Reviews positive and negative aspects of corporate involvement in public education, using educational research literature since 1990 and focusing on commercialization of public schools and use of private companies to deliver instructional services or to manage schools. Also explored are value conflicts among supporters and critics of such…

Discusses survey findings that show black academics are highly pessimistic in their view of the future of blacks in higher education. Reasons include the following: curtailment of federal support for black colleges over the next five years; continued built-in test bias against blacks; no improvement in campus race relations; and persistent racial…

Improving schooling and teacher education will be successful to the extent that educators make the public and budget-controlling authorities aware of the relationship between investment in education and productive citizenship. Until educators become more proactive and willing to serve as "American Reconstructioneers of Culture," our…

Describes a study that looked at keyworkers' (mediators between museums and public) contributions to lifelong learning and to helping members of public overcome cultural exclusion. Reports that field studies were undertaken in the United Kingdom, Sweden, and Ireland. States that the study was used to develop museum policy, to attract public to…

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, a philanthropic organization created by the Microsoft founder and his wife in 2000, has already invested nearly a billion dollars in an effort to redesign the American high school. It supports some 1,500 existing schools; 450 of them are either restructured or brand new. But the foundation's focus was not…

Family, friend and neighbor (FFN) child caregivers represent a significant proportion of caregivers for young children. Yet, these caregivers receive little support for their services. In 2003, the First 5 California Children and Families Commission (First 5 California) began a study to determine the work-related needs of FFN caregivers in…

One of the benefits of an applied research funding program such as those within the National Science Foundation's Directorate for Education and Human Resources is the reading and referencing across fields of study and application of ideas from diverse literatures for common social good such as STEM teaching and learning. This benefit resonates…

Over one-quarter of all undergraduates attending Australian universities enrol on a part-time basis. This paper addresses the social, educational and financial characteristics of these students. In a survey in 2000, questionnaires were sent to a sample of 84,591 domestic (i.e. excluding overseas fee-paying) undergraduate students at 19 Australian…

Based on a study of research partnerships with industry across the higher education sector in three high technology fields in South Africa, the paper identifies five key tensions, the resolution of which shapes the way partnerships are facilitated and constrained in distinct institutional contexts. The paper highlights the significance of policy…

Nonviolent adult repeat offenders between the ages of 18 and 35 face nearly insurmountable obstacles to successful reintegration into dominant culture. Upon release from prison ex-offenders receive an average of $69 from their state department of corrections, or between $100-$500 from the Federal Bureau of Prisons to aid their transition back into…

Higher education in the Czech Republic is going through an important transition, both politically and economically. New methods of financing university operations are necessary during the transition to a market economy as government funds are increasingly being drawn to other areas. Government and academic officials have worked together in the…

Higher education faces common worldwide challenges imposed by social and economic factors. Yet, each system has its own challenges and demands that need to be looked at within its own context. Higher education in Saudi Arabia faces three challenges: limitation of places, depletion of resources, and quality measures. Some measures have been…

This study analyzes the variation in one measure of son preference that is of particular relevance in rural China: whether a woman considers it important to have a son, and the reasons why sons are important. To summarize our conclusions, we find that the expectation that a son will provide financial support in old age is strongly associated with…

Built in the early 1900s for African-American children, "Rosenwald Schools" are disappearing from the landscape. This article discusses preservation efforts of some of the more than 5,300 Rosenwald schools and other buildings that were built from 1913 to 1932, in rural areas of 15 states. The idea for the schools was conceived by the black…

The 2006 Public Opinion Survey on Education in Indiana gauged the attitudes and perceptions of a representative sample of Hoosiers on such key educational issues as kindergarten and pre-kindergarten programs, No Child Left Behind and P.L. 221, school funding and taxes, teacher quality, school choice and charter schools, and the achievement gap in…