Using data from the 1997 and 1999 National Surveys of America's Families, the authors examine the consequences of state welfare policies and practices on the living arrangements of low-income families with children. Results from a multivariate difference-in-difference-in-differences model suggest that more effective collection of child support and…

We present the first empirical assessment of the U.K. Labour government's program of public management reform. This reform program is based on rational planning, devolution and delegation, flexibility and incentives, and enhanced choice. Measures of these variables are tested against external and internal indicators of organizational performance.…

When policies are interpreted as discourses, issues of identity become significant in policy making. In this article I want to problematise the authoritative regulatory discourse of policies on international students in the United States (US) particularly after 9/11/2001 and how they maintain an essentialising notion of identity. Starting from…

Accountability and reporting mechanisms go hand in hand with government programs that promote workforce development. This chapter describes current practice in the United States and suggests how institutional researchers can help improve the process of documenting outcomes. (Contains 1 table.)

There is a world-wide trend to expect individuals to pay more of the cost of their higher education. This is also the case in South Africa since public funding of higher education decreased from 0.86% of GDP in 1986 to only 0.68% in 2005. Higher education institutions were forced to increase tuition fees to compensate for this "loss"…

A major task of South Africa's new government in 1994 was to design a more racially equitable education system. This article evaluates progress towards this goal using three concepts of equity: equal treatment by race, equal educational opportunity, and educational adequacy. The authors find that the country moved quickly towards a race-blind…

Inclusion is a Term and process that is culturally, politically, medically, philosophically, and historically relative in its interpretations in the education of the deaf. The present study is a comparative analysis of two substantially different education systems for deaf students, those of Norway and Australia. The study objective was to…

This study uses multilevel modeling to examine, after taking student-level predictors of enrollment into account, the effects of state public policies on the type of institution high school graduates attend. Four types of state policies (direct appropriations, tuition, financial aid, and K-12 academic preparation) influence the type of college…

Although numerous theories have been proffered, to date activist boards are an empirically unexamined force in public higher education governance. Using the concept of institutional entrepreneurship, this case study examines the reciprocal role that board members and staff played in the organizational development of board activism. In the case of…

This study examines how charter school advocates and district administrators in a suburban US school district work in concert, although not in unison, to create a public charter school that reinforces the interests of White, economically advantaged families. Drawing on ethnographic data, interviews, census data and charter school documents, we…

Thirty-five to 45 percent of low-income American households do not possess a bank account. This statistic coupled with claims of price gouging by check cashers has prompted government intervention. The author finds that state legislation requiring banks to offer low-cost accounts slightly decreases the number of low-income minority unbanked…

School mental health (SMH) programs and services have grown progressively in the United States in the past two decades, related to increased acknowledgement of their advantages and prominent federal initiatives (e.g., No Child Left Behind Act President's New Freedom Initiative; 20(13). Nonetheless, SMH is an emerging and tenuously supported field…

This article identifies the international and domestic drivers of current changes in China's higher education. It then touches on the national agenda and policy concerning reforms in China's higher education since the 1990s. By arguing factors that are affecting and will affect changes, it is pointed out that two focuses can be seen in recent…

This article discusses the changes in higher education in Russia and the role of international organizations--the World Bank and the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)--in promoting education reforms in this country. The connection between recent government policies and those of international organizations providing both…

This account reports on a commissioned strategic evaluation undertaken for the Australian National Training Authority on the qualitative impact of the introduction of Training Packages on vocational education and training clients. The research involved collecting the views of over 200 VET practitioners, bureaucrats and administrators, industry…