Cover Art ©Jem Sullivan

DEPARTMENTS

98 THE EDITOR'S PAGE, A Good Cause

100 WASHINGTON COMMENTARY, Preserving Our Democracy Through Literacy, by Anne C. Lewis

102 STATELINE, States Address Achievement Gaps, by Kathy Christie

104 COURTSIDE, What Ever Happened in the Appeal of . . . ? Part II, by Perry A. Zirkel

106 THOUGHTS ON TEACHING, Dogs in Space, Chain-Smoking, and Democratic Principles, by Bobby Ann Starnes

176 TECHNOLOGY, Consumer Technology Update, by Royal Van Horn

OCTOBER 2002 * Volume 84 * Number 2

ON THE COVER

Like a 500-pound gorilla that is invited to sleep wherever it pleases, business generally gets whatever it wants from the schools, Alfie Kohn maintains.

112 The 500-Pound Gorilla, by Alfie Kohn

FEATURES

POINT OF VIEW
Wendy Darling wonders if the "research by aphorism" that has swept school reform is just another version of "never-never land" magic.

109 Opening Exercises -- Or Never-Never Land, by Wendy Darling

STUDYING THE WORK OF STUDENTS AND TEACHERS
In performance, students reveal new understandings as well as lingering misgivings, Joseph McDonald reminds us, while Clea Fernandez and Sonal Chokshi provide practical advice to help U.S. teachers adapt the Japanese practice of lesson study.

120 Teachers Studying Student Work: Why and How?, by Joseph P. McDonald

128 A Practical Guide to Translating Lesson Study for a U.S. Setting, by Clea Fernandez and Sonal Chokshi

THE 12TH BRACEY REPORT
Gerald Bracey examines the current state of public education in the U.S.

135 The 12th Bracey Report on the Condition of Public Education, by Gerald W. Bracey

AT ODDS: CALIFORNIA'S READING DECLINE

155 There's More Than Mythology to California's Reading Decline, by Richard G. Innes

157 Speculation and Conjecture, by Stephen Krashen

FINDINGS ON SPECIAL EDUCATION
Jean Johnson shares the findings of a recent Public Agenda study of parents of children with special needs.

160 Will Parents of Special-Needs Children Endorse Reform in Special Ed?: A Public Agenda Q & A, by Jean Johnson

WHOLE-SCHOOL REFORM
James Lytle argues that working with a group of national developers can have a beneficial effect on the individual urban schools he knows best, while Mark Berends, Susan Bodilly, and Sheila Nataraj Kirby report research suggesting that policy makers should exercise caution with regard to whole-school reform. The situation, they say, is more complex than originally thought.

164 Whole-School Reform from the Inside, by James H. Lytle

168 Looking Back over a Decade of Whole-School Reform: The Experience of New American Schools, by Mark Berends, Susan Bodilly, and Sheila Nataraj Kirby