School choice has influenced several educational reforms in the US and across the world in the last decades. These reforms have often promoted school autonomy, parental choice, and competition between schools to improve quality and equity. Whether those reforms work in practice is well examined, but the roles of policy design such as the extent to…

Policymakers have increasingly advocated decentralization as a way of enhancing educational quality, although its potential in this area is still subject to debate. This article traces the impetus and popularity of the reform as a policy solution over the past few decades. It argues that three trends in particular have characterized the post-2000…

Both the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) and recent efforts to hold schools and teachers accountable have been hotly debated among practitioners, policymakers, and the public at large. Much of the debate centers on the merits and demerits of these initiatives and the general approach they represent to reforming teaching and learning. In this…

Ten years ago, community college presidents' most valued datum was the number of students enrolled, which drove the colleges' funding. Providing access to higher education for the millions of students without the time, money, or academic preparation to attend a traditional four-year college was (as it always had been) their top priority. Today, a…

The people at National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) are passionate about their work. NASA's missions are exciting to learners of all ages. Since its creation in 1958, NASA's people have been passionate about sharing their inspiring discoveries, research and exploration with students and educators. When retired Marine Corps General…

The shift in education reform to a goal of college and career readiness for all students is a change that has been embraced widely across the country. The challenge of designing new policies and programs that could accomplish the goal that all students should graduate from high school with the skills and knowledge necessary to succeed in college…

Effective inservice programs are necessary to ensure that current reforms in education are properly implemented. Inservice programs must meet the needs of both the educational system and educators. Six basic policy assumptions dealing with what is needed in inservice education are discussed. (DF)

This article discusses England's national strategy to improve the quality of gifted and talented education. The strategy includes: intensive area-based programs through localized excellence initiatives; a regional dimension through "GATE A", the new gifted and talented education arm of the London Challenge; and resources for student,…

This article traces recent developments in a national strategy for the education of highly able pupils in England, focusing on the government's Excellence in Cities school improvement program. The program seeks to ensure that gifted and talented pupils are identified and provided with opportunities to fulfill their potential. (Contains…

A discussion of reforms in Swedish graduate study since 1969 and their results focuses on the design of a standard 4-year program, the career prospects of degree recipients, student financing, the working environment for graduate students, and curriculum relevance. (MSE)

A perspective is given and recommendations are made for restructuring education personnel development with major emphasis on preservice teacher education. Issues facing teacher education are put in a socio-historical context. It is stated that teacher training has been largely separated from the public school system, and that training has been…

Explores elements of the design of school choice programs, defining outcomes and technical criteria. These criteria are applied to failed choice initiatives in three states and to a proposed initiative in California, the Parents' Choice in Education Amendment. Differential effects in urban and suburban schools are considered. (SLD)

The National Education Goals were adopted by the nation's governors in 1990. The March 1994 enactment of the "Goals 2000: Educate America Act" made the National Education Goals federal policy and the guiding principles for a fundamental restructuring of the public education system. These goals have created a climate of education reform…

This paper addresses the problem of building the capacity for continuous renewal and reform in the educational system. The authors contend that the paradigm of R&D previously used has been too narrow, and that it is based on restrictive assumptions about how to help schools solve problems. They feel that any revised concept of "the…

Explores issues faced by designers of school choice systems as numbers and types of choice arrangements proliferate and become more complex. Defines elements of a successful system of choice. The system developed will depend on the intentions, assumptions, and commitments present in the initial design. (SLD)