Historically, the definition and measurement of academic standards in British higher education have been the exclusive prerogative of the academic community. The calibration of standards across institutions was the responsibility and purpose of the external-examiner system. But the mechanisms in place to achieve these ends have broken down under…

Background: National curriculum assessment (NCA) in England has been in place for nearly 20 years. It has its origins in a political desire to regulate education, holding schools accountable. However, its form and nature also reflect educational and curriculum concerns and technical assessment issues. Purpose: The aim of the article is to provide…

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…

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…

Discusses two versions of a signaling game to set minimal quality requirements for higher education applicants in Israel: one assumes low sensitivity to quality, the other high sensitivity. Concludes that indirect government influence on quality variations in applicant pool is more effective in controlling institutional quality then direct…

Analyzes the changing nature of accountability in Australian and English higher education within the context of global knowledge-based economic principles. Finds similarities in accountability policy objectives and discourse, but differences in structures and processes. Discusses three themes that emerge from analysis: Complexity of changing power…