The Conservative-Liberal Democrat Coalition government elected in 2010 has argued contemporary reform will increase the autonomy of schools in England. Given the complexities that exist, however, in the balance between autonomy and control, we explore how school leaders view autonomy as it exists within the wider policy framework. The article…

When Jackson State University opened for classes this year, it marked its fifth anniversary in the online education business by adding a full four-year, undergraduate degree program in early childhood education to its offerings. Jackson State is among a growing number of historically Black colleges tying part of their future survival and growth…

Within an era of seemingly ever-increasing school accountability to both Federal and State jurisdictions in Australia, the impact of such requirements has received little attention in the literature. This research project was designed specifically to investigate the impact of compliance requirements on school leaders' workloads. The literature…

The concepts of differentiation and profiling are cornerstones in discussions about the organisation of contemporary higher education systems, following the trends of massification and global competition. This contribution provides a system-level description and comparison of the German and Dutch higher education systems regarding these topics,…

The Labour government showed no interest in extending local democracy in the school system, in spite of a policy rhetoric of local democratic renewal. The Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition government's localism agenda promotes the autonomy of schools from local authorities without proposing alternative forms of local democracy in the school…

The ongoing social changes taking place on a global scale have made universities respond to these new challenges by offering new study programmes, implementing modifications of study plans, taking up new research focus as well as by broadening the offer of adult education. These changes necessarily require modifications in terms of the structure…

In contrast with that basic understanding of university autonomy, in most continental European countries, such as France, and also in Japan, the government has tightly controlled universities, in terms of both their organization and activities. In these countries, the concept of "governance" is often lacking, as institutions were not…

The aim of this study is to evaluate the current state of, and the causes for, the substantial variation in the tuition rates of America's land-grant universities. This aim was pursued with the objective of trying to identify consistent and revealing policies and external characteristics related to the high level of variation that exists among…

This paper contributes to the debate on strategic capability of academic organizations by presenting three case studies of Swiss Higher Education Institutions. Strategies are conceived as instruments by which universities manage their organizational processes and deal with their environments in order to select a portfolio of activities and find an…

Since the adoption of the first charter school law in Minnesota in 1991, charter schools have received considerable attention from policy makers, parents, educators, and the media. In the United States, at the national level, three consecutive presidents--Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, and Barack Obama--have actively supported charters. Given the…

Students from the University of Puerto Rico (UPR) went on strike in April, and, soon after, 10 of the 11 campuses of a public system with more than 60,000 students were closed. "Once recintos, una universidad" (eleven campuses, one university) was the maxim students used to emphasize the concept of the UPR as a system unified by similar…

This article reviews the path of funding higher education in Hungary, where funding cuts have resulted in understaffing, escalating tuition, growing student debt, and declining enrollment. Graduation rates are low, government policies favor vocational disciplines, and the system of preparation and access gives preference to students from wealthier…

Fiscal federalism deals with the sharing of resources in a federated nation. Over the years problems about local government finance have become an important aspect of intergovernmental relations. Constitutionally, local government is the third tier of government which exists as an independent entity, possessing some degree of autonomy and…

The centerpiece of the United States government's commitment to assuring that more Americans enroll in college and earn a degree is a massive system of federal financial aid that delivers billions of dollars to millions of students enrolled in accredited universities across the country. Since 1952, the federal government has relied upon…

Inclusive education does not have a strong history in the Czech Republic. Initial efforts to educate students with different types of disabilities within the mainstream education system in the Czech Republic date back to the mid-20th century. These efforts were primarily from parent initiatives, which in some cases resulted in ensuring that the…