Radical Caucus of Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development

The Radical Caucus of the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD) constituted an informal network of members who met periodically between 1970 and 1976. The intent of the group, numbering more than 100 ASCD members, was to radicalize the organization and its membership through staged “counter convention” events at the national ASCD conferences. Radical Caucus coordinators included Steven Mann, William Pildar, and Richard Kunkel, who organized planning meetings and prepared periodic newsletters and mailings. Topics of importance to the membership included the issue of student rights (and whether constitutional rights could be extended to students without drastic changes in the educational structure and school curriculum) and class analysis in relation to educational reform. The issue of student rights was seen as a way to ...