The Great Speckled Bird

Written by a New York education professor and a California journalist, The Great Speckled Bird takes readers behind the scenes for a unique "insider/outsider" view of education policymaking in action. Two state-level case studies of social studies curriculum reform and textbook policy (California and New York) illustrate how curriculum decisionmaking becomes an arena in which battles are fought over national values and priorities. The "great speckled bird" is the authors' counter-symbol to the bald eagle - a metaphor representing the racial-ethnic-cultural diversity that has characterized the United States since its beginnings and the multicultural reality of American society today.