Examines aspects of initial teacher education and continuing professional development in Scotland against the backdrop of McCrone Report recommendations on teaching conditions. Discusses teachers' attitudes toward their own professional development; the nature of professional knowledge, skills, and values; and some principles to promote genuine…

School boards are challenged to reconcile differences between test-dominated accountability and the growing backlash against standards and assessments. The answer: a comprehensive accountability system that does not ignore state demands for improved achievement as measured by test scores, but places them in context with classroom practices. (MLH)

This article describes the experiences of two US teacher groups and their lesson study work. Their stories illustrate some of the dynamics and promise of teacher change spurred by lesson study. The first case is primarily about teacher efficacy, as a group of teachers discover through lesson study that their planning and work can have an impact on…

In June 2003, shortly after the fall of the Baathist regime, and after the United States declared an end to major combat, Keith Watenpaugh, assistant professor of Islamic and Middle Eastern history at Le Moyne College and associate director of peace and global studies, re-turned to Baghdad and al-Mutanabbi Street as the leader of a group of …

In most discussions of "what works" in education, the focus is on rules (such as class size limits) or on programs and their various components. These are clearly important. No matter what the reform, implementation is key. This article discusses five challenges to achieving and sustaining social and intellectual engagement in implementing…

This article brings together an overview of ideas about teacher learning from both teacher education and workplace learning literature, and examines what and how newly qualified secondary school teachers learn in the early years of their career. We discuss the types of knowledge new teachers encounter and present a typology of teacher learning.…

Many recent school-reform efforts have called for increasing decision-making power at the local school level. This report examines state differences in the amount of control that public school teachers believe they have over establishing curriculum; selecting textbooks and other instructional materials; and selecting topics, content, and skills to…

During the mid- to late-1990s, the declining economy in Nova Scotia led to a reduction in the number of school boards and the closure or amalgamation of smaller schools. This paper presents findings from the first phase of a longitudinal case study that explored the amalgamation of five elementary schools in Gold Cove, Nova Scotia. The study uses…

During 1989, the administration of the New Zealand education system underwent the most dramatic change since its inception as a national system in 1889. The changes affected principals, who took on greatly expanded managerial responsibilities while continuing their traditional role of professional leadership. Principals were also responsible to…

This essay, originally written by Immanuel Kant in 1798, and presented in both the original German and in facing page English translation, is the first paperback printing of the edition published by Abaris Books, Inc., in 1979. The book is composed of three parts, written at different times, but all dealing with the conflict between the…

This study describes significant issues and learnings identified by 26 school faculties engaged in site-based, faculty-led reform initiatives over a 5-year period during participation in the National Education Association's Mastery in Learning (MIL) Project. A representative sample of MIL sites is utilized to reframe issues and learnings into…

This brief report summarizes a longer document with the same title in the ASHE-ERIC Higher Education Report series. Academic freedom provides the foundation for faculty scholarship and teaching, making it possible for educators to exchange ideas and concepts freely in the classroom, to explore and disseminate new knowledge, and to speak out both…

This report synthesizes the literature and applicable case law concerning academic freedom in higher education and addresses the following issues: (1) popular notions concerning academic freedom; (2) whether academic freedom is a legal right; (3) whether faculty at private institutions have the same rights as faculty in public schools; and (4)…

Issues of accountability in enterprises that provide educational services at the individual and institutional levels are explored in this paper. Two conceptions of accountability are addressed: accountability as measurement and as ethics. A major source of confusion is the disagreement between the two ways of thinking about the meaning and…

Elements of educational quality and ways in which quality is estimated are identified, with specific attention to conditions that are prerequisite to achieving high levels of quality in universities. The quality of a university may be estimated by examining prestigous institutions based on reputational studies, by quantitative descriptions of…