This paper analyses the relationship between education, meritocracy and redistribution. It first questions the meritocratic ideal highlighting how it relates to normative expectations that do not hold fully neither in their logic nor in practice. It then complements the literature on persistent inequalities by focusing on the opportunities for…

This article summarises the policies relating to families, children and education which were presented to the electorate by the three main parties in their manifestos, together with the policies listed in the Coalition's "Programme for Government". The author concludes with a few observations on the future of state education in England.

Across cultures, approximately one third of people with drug dependence are women of child-bearing age. There is emerging evidence regarding the effectiveness of integrating pregnancy, parenting, and child development services with addiction services. In 2007, we conducted a national survey of addiction agencies serving women to provide…

The principal purpose of the report for the "Florida School District Adult and Technical Centers" is to provide timely, accurate, and comparative information about the Florida School District Adult and Technical Centers System. This report is intended for use by people who are interested in data relevant to education in the School…

Head Start is a federal program that has provided comprehensive early childhood development services to low-income children and their families since 1965. The comprehensive nature of the program includes educational, health, nutritional, and social services. These services are intended to prepare children to enter kindergarten and to improve the…

The purpose of this study was to examine subject attentional resource allocation during performance of the multitask operation of conducting, where multiple cognitive and kinesthetic tasks are performed concurrently. Subjects' (n = 15) attentional resources were measured through primary task performance, consisting of both gesture and aural…

"Benchmarking 2009: Trends in Education Philanthropy" is Grantmakers for Education's (GFE) second annual study of grantmaking trends and priorities among members. As a national network dedicated to improving education outcomes through philanthropy, GFE members are mindful of their role in fostering greater knowledge in the field. They believe it's…

As representatives of the public's interests in public charter schools, authorizers lie at the foundation of a quality charter school sector. The core functions of authorizing--charter school approval, oversight and evaluation--are essential in promoting and upholding charter school quality. To carry out these functions professionally and…

The nation's biggest athletics departments are quietly trying to raise hundreds of millions of dollars for separate sports endowments, heating up the competition for donors and raising questions about institutional priorities during the economic crunch. At least eight programs hope to bring in more than $100-million each to defray the rising costs…

Eduardo Marti has seen good times and tough times. He's watched as community colleges have evolved and adapted to a rapidly changing world. But these days, the president of Queensborough Community College (QCC) in New York City is clearly concerned. A crumbling economy, budget cutbacks, and spiking enrollment have conspired to create the perfect…

It is time to educate corporate America on the need to finance higher education by using a need-based giving standard. Corporations need to realize that two-year colleges significantly affect their work force and economy. Only 25 percent of the jobs in the United States require a degree from a four-year college, yet up to 75 percent of the jobs…

The $787-billion economic-stimulus legislation that President Obama signed into law this week contains large sums of money for students and researchers. But the final version of the plan excludes billions of dollars that Congress had considered giving to various higher-education programs. The author's assessment is that the law, as enacted, will…

This article summarizes and evaluates two "Off-the-Shelf" school finance reforms that gained then waned in popularity over the past several years. The 65 percent solution claims that requiring all public school districts to allocate 65 cents of every education dollar "to the classroom" would drive substantial additional resources to children…

Instead of putting the entire achievement burden on schools, what would it look like to hold a whole community responsible for long-range student outcomes? This report explores the concept of "shared accountability" in education. The No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act ushered in a new era of accountability in American education: for the…

What drives governments with similar revenues to publicly provide very different amounts of goods for which private substitutes are available? Key examples are education and health care. This paper compares spending by Brazilian municipalities on pre-primary education--a good that is also provided privately--with spending on public infrastructure…