This is a presentation made by the author to the staff of the members of the United States House of Representatives who are part of the STEM Caucus (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics Education Caucus). The briefing was held in the Rayburn Office Building in Washington, DC on July 27, 2007. Also presenting were Harold Pratt and Dr.…

States are establishing high stakes assessments to serve as a measurement tool of students' academic abilities. This study essentially explored and sought to understand some of Maryland's mathematics and science practitioners' perspectives on increase testing, and the No Child left Behind (NCLB) Act. Basically, the study sought to understand and…

This study investigates the impact of activities done in the basic education sub-sector by a consortium of four non-government organizations in four provinces in Afghanistan from January 2004 to June 2005. The evaluation uses the project objectives and components as the evaluation framework, and data collected through survey questionnaires,…

This paper discusses the cost and purpose of regulation in the higher education sector in the United Kingdom. Higher education is changing fast, facing competition from around the world and offering new economic drive in Britain's regions. Tuition fees bring much needed investment to this growing sector. This means a new challenge for funding…

This document offers commentary on the state of educational broadcasting in Greece. It sketches an overview of how that genre differs in Europe and North America; in Europe educational broadcasting often revolves around public affairs rather than cultural and artistic programming, and is often subject to more government interference. The history…

In the early months of 1998 state governors delivered state of the state addresses that touched on concerns transcending state lines: taxes, infrastructure development and maintenance, crime, health, and public education. Some of these common concerns, with an emphasis on proposed K-12 public education policies, are discussed. The paper provides a…

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) of the late 1980s appeared to pursue its own agenda of broadcast deregulation, notwithstanding congressional pressures. The apparent power shift is evident in a case study of the interactions between Congress and the FCC on the subject of children's television. In the early 1970s, the FCC tended to…

This paper summarizes research efforts of the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD) and identifies research priorities. The NIDCD is responsible for research and research training related to both normal and disordered hearing, balance, smell, taste, voice, speech, and language. The paper notes that 59 percent of…

At a time of far-reaching change in our society, numerous national reports have criticized the American public education system as inadequate to meet the challenge and have called for reforms aimed at achieving excellence. Contrary to the general view, however, there is evidence that public education is already in the midst of a "rising tide of…

A study of the extent of the diplomatic and commercial assistance provided by the United States government to the Associated Press (AP) from 1912 to 1948 shows AP's manager, Kent Cooper, to be less a champion of the free press than an efficient captain of industry in expanding AP influence across the globe. Early in the twentieth century, British,…

Arguing that serious students of telecommunications policy must consider the impact that government deregulation will have on virtually every aspect of communications policymaking, this paper examines two goals that deregulators have deemed essential: convincing regulators that the marketplace is synonomous with public interest, and demonstrating…

A review of federal court decisions in the area of cable television and First Amendment rights reveals an early, unified perception of cable's First Amendment status that has given way in the past decade to fragmented and often contradictory positions among lower level courts. This makes the problem before the courts today one of choosing from, or…

This speech by the Assistant Attorney General in the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice describes the Reagan Administration's enforcement of section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act and other federal statutes protecting the rights of disabled people in America. The Supreme Court case of "Consolidated Rail Corporation v.…

The concept of "objectivity" suggests that facts are selected and constructed according to formal rules by professional journalists. A comparison of American and Soviet concepts of news leads to the observation that both share similar claims to objectivity. The similarity defies whether objectivity assumes the form of facts detached from…

The retention factor of literacy must be the target variable in any projection of literacy programs of the future. Further, the success of literacy programs of the future is contingent upon the resolution of three major problem areas: (1) the concept of literacy; (2) the programs of literacy; and (3) the politics of literacy. A concept of literacy…