Explores the intersection of two central issues in American education today: school reform through restructuring and alienation from school of many children of color. A tough look at the impact of teachers' and administrators' beliefs and practices.

Winner of the 1998 American Educational Studies Association Critics' Choice Titles This book challenges common assumptions about the efficacy of teacher collaboration, empowerment, and professional development to improve the educational experiences of low-achieving African American students without engaging the political and ideological contexts in which reforms take place. Written in a clear, engaging style, the book tells the story of two restructuring junior high schools in a single district, and how teachers' ideologies and race, class, and power contradictions in the schools, school district, and city shaped outcomes. Although the book is a critique of restructuring, powerful portraits of teachers who create culturally responsive and empowering educational experiences demonstrate the potential to reform educational practices and policies for African American students and suggest a direction for transforming schools.

In Education Reform in Florida, sociologists and historians evaluate Governor Jeb Bush's nation-leading school reform policies since 1999. They examine the startlingly broad range of education policy changes enacted in Florida during Bush's first term, including moves toward privatization with a voucher system, more government control of public education institutions with centralized accountability mechanisms, and a "superboard" for all public education. The contributors arrive at a mixed conclusion regarding Bush's first-term education policies: while he deserves credit for holding students to higher standards, his policies have, unfortunately, pushed for equality in a very narrow way. The contributors remain skeptical about seeing significant and sweeping improvement in how well Florida schools work for all students.

The first International Handbook of Educational Leadership and Administration (Leithwood et al.) was published in 1996 and quickly became something of a best seller for reference works within education. Such success, we suggest, was at least partly due to the unprecedented global waves of concern for improving schools launched in the mid 1980's, combined with a widespread belief in leadership as the single most powerful contribution to such improvement. The roots of this belief can be found in evidence produced by the early "effective schools" research, although there is a "romance" with leadership! as an explanation for success in many non-school enterprises, as well. During the two-year period during which this current handbook was being written, activity in the realms of school leadership, school improvement, and leadership development gained further momentum. The English government created its new National College of School Leadership, and several Asian nations announced new initiatives in leadership selection, preparation, and development.

Covering the key points of dispute and areas of controversy within the field, this outstanding collection includes papers from the leading writers, and presents a sophisticated and versatile toolbox of ideas for theory-building and research.

Drawing on critical race theory, this book critically examines race through a mosaic lens pointing out various issues directly connected to it, such as racial identity politics, racism, multiracialism, interracial relationships, and the hegemony of whiteness. This book goes further to analyze the manner in which socially constructed racial stereotypes contribute to and are used to justify the poor socio-economic situation and marginalization of People of Color, particularly the poor ones. Designed for a broad range of readers, this book aims to open up democratic spaces for genuine discussions about racial issues.

Schooling and the Politics of Disaster is the first volume to address how disaster is being used for a radical social and economic reengineering of education. From the natural disasters of the Asian tsunami and the hurricanes in the Gulf Coast, to the human-made disasters in Iraq, Afghanistan, Haiti, Sudan, Indonesia, the United States and around the globe, disaster is increasingly shaping policy and politics. This groundbreaking collection explores how education policy is being reshaped by disaster politics. Noted scholars in education and sociology tackle issues as far-ranging as No Child Left Behind, the War on Terror, Hurricane Katrina, the making of educational funding crises in the US, and the Iraq War to bring to light a disturbing new phenonmemon in educational policy.

This powerful and timely analysis takes stock of race and education sixty years after the historic Brown vs. Board of Education decision. This volume examines education as one of the most visible markers for racial disparities in the US as well as one of its most visible frontiers for racial justice. Featuring original research, educators’ insights, and perspectives from communities of color, it documents the complex impact of social/educational policy on social progress. Chapters on charter schools, curriculum content, performance measurement, and disproportionalities in special education referrals shed light on entrenched inequities that must be confronted. The book also makes it clear that leveling the playing field calls for not only better schools, but also addressing pervasive social problems such as poverty and housing segregation. Included in the coverage: School Policy is Housing Policy: Deconcentrating Disadvantage to Address the Achievement Gap. Charter Schooling, Race Politics, and an Appeal to History. The Data Quality Movement for the Asian American and Pacific Islander community: an unresolved civil rights issue. Critical Ethnic Studies in High School Classrooms: Academic Achievement via Social Action. Mexican American Educational Stagnation: The Role of Generational Status, Parental Narratives and Educator Mes sages. p/pp Pinpointing crucial issues and opportunities for solutions, Race, Equity, and Education has immediate salience for educators and researchers studying the intersection of race and education.

The American scholar and activist Nancy Fraser has written about a wide range of issues in social and political theory, and is well-known for her philosophical perspectives on democratic theory and on feminist theory. Her work on justice and identity politics has been particularly widely cited, and she has also been active in developing a ‘feminism for the 99%’. Although education has not been a direct focus for much of her work, her thinking has been widely disseminated within the critical study of education. This volume illustrates the way in which education researchers have taken up and developed Fraser’s theories in the areas of alternative education, higher education, inclusion and disability, and the effects of neoliberalism upon public (state) education, as they ask how social justice within the education system can be enhanced. These insightful essays cover a range of countries and topics, as the authors work with Fraser’s concepts, to argue for the development of a more equitable education system. The chapters in this book were originally published as articles in Taylor and Francis journals.