Despite often lofty rhetoric in a large number of national and international initiatives and in speeches of national and international politicians and bureaucrats, and despite a long history of awareness and the increased visibility of the generally abysmal situation of the Roma in Europe, there is still no serious reason to hope that the lives of…

This article, which is speculative in outlook and emerges from an extended literature review on this subject, takes as its basic premise the notion that the idea of "creativity"--whether in relation to literacy, schooling or the economy, is constructed as a series of rhetorical claims. These rhetorics of creativity emerge from the contexts of…

Backed with political and financial capital, advocates of change push to improve America's education system. For most people, the purpose of education is self-improvement--becoming better informed, more knowledgeable, better equipped to solve problems, more able to earn a living and prosper. The more effectively an education system delivers on…

In this article, the author examines the controversial issue whether to teach sex education or sexual abstinence. Sex education has always been fraught with controversy. The discord in Westbrook, Maine, school district is noteworthy because of the vocal support for an abstinence-only curriculum approach to sex education that has reshaped the…

A study of the science research activities in China's institutions of higher learning in recent years indicates that there is a major connection between the current instances of corruption in scientific research at colleges and universities and the evaluations system for scientific research implemented at many of the colleges and universities.…

This article explores the implications of funding increasing numbers of religious schools on the children of minority communities. It argues that handing responsibility for schooling to religious bodies undermines transparency, democracy and accountability in educational provision. Far from promoting "inclusion" as the Government claims,…

Jewish history is unique in the sense that it expands over a vast period of time and takes place in almost all places in the world. This creates a major potential for historical debates. The state of Israel, which views itself as the high-point of Jewish national identity, has inherited these debates but attempted to find a way between them by…

Much has changed over recent years with regard to disability and higher education. Until the 1990s, most British universities were virtually inaccessible to disabled students and staff. However, as society move ever further into the twenty-first century there are more disabled students in higher education, more support services for students with…

This article details the emergence of Palestinian universities in the 1970s in the conditions of Israeli occupation. Palestinian universities grew during the first intifada in 1986. An outline of the present controls on and around these universities is given--controls that are contrary to academic freedom and the basic right to education. Israeli…

While there is a wealth of research on school finance equity and adequacy, and school finance theory clearly documents differences between the two concepts, no study has examined whether the reforms engendered by each approach actually differ in terms of resource distribution. This study examines the issues using district level data on expenditure…

The No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act has made a great impact on states' policies in assessing English language learner (ELL) students. The legislation requires states to develop or adopt sound assessments in order to validly measure the ELL students' English language proficiency (ELP), as well as content knowledge and skills. Although states have…

In the future, businesses will demand workers with higher-level skills and more education. Community colleges are key providers of career and technical training as well as traditional academic education. These colleges can also play important roles in the one-stop system created by the Workforce Investment Act (WIA), through which a variety of…

War is so devastating that if at all possible, it should be avoided. But if reasoning and negotiation fail to yield peace between nations and countries and war results, the loss to children must be minimized. In the last decade, two million children have been killed in wars and conflicts, 4.5 million have been disabled and 12 million have been…

On October 14, 2008, Canadians will travel to the polls for the 40th Canadian General Election--only two years since the 2006 election which brought the Conservative Government to power. In preparation for the election, the Educational Policy Institute (EPI) is publishing a series of election-related papers, including an overview of the top…

Teachers in traditional bilingual settings confront strict program requirements under the guise of No Child Left Behind (NCLB), excessive assessment demands (state, district and program assessments in both English and Spanish), and negative attitudes about bilingual education from many in the political and public spheres. Since 1998, the passage…