It is essential that HPERD professionals work together to be spokespeople for their areas at the local, state, and national levels. But what does it look like and how does it happen? The purpose of this article is to provide an overview of advocacy across these three levels, and to provide health and physical educators with some concrete…

In an effort to become more competitive in the global market, Colombia, as many other Latin American countries, has declared English the dominant foreign language to be taught in schools and universities across the country. To support this measure, in the last 16 years, the government, through its National Ministry of Education, has launched a…

As described in "Go8 Backgrounder 24: Answering the Global Challenge--Experiences from European Excellence Initiatives," Germany began a debate about how to strengthen its position as an excellent location for science and research in 2004. This debate focussed in particular on the competitiveness of the country's universities and…

Ahead of the party conference season, the Sutton Trust is urging fairer admissions to comprehensives, grammar schools and independent schools as part of a 10-point Mobility Manifesto setting out ten practical policy steps designed to put social mobility at the heart of the 2015 election campaign. The manifesto urges greater use of ballots (random…

In this article, the characteristics of five test review models are described. The five models are the US review system at the Buros Center for Testing, the German Test Review System of the Committee on Tests, the Brazilian System for the Evaluation of Psychological Tests, the European EFPA Review Model, and the Dutch COTAN Evaluation System for…

In Australia, there has been a tendency to rely on quantitative indicators of university teaching quality. This has occurred partly because the indicators are perceived as objective and reliable and partly because they are relatively simple to gather and collate. A national project currently underway is based on the assumptions that teaching…

What happens when teams from 57 cities building afterschool systems gather to discuss two key system responsibilities--improving afterschool programs and using data for informed decision-making? Lots of rich discussion. This report covers a national afterschool conference held in February 2013. It details what mayors, program providers, system…

For six national education goals, the major objectives, significant issues and questions concerning measuring/monitoring the nation's/states' progress toward meeting these goals, a list of resource group membership, and an abstract of resource group interim reports are provided. The National Education Goals Panel--six governors, four members of…

Intense opposition from colleges has severely weakened a plan that would radically alter institutional accreditation. The proposal would have created a national group to make accreditation a more uniform process with greater public involvement. A new proposal suggests a national body with much less power and fewer public members, much like a group…

Although the application of the balanced scorecard (BSC) in the business sector is well documented, very little research has been reported regarding the adaptation or application of the BSC in the education sector. In this article, the authors (a) describe how the Baldrige Education Criteria for Performance Excellence has adapted the concept of…

The direction quality assurance and its ancillary practices is taking in the transformation process in South Africa is discussed in this article. The article argues that it is incorrect to suggest that the higher education system has been captured by managerialism. While efficiency is an important driver of the system, the imperatives of redress…

Discusses the requirements of the U.S. Department of Education Blue Ribbon Schools Program and describes the characteristics of recipient schools. Indicates that the Blue Ribbon is awarded to schools with clearly articulated vision, strong leadership, emphasis on universal learning, parent and community support, and caring faculty and staff. (MAB)

NASPE STARS is a national recognition program featuring five levels of excellence to recognize outstanding physical education programs in K-J 2 schools across America. The criteria for this award are based on the essential elements that are necessary for a quality physical education program, as defined by the published national standards and…

Aspects of recent changes in Australian higher education are explored, with focus on the Dawkins Agenda, which is related to the current political and economic situation. Questions about the success of John Dawkins, Federal Minister for Employment, Education and Training, in regard to higher education are raised (why he has been successful and…

This report describes the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), a project designed to keep parents, school officials, and policy makers abreast of the educational realities. Information is collected and reported at regular intervals concerning the knowledge, skills, and attitudes of elementary and secondary school students. NAEP has…