The poliheuristic (PH) theory of decision making has made important contributions to our understanding of political decision making but remains silent about certain key aspects of the decision process. Specifically, PH theory contends that leaders screen out politically unacceptable options, but it provides no guidance on (1) the crucial threshold…

Educational authorities in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) of China introduced an early childhood education voucher system in 2007 with two implicit goals: to turn profit kindergartens into non-profit ones and to curtail parental choice. This initiative has caused a great deal of controversy locally and internationally, so the…

On the surface the change seems minor, almost imperceptible: What once read "requires" now reads "needs." But the amending of that single word in the 2004 update of the Individuals With Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) automatically triggered a surge in the number of students eligible for assistive technology in K-12 schools.…

This article explores the implementation of the Victorian Youth Employment, Education and Training Initiative (YEETI). This statewide initiative delivered brokerage funds to homeless young people through their housing advocates. One of the findings of the project was that the main barrier to young people achieving a stable continuum in their lives…

The EU's lifelong learning policy has emerged as an overarching educational reform policy intended to address a wide range of issues, including education, employment and competitiveness. The question has been raised as to whether the resulting policy is merely a catch-all concept that can be applied to any needs or whether it is underpinned by a…

The attitudes and behaviours of majority language speakers have an important impact on minority languages, and it has been claimed that the long-term success of minority language initiatives may only be achievable if some degree of favourable opinion, or "tolerability", of these initiatives is secured among majority language speakers.…

The Council for Exceptional Children and the Council on the Education of the Deaf have worked together for over a decade to maintain mutually agreed on standards for teachers of children who are deaf or hard of hearing. This article presents the updated and revalidated standards of knowledge and skills for teachers in their initial preparation…

The article addresses the way in which EU policy-making operates, explains the relevance of "lifelong learning" for the European Commission and analyses the mechanisms by which the Commission has advanced policy-making in education and training since the Lisbon Summit. The article reviews in particular the alleged lack of effectiveness…

Learning outcomes are described as written statements of what a learner is expected to know, understand and/or be able to do at the end of a period of learning. At the beginning of the 90s, a EU pilot project on ECTS showed that study programmes were much easier to compare if they were described in terms of outcomes, instead of inputs. The…

In an effort to reverse the reading crisis purported to plague public education, schools and districts are mandating prescriptive reading programs and teacher-centered instructional practices in hopes of improving the academic achievement of minority students, including English learners (ELs). The wide-spread implementation of these programs in…

A pervasive anti-statism often blinds us to the democratic victories in the past and thus to possibilities in our future. This article argues that big government can democratize society and uses historical investigation to make the point. The study of history emancipates us from the tyranny of the present. Progressive social change has come about…

This paper reveals how the provision of teacher professional development is conceptualised within the Australian Government Quality Teacher Programme (AGQTP) policy text and its predecessors, and uses these texts to infer the nature of the production practices associated with the development of these policies. The paper argues that multiple…

Indicates that the credibility of environmentalists and nuclear advocates has been damaged by misinformed alarmist positions. Advocates the public's right of equal standing on advisory councils in the areas of energy development, environmental protection, and public safety. (GS)

This paper presented during the plenary session of the 1989 Telecommunications Policy Research Conference discusses developments in regulatory reform in Nebraska. A review of the current state of the Nebraska telecommunications regulatory environment is followed by a discussion of the deregulation bill (LB 835) and the latest Nebraska Supreme…