Social protection interventions have been used as a poverty reduction strategy in many countries. Free Basic Education is one of the social protection interventions implemented in most developing countries. This review assessed the outcome of the implementation of Free Basic Education in Africa, using Ghana, Uganda, Kenya, and Malawi as a test…

The subject of computer science (CS) and computer science education (CSE) has relatively recently arisen as a subject for inclusion within the compulsory school curriculum. Up to this present time, a major focus of technologies in the school curriculum has in many countries been on applications of existing technologies into subject practice (both…

The concept of street-level bureaucracy (Lipsky, 1980, 2010) examines the form and extent discretion takes in teachers' and other public policy enactors' work and how they negotiate their way through sometimes contradictory policy imperatives. It provides a framework for straddling top-down and bottom-up perspectives on policy making. In this…

The WISE Report from the Clayton Christensen Institute explores perspectives on the blended learning process through the institute's comprehensive surveys of the three countries. This report touches on a number of school-based efforts to implement educational technology, focusing on whether, and how, a sample of brick-and-mortar schools in Brazil,…

As national qualifications frameworks in Europe move closer to operation, policy integration becomes a key challenge. Introducing qualifications frameworks based on learning outcomes is now a global phenomenon. According to the recent joint publication by Cedefop, ETF and Unesco, frameworks are either established or being developed in 142…

Though it is estimated that about half of the world's population is bilingual, the estimate for the United States is well below 20% (Grosjean, 2010). Amid growing recognition of the need for second language skills to facilitate international commerce and national security and to enhance learning opportunities for non-native speakers of English,…

This article provides some of the key findings of a comparative study commissioned by the International Labour Organization (ILO), which attempted to understand more about the impact and implementation of national qualifications frameworks (NQFs). Sixteen case studies were produced, on qualifications frameworks in Australia; Bangladesh; Botswana;…

Standardized testing for higher education has been much in the news in the US over the last few years. In the wake of the Spellings Commission, the clear intent of the Department of Education's (USDOE) position in negotiated rulemaking in 2007 was to mandate its use in accreditation. Standardized testing is also a central feature of the Voluntary…

As revealed by the mean scores of the countries participating in the Performance Improvement through Strategy Analysis (PISA) assessment of reading literacy, Finland shows the highest reading literacy performance in the Organisation for Economic Cooperation Development (OECD) Finland's performance is significantly higher than that of any other…

This document presents outcomes of a review of the Memorandum on Lifelong Learning (LL) consultation reports from member states of the European Commission and EEA (European Economic Area) countries that collected all views on how best to make progress in implementing LL at local, regional, and national levels. Section 1 provides an overview of…

A 2-year project examined the effectiveness of courses for returning workers in enabling women to make a sustained return to paid employment in the following countries: France; Spain; Ireland; and the United Kingdom. In each country, a short foundation-level program and a longer accredited return-to-work program were selected for evaluation.…

This document consists of 12 papers that, together, summarize the key issues underpinning future research and policy development related to intergenerational programs (IPs). "Introduction" (Alan Hatton-Yeo) discusses the project out of which the papers developed. "A General Assessment of IP Initiatives in the Countries…

This document describes the major features of the vocational educational and training (VET) sectors in China and Australia, particularly the linkages between lower and higher VET that occur within secondary and postsecondary education in Australia and, in China, within junior secondary schools, senior secondary schools, and higher institutions of…