Examines the appropriateness of the concept of "key skills" in higher education in the United Kingdom, as defined by the 1997 Dearing Commission report, and the processes required to achieve this ideal in the current higher education environment. The report distinguishes between high-level intellectual skills and the key skills of…

Discusses how English-as-a-Foreign-Language instruction in China is carried out through the grammar translation method. Suggests that this method is insufficient and that language education reform is needed that focuses on teacher training, testing reform, methodology, curriculum design, and instructional materials.(Author/VWL)

This report describes the process of changing one British special school for children with physical disabilities to an inclusion service providing support services to children attending local mainstream schools. The process involved such steps as developing a mission statement, major changes in the personnel structure, involvement of parents, and…

Instead of inviting public engagement, the current educational system reinforces a hierarchical, bureaucratic pattern that gives neither students nor parents an official voice. Today's parents are demanding, more market-oriented, and organizing on the Internet. Strategies for fully involving parents in improvements for the common good are…

Describes the Professional Development Schools (PDS) initiative to simultaneously restructure schools and teacher education programs. Outlines program components. Presents steps to develop an inclusive PDS through the University of Central Florida-Daytona Beach, Volusia County School District, and the Florida Inclusion Network, including public…

Traces the history of racial progress at the University of Texas School of Law from 1946, when an African American was denied admission, to events that led to improved access for minorities, to the case of Hopwood v. Texas, to the demise of affirmative action in Texas higher education. Emphasis is on changes in minority enrollments across those…

Discussion of various quality control strategies in American higher education looks at and compares Total Quality Management (TQM), outcomes assessment, Deming's 14 points, the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award, the ISO 9000 series, restructuring, reengineering, and performance indicators. It is suggested that colleges and universities will…

Describes the work of Australian and Eritrean early childhood educators to establish early childhood education in Eritrea. Discusses how Australian educators are learning about managing multicultural and multilingual communities; Eritrean educators are learning about a holistic approach to education to meet social, emotional, physical,…

Describes results of a multi-year effort by the National Transition Network to evaluate the State Systems Change Initiative. Among findings were that states were successful in increasing stakeholder awareness of transition issues, increasing the participation of students with disabilities and their parents, and enhancing collaborative…

Outlines ten principles important for the successful practice of outcomes assessment, based on the experience of a variety of institutions. Notes several salient barriers to success (lack of faculty support, changes in institutional leadership and circumstances, limitations in assessment tools and methods, insufficient student involvement,…

The author of recommended reforms for public college and university governing boards that had been outlined in an Association of Governing Boards policy paper, responds to criticism of the reform strategies and expands on his suggestions in four areas: the call for larger boards; merit selection of trustees; greater trustee philanthropy; and…

Graduate education is preparation for research, scholarship, jobs and careers (faculty, industrial, other forms of work), and for life, and change is occurring in all these areas. Several qualitatively different approaches are being suggested to improve graduate students' education while adapting to change; all take time and increase the workload…

Examines changes in student assessment methods in courses and clerkships at eight medical schools participating in a large-scale medical curriculum development project, including specific forms of assessment (self-assessment, feedback, standardized patients). For most schools, changes were controlled by course or clerkship directors and managed by…

Equalizing college opportunities for the poor requires more fundamental, complementary strategies than just improving financial aid. There appear to be huge and growing disparities in the capacity of elementary/secondary school systems to prepare youth for the world beyond high school. Colleges cannot redress these inequities alone but must…

An interview with Susan Loucks-Horsley, director of professional development at the National Research Council's Center for Science, Mathematics, and Engineering Education, explores the importance of good teachers, deficiencies in professional development, rural problems, the importance of high academic standards, how the newer standards differ…