A longitudinal study examined the association between academic merit (e.g., educational attainment and publications) and career patterns for 51 female and 56 male senior academics at an Australian university. Findings did not support the model of success by merit nor that women have lower formal qualifications or publish less than men of similar…

Examines some of the main institutional challenges impacting on the relevance and quality of teaching and learning in higher education in the United Kingdom. Selected concerns include underfunding; mass education and quality; the demand for enhancing student employability or key skills; and the relative status of teaching within research-intensive…

Discussion of rewards given to higher education teachers for excellence lists criteria in the following areas: demonstrates outstanding achievement; demonstrates various competencies; is committed to the integrity of his/her subject; appreciates stakeholders' concerns; is committed to continuous improvement; and constructively contributes to…

Outlines current methods, criteria, and procedures for evaluating foreign academic credentials in Europe, the role of the national recognition centers, international cooperation among them, and the evolution of internationally agreed-upon standards. Traces development of the Draft Recommendation on General Procedures and Criteria for Evaluation of…

The literature on mid-level administrators in higher education has identified a number of factors that may affect their attitudes and performance, either positively or negatively. To a large degree, individual perceptions concerning recognition, discrimination, external relations, and mobility explain morale. Institutions can address these issues…

Considers the effects of marital disruption on children and families, using a risk and resilience perspective. Highlights the importance of understanding pathways toward risk and resilience following divorce and how to integrate this research into effective, evidence-based preventive interventions and proactive social policies that foster…

What does it mean to "develop professional standards"? This paper argues that the task is one of setting up the processes and resources that will bring about an informed and growing teaching community. This is not a task in making lists of the "competencies" that teachers are to be measured against. Considerable work by…

Significant progress has been made toward greater professional recognition for adult ESL instructors in Canada over the past decade. At the same time, an ever-increasing demand for English-language teachers, particularly abroad, has resulted in a substantial growth in the number of private companies offering short-term ESL/EFL teacher training.…

Apparently, the department of agriculture is the last bastion for ideological pluralism in the modern American academy. Almost everywhere else, according to research by Stanley Rothman et al., a monolithic liberal orthodoxy holds sway, rewarding its own and conferring career disadvantage upon scholars deemed politically inconvenient. As his…

Like many other states, Michigan has recently instituted minimum technology standards for pre-service teachers. A group of teacher education institutions decided that that standard needed to be a baseline rather than an end goal. Together they formed the Consortium for Outstanding Achievement in Teaching with Technology (COATT), whose purpose is…

While wandering through the recesses of history one occasionally stumbles upon relatively uncelebrated persons whose contributions to the quality of life and faith of a given population merit attention. Their insights and experience have paved the way for continuing developments in religious education. One such person is Josephine Van Dyke…

The article sets out the consequences of the British Government's remodelling agenda and its emphasis on less demarcation, for the professional status of teachers in England. It describes how the National Agreement on Raising Standards and Tackling Workload, reached between five of the six trade unions for teachers and headteachers paves the way…

School counselors refer to themselves as professionals who provide services to clients. Nonetheless, a critical examination of perceptions and roles is necessary before this assertion can be accepted. The purpose of this study is twofold: (1) to examine the extent to which school counseling in Queensland, Australia is considered a profession, and…

Project APEX (Adult Practitioner Excellence) provided technical assistance to the Pennsylvania Department of Education in the development of a nominations form, procedures, and criteria for the new adult basic and literacy education (ABLE) practitioner excellence awards. It proposed a three-part nomination and selection system for determining…

This digest examines the knowledge base for teaching, noting that many critical decisions about educational structure, policy, and assessment rely on it. The professionalization of teaching depends on showing that teaching requires mastery of a specialized body of knowledge that is applied ethically. Serious deliberation is needed in the…