The principle of equality states that it is bad for some people to be worse off than others. In the context of distance education, this principle is violated on those occasions where on-campus students have access, not only to all the resources available to distance education students, but also to face-to-face tutorials. This is because the…

With whom does the American education system get high grades? For race and ethnicity, disparities are ever so prevalent. For socioeconomic status and family income, poor people never seem to get a fair share. For geographical location, inner city students are almost always underserved. Perhaps the one entity on which the system can boast is…

Demand for university education has increased due to the recent innovations of universal, free and compulsory education at the basic and senior secondary education level. Education has been expanding very rapidly at all levels in Nigeria. However, there are serious problems related to quality, equity, unavailable human and material resources and…

The purpose of this chapter is to continue and potentially expand the conversation about how a diversity-affirming ethical orientation and an understanding of critical epistemology might guide institutional decision making in community colleges in the direction of social justice. The chapter begins with a conceptual overview of the terms…

The linkage between the impact of assessment and compliance with children's rights is a connection, which although seemingly obvious, is nonetheless rarely made, particularly by governments, which, as signatories to the relevant human rights treaties, have the primary responsibility for ensuring that educational practice is compatible with…

Due to the changes in disability legislation that protect persons with disabilities from discrimination, and allow for free, appropriate public education along with equal access to education, more and more students with disabilities are choosing to attend postsecondary educational settings. The transition planning process as outlined in the…

The Indiana General Assembly passed charter school enabling legislation in 2001, and the first charter schools opened their doors for the 2002-03 school year. As of fall 2008, 49 charter schools are operating in Indiana. A total of 17 of these schools are sponsored by the City of Indianapolis, Office of the Mayor, 29 schools are sponsored by…

Standards are the results of concerted efforts to improve the quality of education found in distance education. Legal and ethical standards are needed to ensure a positive educational environment. Participants from different cultural, physical, economical, and intellectual backgrounds should have equal access to all the positive aspects of…

In this report, the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) provides a summary of its substantive achievements in FY 2006. OCR's mission is to ensure equal access to education and to promote educational excellence throughout the nation through vigorous enforcement of civil rights. This report details OCR's accomplishments in enforcing the civil rights laws…

In July of 2007, the Center for Evaluation and Education Policy (CEEP) at Indiana University was contracted to conduct an evaluation of the Indiana charter schools. The evaluation has been designed to ensure that all objectives of the provisions of HEA 1001-2007 are fulfilled. In addition, the framework of the study is based in IC 20-24-2-1,…

In this chapter, the authors take a broad perspective on how to analyze issues of technology and equity for youth in the United States. They begin with "access" as a starting point, but consider not only whether diverse groups of youth have digital media available to them but also how that access is supported or constrained by…

The condition of higher education is an important indicator of a nation's competitiveness in the modern knowledge-based world economy. Higher education builds up a nation's human resources by equipping students with advanced knowledge, professional skills, and critical and creative thinking ability. Higher education institutions are significant,…

How many people reading this brief believes they could financially survive in a household of four people on $19,784 a year? Yet, this was the official poverty threshold as determined by the federal government for 2005. During this same year, 17% of children under 18 lived below the poverty line, of which 14% were white, 11% Asian, 28% Hispanic and…

The purpose of this study is to expand the definition of adequacy by adding soft skills as a measure of school productivity. The singular focus on academic standards inherent in education policy has prevented scholars from seeing the concept of adequacy through myriad perspectives and has contributed to a resegregation of schools. Education policy…

Affirmative action in higher education remains a controversial topic in the US today, as it is tied in directly with citizens' varying conceptions of the larger society, and the importance of racial and other differences (in particular, socioeconomic class) in individual experiences and outcomes. This essay examines different arguments for and…