Virtually every Government programme for children and every Government Department in the UK is expected to involve children and young people in its policy development and service delivery (Children and Young People's Unit, 2001). It is the new orthodoxy. Yet, hard questions are often avoided when reciting the mantra of participation. Why bother?…

School district budgets typically hide as much as they reveal. Superintendents are finding this as they discover huge deficits that nobody saw coming. District budgets are opaque by design, and they often mask important facts about resource allocation within a district, as well as about total spending. This paper reports the results of an original…

It is now almost ten years since the Salamanca Conference on Special Needs Education endorsed the idea of inclusive education. Arguably the most significant international document that has ever appeared in the special needs field, the Salamanca Statement argues that regular schools with an inclusive orientation are "the most effective means…

Purpose: This study considers the recently established higher vocational education reforms with Swedish advanced vocational education (AVE) and Finnish polytechnics in terms of organisational structure, the design of workplace learning, and furthermore, what kind of practical implications these new models of learning at work have resulted in.…

The U.S. Department of Education (USDOE, 2004) administers a formula grant program to states that is intended to increase the academic achievement of students in mathematics and science by enhancing the content knowledge and teaching skills of classroom teachers. Partnerships between high-need school districts and the science, technology,…

This case involves overturning a 35-year-old program of weighted grading that defined a school's identity. Examination of the practice revealed a curriculum that was discriminatory toward students and teachers with deep-seated values and beliefs among an elite group of core teachers perpetuating that discrimination. Further examination revealed…

These proceedings from a conference with leading experts examines the hugely successful American model of technological and scientific innovation. They stress the critical importance of government funding of physical science for the realms of national security, education, and industry. Kent Hughes and Frederick M. Bush, both of the Woodrow Wilson…

This report describes the importance of redesigned high schools to engage full high school communities in the deliberate rethinking of virtually everything, ranging from how time is used, to how adults are deployed, even to the "places"where learning occurs. Essentially, redesigned high schools: (1) have high expectations for all…

This report profiles three workforce organizations across the country--in Colorado, Georgia and New York--and explores the strategies they used to grow their programs locally. The report examines the dilemmas workforce organizations frequently face in meeting not only the needs of their dual customers--job seekers and employers--but also the needs…

One of the generally accepted premises of current economic thinking is that a large and expanding proportion of growth is tied to what has come to be known as the "knowledge economy" or equivalently, the innovation sector. Despite recent U.S. Census Bureau data indicating that Latinos now constitute the largest minority group of the U.S.…

Indiana was selected to participate in a new initiative--"Moving Forward: High Standards and High Graduation Rates"--jointly sponsored by Achieve, Inc. and Jobs for the Future and funded by Carnegie Corporation of New York. This effort is designed to spotlight the importance of pursuing a dual agenda of high standards and high…

Permanency planning for infants with prenatal substance exposure is challenging due to characteristics of the infants and the ongoing substance use or relapse of the parents. Visitation is a primary mechanism through which child welfare workers determine and support permanency planning. Productive use of visitation for permanency planning for…

In 1985, the Chinese Mainland introduced a policy of decentralization in order to help facilitate the spread of basic education. By looking specifically at the developmental experiences of Shanghai and Shenzhen, we can gain an in depth understanding of the specific circumstances incurred under new education reforms. While undergoing…

What would it take for libraries to provide their patrons with the same kind of success in finding information using their resources as they achieve with Google, and as quickly? This author asserts that the answer is not that complicated: be more like Google, and then move beyond Google. With the technology available right now, this is not an…

Faculty may learn of new pedagogies through mass communication channels such as Web sites, journals, and workshops. Faculty are likely to be persuaded to try these new pedagogies, however, by interpersonal communication with an opinion leader. Using literature and exploratory data we contrast awareness and persuasion and suggest that opinion…