The reforms currently proposed by educators and policymakers are based on two categories of assumptions: (1) changes in school organization will increase effective use of scarce resources; and (2) choices made by parents and children will effectively "match" students to appropriate learning environments. This paper presents a dynamic model of…

The author raises questions in analyses of educational policy issues and suggests possible answers to them. The questions concern the nature of changes in the educational system from a given proposed policy change, the magnitude of such change, and the length of time needed to secure the anticipated magnitude of change. Competency-based education…

Calls for changes in California's complex state-run school funding system, provided the backdrop for "Overhauling School Funding in California: The Push for Greater Adequacy, Equity, and Accountability," the EdSource 27th Annual Forum in March 2004. Participants discussed approaches for determining what would constitute adequate funding,…

Part of a series on contemporary school reform and special education, this report discusses how states are building capacity for standards-based reform. An introduction describes seven key areas in which states must build classroom and organizational level capacities, including: (1) teachers' knowledge, skills, and dispositions; (2) students'…

This book explores a range of conceptual, methodological, and empirical issues concerned with the application of needs-based resource allocation in education via formula funding of schools. The notion of "needs-based formula funding" employed in this discussion refers to the impartial application of an agreed set of explicit rules to…

The issues of government responsibility and institutional autonomy that arise in university-government relations in the United States and Australia are discussed, and similarities in some European countries are noted. Political and market forces are examined as they affect government relations. (MSE)

Issues of governance, funding mechanisms, and level of service in higher education merit serious attention in a time of reduced resources, but they are more appropriately dealt with after fundamental questions about the changing purpose and contribution of higher education have been examined. (Author/MSE)

Examines Kenya's policy concerning growth and development of higher education over the last 20 years. Concludes that Kenya has problems of infrastructure quality and physical plant similar to those of other Sub-Saharan African countries, that resource allocation policies are inconsistent, and that expansion should be guided by popular demand for…

Compares numbers of college graduates and illiterates in China to those in developed and newly emerging industrialized nations. Criticizes the quality of Chinese education, arguing education must receive greater priority and more funding if China is to survive and flourish. (CH)

Discusses limitations in China's regulations and restrictions concerning students studying abroad. Encourages openness, more funding, allowing for postdoctoral research, increases in time spent abroad, and allowing spouses to visit or accompany students. Quells brain drain fears. Generally urges reform and greater investment in education. (CH)

Discusses the expansion and reform of educational programs of the developing nations by UNESCO in the early 1960s. Summarizes the economic quantitative approach utilized by UNESCO to problems of educational planning, including the response of the World Bank to this orientation. Describes the effects of external educational financing on world…

The implications of Great Britain's incorporation and reorganization of non-university higher education for the faculty-college relationship is examined, including the role of the new funding agency, the future of collective bargaining, and personnel policy. (MSE)

Although the British government has committed itself to the substantial expansion of access to higher education, it is not prepared to pay for the change, forcing institutions into uncontrolled and competitive cost-cutting and substituting student-financed subsidized loans for publicly funded grants. Faculty morale has suffered greatly. (MSE)

A discussion of the changing economic climate for higher education looks at college costs in relation to other economic indicators, higher education costs in other countries, and hypothetical changes in spending and productivity in the next few decades. It is concluded that while the situation looks bleak, reconception of practices and…

Discusses multicultural education, school choice, educational reform, curriculum development, and teacher education. If the curriculum represents the past truthfully, issues of multiculturalism and inclusion of all racial groups need not be raised because a valid curriculum represents them adequately. Race explains nothing in education other than…