Post-Soviet republics have undergone a variety of political and economic changes following the collapse of the Soviet Union to transform themselves into market-oriented open societies. Transitional countries have faced various problems, including social inequality, political unrest, economic hardship, and ethnic conflict. The countries had to…

The declaration of independency in 1991 became a turning point in the socio-economic, political and cultural fields of Kyrgyzstan. There have been important developments especially in the religious sphere. Since the first days of independency, issues related to freedom of religion and conscience have been heavily debated among Kyrgyz…

Western standards of journalism education, as well as western professional journalistic practices, have had difficulty taking root in the five independent countries of formerly Soviet Central Asia. This essay examines the experience of one university's Department of Journalism and Mass Communication since 1997 and the challenges it faces,…

This Forum discusses the significant growth of international large-scale assessments (ILSAs) since the mid-1990s. Addey and Sellar's contribution ("A Framework for Analysing the Multiple Rationales for Participating in International Large-Scale Assessments") outlines a framework of rationales for participating in ILSAs and examines the…

During the first decade of post-socialist transformation in Eastern Europe, the majority of education reform projects focused on in-service teacher education. Governments, international agencies and non-governmental organizations prioritized various in-service teacher education programs to help teachers deal with rapid changes in schools. This has…