Suchergebnisse

The "achievement gap" between African American and Latino students and those of their White counterparts continues to evoke national cries of consternation and condemnation of the public schools, particularly those in urban areas. This article posits that the achievement gap will never be resolved because it is an artifact of the process of measurement in which flawed tests have been used to assess pupil progress. In particular, IQ and its derivative achievement tests cousins have always shown that socioeconomic status (SES) is a crucial variable in explaining test score variance. SES is part of the concept of cultural capital, and this form of capital is a potent predictor of student success.

Eli Broad's approach to reforming urban public education does not recognize his own self-interest in promoting changes within such educational systems, a classic problem of misrecognition. The Broad agenda is an assault on the notion of the mission of public education as a service instead of a for-profit enterprise concerned with making money for the owners and stock holders. This article examines the backgrounds of the graduates of the Broad Superintendents Academy and raises critical issues such as how can Broad claim that graduate preparation in educational administration is unnecessary when at least half of his own graduates already have advanced degrees from universities in the field and occupy high-level central office positions? Broad's remedies harken back to those advanced by Frederick Winslow Taylor, the creator of scientific management.

Educational change and reform on a larger scale Bourdieu for Educators: Policy and Practice brings the revolutionary research and thinking of Pierre Bourdieu (1930[en]2002) of France to public educational leaders in North America, Canada, Australia, and the U.K. This text brings Bourdieu's work into the arena of elementary and secondary educational reform and change, and offers policy, research, and practice discussions. Authors Fenwick W. English and Cheryl L. Bolton use Bourdieu to challenge the standards movement in different countries, the current vision of effective management, and the open-market notion connecting pay to performance. The text shows that connecting pay to performance won't improve education for the poorest group of school students in the U.S., Canada, or the U.K., regardless of how much money is spent

Building from the history of inequality in education up to current problems, this text posits viewpoints on how to cultivate humanistic leaders in education to best benefit underserved children around the world. Among perspectives examined are economic, cultural, and political circumstances that benefit some and harm others, creating educational inequality. To illustrate the work that must be done, this book connects vignettes of compelling school issues to educational philosophies, e.g., Makiguchi's work, to bridge the theoretical and the practical and pose real solutions.