Following a national trend of "getting tough" on increased juvenile crime, the Florida legislature eliminated one of the primary community service-oriented juvenile diversion programs, the Juvenile Alternative Services Program (JASP). JASP was subsequently replaced with four other diversion programs, two of which (the Walker Plan and an…

Purpose: This study investigated the conceptions of governance that informed the practices of school trustees, and considered the extent to which those conceptions matched the policy imperatives that shaped New Zealand's school governance framework. Design/methodology/approach: Semi-structured interviews were undertaken with 32 participants in the…

Analyzes the impact of recent policy developments in the USA associated with school accountability according to the best interests of the student. With the mandated implementation of the US federal law entitled the No Child Left Behind Act approaching, minimal attention has been afforded to the complex ethical dimensions associated with policies…

The former Soviet economies have, for the past 12 years, looked to the advanced economies in the west for help in reforming their systems of vocational education and training. These "transition" economies still bear much of the legacy of the previous system and culture-academic in orientation, firmly supply led and implemented through…

Purpose: The paper seeks to propose the basic competencies of environmental social scientists regarding policy analysis for sustainable development. The ultimate goal is to contribute to an improvement of educational programmes in higher education by suggesting a toolbox that should be integrated in the curriculum. Design/methodology/approach:…

At the core of standards-based reform are content standards--statements about what students should know and be able to do. Although it is "state" standards that are the focus of much public attention and consume substantial resources, many local school districts have developed their own content standards in the major subject areas.…

Since the late 1970's, the Chinese government has been gradually changing its traditional policy for providing higher education and has begun to emphasize the comprehensiveness of the universities. Interdisciplinary cooperation and the synergization of resources are being promoted, and institutional autonomy is gradually increasing. Schools and…

U.S. students now have four choices of schooling: public schooling, private-religious schooling, private-independent schooling, and home-schooling. Of these, home-schooling is the most novel: since legalization across the states in the last few decades, it has grown in importance and legitimacy as an alternative choice. Thus, it is now possible to…

Since the start of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) thematic review of Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) Policy in 1998, some 20 countries across the world have been involved in the project. Recently the OECD has had a very successful launch of the report from the second round--Starting Strong II. This…

Agricultural education has been an essential factor in the success of agricultural development in the Netherlands. At present, as in many countries throughout the world, the position of agricultural education is threatened. Does agricultural education have a future in the Netherlands, and if so, what strategies are being used for its survive? This…

This article uses research commissioned by the Department for Education and Skills to investigate the operation of teacher capability procedures in England. The article examines the role of local education authorities (LEAs) in supporting headteachers and governors in dealing with underperformance by giving support outside of capability procedures…

Is it possible for principals/heads to be effective educational leaders? In this study, we compared the work of principals/heads in two policy contexts. In Policy Context 1, standards for student performance were common and well-established, and authority was devolved to the school level for reshaping the school to meet those standards. In…

In many European countries, external as well as internal social, economic and political changes have brought about a marked need for professional training of managerial staff in education. This article is one in a series that springs out of a British Council sponsored conference held in the Czech Republic in 2003, organized jointly by the…

This article focuses on the impact of several competing discourses on higher education (HE) policy formulation in South Africa in the post apartheid period. It argues that there has never been a strong consensus in the HE community regarding the content of a new policy framework. In particular, the analysis focuses on the limits imposed by the…

Prior to 1994, the education system of South Africa was characterized by a hierarchical and bureaucratic style of management as well as a situation where white schools were the key beneficiaries of resources and black schools massively disadvantaged. In 1996 a national task team made strategic proposals for education management capacity, including…