America is not Singapore and Singapore cannot be America. So why are we often comparing ourselves to high-performing countries based on international exams? Despite the educational crisis many U.S. schools are facing, Americans should be cautious not to mimic another country's model within our diverse classrooms. We are largely grounded on the…

Speeding past the Steve Jobs Post-PC Era into the Age of Mobilism, the authors foresee how, by 2015, each and every student in America's K-12 classrooms will be using their own mobile computing device, with those devices engendering the most disruptive transformation in education in 150 years. Classrooms will move from today's "I Teach"…

This paper views seeking the optimal balance between state strengths and the scope of state functions for "good governance" as the formation of a homogenization-heterogenization matrix of policy initiatives in different social settings. Homogenization refers to a global tendency for institutional changes and governance framework to…

In this paper, I will argue that it is possible to use data from large-scale international and national mathematics assessment programmes, whose attention is on summative achievement, to provide formative information that informs teachers about the effects of their classroom practice. However, to have impact on, and be useful for, classroom…

Outlines the way that schooling in Singapore fosters a sense of discipline, duty, order, and tolerance among students. Presents real experiences of one educator's encounter with orderly Singaporean student behavior. (HB)

This article reviews research on creativity in Singapore and finds that creativity has yet to become a significant research theme in Singapore, the study of creativity seems to be influenced by current educational interests, and that creativity has not been a major theme in the main textbooks written for teachers. (Contains references.) (CR)

Over the course of the last several decades, advances in the Internet and media have brought distant parts of the globe closer together. It is now possible to email, chat with, and offer web-based classes or conferences to colleagues and students from all over the world. As this occurs, it is becoming increasingly possible for physical educators…

This paper presents a perspective from Singapore on the secondary school curriculum and adolescent development. Topics discussed include (1) curricular considerations related to socioeconomic factors in Singapore society, such as rapid industrializaton, problematic procreation and marriage trends, latchkey children, and youth gangs; (2) curriculum…

Singapore's language policy must balance the wishes of the various ethnic groups, the political situation in the regions, and the needs of economic development. Malay, Mandarin Chinese, English, and Tamil are all recognized as official languages. Malay has special symbolic status as the national language. (RM)

This information package looks at the methods of financing vocational education and training (TVET), especially in European countries. The first section examines categories of training, who should pay for training, possible fund-raising or revenue-generating mechanisms, financing mechanisms, and limitations of financing TVET. In the second part, a…

Discussion of effect sizes in computer-assisted learning research focuses on a study conducted in Singapore high school geography classes that used micro-PROLOG to determine the efficacy of computer-assisted learning. Topics include impact on achievement, student attitudes, and classroom environment. (53 references) (LRW)

Comparison of teaching practices of grade 7-8 science teachers in Ontario, Alberta, and Singapore found an implicit "formula for success" related to high scores on the Third International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS). Recent Ontario curriculum guidelines aimed at boosting TIMSS scores ignore provincial educational values that…

This paper reports principally on two studies, prompted by research on school effectiveness in the United States and England, which indicate globalization is beginning to affect school improvement. The first study cites case studies of two schools--from working-class, multi-ethnic, poorly educated areas of Singapore and London--to determine if…

Despite touted "best" scores, Singapore's education ministry goals are child-centered. A worldwide survey of 182 experts reached consensus on 20 global trends, including need for a multinational curriculum. A Center of Education Policy report finds that highly subsidized foreign private schools are subject to high regulation. (MLH)

This paper examines efforts to save rapidly declining indigenous languages around the world. The entire process of language preservation and revitalization is a massive undertaking that requires immense long-term planning and support. These problems extend well beyond the linguistic concerns of the language itself. Language policy is inherently…