Distinguishes between three traditions of case study in educational research. Discusses the changing nature of comparative education and the value and limitations of the modern case study, as advocated by Lawrence Stenhouse, in educational research. Describes a case study of secondary education in Papua New Guinea. (SB)

An analysis of national programs for monitoring student achievement in Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States finds that "national assessment" promotes a view of "standards" which is narrow, limiting, and definitely not conducive to the emergence of flexible and imaginative educational policies designed to cope…

Democratization of education in Japan is still recent, and women continue to lag behind men in higher education. However, women's expectations of social participation are increasingly higher, and in another 10 years women graduates of the mass stage of higher education will reach the age for influential decision-making positions. (JHZ)

Surveys access and opportunity issues for women in higher education and presents data and research examples that reveal concerns that span national boundaries. Topics include distribution of women students and faculty in various countries, the careers of women faculty and researchers, and women academics as leaders and policymakers. (JHZ)

Investigates educational experiences and successes of Jews in Europe and the United States. Looks in particular at eminent Jewish scientists and their countries of origin, concluding that their success depends not on intellectual superiority of Jews as a group, but on level of education and possibilities of social mobility. (JHZ)

Reports on research combining quantitative data and qualitative case-studies to examine factors affecting standards in Papua New Guinea's provincial high schools. Concludes that school effects are relatively more important in developing than in developed nations and that only some school effectiveness literature can be generalized to the Third…

Examines reasons preventing effective policymaking and genuine reform in a number of countries. Measures policy change in education against stages in coming to terms with a new issue: new knowledge, awareness, understanding, creation of new principles, implementation of new policy, change, and monitoring. (JHZ)