Education & Pedagogy

Both proponents and opponents of public support for private education argue that their own proposals for funding education offer the only means for achieving diversity, efficiency, and equity in education. Proponents of public support for private schools claim that diversity of educational options can only be guaranteed through government support of those options, that efficiency will be improved through assurance of competition for government funds, and that only with government support can private education be made available to all. Opponents state that government regulation of private education would destroy diversity, that public support of schools furthering the views of special interest groups would be inefficient in that it would undercut the public mission of developing democratic ideals, and that increased public support would only enable the economically strong to escape from public schools even more easily, destroying any equity that now exists. The author of this paper describes enrollment and funding trends affecting a parochial school in New Mexico, discusses the arguments for and against public support of private education, and presents a framework for analyzing any proposals for funding nonpublic education according to their effects on diversity, efficiency, and equity, and according to their relative impacts on public and private schools. (Author/PGD)

This checklist is intended for use by teachers in identifying student competency levels as they pertain to the developmental process of career education while identifying special areas requiring additional teaching concentration. It can direct teachers in infusion of career education concepts into their developed classroom curriculum or aid in planning and implementing the career education component of the student's Individualized Education Plan. The 10 "Goal Statements for Career Education" developed by the California State Department of Education serve as the distribution basis for the specific career education competencies included in the checklist. These 10 goal statements are categorized and assigned to one of the four basic developmental stages of the career education learning process: awareness (self-awareness, occupational awareness, attitude development, educational awareness, economic awareness), orientation (consumer competencies, career orientation), exploration (career planning and decision making, career exploration), and preparation (career preparation). One other category is also included--basic survival skills (basic life and survival skills). (To use the checklist, the teacher signifies which career education competencies the student is felt to have already obtained by marking the appropriate grade level column on that page of the checklist.) (YLB)

Departments of English and English education need to integrate concepts of career education that are based on the theory that people are constantly in the process of developing ideas about themselves in relation to their careers. Although institutions of higher education have been slow to implement career education, in recent years English educators have become concerned about career guidance for their students. In response to these concerns, their major professional associations have funded studies, produced publications, and initiated services that deal with the career-related problems of English majors. Career education programs can incorporate into existing departments of English, with the collaboration of departments of English education, both career information and career guidance. To implement such a program, a department of English or English education would have to make modifications in administrative policies and procedures in program, community relations, and faculty development. It would also need to modify existing student personnel services, including introductory services, continuing services (such as a certified counselor, a career resource library, an internship program, or a job service), and closing services. Modifications in curriculum and instruction should include experiences that put students in touch with those people whose work is directly related to English and the communication arts. (AEA)

This compendium of seven essays attempts to illustrate and/or demonstrate that community linkages are possible and community resources must be utilized in adult education. It begins with an introduction to the theme of the essays and the essays themselves. The first essay describes a unique linkage model that integrates adult basic education (ABE) with the career development of employees in industry. Emphasis in the second essay is on awareness and informational strategies that are especially effective when the leadership of the school, of the adult education staff, and of the community share in advocacy activities. The third essay deals with developing and utilizing a community education advisory council and its application to adult education and the needs assessment process. The fourth essay proposes a plan for meeting the ABE needs of the elderly in a low-income geographic area. Strategies are reviewed in the fifth essay for the purpose of recruiting ABE clientele for three types of community education sites. The sixth essay explores approaches for delivering ABE to sparsely populated rural communities. The seventh essay presents a model approach for program linkage and for alternative funding sources for adult education. (YLB)

Part of a conference on education in the South, this session on educational policy issues of the 1980's includes 18 papers divided among five panels. In the first panel, four papers forecast the next decade's critical educational problems and policy issues, including demographic and social shifts, changes in educational governance and finance, the federal role in education, public aid to private education, and educational access and quality. The second panel focuses on the role of the private business sector in improving education; its four speakers discuss the National Association for Industry-Education Cooperation, unemployment, business involvement in education, and private schooling provided by the data processing industry. The third panel's five papers ponder the governance of public education, considering federal, state, court, and teacher roles, and noting the necessary complexity of the country's educational decision-making structure. Vocational education, Comprehensive Employment and Training Act programs, and the school-to-work connection are examined in the fourth panel's two papers. Finally, the three speakers in the last panel look at the need to improve the quality of public school teaching--particularly because of technological change--through both preservice and inservice teacher training. (RW)

This guide provides vocational education administrators with resource information and explanations of various requirements of the Federal Civil Rights legislation as it relates to vocational education. It is intended to clarify the relationship of the Standards to the vocational education civil rights compliance program in New York. (The Standards set forth civil rights laws governing vocational education and how these laws specifically apply to vocational education in New York.) Following an introduction, section 2 considers purpose of the Standards, reason for their development, their development, development of the Methods of Administration, reasons vocational education is receiving special civil rights attention, relationship between Office for Civil Rights' Guidelines and sex equity provisions of the Vocational Education Act, and age discrimination as covered by the Standards. Each of the six sections comprising the Standards is overviewed in section 3; section 4 discusses major provisions. Compliance is briefly addressed in section 5. Section 6 contains the text of the Standards. The statutory, regulatory, or other legal authority for each provision is cited. Examples illustrate how specific provisions may apply to recipients. Sources of information and documents are listed that are useful in determining whether recipients are complying with the standards. Definitions are appended. (YLB)

Designed for special and regular education teachers, principals, directors, and others, this text provides information on special education law and children with disabilities who are of public school age. It provides a conceptual foundation for the explosion over the past 25 years of federal laws affecting children with disabilities and is intended to help practitioners become informed about their particular roles and the roles of others in educating children with disabilities. Specific chapters address: (1) special education law and how to read it; (2) the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA); (3) Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973; (4) the Americans with Disabilities Act; (5) disability evaluation, contagious diseases, appropriate education, placement, discipline, and due process under Section 504; and (6) eligibility, evaluation, Individualized Education Programs, due process, student records and privacy issues, appropriate education, related services, inclusion, placement, and discipline of students with disabilities under IDEA. The last chapter discusses remedies under IDEA. Appendices include U.S. Supreme Court decisions concerning services under IDEA and selected Internet sites with information on special education and disabilities. A glossary of legal terms and an index of cited court cases are also included. (Chapters include references.) (CR)

This third revision of the Classification of Instructional Programs (CIP) updates and modifies education program classifications, descriptions, and titles at the secondary, postsecondary, and adult education levels. This edition has also been adopted by Canada as its standard for major field of study classification. The volume includes the following sections: (1) an introduction, with information on update processes and procedures, principles governing programs included in the CIP, how the volume is organized, proposed revisions, textual conventions, taxonomic information, and new programs added; (2) a listing of series, codes, and titles; (3) full text of instructional program codes, titles, and definitions for the following classes of programs: academic and occupationally specific programs; vocational family and consumer sciences/consumer and home economics programs; technology education/industrial arts programs; U.S. Reserve Officer Training Corps programs; personal improvement and leisure programs; dental, medical, and veterinary residency programs; and high school/secondary diplomas and certificate programs. Appendix A is a French language section on codes used exclusively in Canada; Appendix B lists program codes and titles deleted in the years 2000, 1990, and 1985. (CH)

In 1996, the Environmental Education Council of Ohio (EECO) took the lead in developing a statewide plan to build Ohio's capacity--or Ohio's ability to provide leadership and resources--for environmental education. The goal for the project was to collaboratively develop and implement a statewide strategy for building Ohio's ability to promote reform-based environmental education that is interdisciplinary, community-based, and learner-centered. This document presents the plan to bring these goals to fruition. Topics include: (1) Coordinated Leadership, featuring a statewide environmental education steering committee, an environmental education center, and a staff that will coordinate communication, networking, and program development among groups to provide planning and outreach for educators; (2) Guidelines for Best Practices, providing an outline of the best practices in Ohio's environmental education programs based on proven methods and research findings; (3) Outreach, discussing promotion of environmental education in Ohio and centralized access to environmental information and education resources; (4) Training and Professional Development, providing programs to assist people in becoming effective environmental educators; (5) Diversity, developing programs, services, and facilities that will be accessible and affordable to diverse audiences in Ohio; (6) Support, coordinating a unified, active constituency that will build bipartisan political support for environmental education; and (7) Funding, maintaining and developing sustainable funding sources. Contains 13 references. (CCM)

This monograph argues that corporate culture, power, and politics are dominating the discourse on the role of higher education and public education. Evidence is offered of the change in the role of institution president to that of a corporate manager, of the increasing vocationalization of higher education, and of an increasingly pragmatic view of accountability. This corporate discourse on schooling is seen to lack a more basic examination of the nature of knowledge, the meaning and purpose of education, and of its relationship to democracy. The paper also finds that as universities increasingly model themselves after corporations, the cost-accounting principles of efficiency, calculability, predictability, and control of the corporate order have restructured the meaning and purpose of education. The trend toward privatizing and commercializing public schools is seen to be an attempt to transform public education from a public good, benefiting all students, to a private good designed to expand the profits of investors, educate students as consumers, and train young people for low-paying jobs. The paper urges the defense of higher and public education, of teachers as public intellectual servants, and the repudiation of commodified forms of learning. (Contains 67 references.) (DB)

This document outlines the mission and accomplishments of the Florida Education and Employment Council for Women and Girls. Presented first is a statement of the council's mission, which includes the following: develop public consciousness of the talents of all women; encourage women and girls to become actively involved in education and training programs leading to higher-wage occupations; support women in taking leadership roles; and act as a source of information about employment opportunities, education and training programs, and legal rights to combat discrimination against women in the workplace. Provided next is an overview of the council's activities in the following areas for the past 10 years: listening to testimony and presentations regarding areas of concern to the education and employment of women and girls; conducting assessments through public meetings, document reviews, interviews, symposia, and contracted studies; and formulating recommendations regarding policies and actions affecting the education and employment of women and girls in Florida. The council's accomplishments in the following areas are summarized: playing a unique advocacy role, raising awareness, and issuing annual reports. Approximately 75% of the document recaps the recommendations issued in the council's annual reports for 1990-1998. Appended are lists of former and 1998-1999 council members and staff. (MN)

The FY 2000-2004 Vermont State Plan for Technical Education is based on a strategic planning process that began in 1996 and entailed reviewing and creating a strategic plan for its technical education system. The FY 2000-2004 State Plan was written by building on the conclusions of several state-wide task forces and conferences. Four particular points were stressed during the discussions: (1) business stressed the need for a more complete system of technical education; (2) technical centers were perceived to be efficient and effective training sites; (3) reservations were raised over the idea of rigorous entry requirements; and (4) technical education should continue to be an integral part of the secondary system. Recommendations on state needs and priorities were identified. Specific goals include (1) establishing industry standards that align technical education on all levels; (2) aligning education opportunities to allow the students to reach these standards, (3) providing the resources that secondary, adult and postsecondary programs need to teach to high standards, (4) providing teachers with the knowledge, skills, and resources they need to teach to high standards, and (5) providing the support necessary to insure success for all students. Related information is provided on program administration, accountability and evaluation, special populations, tech prep, and financial requirements. (JJL)

This report presents a comprehensive set of guidelines approved by the Distance Education Council (India) in July 1997 for funding open universities and correspondence course institutes and describes policies and programs to promote distance education through communication, industrial, and academic networks. The first section, which summarizes the recommendations, lists guiding principles for support of state open universities and correspondence course institutes, as well as similar guidelines for institutional and academic reforms, staff development, student support services, and computerization. Other sections of the report discuss major considerations and guidelines for the nurturing phase of distance education and outline future development plans and funding for state open universities and correspondence course initiatives. The discussion in these sections touches on guiding principles, academic and institutional reforms, infrastructure development, curriculum development, student services, staff development, technology support systems, performance review and assessment, and research and development. A final section discusses the relationship of the Distance Education Council vis-a-vis open universities and distance education institutions. Appended are copies of the Distance Education Council proposals for establishing state open universities and its action plan for upgrading correspondence courses to distance education. (SM)

Data for studies of vocational education and training systems in Cyprus and five other countries in the region were gathered through an analysis of existing studies and visits to the main stakeholders in the countries. Some of the main conclusions reached by the study of Cyprus are the following: (1) Cyprus is a rapidly developing country that must face changes in its education and employment systems; (2) the country needs to improve the overall attractiveness of the vocational and education training system in order to secure a balanced and transparent structure of qualifications within an overall coherent vocational training system; (3) while unemployment rates are low, the labor market situation is characterized by a relatively high level of graduate unemployment; and (4) the field of continuing and further vocational education and training is well established. Main recommendations of the study include internal restructuring and modernization of both initial and continuing vocational institutions, improving the quality and status of secondary technical and vocational education, improving and modernizing teaching methods and assessment approaches, and improving national policy-making capacities for the implementation and monitoring of European programs. (Contains 29 references.) (KC)

Education serves as a powerful tool for advancing individuals and society, but learners enter formal education with vastly different opportunities, backgrounds, and challenges. Addressing these disparities requires a commitment to equitable access, personalized support, and inclusive learning environments that recognize diverse needs. By fostering a growth mindset and providing the right incentives, education can empower all learners to reach their full potential without reinforcing systemic inequities. Achieving social justice in education means creating pathways for every student to succeed, regardless of their starting point, through policies and practices that acknowledge and address these differences. A holistic approach to education ensures that the needs of the whole learner are met, making learning more meaningful, accessible, and transformative for all. "Mitigating Learner Disadvantages in Teaching and Learning" explores how to ensure that all learners have full access to learning and to the potential of their best selves. Furthermore, it discusses how social justice in education can be achieved. Covering topics such as incarcerated students, mentorship programs, and first-generation learners, this book is an excellent resource for teachers, school administrators, policymakers, social justice advocates, professionals, researchers, scholars, academicians, and more.