This paper analyses teachers' attitudes towards the use of textbooks as a means of understanding what happens in a heavily centralized education system. Whilst the research is based on a particular country, the lessons can be applied to many parts of the globalized education system. The research question here is to find out whether the teachers…

School systems in the United States have long been characterized as "loosely coupled systems," in which decisions and events occurring in one part of the system have little resonance elsewhere. Loose coupling has advantages in that classrooms are buffered from outside interference, but it also makes it difficult to bring about change.…

This dissertation was a single case study with Green Dot Public Schools (GDPS) describing their rapid scale-up process. Specifically, it investigates the phenomenon of the inherent tension between maintaining the fidelity of the original model school's design, culture and values with local adaptation of the brand by stakeholders at the expansion…

This article examines the goals and consequences of an educational reform introduced in all Japanese schools beginning in 2002. The Integrated Studies (IS) programme was designed to increase teacher autonomy and to augment student interest in learning. The reform has the potential to alter significantly the way education is organised and delivered…

This paper outlines the main changes that have effected a transformation in the nature of academic work: on the one hand, the increasing diversification and specialisation of academic tasks, and on the other, new forms of control over academic work. An analysis of these trends leads to a discussion of the relationships between the evolution of…

Only when nurses as a collective body understand clearly their product and function can they get on and stay on a path that permits the independent organization and delivery of service within the ever-widening and competitive health services field. (Author)

An effective school requires an effective leader, but great principals rarely just happen. They are cultivated. This Wallace Perspective draws on a decade of foundation research and work in school leadership to show how urban school districts can play a major role in ensuring they have principals who can boost teaching and learning in troubled…

Using the Delphi technique, expert Extension educators identified and prioritized those workplace issues they believe will be the most important to attract, motivate, and retain Extension educators/agents over the next 5 to 7 years. Obtaining and then utilizing a talented, highly motivated workforce during a period when many will be retiring will…

This study attempted to gain a better understanding of teachers' perceptions about their ethical dilemmas and roles. Qualitative data were collected by interviewing 32 teachers in seven schools. Interviewees were asked to provide detailed descriptions of ethical dilemmas they had encountered. The coding process focused on critical incidents…

Novice nurses encounter numerous factors that impact on their learning in the complex healthcare workplace. Registered nurses often work one-on-one with novices as preceptors to facilitate the development of novices' clinical skills and socialisation into the profession. This paper explores the concept of preceptorship from novice nurses' and…

This article reports on a study of teachers at one reforming high school. Though it is not their task to debate No Child Left Behind (NCLB), the authors locate their investigation inside the current policy context to which NCLB is attached. Specifically, they present their analysis through the organizational behavior lens of threat rigidity to…

The purpose of the study was to determine how online instructors interpret the extent to which they exercise autonomy in an online setting and the subsequent effect it has on perceived teaching quality. In April and May of 2008 a confidential Web survey was e-mailed to randomly selected higher education instructors across the country who were…

A rich literature--both within education circles and in other kinds of labor markets--links teachers' sense of efficacy and collective responsibility to their teaching effectiveness and improved student achievement. Prior research has found that a teacher's self-efficacy as an instructional leader is strongly and positively associated with…

Non-tenure-track (NTT) research faculty are perhaps the most under-recognized group of academic professionals on the campuses today, despite their increasingly important role within the expanding academic research enterprise. The American Association for the Advancement of Science reports that the amount of federal spending on R&D has more than…

To make meaningful comparisons of the consequences of new modes of regulation in education for local autonomy in different national settings we need to a) be clear about what is meant by local autonomy and state control, b) be clear about why the balance between local autonomy and state control matters and c) produce good quality empirical data…