The purpose of this study was to examine and compare key elements of the actions that states in the USA and Australia took to implement the Common Core State Standards or Phase One of the Australian Curriculum, and what processes and products they used to facilitate implementation of these innovations. A rubric adapted from a diagnostic tool,…

This article examines the history of the 1964 Mississippi Freedom Schools to illustrate how integrating the Civil Rights Movement into the social studies curriculum refocuses the aims of American education on participatory democracy. Teaching the Civil Rights Movement and employing the teaching strategies used in the Freedom Schools leads to the…

Fe y Alegría (Faith and Joy) refers to the network of schools for the poor run by the Jesuits in Latin America and the Caribbean. Founded originally in 1955 in Venezuela by Father José María Vélaz, by 2010 Fe y Alegría had spread to 17 countries in Latin America and now operates one in Chad. The Fe y Alegría schools are essentially convenant…

Education is the cornerstone of a nation's culture and an absolute necessity for economic prosperity and development. There is hardly any household in this country that is not concerned about the state of our education system particularly the secondary system. The structure is in a deplorable condition. Teachers are demoralized and disenchanted,…

Schools everywhere vary little with regard to the subjects they teach, the classrooms where students learn, and the students' opinions about school. They do differ significantly in one area, however: the way they address the inequalities and diversity their students bring to school. For the small, agrarian, and relatively poor nation of Finland,…

Strategic planning plays an important but sometimes controversial role in higher education. This paper examines how strategic planning works in Chinese universities, using Peking University as a case study. This essay discusses the rationale for why Peking University (PKU) decided to pursue status as a world-class university along with objectives…

California law severely limits local school districts' revenue-raising authority compared to most other states, which allow districts to raise local property taxes to support schools. School districts are primarily funded by revenues allocated by the state through complex formulas established decades ago. In California, school districts have…

This study focused on the federal and Illinois State the reform legislation titled the Performance Evaluation Reform Act and Senate Bill 7. The Performance Evaluation Reform Act or "PERA" was created from collaboration between stakeholders as Illinois competed in a federal competition titled "Race to the Top." The legislation…

January 2014, Governor Jerry Brown announced in his budget proposal an unprecedented line-item designation for student equity in community colleges. His proposal of $100 million for student equity set the stage for the past year and a half of enhanced activities locally and statewide on student equity issues. Most prominently, the 112 community…

This study reviews the historical trend of college revenues and expenditures from a national perspective. The years 1999-2009 are examined with the most detail using primarily Delta Project/IPEDS data. Looking at trends related to state and local appropriations, college costs and prices, output, and productivity, it argues that various policy…

Performance-based funding is a system based on allocating a portion of a state's higher education budget according to specific performance measures such as course completion, credit attainment, and degree completion, instead of allocating funding based entirely on enrollment. It is a model that provides a fuller picture of how successfully…

The launch of "Sputnik" in 1957 sparked a crisis in American education. Suddenly threatened by superior Soviet technology, progressive educators' concern for children's preferences, health, and adjustment in school yielded to public demands for more basic learning and academic skills. Congress soon passed the National Defense Education Act,…

This paper considers the history of Québec's higher education system and the reforms that have contributed to the role of education in the province. Québec's education system has repeatedly been a site for social and political transformation; most recently, reevaluation of education's role in the province has revealed a tension between…

Indiana has a long history of school funding issues and distribution formula revisions. The most recent modifications to the formula were made between 2005 and 2009. One of the more controversial revisions was the removal of the minimum guarantee from the formula. As a result of these changes, three school districts filed a lawsuit challenging the…

This article provides an historical account of how fee-charging Victorian schools have marketed themselves over the past 150 years (via the use of advertisements, brochures, and prospectuses) in order to promote those aspects of schooling believed to be of most importance to potential customers (parents). While some of the features--most notably…