Background: The higher education institutions will achieve autonomy traversing the path of graded accreditation. The autonomy of higher education is linked with the quality of education and accreditation. Higher education institutions will not only achieve autonomy but will sustain it in ever-changing external and internal environments. Purpose:…

This report analyzes the evolution and effectiveness of standards-based reforms in U.S. education. Starting from the increased federal involvement with the Elementary and Secondary Education Act in 1965 to the Goals 2000 launch of more recent reforms, the document explores the role of state governments in implementing systemic reforms aimed at…

Modern people work in massive factories or offices for remotely managed corporations and need protection in their capacity as employees. Instead of locally made or distributed products, they buy mass market goods manufactured hundreds or thousands of miles away and need protection in their capacity as consumers. And as industrial production…

State leaders have long recognized the value of statewide tests. Many had well-developed testing systems long before the No Child Left Behind Act, signed in 2002, required annual assessments in grades 3-8. Another sign of that recognition is the recent plethora of new state testing requirements for K-3 students. But would states continue to test…

This article analyses the trajectory of national testing in Portugal between the early 1990s and 2015 in order to unveil continuities and changes in the regulatory processes of education in Portugal, particularly the emergence of results-based coordination and control methods. Drawing on legislative materials, it identifies and describes the…

Australia and New Zealand have enacted legislation to protect international students' rights and the long-term sustainability of their export education sectors. A pivotal, but under-researched, sub-domain of these legislative frameworks is education agent-based international student recruitment. The principal-agent relationships between…

On April 3, 2019, the U.S. Department of Education completed the first part of its months-long effort to deregulate higher education in the name of "innovation." The process was as wonky, arcane, and convoluted as anything in the halls of the federal government. But the result set in motion would be a momentous change for taxpayers and…

The study explored how a group of private Haredi (ultra-Orthodox Jewish) schools legitimized an innovative non-mandatory reform. Specifically, it examined the circumstances that facilitated and hindered a "coincidence of wants" between the schools and the Ministry of Education, which resulted in signing agreements that changed the status…

In March 2019, Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) introduced a proposal to establish a new, nationwide federal tax-credit scholarship program. Representative Bradley Byrne (R-AL) introduced a companion proposal in the House. Although Congress' support of school choice is praiseworthy, a federal tax-credit scholarship program poses a threat to education…

Over the course of two short years and through quiet regulatory actions, many of which have not garnered many headlines, Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos has loosened accountability for U.S. schools and colleges, putting millions of students at risk of civil rights abuses and fraudulent financial schemes. Through aggressive use of its regulatory…

For-profit colleges do not always recruit aggressively; nor do they always shortchange students. But the problem of colleges systematically overpromising and underdelivering, when it does happen, has largely been a for-profit phenomenon. The abuses have been the most widespread and most damaging when they have been fueled by government grants and…

This report describes the legal and scientific basis for an inclusive versus segregated education, summarizes national patterns for educating students with disabilities in general education classes, examines federal and state guidance, and state compliance with federal mandates, and describes effective educational practices for reducing…

This article explores issues of school choice in Spain and the United States by examining the roles and functions of "centros concertados," publicly funded private schools in Spain, and public charter schools in the United States, to provide key insights into the similarities and differences between them. After making a national…

The Common Core State Standards (CCSS) and their associated high-stakes testing are key parts of the federal Race to the Top (RTTT) initiative. There has been considerable resistance to both CCSS and related testing, particularly from conservative actors. This resistance suggests that CCSS has caused substantial tension within the conservative…

"One who rides a tiger is afraid to dismount," says a colorful proverb from an earlier time. This may be an apt saying for the situation facing the new head of the Federal Reserve, Janet L. Yellen, who takes over at a time when successive rounds of Fed policy have taken the central bank into uncharted territory. By historical standards,…