Before 1949, education was largely ignored in China, but recently it has been given a priority almost equal to modern industrialization. Teacher education reforms have been extensive and varied. These reforms are described, and further challenges are outlined. (MT)

Attempts to broaden Karabel's (1984) concept of interests to include differences in philosophy, ideology, institutional character, and changing social contexts as a way of understanding discrimination in admissions to elite colleges. Suggests that elite colleges have increased autonomy and are less dependent on traditional constituencies. (SK)

This article focuses on student admissions to charter schools in the United States and to autonomous (foundation and voluntary-aided) secondary schools in England. Analyses of the admissions criteria used by autonomous and nonautonomous secondary schools in England revealed that more autonomous than nonautonomous schools reported using potentially…

The 19 chapters of this book on college admissions are divided into six sections on: (1) perspectives and history, (2) the admissions officer, (3) understanding enrollment management, (4) admissions tools, (5) admissions programs, and (6) perspectives on the twenty-first century. The papers are: "Perspectives on Educational Reform" (Donald…

Examines parent involvement contracts in charter schools, exploring data from a survey of California's charter schools and comparison schools. The study finds that charter schools have greater levels of parent involvement, but the involvement may be due to selectivity in the kinds of families participating in charter schools. (SM)

This article examines secondary school admissions criteria in England. The analysis revealed that in a significant minority of schools, notably those responsible for their own admissions--voluntary-aided and foundation schools--a variety of criteria were used which appear to be designed to select certain groups of pupils and so exclude others.…

This study examined the extent to which introduction of educational markets changed the social composition of secondary schools in England and Wales. Using data from the introduction of the 1988 Education Reform Act onward, it measured changes in the tendency for students with different socioeconomic characteristics to cluster in particular…

A complete history is provided of the Phi Beta Kappa society, tracing its growth from a local debating club to a national organization which today boasts a quarter of a million members. The history charts the society's development and reveals the friction over the shift away from the classics toward liberal education and the electives system, the…

Chicago Public Schools, spending more than its $1.5 billion a year budget, has defined its first obligation as producing graduates who can read well. This study assesses how well the school system is succeeding by examining roughly 39,500 students who were ninth graders in fall 1980 and should have graduated in spring 1984. Statistics were used to…

The five major goals proposed by the Holmes Group are outlined and discussed in-depth. The implications of each goal or recommendation for health education and health educators are considered. (JL)

This parent/student guide describes recent changes in admissions policies at the University of California (UC). Traditionally, UC admitted the top 12.5% of high school graduating seniors, but beginning in 2001, the top 4% of students in the graduating class of every high school are eligible if they have completed 11 specific "a-f"…

There has been a substantial rise in British education levels in recent decades, and new empirical evidence suggests that less able but wealthier children have benefited most from this expansion, at least during the 1970s and 1980s. There are many potential explanations for this trend. For example, during this period, the UK's highly selective…

This paper focuses on school choice and the extent to which admissions to publicly-funded secondary schools in England address issues of equity and social justice. It argues that schools with responsibility for their own admissions are more likely than others to act in their own self interest by "selecting in" or "creaming"…

The general problems of standard preservice teacher education programs are described and recommendations for long-term improvements to them are made. A model teacher education program is outlined and discussed. (JL)

Stressing the importance of proper management and careful integration of instructional and support programs, this monograph argues that access and selectivity in the community college can complement and temper each other. Chapter I offers a brief historical overview of the relationship between access and selectivity in American higher education,…