I analyze two issues on the efficiency of schooling choice. The first chapter analyzes changes in the distribution of college enrollment rates that occurred between 1980 and 2000. It aims not only to explain the 69% increase in the overall college enrollment rates, but also changes in the distribution of college attendees by their ability and…

The paradigm change from an input based teaching/learning process to an outcome based process (D. Bluma, 2008, p. 673) reveals efficiency of contribution applied to enhance students' learning outcomes to become particularly important for the development of education and culture change in the constantly changing environment. Aim of the research is…

Through two school case studies in Cyprus, in this paper I explore the role of small internal collaborative networks in promoting school improvement. The analysis of the two cases revealed a series of interrelated themes which indicated issues related to school improvement, and actually, it provided evidence that small internal collaborative…

The present investigation examined the factor structure and psychometric properties of the Injection Phobia Scale-Anxiety (IPS-Anx). Principal components analysis of IPS-Anx items in Study 1 (n = 498) revealed a 2-factor structure consisting of Distal Fear and Contact Fear. However, CFA results in Study 2 (n = 567) suggest that a 1-factor…

Reform-minded leaders of Qatar, who have embarked on a sweeping reform of their nation's education system, asked RAND to evaluate the education finance system that has been adopted and to offer suggestions for improvements. The authors analyze the system's evolution and resource allocation patterns between 2004 and 2006 and develop analytic tools…

Qatar's education reform, which included implementation of a new finance system, appears to be providing schools with adequate funding but is still struggling with issues of transparency and swift policy shifts that have been difficult to accommodate. [For full report, "Developing a School Finance System for K-12 Reform in Qatar", see…

The demand for pervasive access of location-related information (e.g., local traffic, restaurant locations, navigation maps, weather conditions, pollution index, etc.) fosters a tremendous application base of "Location Based Services (LBSs)". Without loss of generality, we model location-related information as "spatial objects" and the accesses…

The recent rise in globalization has brought forth a global wave of academic competitiveness, which has taken its strongest hold in East Asia. In order to attain world class status, Taiwan's Ministry of Education (MoE) initiated a project called Plan to Develop First-class Universities and Top-level Research Centers. The project is often coined…

It seems to happen every day. A meeting is called to outline a new strategy or sales plan. Down go the lights and up goes the PowerPoint. Strange phrases appear--"unlocking shareholder value," "technology-focused innovation," "maximizing utility." Lists of numbers come and go. Bullet point by bullet point, the…

The public has become all too aware of the term "bubble" to describe an asset that is irrationally and artificially overvalued and cannot be sustained. The dot-com bubble burst by 2000. More recently the overextended housing market collapsed, helping to trigger a credit meltdown. The stock market has declined more than 30 percent in the past year,…

In 1999 Romania became part of the Bologna process, focused on the European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System, design to increase the compatibility of European universities, ensuring the mobility of students and professors in the context of re-orienting education to the formation of competences continuously adapted to market requirements.…

As states struggle to boost economic growth and create new jobs, colleges must change to help meet the demand for talented workers. Boards of public institutions need new metrics to determine how well they are meeting statewide workforce goals. States must focus more on measuring higher education's effectiveness and efficiency, especially when it…

Every building, from the smallest school to the tallest skyscraper, uses energy. This energy is most often generated by burning fossil fuels, which releases greenhouse gases into the atmosphere and contributes to climate change. Existing commercial buildings offer a significant opportunity for low-cost, immediate emissions and energy cost…

"Multitasking" has developed a certain mantra in our culture, and according to this widely held axiom, people in general and students in particular, can and do function productively and learn efficiently doing several things at once. There also seems to be an unshakable conviction that young students excel in a multitasking environment.…

Is it possible to get an "Ivy" education for $7,376 a year? Can a college provide high-quality undergraduate education at a reasonable cost? In this paper, the author explores if cost can be reduced and quality improved through the use of new "value-designed" models of undergraduate education. A value-designed model allows one to appeal to…