In Finland, as in other European countries, the Bologna Declaration is having a profound impact on the structure of degrees, and consequently on teaching and learning. Until now, most graduates in Finland completed a Master's without having to take a Bachelor's degree first. The Ministry of Education has set a high objective for the reform of…

2003 was a tempestuous year for the formulation of higher education policy. After considerable delay, the White Paper "The Future of Higher Education" was published in January and this appeared to give a clear signal that government expected higher education institutions, particularly the pre-1992 universities, to do significantly more…

The work of the Arizona Commission for Postsecondary Education (ACPE) is guided by a 5-year strategic plan. The purpose of the plan is to provide focus for the activity of this small agency and its seven staff members in order to increase productivity and impact in the areas of its statutory authority. The mission and goals were accepted by…

This paper intends to: identify the problems of non-formal education within different socioeconomic contexts in relation to the changing landscape of basic education as a whole; review the range of current practices; and raise some pertinent issues as a basis for policy analysis and further systematic research and development work on non-formal…

This report presents findings from an investigation into relationships between academic achievement and the distribution of fiscal resources among rural school districts in Oregon. The investigation was prompted by earlier-reported findings suggesting the critical nature of both achievement gaps and resource gaps among rural school districts in…

The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore the systemic change process and strategies used by key stakeholders within a local education agency when they changed from the traditional discrepancy model for learning disabilities identification to the Response to Intervention (RTI) model. The results of this study suggest that the change to…

Recent research indicates that college students who transfer from community colleges are significantly less likely to complete a 4-year college degree than students who begin at 4-year institutions. This paper estimates models of college completion for both types of students. Based on these results, an Oaxaca decomposition indicates that students…

Successive governments in the UK have increasingly stressed the need for a more enterprising society. Much of the emphasis has been placed upon educationalists to introduce more elements of enterprise into the school curriculum at all levels, and new and innovative ways to initiate the subject matter is increasingly being sought. This article…

This article reviews the literature and practice concerned with the evaluation of science, technology, and innovation (STI) policies and the way these relate to theories of the innovation process. Referring to the experience of the European Union (EU), the authors review the attempts to ensure that the STI policy theory is informed by advances in…

In this article, the authors present a case study that is an exploration of credential candidates' attitudes toward a teaching performance assessment as a measure of their teaching ability, and the impact on faculty instructional decisions, practice, and attitudes toward the assessment. This study generated both qualitative and quantitative data.…

This article focuses on economic analysis of privatisation policies and postprivatisation control devices in India's higher education. As a case study, the experiences of Karnataka State in collegiate education under general higher education are emphasised. A change in public financing, rather than a shift of public ownership and management to…

Mathematics achievement data from three longitudinally matched student cohorts were analyzed with multilevel growth models to investigate the viability of using status and growth-based indices of student achievement to examine the multi-year performance of schools. Elementary schools in a large southwestern school district were evaluated in terms…

From the start of the 2001-2002 academic year, people who had not completed secondary school were able to enter higher education based on documented non-formal learning, realkompetanse. Based on interviews with key personnel at selected universities and university colleges, and on quantitative data from the applicant register, this article…

This paper deals with the way the vision of including children with special educational needs into their home school, constituted for instance in UNESCO's "The Salamanca Statement and Framework on Special Needs Education", has merged with other contemporary discourses (ideas and practices) in Icelandic education. In particular, the paper…

This paper considers some of the current knowledge about our understanding of and provision for early childhood internationally. It looks at its relative importance, offers a short overview of research and terminology, outlines a global perspective (the big picture) and provides a brief summary of the current South Australian policy and position.…