"Vocational Education and Training for a Global Economy" investigates the greatly varying ways in which four countries--Singapore, Switzerland, China, and the United States--prepare young people for the twenty-first-century workplace. The book looks first at the highly successful vocational education and training (VET) systems in…

This book describes how different nations have defined the core competencies and skills that young people will need in order to thrive in the twenty-first-century, and how those nations have fashioned educational policies and curricula meant to promote those skills. The book examines six countries--Chile, China, India, Mexico, Singapore, and the…

In "Why Knowledge Matters," influential scholar E. D. Hirsch, Jr., addresses critical issues in contemporary education reform and shows how cherished truisms about education and child development have led to unintended and negative consequences. Hirsch, author of "The Knowledge Deficit," draws on recent findings in neuroscience…

America's fragmented, decentralized, politicized, and bureaucratic system of education governance is a major impediment to school reform. In this important new book, a number of leading education scholars, analysts, and practitioners show that understanding the impact of specific policy changes in areas such as standards, testing, teachers, or…

This book calls attention to the policies and practices that discriminate against the silent majority of students in the American educational system. Arguments presented emphasize the collateral damage caused to average students by legislative mandates, administrative policies, teaching practices, parenting beliefs, and adherence to strict…

This book examines the changes in educational policy in the U.S. and Britain over the last twenty-five years. The author contends that education in the States and Britain has been significantly transformed, through efforts to create curricular standards, increased emphasis on accountability measured by standardized tests, and efforts to introduce…

This book sets out a constructivist, inquiry-based approach to instruction. The approach builds on clear understandings of children's current levels of knowledge, where their learning should progress to, and the means by which children learn early numeracy topics. The methods presented in this book have been used extensively by practitioners in…

To compete and succeed in modern society, high school graduates need to be expert readers, writers, and communicators. Too many are not. Annually, hundreds of thousands of 12th graders on the threshold of graduating can barely read or write. Given the high stakes for these students and knowing a great deal about their literacy needs and the…

This publication offers an update in concise form of pertinent information for teachers, administrators, librarians, counselors, and other school personnel on certification requirements. Recommendations of regional and national associations regarding school staff responsibilities and school policies are presented, as well as current addresses for…

For the past twenty years, federal and state education departments and school districts have been engaged in efforts that have touched every phase of public education. People have seen the emergence of the standards movement, "high-stake" testing, and an emphasis on school accountability. Requirements for those entering the teaching…

Since 2001-2002, standards-based accountability (SBA) provisions of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB) have shaped the work of public school teachers and administrators in the United States. NCLB requires each state to develop content and achievement standards in several subjects, administer tests to measure students' progress toward…

An examination of the schooling system in the United States is presented. The myth that students entering college in the 1970's are brighter, more sophisticated, more knowledgeable, and more serious than students of any other generation is explored. It is contended that there are seven groups of people who promote the myth, each for their own…

In today's interconnected and global society, socially responsive learning is an integral part of educational excellence. This book encourages socially responsive learning by showing the reader how to use traditional African folk tales and quality children's books, young adult novels, classic literature, and film media about Africa as the mode for…

This collection of essays presents a set of standards to be considered for use in the delivery of U.S. credit-abroad programs and is designed to serve as a primer for institutions considering the development of such standards. The essays include: (1) "Introduction: A Growing Trend in Educational Delivery" (John Deupree), which discusses…

This conference proceedings presents 17 papers which examine quality assurance and evaluation in higher education, including methodologies, procedures, and ideas from various nations. The papers include: (1) "Quality Assurance in Higher Education" (Malcolm Frazer); (2) "Academic Standards Panels in Australia" (Kwong Lee Dow);…