Our current system for holding U.S. teacher education programs accountable doesn't guarantee program quality or serve the needs of schools and students. State oversight for teacher preparation programs mostly ignores the impact of graduates on the K-12 students they teach, and it gives little attention to where graduates teach or how long they…

Purpose: This paper aims to explain the distinction between educational standards and learning outcomes and to indicate the problems that potentially arise when a learning outcomes approach is applied to a qualification meta-framework like the European Qualification Framework, or indeed to national qualification frameworks.…

The present paper examines efforts by government and government agencies in England to prescribe and control the knowledge base of a teaching profession that has, under successive New Labour administrations since 1997, been subjected to "modernisation". A theoretical framework drawn from aspects of the work of Basil Bernstein, and of Rob…

This paper will argue that by considering in detail the Scottish "Standard for Initial Teacher Education" ["SITE"] (Quality Assurance Agency [QAA], 2000), the foundation document of the teaching profession in Scotland, a model exists that synthesises the positions of those involved in education who support a…

Recently, classroom talk has re-emerged within educational policy as instrumental in delivering standards-based reform in several counties. In England, both the National Numeracy and Literacy Strategies and the National Strategy for Key Stage 3 emphasised the importance of "interactive whole class teaching" (IWT) where "pupils are…

America's economic productivity and competitiveness are grounded in education. The public schools and the higher education institutions alike are falling behind those of other nations. This paper recommends four policy proposals that offer substantial promise for improving American education, are achievable and have low costs. These…

No Child Left Behind (NCLB) is the single most influential piece of federal education legislation in American history, and Hess and Petrilli provide a concise yet comprehensive look at this important and controversial act. Signed into law in 2002, NCLB seeks to ensure that all American students are proficient in math, reading, and science by 2014.…

The aim of this article is to contribute to realising the progressive and democratic opportunities that National Qualifications Frameworks (NQFs) can offer. In doing so it will be critical of many of the ways that NQFs have been interpreted to date and the claims that have been made for them. The article has six sections. Section 1 considers some…

National and international rankings of institutional performance are playing a growing role in contemporary higher education. It is critical that researchers develop pragmatic, educationally sensitive and methodologically informed approaches for managing this aspect of higher education. This paper compares three approaches for modelling key…

Although becoming widespread, especially in view of No Child Left Behind (NCLB) and without a universally-accepted definition, most discussions of standards-based reforms (SBR) include certain commonalities, including: (1) Academic expectations for students; (2) Alignment of key elements of the educational system to promote attainment of these…

This easy-to-use introduction explores all of the contemporary issues and enduring themes in physical education, focusing on the United Kingdom but incorporating a global dimension. The wide range of topics covered include: (1) the requirements of National Curriculum Physical Education; (2) the current "state" of physical education; (3)…

British universities are known among the other Bologna countries not to have adjusted fully to the new common three-tier degree structure. Is it the case that British higher educational concerns are different from Continental concerns? A study of recent developments in two British graduate schools of history shows that a three-tier study structure…

Whether to adopt national standards and tests has long been a subject of lively debate in the United States. With 47 states now participating in the Common Core State Standards Initiative, and a commitment from Education Secretary Arne Duncan to allocate hundreds of millions in stimulus funds to the development of common tests, the country is…

UK universities are widely regarded as being among the best in the world. Maintaining the highest academic quality and standards is crucial to that reputation. This paper explains how universities ensure that students can have confidence that the time and money that they invest in their education are well spent. The UK model for assuring quality…

Outlines 10 reasons for supporting the National Standards for Music Education. Argues that there are ways that teachers can make the Standards work for them, and are arguments that they can use to sell the idea of the Standards to the public, decision makers, and other teachers. (DSK)