Despite a political climate demanding evidence-informed decision making in education both within individual countries and at the international level, empirically grounded European research in this field is scarce. This paper reports on a European Commission-funded study that sought to identify and analyze different initiatives across Europe aimed…

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…

The Visegrad group comprises four countries: the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia. The literature on information literacy, mainly in the respective national languages, and the development of initiatives are presented in this paper. The situation in each country is discussed separately, followed by a short discussion of similarities and…

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…

This article explores some of the conceptual and strategic problems of truly comparative research. Addressing the study of national educational policies, the author considers the uses of theory in defining units of analysis and compares the costs and utility of research strategies based on differing compositions within the research team.…

Uses France and England--because of their radically different institutional and ideological traditions in education--to illustrate common trends in educational accountability. Explains general trends affecting advanced capitalist societies at the present time, e.g., the use of corporate management approaches in education and the adoption of…

Data gathered by the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA) can be used to analyze the relative effects of educational systems in different countries. A simplified example of such analysis utilizes variations among countries, among age cohorts within countries, and between subject matter competencies within…

In 1999, Ministers responsible for school education agreed to the new set of "National Goals for Schooling in the Twenty-First Century," with the aim of providing high quality schooling in Australia which would secure for students the necessary knowledge, understanding, skills and values for a productive and rewarding life. As a…

The study has as its purpose the examination and comparison of career education movements in the United States and Great Britain and is perhaps best described as a pilot effort. Specific questions addressed included: (1) How do career education efforts in the two nations compare in terms of national commitment, philosophy, and students served? (2)…

Compares national higher education quality assessment systems in Finland, Denmark, Sweden, and Norway, focusing particularly on the balance between internal and external societal needs in the systems' design and organization. Results indicate that systems are highly adjusted to each country's specific governance strategies, resulting in very…

In 2005, an estimated 48 million children aged 0-18 years--12 percent of all children in sub-Saharan Africa--were orphans, and that number is expected to rise to 53 million by 2010. One quarter of all orphans are orphaned because of AIDS, and about 2.6 million children are currently infected with HIV. Untreated, most children born with HIV will…

A PILOT STUDY PREPARED FOR THE COUNCIL OF EUROPE COMPARES ADULT EDUCATOR STATUS, RECRUITMENT, AND PROFESSIONAL TRAINING IN FRANCE, FLANDERS (BELGIUM), WEST GERMANY, THE NETHERLANDS, NORWAY, AND THE UNITED KINGDOM. MAJOR CONCERNS INCLUDE SALARIES AND BENEFITS, QUALIFICATIONS, INSERVICE TRAINING, SPONSORING BODIES, ATTITUDES TOWARD FORMAL STAFF…

An analysis of national programs for monitoring student achievement in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia found that political considerations in all three countries have inhibited the clarification of program objectives and the implementation of the technology required to generate meaningful information capable of reliable…

In 1999, Ministers responsible for school education agreed to the new set of "National Goals for Schooling in the Twenty-First Century," with the aim of providing high quality schooling in Australia which would secure for students the necessary knowledge, understanding, skills and values for a productive and rewarding life. As a…

Compares the educational systems, particularly nonformal education, of India and China, and the impact on education of sociopolitical factors, history, government, ideology, languages, and cultures. Includes differences and similarities in educational facilities, personnel, methods, some national statistics, and charts of the education systems in…