"Straight A's: Public Education Policy and Progress" is a biweekly newsletter that focuses on education news and events both in Washington, DC and around the country. The following articles are included in this issue: (1) "Diplomas Count": Report Finds that 1.23 Million Students Will Fail to Graduate in 2008; (2) "The High…

The aim of this study is to determine and assess how the relationships with and candidateship conditions of the European Union have reflected to the Turkish primary educational curricula for the Life Science and Social Studies which were changed in the years of 1968, 1998 and 2004. The study was performed on a qualitative basis by analyzing…

The construction of harmonious socialistic society is a majestic mission proposed by Communist Party of China from the perspective of constructing a well-to-do society and initiating a new era of socialistic enterprise with Chinese characteristics. Based on this glorious objective, universities should undertake the responsibilities of educating…

The purpose of this study was to review policies and inquiries on national curriculum reform, initiated during the federal election campaign in 2007, to identify whether a new phase of national curriculum collaboration, characterised as standards-based reform, is likely to be initiated. A set of ten criteria, defining key features of…

A content analysis of charter school movements was conducted in order to gain insight on their substantive contents as well as to discern any explicit or implicit ideological underpinnings. Charter agreements in Indiana were obtained over a three year period of time, shortly after the Indiana General Assembly sanctioned the creation of charter…

Sixteen papers on the general theme of the "place" of psychology, particularly in higher education, arose from the author's paper "Psychology in its place." Several themes emerge from the disparate contributions. The author discusses two papers which directly comment on his original one, the papers of John Newland and Tom…

Sustainability strategies are closely tied to the logic of the donor in every institution. Philanthropies that are set up with a limited time-span tend to scale up their impact differently. The educational programs of the Open Society Institute, for example, prioritize institutionalization over any other sustainability strategy. This is how it…

UK universities currently face three main challenges, related to the linked factors of development, deficit and duty. This article focuses on the final feature in the context of the former two. Specifically, it addresses the potential and problems associated with university-community partnerships, distinguishing between concepts of…

This article examines the social and political struggles out of which emerged the proposal to expand the Junior Reserve Officers' Training Corps (JROTC). Situating the proposal in the contexts of the 1992 presidential campaign and the aftermath of the Los Angeles Uprising, the article discusses how particular struggles and debates structured the…

One way that people learn to recognize themselves as members of a nation-state is by participating in the ritual of a national census. In the United States acquaintance with such enumerations is cultivated during childhood by the federal government's "Census in Schools" (CIS) program, which distributes a variety of educational materials…

This paper presents a case study of the origins, politics, and preliminary outcomes of Virginia's "restructured" relationship between public colleges and universities and the Commonwealth. The initially proposed "charter" status for the state's three historically important universities became the vehicle for a reform that…

In every assistant professor there seems to lurk a Karate Kid seeking a Mr. Miyagi who will train his acolyte to be a skilled warrior in the art of research, teaching, and service and impart pithy life lessons along the way. Such singular folks exist. But it's far more likely that one will find several mentors who, while not well-versed in all…

Passing property tax issues is an increasing challenge for many school districts. This article examines 21 school levy strategies identified through a literature review associated with successful school levy campaigns. These strategies were then used as a framework to evaluate one district's attempts to pass a school bond levy. Whereas the study…

The global economic crisis has accelerated the fear that the United States' international power is fading. It has also made clear the need for American higher education to engage more deeply with the rest of the world, not run from it. That was the consensus among a group of presidents and provosts who met in New York this month as part of…

The deepening financial crisis that is now affecting markets and people around the globe gives new context to what the nation is facing. Americans cannot think of business as usual in any sector of public or private life, including higher education. President-elect Barack Obama will have very little financial latitude and enormous immediate…