Prior to its election to office in 2007, the Australian Labor Party announced a commitment to introduce Trade Training Centres (TTCs) into all Australian secondary schools as an initiative of its Education Revolution. TTCs were proposed as a key element of Federal Labor's education and training policy that aimed to manage future risks to…

From the standpoint of a journal editor and researcher, this commentary critically reflects on some of the primary notions addressed in the 4 featured articles of the special section, discussing areas of agreement and divergence. As a way of further exploring these ethical and professional concerns, the contentious issue of using school children…

In the early 1990s, large numbers of children in India remained out of school. International commitments to achieve education for all (EFA) globally meant that India was an important case for donors. India was pressed to accept aid for primary education, and agreed with some reluctance. Although subsequent donor involvement was substantial and…

This article critically reflects upon the "divides" among actors within two currently popular education policies in low-income countries: decentralisation and Universal Primary Education (UPE). Current literatures suggest that the existing decentralisation framework tends to overlook the "divides" among actors that often impede…

This article explores cultural factors impeding members of the school community from engaging in shared decision-making (SDM) processes. It reports on findings from a larger qualitative research study of SDM in Egypt's secondary schools. The purpose of the study was to identify barriers to SDM, using data collected from nine general secondary…

Since the 1965 passage of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, which concentrated unprecedented authority over American education in the hands of the federal government, federal lawmakers have passed increasingly restrictive laws and drastically escalated education spending, which ballooned from around $25 billion in 1965 (adjusted for…

Describes a model organization tree for the typical report expected of students in the strategy or policy course. Argues that, by defining relationships between the various analytical tasks and the overall strategy recommendation, the model helps students not only organize the final report but also understand the process by which they arrive at a…

Reviews current policy trends concerning the practice of ability grouping in K-12 science education. Based upon an analysis of developing research and policies, researchers concluded that there is a dearth of recent empirical research specifically related to ability grouping in science and that the time is right for the concerted development of a…

Discusses trends leading to the Society for Research in Child Development's acceptance of applied and social policy research in its journal "Child Development": (1) reconciliation of basic and applied research; (2) the call for social responsibility by prominent developmentalists; and (3) efforts by psychologists to serve the public…

Introduces the issue's Symposium on Academic Freedom and Responsibility. Discusses the current debate on tenure and its role in securing and promoting academic freedom. Proposes a model "Academic Freedom Policy and Procedures," to which subsequent articles in the issue (by Robert M. O'Neil, J. Peter Byrne, and Richard T. De George)…

Agrees that Martin Michaelson's proposal in "Should Untenured as Well as Tenured Faculty Be Guaranteed Academic Freedom? A Few Observations" deserves study as an alternative to the current system of tenure and might be useful because it affords more scrupulous procedures for personnel judgments about new faculty. Asserts that anything…

Asserts that Martin Michaelson's proposal in "Should Untenured as Well as Tenured Faculty Be Guaranteed Academic Freedom? A Few Observations," despite its good intentions, is seriously flawed and if adopted in preference to existing standards will weaken rather than strengthen academic freedom. (EV)

Presents a case study about how one Midwestern United States community dealt with a censorship challenge. Discusses how the author recognizes his professional responsibility. Discusses the school district's "materials selection and review policy." Contains a lengthy letter the author sent to school board members, and several epilogues. (SG)

This article reviews scientific definitions and social implications of "intelligence" in the context of plans of the American Association on Mental Retardation (AAMR) to rename their organization and the diagnostic category to "intellectual disabilities". It is felt that such a change would associate the AAMR with those…

Explores globalization in higher education as a policy paradigm. First examines various strands of globalization internationally--economic, political, cultural, technological--and how they relate to higher education. The specific example of Australia is then used to illustrate how one government is currently addressing globalization by introducing…