The purpose of this study was to analyze the extent to which science education objectives in elementary schools addressed to the six basic components of environmental literacy (EL), and how this attention differed from Bulgaria to Turkey. The main method in the study involved comparative content analysis of these objectives. The courses sampled…

In most developed countries, research studies that investigate the effects of special education on student outcomes have become conventional practice. However, in developing countries such as the twin-island Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, there are no studies about the progress and outcomes of students and youths with disabilities. This…

Turkey is expected to be a full member of the European Union (EU) by 2013. In the course of its integration into the EU, Turkey has been simultaneously facing access, quality, and equity issues in education. Over the past decade, substantial progress has been made on increasing the access. However, improving the country's low level of education…

This book explores what specialists are saying about system leadership for school improvement. Case studies examine innovative approaches to sharing leadership across schools in Belgium (Flanders), Finland and the United Kingdom (England) and leadership development programmes for system improvement in Australia and Austria. As these are emerging…

Papers from the proceedings of the 14th Annual Conference of the Bulgarian Comparative Education Society were submitted in two volumes. Volume 1 contains papers submitted at the conference held in Sofia, Bulgaria, June 14-17, 2016. Volume 2 contains papers submitted at the 4th International Partner Conference of the International Research Centre…

Education for All has focused international attention on the goals of universal primary education and improved education quality. However, national indicators related to these goals often mask significant differences among demographic and social groups, as well as among geographical regions within countries. This paper, based on a study…

This paper compares the founding of the elementary school systems of Ireland and Ontario in the nineteenth century. The systems shared a common set of textbooks that had originated in Ireland. Using examples from a number of these books, which were part of a series that had been specially prepared for the Irish national school system, founded in…

The Thesaurus for Education Systems in Europe (TESE-2009 edition) is a multilingual thesaurus and a robust information retrieval tool focusing on European education systems and policies. It is specifically designed to cover the indexation needs of the Eurydice network and to facilitate information retrieval on Eurydice's central website. It can…

Some methodological issues are discussed that arise from our comparative research conducted since the early 1990s into primary schooling in Finland and England. This research has been identified as part of a "new" comparative education that uses qualitative research strategies and which prioritises sensitivity to cultural context in data…

'Europe' has been increasingly 'invented' and 'reinvented' in discussions about education, curricula and identities over the last five decades. The 'European dimension in education' was a term increasingly used by the European Union and the Council of Europe to denote their educational policies encouraging national educational systems to endorse a…

Retention rates and stress levels of beginning teachers are of concern. Well-planned induction programs can assist beginning teachers to make the transition successfully into the profession, which may increase retention rates. This qualitative, year-long study aims to explore and describe the induction experiences of eight beginning teachers as…

How do issues of equity inform music teaching and learning? What does it mean to teach music through the lens of social justice with social consciousness? The two authors of this paper challenged each other to reflect on these questions and how they pertain, past and present, to their lives as performers, pedagogues, and researchers in various…

"Choice" and "freedom" as measured by the ability of parents to select their children's schools are deeply embedded in the national ethos of the United States of America. Wealthy American parents have always exercised school choice but minority and low-income students are often trapped in failing schools. This paper is based on…

Background: In 2008 primary education in England reached, historically, another important phase in its development. Government reviewed the primary curriculum and some aspects of the national system of assessment. These government reviews coincided with an independent "Primary Review" based at the University of Cambridge to which the…

It is easier to collect data on teachers' qualifications, experience, or training than to get a precise idea of their command of subject matter or their classroom behaviour. However, research consistently shows that "class effect" (the impact on a student of being in one class rather than another) on pupil performance is relatively high,…