The implications of the 1998 Higher Education Act Amendments for students and institutions are summarized, including those for federal student financial aid programs, loan guarantee agency reforms, distance-education programs, student and institutional eligibility, campus crime, college costs, federal outreach and student service programs,…

Considers the paradox of a liberal, pluralist society supporting (subsidizing) religious schools whose beliefs are more restrictive and judgmental. Argues that recognition of group rights is sanctioned in liberal thought as long as it does not impinge on individual rights. Discusses liberal responses to conflicts between communitarian concepts and…

Provides a concise overview of geography education in Germany from the 18th century to the present.Outlines concerns that include the incorporation of the old East German school system and employment problems for German youth. Tables summarize geography curricula throughout different periods. (MJP)

This paper locates the current technology related school reform movement in the backdrop of growing international debate and illustrates through discourse analysis why teachers and teacher educators need to engage in deeper levels of critical dialogue over the move to plug schools into the so-called knowledge economy. The objective is to raise…

The history of distance education in Russia and in the former Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) is a history of dramatic change in ideology, conceptual framework, and approach. It can be divided into two main stages: initial formation and development into the world's largest system of correspondence learning, from the mid 1920s to the…

The author of this article challenges a common assumption made by both critics and defenders of standardized-testing technology (or psychometry), namely that standardized tests "measure" something (culture, ability, etc.). It argues that psychometric practice cannot be classified as a form of measurement and instead is best understood as…

This article addresses how teacher preparation programs can best respond to the broad, complex calls for reform in ways that are locally meaningful and honor academic integrity, but that are also true to the intent of the reform mandates. The authors begin with an overview of some of the federal and state initiatives that are presenting challenges…

Following prolonged discussion, the Austrian government has passed a new University Act which will provide universities with a semiautonomous status. The reform is the most incisive change of the university system for the past 150 years and has been preceded by an equally momentous change in the status of the teaching faculty and staff, all future…

This paper assesses some of the framework issues, of policy and provision, which affect the connections between teaching and research in higher education. The presumption of an essential linkage between research and teaching has in recent years been eroded by the sheer quantities of the system. In spite of the enduring appeal of the Humboldtian…

For centuries traditional university education has primarily focused on building foundational skills in particular disciplines via the transfer of knowledge from instructor to student. Today however, simply being able to reproduce knowledge is no longer adequate; students must also be able to apply their knowledge to changing, real world contexts.…

The Coordinating Board for Higher Education and the Department of Higher Education are pleased to present this Annual Report of accomplishments, benchmarks and statistics related to Missouri higher learning for fiscal year 2008. Chief among this year's accomplishments is the coordinated plan, "Imperatives for Change: Building a Higher…

The United Kingdom and other governments have demonstrated faith in information and communications technology (ICT) as a means of achieving a participative and inclusive society through various high-profile initiatives. It is also claimed that ICT or e-learning can bring about new patterns of power and participation for excluded learners. In this…

This paper explores spatial theory, and particularly a Foucauldian analysis of space, power, and the subject, as a frame within which to examine moves toward security in North American urban schools. We bring into play empirical data from an ethnographic study of New York City and Toronto schools where policies and technologies of record-keeping,…

In the "PIRLS (Progress in International Reading Literacy Study) 2006 Encyclopedia," each participating country, 39 in total, describes its education system and the reading curriculum as it is intended to be taught, and outlines the polices and practices that guide reading instruction and teacher education. This in-depth, qualitative…

Several recently commissioned Department of Labor reports and other publications examining youth employment and training (E&T) programs were reviewed, and the findings were synthesized into a proposed framework for reviewing current and recommended directions for youth E&T programs with consideration for available research on youth development. It…