While policy debate is often focused on the whole teaching profession, primary and secondary teachers differ in more ways than one. While all countries require teachers to have at least a bachelor degree to enter the profession in primary or lower secondary education, the structure and content of the programmes vary and are less geared towards…

"Physical Education and Sport at School in Europe" maps the state of play of physical education and sport activities at school in 30 European countries. The report covers primary and lower secondary education and provides an insight into the following topics: national strategies and large-scale initiatives where they exist, the status of…

Increasing the number of hours students spend in school each year, on the assumption that this will improve student achievement, has become a widespread trend. However, the analysis reported here suggests that this trend can be misguided: the time students spend in the classroom is not always positively related to their academic achievement.…

Computed and compared the accumulation rate of math-time capital through eighth grade in a sample of countries including Japan and the United States. The 1982 IEA exam administered to 13-year olds shows a U.S. score substantially below Japan (the highest math-time country). The United States could lengthen the school year by three weeks and…

Through a rigorous process of selecting educational psychology's most useful affective constructs, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) constructed the Students' Approaches to Learning (SAL) instrument, which requires only 10 min to measure 14 factors that assess self-regulated learning strategies, self-beliefs,…

The concept of an extended school year was first defined in "A Nation at Risk," which recommended lengthening the school calendar to 200-220 days per year (compared to the current average of about 180 days). Little research is available to prove the benefits of an extended calendar, and many question if this practice is a cost-effective…

Indepth research on Chinese students questions Western notions regarding motivation and memorization. Chinese educators believe creativity and understanding require much effort, repetition, and attention. Time on task and behavioral problems may be less relevant. Reform efforts using transplanted ideas must consider both societies' contexts.…

The Education Council Act of 1991 (Public Law 102-62) established the National Education Commission on Time and Learning as an independent advisory body charged to do a comprehensive review of the relationship between time and learning in U.S. schools. Based on its 24-month investigation, the Commission found that American students spend an…