Summarizes a survey and two experiments designed to compare teachers' and department heads' use of, and attitudes toward, England's A Level Information System (ALIS). Conclusions are linked to theories of change, cybernetics, and a view of education regarding researchers and teachers as coinvestigators. Experimentation within school-effectiveness…

Based on a study at the College Preparatory Program of Saudi Aramco, this article outlines three suggestions for organizations which sponsor employees in pre-university and university programs. The first addresses specific areas in the sponsorship program. The second suggests use of a systems approach. The third provides alternatives to…

Comparison of students in vocational education programs (n=31) versus postsecondary preparation programs (n=28) in three Australian high schools (all-boys, all-girls, co-ed) showed that low achievers in vocational education had greater increases in self-concept, regardless of school type. Co-ed students had greater increases in total self-concept.…

In India, putting a child through engineering or medical college is, for many middle-class families, a life's mission in a way that is almost unknown in the United States. Though middle-class families in India have long steered their children into professions like engineering and medicine, the trend has taken off over the past decade. It's been…

In the last 20 years, more and more Chinese high school graduates have applied to American colleges. They want to study in this country because the Chinese higher education system cannot meet the needs of China's huge population. This article talks about a seven-month, pre-college program hosted by the Graduate School of Education at the…

In the first decade of the 21st century, the nation, the states, and colleges and universities began to grapple with the challenges of globalization, changing demography, the implications of the digital era, and of a less expansive public sector. Although not a transformative period for higher education, the decade saw significant innovations in…

This paper analyzes approaches to facilitating school-university transition in South Africa and explores the theories underlying this process. A review of the literature and a case study of the process at the University of Port Elizabeth (UPE) show what is happening to the school-university transition at the end of apartheid. UPE has taken a…

Needs for curriculum development in Scottish schools for both able linguists and less able students in the 16-19 age group are discussed. It is proposed that students of moderate ability who have dropped languages in favor of other subjects should be encouraged to return to language instruction for both general and specific educational and career…

As the Aimhigher programme is a targeted initiative, partnerships have to find ways of locating groups that are under-represented in higher education (HE) and selecting participants for interventions. If the selection criteria are not robust, resources will be misdirected, while overly narrow indicators can exclude legitimate participants and risk…

Every year approximately 800 students enrol in the tertiary preparatory course TPP7181 at the University of Southern Queensland. Successful completion of this course will allow students to enrol in either further preparatory level mathematics courses or undergraduate study. For many of the students enrolled in this course, the study of mathematics…

This article examines the introduction of the final examination as an external national system of assessment of students in the transition from secondary school to university education. Since 1991 Slovenia has followed foreign models, the British one in particular; however, it has also considered its own traditional system of education. Students…

This article considers the transition from A-level to degree-level study from the schoolteacher's point of view. It highlights the conflicting subject philosophies that exist at A level, and the resistance to the revised English of Curriculum 2000 that has been apparent in debates about the nature of English Literature post-16. Its main argument…

Although the IB (international baccalaureate) diploma has almost universal acceptance as a college-preparation standard for students studying in foreign countries, Germany and France are reluctant to accept this diploma for nationals studying in their own countries. The German state governments are particularly concerned about quality control and…

Examines how upper-track college preparatory high schools in East Germany are being changed through restructuring and cultural reorientation following unification. Concludes that the gap between state-mandated reforms and teachers' perceptions of the goals of education is hindering implementation of changes. (SK)

Studies show that students completing Certificate of Sixth Year Studies (CSYS) in Scotland do not significantly nor consistently achieve better results in first-year university courses. Questions the basis of Howie Report and Scottish Education Office endorsements of the CSYS as a way of channeling more students into higher education. (KS)