Education Commons^™

A Few Drops Of Oil Will Not Be Enough, Stephen James

Human Rights & Human Welfare

Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn provide a rich description of the various kinds of violence, deprivation, depredation and exploitation that women experience on a vast scale in the developing world. They write of sex trafficking, acid attacks, “bride burning,” enslavement, spousal beatings, unequal healthcare (something the USA still struggles with), insufficient food, gendered abortions and infant and maternal mortality. They are right to identify the education of women and girls as part of the solution to the widespread “gendercide.” However, their approach focuses too much on the capacity, indeed the virtue or heroism, of individual women. It does not take …

"The Female Entrepreneur"?, Cath Collins

Human Rights & Human Welfare

I read the “Women’s Crusade” article that forms the centrepiece of this month’s roundtable with initial interest, gradually turning to a vague sense of disquiet spiced with occasional disbelief. After a few more readings, I tried highlighting the passages that bothered me and stringing them together. Countries “riven by fundamentalism”— that’s presumably the Islamic variety, rather than the Christian variant which holds such sway in the US. The suggestion that “everyone from the World Bank to the US [...] Chiefs of Staff to [...] CARE” now thinks that women are the answer to global extremism hides too many questionable assumptions …

The Global Text Project, Richard T. Watson, Donald J. Mccubbrey

The African Journal of Information Systems

The Global Text Project is intended to create global free textbooks for students in the developing countries. We argue that two key technological and social developments offer an opportunity to create a new model for textbook publishing. First, the Internet is a low cost channel for distributing information products in digital form. Second, global digital communities have created the platform for collaborative creation of content. Through this model a free and open content library will be developed for students covering all major subjects for an undergraduate education. This project is a contributory measure to the global efforts to address the …

Education For All Children, Sharon Harrall

Human Rights & Human Welfare

The UN Declaration of Human Rights, ratified in 1948, declared for the first time the right to education as a human right. Article 26 (1) states that “everyone has the right to education. Education shall be free, at least in the elementary and fundamental stages. Elementary education shall be compulsory.” Since then, the right to education has been reaffirmed in subsequent treaties and global conferences. These treaties have also highlighted the need to provide education to all children without discrimination, and particularly to ensure equal access for girls. Historically, we have seen great gender disparities in the enrollment rates of …

Coweta Public Library Partners With University Of West Georgia

Georgia Library Quarterly

The article reports on the partnership formed by the Coweta Public Library--Central Library with the Carrollton-based University of West Georgia's Ingram Library and Newnan Campus to enhance educational services within the community. The objective of the Central Library is to reflect on the importance of educating children and of providing access to materials and programs to people of all ages in support of lifelong learning. Its Book Bundles are another aspect of the public library of allowing its customers to be independent but provide the library staff an avenue of virtual engagement. It also focuses on the key areas when …

Editor's Note, Padraig O'Malley

New England Journal of Public Policy

In 1990, the New England Journal of Public Policy published a special issue on Women. The subject was women & economic empowerment. The authors found that while women had made significant gains during the 1970s and 1980s in many spheres relating to the workplace, true equity with respect to their male peers was still elusive, and gender bias, despite remedial legislation, continued to be the acceptable norm.

Seventeen years on, another group of women, under the direction of guest editor Sherry H. Penney, herself a contributor to the 1990 journal, looks anew at some of these issues and expands the …

Foreword, Sherry H. Penney

New England Journal of Public Policy

The author of the foreword speaks about how this issue touches on the subjects of women's rights and how their struggle to break through the glass ceiling has given them more empowerment than ever. The article also speaks about the works within the issue and how each one talks about the struggle, the progress, and success of women in today's working and educational world.

Editor's Note, Padraig O'Malley

New England Journal of Public Policy

The editor's note at the beginning of this journal briefly speaks about each article within. The author touches upon learning, the challenges to an education, the effects of the growth of technology, how world politics interfere with economy, and how employment is affected by technology.

Small Select Library Or Miserable Excuse: Antebellum College Libraries In The American Southeast, Patrick M. Valentine

The Southeastern Librarian

What role did antebellum college libraries play in the development of the South? National studies rarely mention southern institutions, while institutional histories neglect the role of the library. Yet the history of southern antebellum college libraries should be of special interest because this was often their initial formative period. There were few college libraries in the South prior to 1800 but many were founded in the following decades. It was in the last decades before the Civil War that the South first became really aware of the need for widespread education. At the same time, southern colleges were in many …

Public Discourse On Ethnic Diversity And Improvement Of Formal Education, Ibpp Editor

International Bulletin of Political Psychology

This article presents a commentary on the belief that ethnic diversity improves the quality of formal education.

School District Performance Under The Mcas, Jie Chen, Thomas Ferguson

New England Journal of Public Policy

Education reform has spawned efforts to test learning across the nation. This paper analyzes the determinants of Massachusetts’ school district test scores under the state’s high stakes testing program, MCAS. The study is the first to demonstrate direct links between improvements in MCAS scores and state aid to school districts. The authors estimate “value added” for each school district in the state. The list of schools with high value added produces real surprises — while some affluent districts do well, others rank at the very bottom. Additionally, the study analyzes how teacher maximum salaries, district superintendent salaries, per capita income, …

Introduction, Philip Hart

Trotter Review

We are pleased to share with our readers this issue of the Trotter Review. The events of September 11, 2001, will forever reshape our world as we know it. In addition to the far-reaching effects of this tragedy, it has revealed our general lack of knowledge about Islam and places in the world where religion and faith shape governmental and civic engagement. In crisis often comes opportunity. This opportunity to learn more about other religions and cultural pluralism is positive. It underscores the continuing importance of education and learning in today's world. So I think it particularly appropriate that …

The Impact Of A Culturally Responsive School Environment On Pre-Service Teachers' Willingness To Teach In A School, Delois Maxwell

Trotter Review

In a climate that acknowledges the need for teacher educators to prepare new teachers for culturally diverse student bodies, the study examines the extent to which selected features of an urban school environment affect a preservice teacher's willingness to teach in the school. A survey was administered to 48 preservice teachers after they completed a 7-week student teaching experience in a large urban school district. The survey sample was drawn from a northeastern university which enrolls 90% Caucasian education students. The study pursues the following research questions: does race/ethnicity, gender, program level, school location and major relate to the preservice …

Commentary, Tammy Hart

Trotter Review

This interview of Dr. Philip Hart was conducted by his wife, Tanya Hart, an award-winning journalist. Tanya Hart is a graduate of the Michigan State University College of Communications Arts and Sciences. The university honored her as an Outstanding Alumnus in 1982. She also has a Master of Education degree from the Harvard University Graduate School of Education.

Trends. Education And National Security In The 21st Century, Ibpp Editor

International Bulletin of Political Psychology

This article discusses the release of a report written by the Project on Government Secrecy of the Federation of American Scientists, related to the U.S. Commission on National Security/21st Century. The report discusses the importance of education to the fields of security and intelligence.

The Evaluation Of Education Systems: Insecurity Through Testing?, Ibpp Editor

International Bulletin of Political Psychology

This article describes some fallacies in a common approach to employing the testing of students in evaluating education systems.

The Politics Of Scholastic Aptitude Testing, Ibpp Editor

International Bulletin of Political Psychology

This article describes political features of scholastic aptitude testing--some of which are infrequently addressed in educational- problem identification and in policy development, implementation, and evaluation.

Journal Of Pedagogy, Pluralism And Practice, Volume 1 (4), Fall 1999 (Full Issue), Journal Staff

Journal of Pedagogy, Pluralism, and Practice

The theme of this issue is deconstructing the concept of human rights, legal elements of bilingual education, and the relationship between language development and education

Education And Falling Wages, Lester C. Thurow

New England Journal of Public Policy

Start with a statistic that should be burned into the brain of every American. If one looks at young males eighteen to twenty-five years of age who work full-time for a full year — eight hours a day, five days a week, fifty-two weeks a year — 18 percent of them could not earn a poverty-line income ($12,183 in 1990 dollars) in 1980. Ten years later, in 1990, that number had risen to 40 percent. Among young female workers eighteen to twenty-four years of age, the percentage unable to earn a poverty-line income despite full-time, full-year work rises from 29 …

Inclusion: Educating Students With And Without Disabilities, Bill Henderson

New England Journal of Public Policy

This article presents an overview of inclusion, a practice that is being utilized increasingly in schools across the country. In inclusive schools, students who have disabilities learn together with their nondisabled peers. Teachers and support staff collaborate to serve all students in integrated classes. After reviewing the social and legal background of inclusion, Henderson describes specific strategies for designing and implementing successful programs. He outlines organizational change, curriculum and instruction modification, and school culture transformation.

Education And Community Development Among Nineteenth-Century Irish And Contemporary Cambodians In Lowell, Massachusetts, Peter N. Kiang

New England Journal of Public Policy

As cities undergo dramatic demographic changes, schools become important sites of conflict between the interests of established and emerging communities. This article presents a case study of Lowell, Massachusetts, where the second largest Irish community in the country resided during the 1850s, and which is now home to the second largest Cambodian community in the United States. Analysis of nineteenth-century Irish community dynamics, particularly in relation to issues of public education in Lowell, reveals the significance of religious institutions and middle-class entrepreneurs in the process of immigrant community development and highlights important relationships to ethnicity, electoral politics, and economic development. …

Umass Selects A New President: Elements Of A Search Strategy, Richard A. Hogarty

New England Journal of Public Policy

The selection of a new university president, an event of major importance in academic life, is usually filled with tensions on the part of those concerned about its outcome. The 1992 presidential search at the University of Massachusetts exemplifies such tensions. There were mixed reactions to the overall performance. When they finished reviewing candidates, the search committee had eliminated all but Michael K. Hooker, who, they deemed, has the necessary competence, vision, and stature for the task. The main conflict centered on the question of "process" versus "product." The trustees rejoiced in what they considered an impressive choice, while many …

An Interview With John D. O'Bryant, Harold Horton

Trotter Review

The following is an interview with John D. O'Bryant, vice-president for student affairs at Northeastern University and former president of the Boston School Committee. A new, appointed, school committee was sworn into office on January 6, 1992. This interview with the former president should offer a unique perspective on past achievements and future hopes for education in Boston.

Communication Education And Its Critics, Everette E. Dennis

Syracuse Scholar (1979-1991)

No abstract provided.

How Massive Are The Mass Media? Implications For Communications Education And Research, Melvin L. Defleur

Syracuse Scholar (1979-1991)

No abstract provided.

The Challenge Of Public Relations Education, Frank W. Wylie

Syracuse Scholar (1979-1991)

No abstract provided.

Introducing Aids Education In Connecticut Schools, William Sabella

New England Journal of Public Policy

Most of the nation 's schoolchildren are not infected with the AIDS virus (HIV). Since AIDS is a preventable disease, no one need become infected. In order to protect themselves, everyone, including children, must understand exactly how HIV is and is not contracted. The message of prevention, however, is controversial, since it must include advice on safer sex and drug use.

In 1984, Connecticut was forced to face the issue of a child with HIV infection entering school. The state responded by creating guidelines for prevention of disease transmission in schools and by subsequently developing an AIDS curriculum. Obstacles to …