Tracing the Dilution of Racial Equity in Educational Policy. International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education (QSE), v33 n4 p465-490. This article examines California's Student Equity Policy crafted by policymakers to "avoid an underclass of ethnic minorities" in higher education. We combine tenets from critical race theory, interest convergence, and color-evasiveness to qualitatively interrogate 17 policy documents including chaptered bills, legislative mandates, and implementation guidelines related to the reform effort. We highlight how revisions to the reform deliberately inoculated a race-conscious policy into an effort targeting all students. Over the policy's 25-year history, we found that policymakers continuously diluted the role of race and opportunities to address racial disparities in legislative mandates. Implications for this research emphasize the significant role of policymakers in crafting legislation that explicitly draws attention to inequities faced by racially minoritized students in higher education. It considers practitioners' ability to implement these policies in ways that can… [Direct]

McComas, James D. (1980). Higher Education in the Eighties. Events and conditions over the last 20 years that have altered the course of higher education are briefly noted, and trends in higher education for the early eighties are examined. Among the past influences on higher education that illustrate the wisdom of planning for a realistic period of time, such as five years, are the following: the massive state funding of programs for the handicapped and special education laws, the government and court mandate to desegregate dual systems of higher education, affirmative action and equal opportunity legislation, and the recession. Trends in higher education for the early 1980s include the following: there is a decline in the number of students of traditional college age; changes in the retirement laws in 1982 will have an immediate impact on higher education; increased controls will be exercised by state governments; there will be movement toward standardization of programs, funding, and limitations of mission and scope; increased fuel costs…

Galambos, Eva C. (1979). Racial Composition of Faculties in Public Colleges and Universities of the South. This report summarizes the distribution of full-time faculty, by race and discipline, in the public four-year and two-year institutions of the 14 states of the Southern Regional Education Board (SREB) region. The data were gathered with partial support by a grant from the Ford Foundation. A basic objective of the project was to develop baseline data on full-time black faculty, by disciplines, in public institutions of higher education within the region. Such information, in conjunction with data on newly entering black faculty (i.e., annual graduate degrees earned by blacks), constitutes the current supply of black faculty in the various disciplines. The distribution of faculty by race and discipline in the Southern region is illustrative of the national picture and, therefore, should be helpful for program planning and affirmative action implementation. The information in this report was obtained primarily by surveying individual public four-year and two-year institutions in the… [PDF]

Aoki, Andrew L., Ed.; Haynie, Kerry L., Ed.; McCulloch, Anne M., Ed.; Schultz, Jeffrey D., Ed. (2000). Encyclopedia of Minorities in American Politics. Volume 1: African Americans and Asian Americans. The American Political Landscape Series. The last 30 years of U.S. political history have seen dramatic strides in the impact that minorities play in U.S. politics. This first volume of a two-volume set addresses the historical and contemporary impact of two of the largest minority groups in the United States. Divided into two sections, the encyclopedia addresses the political struggles of African Americans and Asian Americans. The work draws attention to those events, people, and ideas that have shaped, and will continue to shape, the political dialogue of a diverse country. The entries cover people, events, court cases, movements, and organizations that have shaped the political struggles of these 2 groups. Longer entries address some of the key issues that face minorities in U.S. politics today. These "issue entries," such as those on affirmative action, immigration, bilingual education, and political participation were written to give context to current politics and to show how these issues might be resolved….

Walker, Marlon A. (2005). Black Coaches Are Ready, Willing … and Still Waiting: By All Accounts, There Is No Shortage of Qualified Black Coaches to Lead Division I Teams, so Why Are There so Few?. Black Issues in Higher Education, v22 n6 p26 May. It seems those who have a say in Division I-A athletic personnel matters–athletic directors, booster club leaders–haven't heard the news. There are plenty of qualified Black football and basketball coaches ready to step up and report to work. Out of 117 Division I-A football programs, there are currently three Black head coaches. The number hardly matches the nearly 50 percent of Black players who hit the field each year. Dr. Robert W. Ethridge, vice president for equal opportunity programs at Emory University in Atlanta and president of the American Association for Affirmative Action, says people look at the hiring practices in coaching to be special situations where favoritism plays a big part in the process because they are unique. In sports, he says, some coaches choose to bring in their assistants because they have a working knowledge of the coach's philosophies and behaviors. "They start to identify people they want to bring in, people that know them," Ethridge…

Valandra, Edward C. (2003). Remember 9-11! White Belligerency in the Academy. American Indian Quarterly, v27 n1-2 p420-428 Win-Spr. This author states that, although white belligerency is not new, it exists in a ubiquitous low to midlevel state. As nonwhite experiences reveal and the white historical record distinctly shows, there has been an ongoing controversy over a whole host of issues within the academy that involve the Color Line, like a racially separate but unequal education or affirmative action. However, 9-11 has profoundly amplified white belligerency throughout the country and within the academy. Of the former, communities and individuals perceived as subverting, transgressing, or disturbing the all-important pet project, the white war on terrorism, are suspect. Of the latter, most white critics and their supporters have previously presented multiculturalism as a highly liberal project of little to no social or intellectual value. In this essay, Valandra examines how this \9-11 climate\ impacts his university. Such a query unleashes a whole host of statements that claim that the university, if not… [Direct]

Forster, Greg; Greene, Jay P. (2003). Public High School Graduation and College Readiness Rates in the United States. Education Working Paper No. 3. Center for Civic Innovation Students who fail to graduate high school prepared to attend a four-year college are much less likely to gain full access to our country's economic, political, and social opportunities. In this study, the authors estimate the percentage of students in the public high school class of 2001 who actually possess the minimum qualifications for applying to four-year colleges. Estimates are broken down by racial and ethnic group, as well as by region and state. To be "college ready," students must pass three crucial hurdles: they must graduate from high school, they must have taken certain courses in high school that colleges require for the acquisition of necessary skills, and they must demonstrate basic literacy skills. Nationally, only 32% of students in the Class of 2001 were found to be college ready, with significantly lower rates for black and Hispanic students. This suggests that the main reason these groups are underrepresented in college admissions is that they are not… [PDF]

Verdun, Vincene (2005). The Big Disconnect between Segregation and Integration. Negro Educational Review, The, v56 n1 p67-82 Jan. The hearts and minds of the American people have been won over on the issue of segregation. However, the dilemma is that while an overwhelming majority of Americans would cringe at the idea of a racially segregated America, America remains racially segregated and racial equality is more ideal than real. Even though there is almost no legal segregation in America, most Americans live in segregated neighborhoods, attend segregated schools and churches, play on segregated beaches, vacation in segregated hotels and resorts and many have segregated workplaces. There is an apparent theoretical disconnection in America between the evils of segregation and the virtues of integration. This article takes a look in broad strokes over the past 50 years at how America has progressed legally, ideally and really from the pre-"Brown" society that accepted the legal segregation of the races, to the post-"Grutter" society, which has sacrificed racial integration, and accepted… [Direct]

May, William W., Ed. (1990). Ethics and Higher Education. American Council on Education/Macmillan Series on Higher Education. The purpose of this book is to provide a basic resource that defines the ethical issues in higher education and to offer a starting point for means of resolution or policy development in regard to them. Part 1 establishes an interpretive framework for the book in the following papers: "Institutional Culture and Ethics" (David Smith and Charles Reynolds); "Academic Principles of Responsibility" (Charles Reynolds and David Smith); "Through Thick and Thin: Two Ways of Talking about the Academy and Moral Responsibility" (James Laney). Part 2, focusing on activities and functions common to most institutions, contains "Academic Planning: Values and Decision Making" (Richard Morrill); "Admission Recruiting and Selection: Some Ethical Concerns" (Alice Cox); "Ethical Issues in Intercollegiate Athletics" (Lonnie Kliever); "Institutional Advancement: Survival with Integrity" (Harlan Stelmach and Mark Holman); "Ethical…

Lowery, Kendra (2021). Beyond Representation: African American Administrators' Experiences as Reflections of Workforce Diversity Perspectives. Leadership and Policy in Schools, v20 n2 p312-331. The recollections of sixteen African American administrators who were some of the first hired in de/segregated school districts in the North are analyzed in order to understand their work lives and experiences in district processes. Findings are analyzed through the lens of workforce diversity perspectives. Five themes emerged from the data regarding race, African American administrators' roles and experiences. Findings indicate that elements of all three diversity perspectives were present, but the most inclusive, integration-and-learning was least present. Recommendations for further research in contemporary contexts are provided…. [Direct]

(1980). Proceedings of the 1980 IPMAAC Conference on Public Personnel Assessment (4th, Boston, Massachusetts, July 6-10, 1980). The International Personnel Management Association Assessment Council (IPMAAC) contains over 500 psychometric specialists, personnel psychologists, and personnel staffing specialists dedicated to the improvement of public personnel assessment in such fields as selection and performance evaluation. Author-generated summaries/outlines of papers presented at the IPMAAC's 1980 conference are provided. Four preconference workshops are summarized. The luncheon address is "Government Regulations and Professional Standards: Conflict or Coordination?" by D. J. Schwartz. The presidential address is "Automating the Examination Process in the 80s" by T. S. Darany. Two invited addresses are reviewed: "The Division 14 Principles" by M. Tenopyr; and "Personnel Assessment from the Perspective of Work Adjustment" by R. V. Dawis. The following paper sessions are summarized: "Ratings of Training and Experience"; "Personality Testing";… [PDF]

Conklin, David (1987). Corporation-Community College Partnerships: High Technology Apprentice Training. Over the last six years, corporation-community college partnerships have played an increasingly important role in educational and industrial growth. The automotive industry has been at the forefront of this trend and has recognized the contributions that community colleges can make in meeting the educational needs of industry. One example is the Chrysler Dealer Apprenticeship Program (CAP). The program was initiated to act as a "feeder system" to supply high qualified entry-level technicians to Chrysler dealerships on a national basis. CAP involves a combination of education and work experience, with the student alternately spending two months attending college and two months working at a dealership. At the end of two years, the student receives an Associate in Applied Science Degree in Automotive Technology and is guaranteed a job with the dealer where the apprenticeship has been served. Colleges interested in establishing a similar program should consider the following… [PDF]

Keetz, Mary A. (1981). The Status of Women Faculty at West Chester State College, 1979-1980: Full-time Professional Staff Compared to Student Majors, Degrees Conferred, and Full-Time Equivalent Teaching Faculty. Report Number 1. The status of women faculty at West Chester State College, Pennsylvania in 1979-1980 was examined. The data permit longitudinal comparisons concerning: the distribution of full-time professional staff by rank, division, and sex as related to the national percentages; the number of student majors and degrees conferred by faculty, school, department, and sex; and full-time equivalent teaching faculty. The West Chester State College female faculty exceeded the female national norms for each rank. Female faculty are found in greater numbers on the Faculty of Professional Studies and are noticeably absent in all subdivisions of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences and at certain ranks in the Schools of Administration and Public Affairs, Education, Health Sciences, and Music. The male faculty have a greater number of doctorates (52.27 percent) than does the female faculty (32.92 percent). The unequal distribution of women faculty at the college does not always match the available number of…

Chapman, Marian L.; Sanders, Nicholas M. (1977). Skills for Ethical Action: A Report on the Program Evaluation, 1976-77. This evaluation report focuses on the strengths and weaknesses of the 38 lessons in the 1976-1977 version of "Skills for Ethical Action," (SEA). SEA is a program based on a set of audiovisual instructional materials developed to teach junior high school students a behavioral strategy for acting ethically. The overall objective of the SEA strategy is to help students "do something which they have decided is fair after considering the possible effects on self and others." The six major steps in the SEA strategy are identifying the value problem, thinking up action ideas, considering self and other, judging, acting, and evaluating. The 38 lessons of SEA instruction evaluated in this report focused on student responsibilities in SEA, case studies about teenagers holding specified values, uses of SEA strategies to handle personal value problems, and use of SEA to make a personal value more meaningful. The evaluation method involved review of all lessons by educators… [PDF]

(1979). The Improvement of Staff Development for General and Special Administration Through a New Partnership: Final Report. The Special and General Education Leadership (SAGE) Project was a 3 year effort focusing on inservice activities for administrators and other personnel geared toward implementation of P.L. 94-142, the Education for All Handicapped Children Act. The project involved three objectives: to design, implement, and evaluate a series of staff development experiences for integrating general and special education administrators; to develop and test materials and systems for improving staff development experiences for general and special education administrators; and to extend the use of tested products and processes to school systems, state education agencies, and universities beyond those directly involved in the project. Following a SAGE Project overview are sections which address specific activities, accomplishments of the program, slippages in attainment, highlights of successful phases, less successful phases, spinoffs from the project, a concluding statement, and a financial statement….

Bertonneau, Thomas F. (1997). Declining Standards at Michigan Public Universities. How Changes in Curricula and Teaching Affect Academic Achievement, Career Preparation, and K-12 Education. Second Edition. The state universities of Michigan, like their counterparts across the United States, are suffering from a general erosion of academic standards and a radical politicization of the undergraduate curriculum. An important dimension of this problem is the effect on K-12 education in Michigan. Poor student performance and poor teacher preparation are directly related. There are many reasons for the decline in academic standards, including the disintegration of an effective core curriculum and the pervasiveness of trendy, politically correct courses, as well as declining standards of instruction in reading and writing skills and a gap between what students are taught and what they really need to know. Emphasizing basic skills has been characterized as elitist or as discrimination against ethnic minorities, and teacher education courses frequently focus on the trivial. In some states, the problem of the "dumbed-down university" is being addressed, and Michigan could learn from… [PDF]