Analyzes the use of relevant international data to inform educational policy. Notes that such data can be used to extend research on school effects by incorporating comparative data, by evaluating the trade-offs involved in attempts to raise national achievement levels, and by broadening the range of international data. (MJP)

Reports on a research development model designed to improve the teaching and learning of mathematics in the Dominican Republic. The model drew heavily upon the Missouri Mathematics Project. Discusses innovations in curriculum development, classroom instruction, and inservice teacher training. Includes statistical tables on student achievement and…

Examines types and functions of useful definitions of art in education. Considers the strengths and limitations of functionalist and proceduralist definitions. Identifies art as a concept operating within a culture; therefore, recommends embracing a variety of definitions to be used in contextually significant ways. (MJP)

Previous studies of the role of education in state-building have neglected the relative autonomy and non-neutral stance of the school system. Bernstein's notion of "pedagogic device" is used to illuminate conflicts and contradictions between educational development and state-building in the case of Singapore's efforts to control the…

Traces developments in Soviet education from the 1920s. Points out shifts in teaching practices and research, from the Leninist vision of labor collective schools to the Stalinist era's bureaucratic, counterrevolutionary tendencies. Argues current educational reform revisits the Leninist ideal of combining instruction with social production needs…

Western countries' energetic reform efforts over the past decade are having insufficient effects on student achievement. School improvement literature suggests that policy makers focus on classroom practice, develop varied curriculum and teaching programs, consider reform context and staff development, build capacity, and improve research and…

This article describes 10 past events that might shape the future in gifted education, including: the birth of egalitarianism, the creative expression in the 1960s, the role of the media, civil rights, concepts of intelligence, political correctness, the information highway, inclusion, funding for education, the industrial revolution, and…

Despite differences among Mediterranean sub-regions, a shared political history and common state of peripheralization to the global economy make comparing the region's university systems possible. Presents nine propositions that highlight trends throughout the years. Argues that the propositions could constitute an initial agenda for further…

Although the 1954 "Brown v. Board of Education" U.S. Supreme Court decision changed the face of American education forever, few individuals at that time could have fully realized its far-reaching implications. Certainly, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People Legal Director Thurgood Marshall in his arguments was…

This paper examines the role of information and communication technologies (ICTs) in advancing the cause of education for all and livelong learning. After examining the claimed benefits of ICTs for promoting education and schooling, and the characteristics of education and the basic education movement in Asia, the paper focuses on providing a case…

Consistent with the conception of teaching as a learning profession, the authors' vision of a professional teacher workforce is one in which teachers do take responsibility for their own learning--their work. Supporting teachers' transition from workers to learners may require learning opportunities of a different type--work opportunities offered…

This article illustrates how global corporate education initiatives, though profit-motivated, sometimes function both as an instrument of foreign policy and as a manifestation of a broader imperial project. According to neoconservative scholars, as well as their critics, the events of September 11, 2001, allowed the implementation of pre-made…

Since the early 1990s, China's government has followed a socialist market economy system. Accordingly, the technical and vocational education (TVE) should be restructured to meet its needs. Reform of the TVE system has four aspects. First, reform of the planning system includes a move from a central plan of enrollment to planning according to…

A classroom/lab-based graduate telecommunications course was studied to discover implications for online instruction of related topics and skills. The analysis focused on: (1) examining the potential for teaching telecommunications via an Internet-mediated virtual classroom to public school personnel situated at their home districts; and (2)…

This report describes alternative assessments in vocational education, reviews examples from extended case studies, and discusses criteria to use to choose among assessment alternatives. Chapter 1 is an introduction that contains brief summaries of each of the six assessment alternatives to familiarize the reader with the range of the sample and…