Public management scholars often claim that agency competition provides an effective institutional check on monopoly authority, and hence, leads to improvement of administrative performance in public sector agencies. This logic was central for creating the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) in 1975 to challenge the policy information provided by…

Basic research can inform social policy in a number of ways. First, it can draw the attention of policy makers to problems. Second, it can deflect policy makers away from focusing on issues that are not really problems. Third, it can help policy makers understand whether or not factors are causally related to problems and the processes underlying…

Asserts that academic feminists who argue on behalf of a women-centered policy analysis have raised several vital points, but that the forms of persuasion on which they rely are not productive of the policy changes they seek. Suggests that to ensure that policy analysis is conducted as if gender mattered, women-centered analysts need to avoid the…

Replies to Haithe Anderson's critique of their conceptualization of feminist critical analysis. Reaffirms and elaborates on what makes conventional policy analysis incapable of undoing the power asymmetries that characterize relations between male and female academics. (EV)

Argues for a context-sensitive understanding of plagiarism by analyzing a set of written institutional policies and suggesting ways that they might be revised. Offers examples of classroom practices to help teach a concept of plagiarism as situated in context. Concludes that plagiarism is an area where students need access to their teacher's…

Explores the changes that England's Family Law Bill is undergoing. Discusses whether the 12-month period of child protection is adequate when parents are divorcing. Suggests that children should be provided with information about the divorce process, and that parents should have regard to children's views when making decisions. Claims that…

Precautionary principles have been proposed as a fundamental element of sound risk management. Their advocates see them as guiding action in the face of uncertainty, encouraging the adoption of measures that reduce serious risks to health, safety, and the environment. Their opponents may reject the very idea of precautionary principles, find…

During the spring of 2004, the State of Colorado enacted legislation that fundamentally changed the mechanisms through which it financed its public higher education system, beginning with the 2005-06 academic year. Rather than appropriating funds directly to institutions, the legislation created the College Opportunity Fund (COF), the principal…

Over the past 20 years, home visitation has emerged as the flagship program through which many states and communities are reaching out to new parents.The presence of bills to advance home visitation in Congress and in state and local legislatures, and the fact that several states and counties are moving forward with comprehensive plans and…

This policy analysis project is designed at uncovering specific standards that can be utilized by a school district in developing and evaluating their Type II Alternative Schools to ensure high levels of student success within their programs. While there is a substantive body of research in alternative education, there are no universally accepted…

In response to demands for school accountability, states now devote much attention to distinguishing among effective and ineffective schools. These efforts, while varying considerably in rigor and sophistication, generally emphasize technical or allocative efficiency (e.g., the marginal productivity of measured inputs employed in various…

This literature review explores the historical development of information and communication technology (ICT) in Irish postprimary/secondary schools and examines how the education system has responded to the various ICT initiatives and policy changes. The review has found that despite national policy and significant ICT initiatives, it appears that…

This paper explores the relationship between changing forms of the governance of education and the growth and uses of data in the context of England--a context that can be described as the most "advanced" in Europe in terms of data production and use. The paper links the shifting relations between the central department of education…

The No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) focuses on all students, with and without disabilities. It is not specifically focused on the education of students with disabilities, as is the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act of 2004 (IDEA, 2004). Nevertheless, NCLB has had a tremendous impact on the ways in which special education is…

Drawing on a four-year study of the last 40 years of education reform in Los Angeles, "Learning from L.A." captures the sweeping change in American education. It puts forth a provocative argument: while school reformers and education historians have tended to focus on the success or failure of individual initiatives, they have overlooked…