Ever since the beginning of the Great Recession, higher education has braced for the impending age of austerity and changing demographics. Now a reality, these conditions threaten the ability of institutions of higher education to remain competitive in an ever growing global marketplace. This article presents several core SEM strategies that can…

In honor of the 2014 International Year of Crystallography, the first Wisconsin Crystal Growing Competition was successfully organized and conducted. High school students from 26 schools across the state competed for prizes by growing large crystals of CuSO[subscript4]·5(H[subscript2]O). This paper describes how the event was planned and carried…

Background: This study attempted to determine whether state laws regulating low nutrient, high energy-dense foods and beverages sold outside of the reimbursable school meals program (referred to as "competitive foods") are associated with children's weight status. Methods: We use the Classification of Laws Associated with School…

This paper explores one example of an international comparison -- the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development's International Adult Literacy Survey (IALS) -- in order to investigate the power of numbers in both the shaping and the legitimisation of adult literacy policy using Scotland as a case study. It is argued that policy…

Global university rankings have portrayed European higher education institutions in varying lights, leading to intense reflection on the figures on the EU and national levels alike. The rankings have helped to construct a policy problem of "European higher education", framing higher education as an element of competitiveness in a global…

Two pivotal and interconnected claims are addressed in this article. First, strategy precedes program effectiveness. Second, graduation rates and rankings are insufficient in any account of academic progress for African American students. In this article, graduation is regarded as the floor and not the ceiling, as it were. The ideal situation in…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to report on an investigation into the perceived prevalence of authentic leadership behaviours in Sixth Form College (SFC) Principals. This research compares four different models of institutional leadership and considers which are viewed by teachers as the more common in daily practice. In doing so, the…

To sort pupils at the end of primary school, some early-tracking systems apply a mechanism that unwittingly divides classes into two groups: students preparing for exams to enter better schools and everyone else, who decide not to compete for selective schools. Utilizing TIMSS data and a follow-up study in the Czech Republic, we show that this…

The purpose of mathematics competitions, and in our case the South African Mathematics Olympiad (SAMO), is to promote problem solving skills and strategies, to generate interest and enthusiasm for mathematics and to identify the most talented mathematical minds. SAMO is organised in two divisions--a junior and a senior division--over three rounds.…

This article addresses the present gap in empirical research on the possibilities and challenges of global citizenship education in U.S. public schools by presenting findings from a five-year, ethnographic case study. The setting for this study is Olympus High School, a small, suburban public high school in Pennsylvania. Beginning in the 2009-2010…

Purpose: The overall objective of the current study is to explore how universities can better developing new educational services. The purpose of this paper is to develop framework for technology entrepreneurship education (TEPE) within universities. Design/Methodology/Approach: Qualitative and quantitative research approaches were employed. This…

Purpose: Regulation and privatization of education systems has led to a "league standing" mentality regarding school achievements. The purpose of this paper is to examine how school principals deal with the pressures of competition and achievements while aspiring to imbue pupils with values and a broad education.…

This paper describes a pilot study conducted with English as a foreign language (EFL) students at a private university in Japan who used graded readers and the MReader website in class or independently to enhance their English reading skills. Each semester students who read 100,000 words with MReader quizzes passed enter into the "MReader…

This study examined the effects of video-based cooperative, competitive and individualized instructional strategies on the performance of senior secondary schools' students in geometry in Nigeria. It also examined the influence of gender on students' achievement. Pretest, posttest, experimental control group design was adopted for this study.…

When historians discuss the impact of examinations on elementary education in mid-Victorian England and Wales they typically focus on the Revised Code of 1862. The Revised Code is famous for instituting a policy of "payment-by-results" for teachers in state-supported voluntary schools. "Payment-by-results" made government…