The Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER) is one of the world's leading educational research centres. ACER's mission is to create and promote research-based knowledge, products and services that can be used to improve learning across the life span. This annual report describes ACER's milestones and accomplishments for the 2013-2014…

In this article we provide a critique of the interpretation and utilization of Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) results by the National Education Authorities in Turkey. First, we define and explain what OECD's PISA is. Second, we make an overview of the media coverage in Turkey of the PISA 2003 and 2006 results. Third, we…

This paper provides an overview of Chinese government attempts to promote a revised school curriculum reflecting a more holistic approach to education under the banner of "suzhi jiaoyu" ("quality education"), and positions the policies in the Chinese historical, educational, social and economic context. While the push has…

In spring 2009, the Center on Education Policy (CEP) continued its research on the impact of test-based federal and state accountability policies by conducting case studies of six high schools in six different districts within Washington State. The purpose was to learn more about the curricular and instructional changes that administrators and…

Background/Context: This project is framed by a critical pragmatism, which is evident in the questioning of how social conditions and events outside schools influence classroom practice and in exploring the question of who benefits, collectively and individually, socially and politically, as well as pedagogically. Purpose/Objective/Research…

Author examines some of the fundamental issues raised by the proposals for a 16 plus examination. (Editor/RK)

Standards-based reform activity dominated K-12 education during the 1990s, reflecting a consensus that improving learning requires state-level curricular standards and examinations. Opponents argue state-imposed standards and tests overly burden districts, degrade teaching and learning, suffer from numerous technical problems, and have failed to…

This summary of the presentation given at four Head Start Regional Bilingual/Multicultural Conferences consists of materials related to the Head Start Strategy for Spanish-speaking Children. Keynote addresses focus on Head Start policy implications, the future of Head Start in the 1980s, and the relation of bilingual/bicultural programs to the…

This article traces the demise of creativity in the national curriculum in England and Wales. It is argued that the creative dimension in the national curriculum has been purged by various government directives since the Ruskin speech in 1976, all aiming to introduce provisions of standardisation, centralisation, and vocationalisation of…

The National Assessment Program--Civics and Citizenship assessment measures the civic knowledge and understanding and the citizenship participation skills and civic values of Year 6 and Year 10 students in schools across Australia. It reports on student achievement using proficiency levels on a common civics and citizenship assessment scale, and…

Marked progress has been made in the field of kindergarten education during the period from 1922 to 1924. This is shown in the: (1) continued increase in the enrollment in the kindergartens of the country; and (2) the better adjustment of the kindergarten to the school as a whole, including the new educational aims--the basis for unification,…

One of the tragedies of American education is that so many teachers do not understand or are unaware of educational issues and how they impact on their profession. There is a gap between teacher perceptions and reality and this book is a first step in closing that gap. Hot-Button Issues for Teachers is a timely, comprehensive book that addresses…

This paper reports a 2-year study of education policy that sought to identify, describe, and analyze the essential building blocks of state-level education policy and to discover the factors responsible for creating differences among states in their use of these elements to construct an overall framework for school regulation and support. Sample…

In a brief chapter treating of the progress and status of education in the cities of the country it is impossible to treat all of the phases of modern city school systems with their regular day schools, night schools, continuation schools, special schools, clinics, etc. Some of these phases are discussed in other chapters of the "Biennial Survey…

Home economics education during the past biennium has made notable progress in a number of directions. These directions include, among others, a clarification of the contributions of home economics to general education, to health education, to child care and welfare, and a reorganization of the curriculum, based on scientific evidence. This latter…