Examines the role of elite groups in Zambia educational policymaking in the postindependence era, using three major attempts at educational reform as illustrations. Concludes that well-to-do groups have dominated educational policy decisions to preserve their own interests and have obtained gradual reforms in spite of offically declared radical…

Education, by any definition, is an intensely political matter. Key issues in educational planning that are closely related to premises and controversies fundamentally political in nature--e.g., resource allocation and utilization, international dependencies, bureaucracies--are discussed. (RM)

For a short period after the Civil War, Southern Blacks used their newfound political influence first to build schools and then to establish free and universal public education. Though White supremacists eventually overthrew Reconstruction governments, the Blacks' brief political involvement left an educational legacy vital to the survival and…

Provides an overview of the policy, since the 1950s, of regionalization in Swedish higher education. Identifies three key decision-making processes during the period and investigates each with respect to the role of analysis in politics. Summarizes findings and discusses their implications. (MH)

This study of evaluation utilization identified organizational, political, and practical arrangements facilitating the wide use of "The Interim Report Evaluation" in policymaking for California's Early Childhood Education Program. In a program fraught by tensions, where evaluations had been political tools, this evaluation was special.…

An analysis of national programs for monitoring student achievement in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia found that political considerations in all three countries have inhibited the clarification of program objectives and the implementation of the technology required to generate meaningful information capable of reliable…

The view of the British government toward higher education has been subject to changing perspectives with the role of economic analysis becoming more significant. Government policy implications for higher education resource allocation can be rationalized in terms of the human capital approach and the problems of managing a bureau. (Author/MLF)

Argues that local school districts in California have been rendered essentially obsolete by state funding and control due to the combined effects of the "Serrano" decision (requiring statewide school expenditure equalization) and Proposition 13. One board president and two superintendents take issue with this judgment. (TE)

The People's Republic of China has seen a dramatic growth in its economy in recent years. It has a rapidly increasing population of approximately 1.2 billion people, though the population is still largely rural with about 80% of people living outside urban areas. China in its Education Law (1995) restated its commitment to universal education. In…

This paper provides an overview of MDC's Connecting People to Jobs program, which uses a partnership approach to move people into living-wage jobs. The paper includes lessons learned and recommendations for grantmakers. (Contains 11 footnotes.)

In this hearing on the District of Columbia's public school system (DCPS), the Honorable Tom Davis, chairman of the Committee on Government Reform, says in his opening statement that the District's improved health cannot be sustained without a better public school system, and that the lack of performance improvement threatens future growth and…

These hearing transcripts present testimony on removing barriers that may impede the successful integration of Head Start with other programs that serve to prepare disadvantaged children for success. It begins with the prepared statements of Honorable Michael N. Castle, Chairman, Subcommittee on Education Reform, Committee on Education and the…

There has been very little progress in closing the Black/White achievement gap in education. In this book, the author Mano Singham takes a look at this problem in the context of larger political realities and contends that in order to understand this gap, we must determine what is happening within the educational system as a whole. This book…

This paper is part of a collection of 54 papers from the 48th annual conference of the Education Law Association held in November 2002. It addresses education finance litigation generated by "Serrano v. Priest." (Considered a landmark decision of the Supreme Court of California, "Serrano" resulted in victory for funding-equity…

In the early 1970s, thousands of Mexican-origin students, parents, and community members participated in legal and political actions against the Houston public schools. Their actions were sparked by the school district's effort in 1970 to circumvent a desegregation court order by classifying Mexican American children as "white,"…