The perceptions on well-being and societal progress are influenced also by the quantitative indicators and measures used in the measurement, presentation and semantics of discussing these issues. The article presents a novel generic statistical measure S-time-distance, with clear interpretability that delivers a broader concept to look at data, to…

This phenomenological study of school consolidation is an investigation of how education policy that dictates the reorganization of schools and districts impacts educational choices, learning environments, and school culture. Although quality studies of optimal school size for promoting student achievement and cutting costs have emerged in the…

Although for most of the nation's history, coeducation has been the norm in public elementary and secondary school, recent years have marked an increasing interest in public single-sex education. The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB) authorized school districts to use local or innovative program funds to offer single-sex schools and…

Is the United States in danger of losing its competitive edge in science and technology (S&T)? This concern has been raised repeatedly since the end of the Cold War, most recently in a wave of reports in the mid-2000s suggesting that globalization and the growing strength of other nations in S&T, coupled with inadequate U.S. investments in…

In the midst of keen controversies on the impact of high-stakes testing and test-driven external accountability policy, the more balanced and careful selection, interpretation, and use of scientific research evidence are crucial. This article offers a critical synthesis of cross-state causal-comparative and correlational studies that explored the…

As a member of the United Nations, Zambia is committed to the observance of human rights enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of 1948. This is evidenced, among others, by the fact that Zambia is a signatory to the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child. Zambia has a…

Construct validity concerns for the IPT I Oral Grades K-6 Spanish Second Edition (IPT-S) as a measure of native oral language proficiency are examined. The examination included describing a subset of items that contributes most to overall score and native-language proficiency designation. Correlations between this subset of items and the overall…

Emphasising the level of the observation of university configurations and the example of academic entrepreneurship, the author analyses the drivers of economic returns of public research in France. Based on the study of national public policy in this field since 1999 and a general survey of the paths of researchers-entrepreneurs, the article…

As with many states, Florida has official directives that are intended to influence what type of sexuality education, if any, takes place in public school classrooms. However, little is known about contextual factors that facilitate or challenge the ability of teachers to implement effective sexuality education initiatives. Levels of sexually…

The tension at the heart of pension politics is the incentive to address today's claimants and focus on the here-and-now at the expense of long-term concerns and more dispersed constituencies. In the private sector, rules and regulations seek to tame corner-cutting and short-sighted behavior. In the public sector, the primary safeguard is the…

This report is intended to inform the European Commission's DG Information Society and Media in developing its policies for the period 2010-2020. It is targeted to policymakers with expert knowledge of the field. The report summarises the work conducted in the study: "Policy Options for the Ubiquitous Internet Society". It builds on…

This article provides an overview of a set of articles in this special issue that synthesize current research and provide future directions for research, both conceptually and methodologically, on gender, socioeconomic, and language-minority differences in college transitions, as well as a review of college transitions research in the discipline…

Germany has recently gone through a fundamental process of reform of its higher education system. The last 15 years have been characterised by significant changes in virtually all aspects of the system. The impacts of the Bologna Process have been far reaching. The reform of the governance and funding systems in higher education has also been…

Historically, the definition and measurement of academic standards in British higher education have been the exclusive prerogative of the academic community. The calibration of standards across institutions was the responsibility and purpose of the external-examiner system. But the mechanisms in place to achieve these ends have broken down under…

Background: National curriculum assessment (NCA) in England has been in place for nearly 20 years. It has its origins in a political desire to regulate education, holding schools accountable. However, its form and nature also reflect educational and curriculum concerns and technical assessment issues. Purpose: The aim of the article is to provide…