A School Principal and Desegregation

There are times for abstract analysis, and times for detailed reporting and commentary about real events. This section is reserved for the latter.     

Policy Implications for School Desegregation and School Choice in Chicago

School desegregation in Chicago was derived from the implementation of the 1964 Civil Rights Act. This article follows the formation of this policy to its implementation in Chicago. First, the federal government used the Civil Rights Act to garner school desegregation. Then, the Chicago Board of Education created desegregation plans for Chicago Public Schools which included school choice options. Finally, the article uses the oral histories of 68 graduates of three Chicago public high schools to demonstrate how the policy was utilized. The entire process reveals the continuation of institutional racism as school desegregation in Chicago was effectively limited as only a few Black and Latino students benefited from school desegregation.     

From Our Readers: The Truth about Boston School Desegregation

Abstract

The question of how to teach effectively from a clear social justice perspective that empowers, encourages students to think critically, and models social change has been a consistent challenge for progressive educators. This article intends to shed light on this issue by demonstrating how educators can utilize a social justice pedagogical lens to treat their content in ways that meet their commitment to empowering education. Specifically, this article clarifies what social justice education is by introducing readers to five key components useful in teaching from a social justice perspective: tools for content mastery, tools for critical thinking, tools for action and social change, tools for personal reflection, and tools for awareness of multicultural group dynamics. While no pedagogical approach is a panacea, this approach offers readers five specific areas to focus on in their teaching and their efforts at working toward social justice in their classrooms.     

Teacher Participation and Buy-in: Implications for School Reform Initiatives

The impetus for this study grew from assumptions about teacher participation in the implementation of comprehensive school reform initiatives and teacher buy-in. It is commonly believed that teachers who participate in reform implementation decisions will have increased buy-in, be more motivated to take action, and thus have greater impact on school reform. The purpose of this study was to explore these assumptions. Using Hierarchical Linear Modeling (HLM), a series of teacher participation variables were identified as possible predictors of buy-in. The model was run on three independent and longitudinal samples of teachers involved in New Jersey's whole school reform initiative over a two-year period (n = 671, n = 390, n = 454). Results indicated that teacher participation in program selection was not a strong predictor either of immediate or long-term buy-in. Training, support from program developers, support from staff members, administrator buy-in, and control over classroom implementation were stronger and more constant predictors of teacher buy-in to a school reform program. The findings of this study have implications for the implementation of comprehensive school reform initiatives. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

我国电子政务的公民采纳困境及对策

近年来我国电子政务网络基础实施建设数量呈上升态势,各级政府门户网站构建初具规模,但使用率低下严重影响了其价值的实现。从公民采纳角度分析,原因是多方面的。为此,要建立人工方式和电子方式相结合的政务模式,提高公民信任度,引导实现公众知晓,以进一步推动电子政务的长效发展。     

From Policy to Practice: Pupils' Responses to Widening Participation Initiatives

Recent widening participation policies have been subject to a number of criticisms; they focus on aspirations rather than differences in performance; they place less value on the aspirations of the ‘disadvantaged’ comparing them to a middle class norm; they subordinate what was a radical agenda to the demands of the economy and so constrain the available options to young people. Using data from young people who have taken part in Aimhigher initiatives in the South West of England and from teachers who have organised Aimhigher events, this paper will examine to what extent these features of policy are evidenced in the attitudes and aspirations of these pupils. It will argue that the data shows little evidence of pupils positioning themselves as inferior, that young people display instrumental attitudes to education, but that these attitudes relate to policy discourse and practice in complex ways.     

Engaging Practitioners in State School Improvement Initiatives

For most of U.S. history, local communities were the primary arbiters of school quality. Beginning in the mid-twentieth century, states began assuming more and more control over school standards and outcomes. The question we seek to answer is whether and the extent to which a particular kind of local voice—the voice of education practitioners—is represented in states' current, significant initiatives to improve low-performing schools. In the article, we focus on the role that practitioner knowledge played in the development of school improvement policies across three state education agencies. We draw on interviews, surveys, and document analyses collected for a larger exploratory study of knowledge utilization. Contrary to earlier research showing weak or uneven connections between state agencies and practitioners, we found that practitioner advice networks were generally stronger than states' research advice networks. We found ample illustration of staff using this advice to make sense of research for their own contexts, and for their own approaches to school improvement. Agencies formed ties to practitioners in districts and schools, in professional membership associations, within their own agencies, or in other agencies wrestling with similar problems. Who they turned to differed depending on earlier improvement policies and institutional histories.