Decentralization of decision-making is among the most intriguing recent school reforms, in part because countries went in opposite directions over the past decade and because prior evidence is inconclusive. We suggest that autonomy may be conducive to student achievement in well-developed systems but detrimental in low-performing systems. We…

Building on international migration theories and the literature on the dynamics of student mobility, this study sketches a two-dimensional framework and examines its utility to understand the rationales of in-bounding student mobility in Turkey. The empirical part of the study was conducted with 331 international students studying in public…

This article presents an interview with Hal Markowitz, a veteran distance educator whose experience in the field is both deep and broad. Building on bachelor's and master's degrees at the University of Florida and his doctorate at Columbia University, Markowitz served in leadership roles in several professional organizations and directed distance…

The Financial Crisis of 2008 has forced countries around the globe to reevaluate their monetary and fiscal strategies for stimulating growth within their respective economies. The economic connectivity among countries has been magnified by the recent financial crisis. However, with nations at different stages in their development, the economic…

Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) in the Arab World are still in their infancy. Many Arab countries are now starting to launch their MOOC platforms; however, there are only a few who have actually implemented such systems. This paper will explore online learning, in particular the rise of MOOCs around the world and their impact on the Arab…

This article takes up the opportunity offered by the United Nations' "Strategic Development Goals" to examine provisions for the selection, recruitment, training and professional development of secondary English teachers in Bangladesh. Qualified and trained teachers are considered as essential to effect the changes in English teaching…

With this timely book, editors Les Lloyd and Gabriel Barreneche present an eye-opening look at projects that are innovating with technology to improve education and, indeed, the very quality of people's lives around the world. From collaborative learning communities and social networks to Web 2.0 tools, MOOCs, and mobiles, experts discuss an array…

The paper explores attitudes to chronic poverty in a cross-section of developed and developing countries contributing data to the World Values Survey Wave Three (1994-1998). The analysis finds a consistent belief among a majority of respondents that poverty is persistent. The paper also explores the factors influencing public attitudes to chronic…

The ability of developing countries to provide a sound tertiary chemical education is a key ingredient to the improvement of living standards and economic development within these countries. However, teaching undergraduate experimental chemistry and building research capacity in institutions based within these countries involves formidable…

Emigration of qualified teachers from developing countries is a double loss for the source countries, not only leading to emigration of high-skill labour but also affecting their future developmental base when these countries are already struggling to meet the millennium development goals (MDGs) in education. This article discusses emigration of…

The challenges of ensuring equity among partners of very different academic power and status, across continents, within complex research projects involving differing disciplines with their own norms, and balancing needs for capacity development of individuals and for institutions can be major sources of conflicts. While each of these concerns has…

The effects of teachers' group incentives on student achievement are examined by reviewing theoretical arguments and empirical studies published between 1990 and 2011. Studies from developing countries reported positive effects of group incentives on student test scores. However, experimental studies from developed countries reported insignificant…

"A Decolonizing Encounter" examines the effects of western colonialism on historically marginalized and colonized populations living both in the West and the "third world". Specifically, it explores crucial issues such as the decolonizing of schools and communities of color; the decentralization of power of the capitalist and…

Trade policy is an important topic in global public policy. It is recognized that trade is hampered when buyers have incomplete information about the offered products, a problem accentuated in the international markets by the physical and cultural distances between buyers and sellers. Buyers look for proxies to assess product quality, and…

The study in one country to support the development of education in another is a regular event in the field of contemporary tertiary education, and it is likely to grow as developing countries accelerate their educational development projects and as Western universities seek international student funding. This article reports the case study of a…