School improvement planning can serve as a mechanism for school leaders to identify and address inequities. Yet, despite longstanding mandates, the empirical evidence base on school improvement plans (SIPs) is surprisingly limited, and even less literature focuses on the intersection of equity and school improvement planning. Using a conventional…

In the United States, we tend to assume that young people should become educated and then go to work, as though the two were entirely separate stages of life. This dichotomy blinds us to the fact that work itself can be a powerful means of education-giving students opportunities to apply academic subject matter to real-world problems, and pushing…

For young people in the United States, whatever their backgrounds, one of the essential purposes of schooling should be to help them develop the knowledge, skills, and competence needed to search for and obtain work that they find at least reasonably satisfying. Our present educational system does precious little to introduce young people to the…

In the United States, we tend to assume that young people should become educated and then go to work, as though the two were entirely separate stages of life. This dichotomy blinds us to the fact that work itself can be a powerful means of education. Indeed, the workplace is where many young people become most engaged in learning high-level skills…

Teaching Chinese students in an American university can be both challenging and rewarding. Cultural and language differences can lead to some superficial confusion and interpretational problems. However, the vast differences in the ways Chinese students view the role of the public sector, as compared to the US, can mean that the instructors and…

The objective of this dissertation is to explore the socio-cultural contextualization of the digital divide in Japanese society. I undertake this task by developing a theoretical and methodological framework based on the notion of "culture as models," while explicating the cultural dimensions of the digital divide and the dynamics of…

Research on student achievement indicates the U.S. K-12 education system is not adequately preparing American students to compete in the 21st century global economy in the areas of science and mathematics. Congress has asked the scientific entities of the federal government to help increase K-12 science learning by creating standards-based…

In a period of student loan scandals and U.S. financial market instability impacting on the cost and availability of student loans, this paper looks at alternative models of higher education funding. In this context, it also considers the level of financial support that the government should provide to higher education.

While there has been considerable scholarship on the role of school and district leadership within instructional change, there has been little analysis of the values and orientations that undergird current policy debates about instructional leadership. This article outlines the importance of examining instructional leadership in the context of…

Describes the basic features of three different models of "innovation policy": (1) a model of explicit and institutionalized policy in Europe; (2) one of apparently limited policy affecting mainly the climate of innovation in the United States; and (3) one of implicit action imbedded in other policies in Japan. (Author/JN)

In the United States, developing "human capital" for both economic and social benefit is an idea as old as the nation itself and led to the emergence of world's first mass higher education system. Now most other nations are racing to expand access to universities and colleges and to expand their role in society. Higher education is…

A discussion of the structure of higher education finance begins by establishing a framework for examining the flow of money between and among three parties: students (consumers), institutions (producers), and governments (sponsors). The financial flows between these parties are charted, and the use of the model to describe differences in the…

These hearings transcripts present testimony before a congressional committee comparing early childhood education and care in the United States with that of other industrialized countries, focusing on all arrangements for children under compulsory school age. The opening statement from the committee chair, Senator James Jeffords, notes the linkage…

This paper presents a model of the approaches open to government to ensure that early childhood services are affordable to families. We derived the model from a comparative literature review of affordability approaches taken by government, both in Australia and internationally. The model adds significantly to the literature by proposing a means to…

This document contains the following plenary speeches from the 1994 annual conference of the Pacific Telecommunications Council (PTC): "Forging New Links--Focus on Developing Economies" by Sir Donald Maitland of the Independent Commission for World-Wide Telecommunications Development (United Kingdom); "The Missing Link: Still…