Recent decades have revealed a gap between promises and realities of accountability in education governance, as well as further afield. Despite efforts identifying and analysing cautionary tales of accountability interventions, a systematic approach to support progressive improvements for managing accountability in complex education systems is yet…

W. Edwards Deming has suggested 96% of organization performance is a function of the organization's structure. He contends only about 4% of an organization's performance is attributable to the people. This is a fundamental difference as most school leaders work with the basic assumption that 80% of a school's performance is related to staff and…

We believe that reframing the conversation to creating a culture around health rather than focusing on discrete actions or activities will capture national consciousness and enable us to make new progress as a nation. Thus, in 2014, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) announced a new vision to help build a "Culture of Health" to…

Many components of the social system interact with one another to produce group-level behavior that determines the functionality of the small group in outdoor adventure education (OAE). This article synthesizes the contemporary literature and theory regarding eight aspects of the OAE social system: (a) Macro Contextual Factors, (b) Student…

The future of human performance technology (HPT) will be bright or dismal depending on how well HPT practitioners focus on careful and practical answers to three pivotal questions: What is good practice in human performance technology? What are the differences between good practice and bad? What are the connections between good research and…

With its strong federalism and direct democracy, as well as the high level of autonomy of its cantons, Switzerland does not have mandatory national policies and regulations on gifted education. Responsibility for the promotion of high-end learners is in the hands of the cantonal boards of education, and depends largely on their current…

Increasing globalisation is concomitant with a growing lack of uniformity in the world. Hardly any satisfactory concepts are available which grasp both of these tendencies within the scope of a single model. While processes of becoming globally alike are central to world system theories, comparative research into institutions has identified a…

Merchandising and consumer economics traditionally have been part of family and consumer sciences (FCS) within the ecosystems framework. The purpose of this article is to examine progress of this sub-system within FCS. Specifically, the authors explore the relevance of the systems approach for merchandising programs and conclude that this model is…

There is a clear conscience today that one of the dimensions of the crisis of education systems has to do with the crisis of the hegemonic models of how to teach and, above all, with the classic hegemonic definition of what to teach. There is also agreement about the fact that the great novelty of the times is that the nation is facing an…

As a scholar/practitioner who has been involved for more than forty years in efforts to improve urban schools and districts, the author is struck by the confluence of factors that seem to be coming together to support this major new effort to rescue the neediest students in urban America. Is it possible that the idealism of the 1960s is finally…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to identify the key aspects of transformation of universities towards sustainability, such as the ideal characteristics of the "sustainable university", and the drivers and barriers in the transformation, by comparing the strategies of seven universities world-wide. Design/methodology/approach: A…

School counselors are currently being charged to become active participants in systemic change for student achievement. This will require leadership. Our study was significant in that it complemented and perpetuated the vision and direction of the school counseling field. This empirical study investigates school counselors' perceptions of…

Distance learning is appealing to small business owners, employees, municipalities, state establishments, non-governmental organizations. Distance-learning are ideal for people who have a full-time job or other commitments, who can't take time off to study full time. This might be a professional who needs to update his knowledge or skills, or a…

Accountability policy research relies on systems theory, objectivism, and logical empiricism to identify learning performance indicators. Policy knowledge production should permit a more holistic, causally interdependent view of teaching, learning, and leadership services. Presents an accountability policy methodology stressing formative…

Performance-based evaluation, along with a database of reliable and objective information concerning existing educational facilities, can help planners identify facility needs. An example of such a system in Vigo County, Indiana, is provided. (MLF)