In this article, we regard inclusive education as a policy phenomenon that contains a range of ideas about the purpose of education, the content of education and the organization of education. As a political ideal expressed in policy, inclusive education competes with other political ideals regarding education, for instance economic discourses…

In education policy, as in many other policy fields, well-designed policy reforms may fail to get enacted because policymakers may suddenly become confronted with a public backlash against their reform agenda. Thus, understanding the dynamics of public opinion is important in order to be able to assess the chances of successful reform. There is a…

Current tendencies in educational research in Sweden are presented and compared to Australia. We here refer to; organization of research, research allocation, publication patterns, and assessments of research qualities. Different trajectories of educational research were identified, where Australian research was organized as a field of study,…

Swedish school reform since the 1970s has involved a shift in policy and underlying values throughout the entire implementation process. Educational reform has broken into loosely connected fragments with relevant reform makers at all educational levels. Despite a newly decentralized process, observed changes are not really structural. Includes…

Evidence from Sweden's creation of Norrland University, which uses higher education for regional development, shows that allocation of higher education resources can be used to alter traditional patterns of centralization and that the activities of the outlying institution play as crucial a role as centrally formed policy. (Author/MSE)

Although the economic and social conditions of families have changed considerably, the framework of U.S. social policy with regard to families has not changed. Under the framework, policymakers assume that the poverty of families or individuals is largely their own fault. This long-standing belief has impeded the expansion of public spending on…

A discussion of the use of performance indicators for evaluation and funding of higher education institutions by governments offers 10 lessons for governments and funding agencies, drawn from a study of the role played by performance indicators in the systems of Denmark, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Norway, and Sweden. (MSE)

The institutionalization of faculty development policy and activities is compared for Australia, Great Britain, the United States, West Germany, and Sweden. The factors that precipitated the trend in each country are examined, and it is concluded that the reward systems in each country favor faculty research performance over teaching. (Author/MSE)

Sweden's newly deregulated university system, characterized by increased privatization and performance-based funding, is compared with a model of "responsive regulation" characterized by a cooperative regulatory relationship. Developments and actions during the first few years of reform are also analyzed in this context. Suggestions for…

Discussion of performance indicators' use in government-institutional relationships and funding decisions for higher education institutions draws on experiences of five countries (Denmark, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, United Kingdom). Roles of political culture, educational funding system, and quality assessment procedures used for resource…

The paper uses data from the United States and several other industrialized nations to evaluate the costs of post-secondary education. Discussed are: variations on the concept of higher educational costs; three cost issues (how much higher education, the unit costs of higher education, and sharing the costs); higher education costs and social…