Over the years, American students consistently have ranked below those from Finland, Canada, Japan, and at least a dozen other industrialized nations on international tests of mathematics, science, and reading. The No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) has done nothing to close this gap. And the authors suspect that the law may be making matters worse.…

In this paper, the authors discuss the influence of democracy and law on music education in Sweden and Finland, and the potential for music education as training in democracy. The latter consideration can be instructive regardless of the nation, or its laws and paradigms of music education. The theoretical background is based on Jurgen Habermas'…

Legislation affecting scientific libraries in Finland is reviewed in the areas of staffing, inter-library cooperation, library financing, qualifications for scientific library posts, economic administration, and planning. (RAO)

Toiviainen discusses the difference between general education and adult vocational education in Finland and the values underlying Finnish adult education. Jokinen describes adult education centers and their growth in enrollment over the past 30 years. (JOW)

Summarized the reports of the committees that have been involved in planning all types of adult education programs in Finland. (JOW)

The relationship between centrally stated educational aims and those really in use at the classroom level is addressed. A critical review is presented of what has been achieved in this area, especially in Finland, both within legislation and by recent researchers. According to the authors, the lists of educational aims produced by policy-makers as…

Five articles discuss aspects of municipal cultural activity in Finland, including legislation, the adult education system, administrative cooperation, municipal recreational services, and changes in public library services. (SK)

This research report presents 10 papers offering views of Finnish, Swedish, British, Danish, and United States educators on teaching and teacher education. The essays are as follows: (1) "The Missing Content in Teaching: Focus on What Teachers Reflect Upon While They Are Teaching" (Mikael Alexandersson); (2) "What Is Reflection? On…

In addition to an "Introduction" (Gonon, et. al), there are these 18 essays: "Women and Men in Swiss Vocational Education (Borkowsy); "Women in Basic and Advanced Training" (Grossenbacher); "How Constitutional Change and Legal Reform Projects Foster Equal Opportunities in the Fields of Vocational Education and Higher…