In this paper, the author sketches a vision depicting some of the ways in which technology could revolutionize the traditional school environment--with static, printed texts replaced by adaptive, digital learning and virtual learning communities supplementing seat time. He argues that any such transformation, however, is dependent upon investment…

The rapid growth in the number of post-secondary institutions in Saudi Arabia over the last few years necessitated the creation of a government agency for accreditation and quality assurance. The National Commission for Academic Accreditation and Assessment was established in 2004 for this purpose. Between 2005 and 2008, it developed a new…

To achieve President Obama's stated goal of including all of America's students in leading the world in education, the administration has designed a blueprint for a reenvisioned federal role in education through the reauthorization of the "Elementary and Secondary Education Act" ("ESEA"). The new "ESEA" will ensure…

This "Third Annual Report Card" looks at improvements in the cradle-to-career educational pipeline, the areas where Boston has made modest progress but still has a great deal of work to do, and the places where observers have failed to see the gains that are needed to ensure that Boston is a city of opportunity for all. This report card…

There is growing concern that almost 20 years after the 1988 Education Act, top-down, large-scale reform has stalled. The policy mix of choice, competition, markets, regulation, accountability and leadership seems not to have closed the gap between advantaged and disadvantaged areas and individuals, while most variations in school performance can…

The paper discusses report of The Spellings Commission for Future of Higher Education that was set up to look into the issues facing the higher education system in the U.S., outline the challenges and offer recommendations to tackle the problems. Most importantly, The Spellings Commission Report raised the issue of the role of federal government…

All countries in the developed world aspire to ever higher standards of education and training. Clearly this depends, at least in part, on having a sufficient supply of high-quality schoolteachers. In the UK on the two occasions in the last 75 years when there were reviews of this need (the McNair report of 1944 and the James Committee of Enquiry…

In recent times, the Nigerian educational system has witnessed some drastic reforms. This paper highlights some of the major reforms that have taken place especially in response to a number of international human rights instruments that provide for education as a fundamental human right to all. The paper further discusses some of the challenges…

Every parent recognizes the inextricable connections between where we live and the quality of our children's education. Although public policies have historically contributed to disparities in both neighborhood affordability and school quality, federal programs focused on affordable housing rarely take public schools into account and school…

During the past 20 years, afterschool programs have become an increasingly vital part of most American communities. Today, some 6.5 million children across the nation participate in these programs. Another 15 million children would participate if a program were available to them, according to their parents. These numbers tell at least two…

This paper focuses on the educational opportunities available to rural migrant children in Beijing. On the basis of fieldwork conducted in migrant communities in 2004-2005, I conclude that administrative and financial barriers, as well as discrimination, prevent migrant children from entering state schools. I discuss the quality of education…

The demand for workers (employers, self-employed people and employees) having research training extends beyond the researcher workforce itself and is increasing. The research workforce is not uniform but segmented according to disciplines and the economic and sectoral contexts in which researchers work. The growth of cross-disciplinary and…

Since the early 1990s, the system of education in Mongolia has gone through radical changes that stem from the country's transition to the market economy and the democratic state structure. Favorable prerequisites were already in place to renovate education on democratic principles, because during the period of its socialist development Mongolia…

This article discusses the sources, processes and impact of the quality assurance policy implemented in Hong Kong preschools. Regarded as a sort of policy alignment between the subsystems of pre-primary, primary and secondary education, the introduction of a quality assurance policy has been directly and indirectly transforming the settlements in…

A few miles outside the town of Puri, in the eastern Indian state of Orissa, lies Beladala, a farming village of thatch-roofed homes. Beladala and 17 other villages, comprising farms, homesteads, and pastures, are slated to be acquired by Anil Agarwal, a metals-and-mining mogul whose company, Vedanta Resources, has made the 53-year-old…