Introduction: Academic integrity policy that is inaccessible, ambiguous or confusing is likely to result in inconsistent policy enactment. Additionally, policy analysis and development are often undertaken as top down processes requiring passive acceptance by users of policy that has been developed outside the context in which it is enacted. Both…

This article synthesises findings from two systematic reviews that examined evidence of the link between large-scale assessments (LSAs) and education policy in economically developing countries and in countries of the Asia-Pacific. Analyses summarise evidence of assessment characteristics and policy goals of LSAs that influence education policy,…

Taking an interpretive approach to evidence-based policy, this article illustrates the rhetorical and situated uses of evidence in two case studies of local cultural policy. Broadly defined as policy-relevant knowledge, evidence is selectively used by council officers in the development, delivery, and evaluation of arts programmes at two…

Evidence Check, a programme managed by the Sax Institute in Sydney, Australia, assists Australian policy makers to commission quality reviews of research to inform health policy decision making. The programme involves an iterative knowledge brokering process to formulate and refine the scope of and questions for the review. The knowledge brokering…

The author analyzes the growth and nature of internal evaluation from the 1960s to the present and suggests that internal evaluation has been on the increase because of its perceived importance. Although the 1960s were characterized by a rich intellectual development of evaluation theory and practice, the fiscal conservatism of the 1980s ushered…

Federal, State and school-based professional development has become a multi-million dollar educational enterprise in Australia. Yet there are no published models for the making of systems-level professional development policy. Reviewing the literature on the characteristics of effective professional development programs, this paper proposes a…

The demand for workers (employers, self-employed people and employees) having research training extends beyond the researcher workforce itself and is increasing. The research workforce is not uniform but segmented according to disciplines and the economic and sectoral contexts in which researchers work. The growth of cross-disciplinary and…

School descriptions are seen as valuable. It is suggested that the process of developing such descriptions can be utilized as a means towards the development and articulation of school policies or philosophies. (Author/MLW)

Recent abandonment of certain established criteria in Australia's system of resource allocation for higher education are discussed along with resulting effects. The criteria include: specific institutional needs, nondisruption of institutional activities, and recognition of institutional autonomy. (MSE)

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…

Australian governments at both federal and state levels have collaborated for the past 15 years to lift Indigenous students from their position as the nation's most educationally disadvantaged group. The introduction in 1989 of the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Education Plan was accompanied by an ambitious target of achieving…

This review of Australia's National Aboriginal Languages Program, undertaken in September-November 1989, involved consultation with individuals in Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal organizations and communities in several areas. It was found that 56% of 1988-89 funding went to Aboriginal communities and regional language centers, 20% to state schools,…

This report examines issues related to the performance indicators used for international comparisons of Australia's vocational education and training (VET) system. Chapter 2 examines main sources of international comparisons of VET and main features of indicator frameworks used for comparisons. Chapter 3 presents an outline of these two main…

The model currently used to represent the impacts of Australia's technical and further education (TAFE) programs implies a one-way flow of impact from TAFE to student to community. It may be argued that TAFE could better serve its clients by developing a social capital-based, two-way, reciprocal dynamic of vocational education and training (VET)…

Policies and practices promoting youth entrepreneurship in Organisation for Economic Cooperation Development (OECD) member countries were reviewed. Special attention was paid to the following issues: youth unemployment; contrasting employment situations and policy approaches in individual OECD countries; a definition of self-employment; and the…