What are the positives and negatives of zero tolerance? What should be considered when examining a school's program? Although there are no definitive definitions of zero tolerance, two commonly used ones are as follows: "Zero tolerance means that a school will automatically and severely punish a student for a variety of infractions" (American Bar…

The rise of women's modern schooling in late Qing China was deemed to be, by the historical trend of modern China, a progress that coincided with China's modernization and national self-strengthening movement after the humiliating defeat of the Opium War. This article is an examination of this process from 1840 to 1911, which had undergone three…

Drawing from the surge of anti-bilingual education sentiments at the turn of the millennium, Ron Unz and the program he initiated, English for the Children, promoted Proposition 203 to dismantle bilingual and English as a second language (ESL) programs in Arizona's public schools. According to Unz's initiative, language-minority students were to…

The paper challenges some of the social and cultural attitudes to disability today and ways in which The Arts can be used to express and bring our dreams to life. It highlights issues relating to children who need special education, children who attend special schools, children who, for whatever reason, do not attend mainstream schools. It…

This paper explores the potential benefits of education about intercultural issues for improving a student's future job employability. From the perspective of discourse theory, both job employability and intercultural competence as job qualifications may be taken as discursive constructions. This paper delineates understandings of these concepts…

Although there is limited research into the success of primary school networking initiatives in the UK, there is a drive at national government level for promoting school collaborative working arrangements as a catalyst for whole-school improvement. This paper discusses the findings from research into two such initiatives: "Networked Learning…

As the most concerted venture to craft common academic standards in more than a decade rolls forward, the process has drawn criticism from those who say too much of the nitty-gritty work is taking place behind closed doors. The organizations leading the effort--the National Governors Association (NGA) and the Council of Chief State School Officers…

As is well known, in the mid-twentieth century education in Russia experienced a powerful upsurge, rising to a position of leadership in the world. Interpreting this extraordinary phenomenon is vital in order to both understand the characteristics of Russia's social and historical development and to map out a strategy for the nation's long-term…

Russian universities rank poorly in international comparisons, and recent suggested reforms will not change this situation. There is an urgent need to find ways to improve the quality of Russia's higher education and to make it more appealing to scientists and to international students. In general, in order for the world to begin to appreciate and…

Recent educational reforms in China have emphasized "learner autonomy", but this differs in crucial respects from the concept of "personal autonomy", which is a central goal of western liberal education. The many changes that have resulted from the opening up policy in China in the last 30 years include what has been called…

The research reported here demonstrates the need for greater subtlety in the practice of policy than appears to be evident in many parts of the globe. Based upon an ethnographic study of school reform, this paper heeds Appadurai's call for those researching the "global diaspora of ideas" to pay attention to the contextual conventions…

This study describes and analyzes the actions taken by the principal and a middle school leadership team, which resulted in a change from a seven- to a six-period bell schedule. Change was facilitated through the interaction of three forces: (a) transformational leadership of the principal; (b) the development of a strong leadership team, and (c)…

The New Labour government identified the further education (FE) sector as a vehicle to deliver its central policies on social justice and economic competitiveness in England, which has led to a torrent of initiatives that have increased central scrutiny and control over FE. Although the connections between social justice, economic competitiveness…

While countries with predominantly academic school-based upper secondary education have been "discovering" vocational education and training (VET) for some time, countries with "vocationalised" education systems such as Austria, Germany or Switzerland are critically reviewing their own situations. This paper takes up the case…

States commonly employ education policy to build a strong sense of citizenship within young people and to create types of citizens appropriate to the country. In Singapore the government created a policy to build citizenship through both policy statements and social studies in the school curriculum. In the context of a tightly controlled state…