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ARCHIVES
E D U C A T I O N
National Prekindergarten Study
Many of the teachers in the nation's state-funded preschool classrooms
have limited education and are paid poorly, according to a national
study. (Requires Adobe Acrobat.)
Restoring the Balance between Academics
and Civic Engagement in Public Schools
Civic education in the United States is being neglected because of a
renewed emphasis on reading and math spurred by the demands of the No Child Left Behind
Act, says a new report, which offers suggestions for correcting the problem.
Teaching Interrupted
A recent report by Public Agenda investigates
the effects of disruptive students on teachers and teaching. "Too many students
are losing opportunities for learning and too many teachers are leaving the
profession" due to continual disruptive behavior of a few students.
Ready for Leadership
This study, released by Mass Insight Education
and Research Institute, compares the states of Massachusetts and Washington with respect
to their priorities and policies on education reform.
Past and Prologue
“Christopher Columbus: the man who discovered the New World, or the perpetrator of
genocide?” This article argues that the com-plexities of history are “central to
the ongoing debate over what should be taught in social studies,” and cites ASI's
recent Education for Democracy state-ment in calling for an honest teaching of U.S. history.
Weaving Webs
The tricky issue of the structure of school leadership is dis-cussed in this article,
which proposes several alternatives, including those suggested in the ASI publication Building a New Structure for School
Leadership by Richard Elmore.
Many
Americans Can Read, But Can't Comprehend
ASI board member E.D. Hirsch writes about the perils of learn-ing without understanding,
citing student differences in reading comprehension. To achieve equal educational
opportunity, he argues, the education system must do a better job of providing all
students with rich content knowledge.
What Explains the Differences in
International Performance?
This paper reviews the data from the Third International Mathematics and Science
Study (TIMSS), and explores the possible implications for U.S. education policy,
standards, curriculum, practice, and student achievement.
(Requires Adobe Acrobat.)
The Legacy of Albert Shanker
This article argues that Al Shanker was one of the most important education thinkers of
the last century, saying that his commitment to a trade unions, winning the cold war, and
common academic standards derived from the same source: "in his view, they all
served democratic values."
Inequality at the Starting Gate
A study by the Economic Policy Institute documents
the link between poverty and academic disadvantage, starting well before children enter
school.
A
Medical Model for Education Research
Can data-driven decision making, coupled with professional judgment, lead to a new era of
educational achievement?
Voucher Nation?
"Forget the Pledge
of Allegiance ruling," says this American Prospect
article, the real blow against patriotism and national unity
came with the Supreme Court's voucher decision.
A Knowledge Base for the Teaching Profession
A thoughtful proposal on how teachers and researchers can work
together to build and continually improve the professional
knowledge base. (Requires
Acrobat Reader.)
Teachers Lack Curriculum To Teach State Standards
"Lost at Sea," a study of new Mass. teachers, concludes that few
are provided with a clear, detailed curriculum. Even fewer
received curricula that aligned with state standards.
Dispelling the Myth Revisited
Are standards-based reforms unfair to poor kids? This Education
Trust study profiles 4,500 successful high-poverty schools,
arguing that poor kids can be helped to achieve high
standards. (Requires
Acrobat Reader.)
Scientific Inquiry in Education
A new report from the National Research Council provides a
framework for judging the quality of education research and
suggests a path toward improvement.
Making Standards Matter 2001
Despite steady progress, a new AFT study finds most states still
have a long way to go in developing a coherent system of aligned
standards, curriculum, interventions, and assessments.
Content That's Worth Knowing
With states still trying to cover content that's "a mile wide
and an inch deep," how can we develop a real core curriculum?
Head Start for All?
AFT President Sandra Feldman proposes universal preschool.
Time magazine hosts a debate on whether Head Start should
serve as its cornerstone.
Looking to France
The ASI and other policy groups look abroad for lessons on
improving the quality of early childhood education.
L A B O R
Unionizing White-Collar Workers
With wages stagnating nationwide, economic anxiety has hit not just the
low-wage workers who usually feel the brunt of economic uncertainty.
It's also affecting highly skilled professionals.
What China Needs Now: Unions
The U.S. trade gap with China is booming, and steps like revaluing the
Chinese currency won't help. What we really need is for Chinese workers
to earn more.
Who Speaks for Employees? It's Certainly Not
Management
As the union voice has become weaker, this democracy of ours has become
more fragile. Employees who believe that they don't need a collective
voice are just wrong, based on the record. Democracies suffer when there
is an absence of countervailing power in the society. That is where we
are now.
Unions Must Evolve To Attract Professionals
Additional coverage of the March 2005 DPE
conference on Organizing Professionals in the 21st Century, in which the
ASI acted as collaborator.
Half the World's Workers Denied Fundamental Rights
A May 2004 report by the International Labor Organization showed that
the rights to freedom of association and to bargain collectively are not guaranteed to
half of the world's workers. The report also in-cludes a sampling of worker
rights abuses around the world.
Learning to Organize
This pamphlet from the British labor movement places training and skills development at
the center of a campaign to reinvigorate unions. Providing workers with the skills they
need for the new economy, it argues, makes unions more valuable to their members, business
and the economy as a whole. (Requires Adobe Acrobat)
Professional Workers Joining
Unions in Record Numbers
A record number of professional and technical workers are joining unions—nearly
30 percent of all new union members, according to this AFL-CIO report, Rising
Tide: Professionals, The New Face of America’s Unions. (Requires
Adobe Acrobat)
Changing Courses
A new report examines the instructional innovations that can help low-income workers
succeed in community college.
World
Bank: Unions Are Good for World Economies
Despite the World Bank's historic antipathy toward labor, this 2003 report finds that both
workers and their nations' economies benefit from high unionization rates. Workers gain
from higher wages, shorter working hours, and more training, as compared to their nonunion
counterparts. Economies gain from lower unemployment and inflation rates, higher
productivity, and faster adjustment to economic shocks.
&Read this report. (Requires
Adobe Acrobat)
The Next Crisis: Too Few Workers
Even as the US economy struggles and unemployment climbs, demographers have begun to talk
about a looming skills shortage. No kidding. Here's what the experts say.
Globalization and Its Discontents
A thoughtful review of a new book in which Nobel prize-winning
economist Joseph Stigletz argues that many IMF and World Bank
policies stem more from rigid ideology than economic analysis,
worsening the plight of developing nations.
Running Fast, Standing Still
Political development is "the forgotten
dimension" in human development, says a recent UN report on
economic development and democracy. This Economist
article underscores one of its key messages for governments:
Don't use the war on terrorism as an excuse to put democracy
development on the "back burner."
To Companies, Education Proves Its Value
According to a new study, companies that spend most on employee
training and development outperform those that spend least.
Working Man Blues
A self-proclaimed "worker's paradise," how will China's rulers
deal with growing (and increasingly organized) worker unrest?
Enough Is Enough
Believe it or not, Fortune Magazine calls for more
zealous prosecution and tougher prison sentences for boardroom
thieves and swindlers.
China: A Labor Movement in the Making?
Almost every week, the news reports new labor unrest. The mere
fact that official the Chinese media are reporting on some of
these events shows how widespread they really are.
Working-Class Heroes
The hijackers that turned New York's World Trade Center into a
mass grave probably thought they were attacking a symbol of
America's global economic power. What they actually did was
annihilate thousands of ordinary workers, many of them union
members.
Senate Ratifies Trade Pact with Jordan
Senate votes to adopt a Clinton-negotiated trade pact with
Jordan. It is it the first free trade pact with a Muslim country
and the first to include a worker rights clause in its core
text.
A Lesson From Cambodia
A U.S.-Cambodian trade pact was signed in 1999, including a
Cambodian promise to streng-
then labor laws. Cambodia kept its word, and now has the
world's fastest growing trade relationship with the U.S.
> See related story,
AFL-CIO Organizes in Cambodia
The NGO-Industrial Complex
Could codes of conduct and third-party certification embody a
new model for global corporate governance? These authors say
maybe.
Luring the Best in an Unsettled Time
An unwritten employment compact used to promise job security in
return for loyalty. Eight million layoffs later, the old accord
is dead. So is the conventional wisdom on how to retain and
motivate American workers.
> Learn about
labor-management training programs to help workers.
D E M O C R A C Y
Denying Democracy in Hong Kong
China's leaders continue to suppress democratic reform says Martin Lee,
chairman of the Democratic Party of Hong Kong.
Listen to the Arab Reformers
One of the under-reported
benefits of recent US involvement in the Middle East are the homegrown
democratic reform movements popping up throughout the Arab world.
The
Sick Man of the World
Egyptian democracy activist Saad Ibrahim offers hope that a process of democratic reform
can save the people of the Middle East from the repression and "socio-political
stagnation" they now suffer.
Can Promoting Democracy
Combat Terrorism?
Democratic institutions, says the author, by enabling the peaceful airing of grievances
and broad participation in policymaking, may be key to preventing the rise of extremist
terrorism. (Requires
Adobe Acrobat)
Democracy Hypocrisy
By ignoring
dictators who try to appropriate the language of democracy, the
world's democratic states, and particularly the US, subvert
their own interests.
Terror, Islam, and Democracy
Although Islamist terror groups cloak themselves in religion,
their movement is actually rooted in "degenerate" Leninism,
fascism, and other strains of modern totalitarianism, argues two
Iranian scholars.
Worked Till They Drop
With poor Chinese peasants by the millions flocking to cities
and industrial zones, guolaosi (or death by overwork)
is becoming increasingly common.
Reaching the Next Muslim Generation
Any effort to create more open, tolerant Muslim societies must
put educa- tional reform "at the heart," says Tunisian human
rights activist.
Working Man Blues
A self-proclaimed "worker's paradise," how will China's rulers
deal with growing (and increasingly organized) worker unrest?
Teaching Civics after Sept. 11
How can schools use the disaster to improve the education of
citizens?
Freedom in the World 2002
Freedom House finds that there is a growing gap in levels of
democracy between Islamic countries and the rest of the world.
About Face for Afghan Women
This special feature from Time looks at how women coped
under the Taliban and what the future holds for them now.
Jordan Trade Pact OK'd
Not only is it the first free trade agreement with a Muslim
country, it's also the first to include protections for worker
rights in its core text.
Globalization and Democracy
Join an online forum on the issues organized around a concept
paper by Harvard economist Dani Rodrik.
A Lesson From Cambodia
What can be learned from a recent U.S.-Cambodian trade pact?
> See related story,
AFL-CIO Organizes in Cambodia
Respected Journal Rates Student History Papers
The Concord Review, an ASI-supported journal, sets up a
system to rate high school history papers so that students can
use them in college applications.
Democratic Development as the Fruits of Labor
Nobel prize-winning economist argues that "workers'
rights should be a central focus of development institutions."
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