This study has two aims. The first is to determine how the ancient Greeks conceived of beauty - a matter that is not uncontroversial, since some scholars have denied that there existed an autonomous concept of beauty in classical Greece. The second is to identify problems that have beset modern aesthetics, such as whether a work of art can be beautiful if its subject matter is not, and to indicate why these difficulties did not pose a problem for the ancient idea of beauty.

In the middle of the fifteenth century, the economy of north-east England was beset by crises: population was low, production was stagnant and many landowners faced penury. By the end of the sixteenth century, however, the precocious development of the coal industry and high levels of inflation provided opportunities for investment and profit in the Durham countryside. This book examines the development of agrarian capitalism; estate management; tenure and the land market; social mobility; the gentrification of merchant wealth and the emergence of the yeomanry during this period in the region. It looks at such questions as how the coal industry was affected by the fifteenth-century recession and the effects its rapid expansion had upon landed society; reassesses debates on the rise of the gentry and the "crisis" of the aristocracy; and considers how the wholesale economic changes of this period affected the social structure of late-medieval and early-modern England. Although this period is often seen as a transitional era, this book argues that it needs to be studied as one long agrarian cycle, showing the degree to which patterns of landholding fixed during the fifteenth-century recession affected the distribution of profits between different types of lords and tenants in the sixteenth and early seventeenth century. A.T. Brown is an Addison Wheeler Fellow at Durham University.

If asked about the hottest topic or most talked-about players in American public education today, pretty much everyone's answer--from parents to policymakers to pundits--would include the words "teachers" or "teaching." From both intuition and experience, individuals know that good teaching matters. This has been true for a very long time. Yet it is reasonable to wonder why the drumbeat about teaching quality seems especially loud these days. Maybe it's because the evidence base about the link between the quality of teaching and the achievement of students has gotten a lot stronger over the last fifteen years. It could also be because federal education policy under the previous and current presidents has tied both regulations and dollars to definitions of "highly qualified" teachers and, most recently, to measuring teachers' contributions to their students' learning. And a growing focus on college and career readiness, emphasized in the Common Core State Standards and by reformers as a measure of educational excellence, has underscored how critical teachers are in ensuring that all students have the skills to succeed in their postsecondary lives. The Annenberg Institute for School Reform has worked for nearly two decades with school districts, researchers, parents, and community members and comes to the teaching quality agenda with different perspectives in mind. This paper describes six strategies that both the Annenberg Institute's own experience and its survey of the field have shown to be powerful supports for the quality of instruction. For each strategy, this paper outlines the problem to be addressed; what needs to happen to address the problem; examples of organizations and sites that are implementing the strategy effectively; what readers can ask about and advocate for in their own school communities; and a short list of resources where readers can learn more.

In statehouses across the country, Parent Trigger legislation is being proposed as a remedy to the nation's education crisis. These laws authorize parents--through a petition drive at their child's school --to force their school district to convert that public school into a charter, replace its staff and leadership, or even close it down. Supporters of Parent Trigger laws argue that they empower parents, giving them the ability to force dramatic changes to improve low-performing schools. Critics argue that the laws do not give real, sustained power to parents; that the interventions authorized through Parent Trigger have no track record of actually improving schools; and that the laws are being used to privatize public schools through chartering. This brief reviews the history and current status of Parent Trigger legislation, presents a critique of the legislation, and suggests alternative ways to meet the stated goals of a Parent Trigger.

Over the past two decades, community organizing has emerged as an effective force for school improvement. In the context of shrinking education funding, stubborn opportunity and achievement gaps between low-income and wealthy children and between children of color and White children, and polarizing debate on school reform, community organizing offers a methodology for parents and community members to effect meaningful change for the students who've been mostly poorly served by school systems. This publication outlines strategies and resources for groups considering education organizing. It is intended mainly for community organizations that have some experience with base building and organizing. It explores the ways in which education differs from other issue areas, how to gather data and research on local schools and schooling issues, how to engage local parents, and approaches to working with educators and other allies. Throughout, this report provides examples drawn from a range of organizing groups across the country and links to other resources. While each organization, school, district, and state is different, there are a number of common questions and considerations that community organizing groups working to improve schools can begin with. This report draws its examples largely from urban school reform organizing, both because the experience has been mainly in New York City and other large cities and because the scholarship on education organizing has largely emphasized urban groups. Rural groups have done excellent education work, however. A list of resources is presented at the end of this brief for examples of rural organizing. (Contains 1 figure and 1 footnote.).

As states across the country face unprecedented budget shortfalls, communities as well as policymakers are trying to stave off the potentially devastating impacts of budget cuts on schools and other basic services. Many public school systems are facing significant shortfalls, forcing "reductions in force" or RIFs, of teachers and other school staff. The numbers are significant. In California, over 19,000 teachers received notice of possible layoff. In Milwaukee, over 350 teachers have lost their jobs. In both Chicago and Philadelphia, layoffs have numbered close to 1,000. Teacher layoffs are painful in any district, under any circumstances. But the way that layoffs are conducted--how decisions are made and what their impact is from school to school--can be critical to controlling the damage they bring. This year, with so many teaching positions on the line, a strong national effort has been mounted to eliminate seniority rules (also known as "last in-first out" or LIFO rules) that govern teacher layoffs. Supporters argue that teacher "quality", not years of experience, should be the primary lens through which to determine which teachers are dismissed and which are protected from layoffs. Several states (Florida, Ohio, Idaho) have passed new laws prohibiting seniority and instead requiring that RIFs target those teachers who have performed poorly on district evaluations. Other states are considering similar proposals. In the face of continuing inequities in school systems and the potential for those inequities to be exacerbated by budget cuts, the debate over seniority rights is resonating in many communities. This debate spotlights some important equity-oriented issues, but it is unclear whether and how debating seniority rights will help communities address these issues adequately. This brief seeks to unpack the debate over seniority rights and offer community groups a better understanding of some of the underlying issues being raised. (Contains 1 footnote.).