As European schools have become more autonomous, inservice education has changed from a way to update professional knowledge to a tool for change. This article describes recent inservice education developments, emerging guidelines, choices and trends, and problems and challenges. School-based programs are challenged by competing agency programs…

Research studies on educational reform show that moving from reform to quality education through centrally designed reform movements (such as clearer legislation or other strategies) is inherently limited. Reform is most likely to succeed when schools are stimulated to change and provided with appropriate assistance and when schools receive enough…

Education support structure in the Netherlands is designed to ensure responsiveness to schools' needs and to avoid emergence of self-serving bureaucracy. National Institute for Curriculum Development was founded in 1975 to work with teachers and colleges of education to develop new curricula and instructional materials. Regional agencies located…

Numerous reports and articles have decried the mediocrity of U.S. students' foreign language skills and have called for improved language education. One study that looked at foreign language education in 19 countries suggests several characteristics of successful foreign language programs: starting early, providing an articulated framework,…