Argues that content standards that are aligned with tests are the wrong starting point for systemic school change aimed at improving teaching and learning and that national standards are the wrong vehicle. Policies should attempt to create a system in which community involvement, teacher knowledge, and equalized school capacity are starting points…

This paper analyzes the Canadian case of "Elwood v. Halifax County Bedford School District" in the context of special education rights and the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Implications suggest the willingness of the judiciary to intervene in educational decision making and the use of the charter to shape educational policy.…

Discussion of the Australian education system gives a brief overview of the entire system, then details key developments in higher education and in the vocational education sector, including aspects of funding, international cooperation, reform and expansion, quality assurance, delivery systems, apprenticeship programs, responsiveness to the labor…

Examines recent research on private returns to investment in baccalaureate and sub-baccalaureate postsecondary education, social returns to investment in higher education, and student responsiveness to tuition and financial aid. Focus is on implications for policy and practice in areas such as enrollment management, role of colleges in relation to…

Liberia's emergence from 15 years of tremendous upheaval has left it with an unsettled domestic security situation, a disrupted formal economy and a virtually destroyed national infrastructure. Faced with a burgeoning school-age population and the growing demand for education, Liberia's new National Transitional Government--composed of rebel,…

Research on distance education in Mexico is still in the embryonic stage, in spite of its long history. One indication is that among the lines of research defined by the Mexican Council on Educational Research, the leading organization in the field in Mexico, distance education does not even appear. Only recently, in the last few years, has an…

This Policy Brief describes and explains patterns of access to schools in South Africa. It outlines policy and legislation on access to education and provides a statistical analysis of access, vulnerability and exclusion. It is based on findings from the Country Analytic Review on Educational Access in South Africa (Motala et al, 2007) [ED508808]…

Across OECD countries, governments are seeking policies to make education more effective while searching for additional resources to meet the increasing demand for education. The 2009 edition of "Education at a Glance: OECD Indicators" enables countries to see themselves in the light of other countries' performance. It provides a rich,…

The purpose of this document is to provide background to the text and recommended actions of the Australian School Science Education National Action Plan, 2007-2012. The first part presents a synthesis of the national and international research used to identify gaps and overlaps amongst activities related to school science education in …

"Multicultural Education Policies in Canada and the United States" uses a dialogical approach to examine responses to increasing cultural and racial diversity in both countries. It compares and contrasts foundational myths and highlights the sociopolitical contexts that affect the conditions of citizenship, access to education, and…

This report of a 1994 World Conference on Special Needs Education affirms the principle of "Education for All" and the specific concept of inclusion of students with special educational needs in schools throughout the world. The conference was represented by 92 governments and 25 international organizations. The text of the Salamanca…

The Baccalaureate and Beyond Longitudinal Study (B&B:93) tracks the experiences of a cohort of recent college graduates, those who received the baccalaureate degree during the 1992-93 academic year and were first interviewed as part of the National Postsecondary Student Aid Study. The experiences of this group in the areas of academic…

Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) is an Australian program that helps people to obtain formal recognition for relevant work experience, life experience, and formal training. This report documents existing good practices in RPL assessment and staff training for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, provides information on culturally…

While a number of different approaches have been suggested for the improvement of K-12 education in the United States, one common element of many plans is the more extensive and more effective utilization of computer, networking, and other technologies in support of a broad program of systemic and curricular reform. The Panel on Educational…

In discussing educational equity and Project Performance and Assessment Collaboratives for Education (PACE), the authors present an argument, a detailed illustration, and a set of imperatives for education in the United States. The argument examines the last century and a half of American educational practice to illustrate why we cannot simply…