This chapter focuses on Education and Training 2020 (ET 2020), a significant European policy framework that provides an integrated approach to education and training. The chapter identifies the main governance mechanisms and policy instruments used by the European Union (EU) institutions within ET 2020 that lead to increased domestic policy…

Seldom have comparative studies of educational assessment systems been undertaken, especially regarding their standard setting procedures. This study examines the effects of governance structures on the power relations in standard setting in the dominant school-leaving or university-entrance examinations. We present acritical analysis of the…

The article describes modern development in education in the Russian Federation, tied to the development of professional standards. We will show that introduction of professional standards can not only start from a profession, but from an actively developing social practice. Using the example of alumni socio-educational support of all forms of…

The discussion takes up the common theme across the seven contributions of this special issue, namely the CEFR's suitability as a basis for setting university entrance standards. The special issue allows insights into this theme from a multitude of contexts, languages and perspectives, including data from stakeholders, students, tests and their…

The ways in which examination standards are conceptualised and operationalised differently across nations has not been given sufficient attention. The international literature on standard-setting has been dominated by the psychometrics tradition. Broader conceptualisations of examination standards have been discussed in the literature in England,…

In Sino-foreign cooperative education, high-quality introduced educational resources must benefit the growth and development of students, facilitate the school's capacity building and the improvement of overall educational standards, and promote national socioeconomic development. It is necessary to establish and perfect the various working…

During the last two decades, a number of successive policy initiatives have attempted to professionalise the further education sector in England: professional qualifications have been rewritten, made compulsory and then returned to voluntary status; professional bodies have been established, briefly promoted, and then neglected; professional…

Although professional standards for Australian teachers were developed several years ago, this country is yet to develop such standards for special education teachers. The lack of standards for the special education profession is associated with the absence of a consistent process of accreditation in Australia and a lack of clarity in the pathways…

In Europe, doctoral education systems have been systematically reformed. These reforms are aimed at improving the quality of research and the competitiveness of European countries. In Finland, the reform project of doctoral education started vigorously in the mid-1990s which has contributed significantly to the emergence of more structured…

Raising the quality and profile of teaching and student learning is something universities across the UK are aspiring to achieve in order to maintain reputations. Currently, the UK Professional Standards Framework (UKPSF) provides a standard by which academic staff can gain professional recognition for their academic practice and many UK…

This article proposes the use of a standards-based approach to reporting results from large-scale assessment surveys in South Africa. The use of this approach is intended to address the key shortcomings observed in the current reporting framework prescribed in the national curriculum documents. Using the Angoff method and data from the Annual…

Recent reviews of vocational qualifications in England have noted problems with their restricted nature. However, the underlying issue of how to conceptualise professional agency in curriculum design has not been properly addressed, either by the Richard or the Whitehead reviews. Drawing on comparative work in England and Europe it is argued that…

Over the years attempts have been made to standardize sign languages. This form of language planning has been tackled by a variety of agents, most notably teachers of Deaf students, social workers, government agencies, and occasionally groups of Deaf people themselves. Their efforts have most often involved the development of sign language books…

Any reform in education leverages reform in teacher education. The National Accreditation Council for Teacher Education developed Standards for Accreditation of Teacher Education Programs including specific standards relating to Education for Sustainable Development (ESD). Data from 103 teacher education programs (TEPs) accredited during the first…

This article is based on the economic, political, cultural, social, and educational changes produced as a result of globalization. We focus on the universalization of education and its importance to achieving sustainable human development while respecting the cultures and ethnic groups in a region. Within higher education in the world, we delve…