In this article, the author discusses a transition program at the Iowa School for the Deaf (ISD) that helps students learn to search for, find and keep jobs. ISD's personal and career development (PCD) classes, which began in the fall of 2005, are required for the school's ninth through twelfth graders. The goal is to ease transition from school…

This article presents the judgement and dissent of the European Court of Human Rights in the "Case of Folgero and others v. Norway" regarding the subject "Christianity, Religion and Philosophy (KRL)" in Norwegian state schools. The verdict, reached with dissenting votes of 9-8, states that parents' freedom of ensuring their…

At the beginning of the 2011-2012 school year, the Alaska State School for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing (ASSDHH) was informed that they had met Alaska's Annual Yearly Progress as required by No Child Left Behind (NCLB) for the first time ever. This was incredibly exciting and worth celebrating since teachers had invested so much "blood,…

Questionnaire responses from 5044 year 8 (age 12 years) pupils in Oxfordshire state schools were used to identify "exemplary" science teachers. These teachers met for a one-day forum to explore their perspectives on "exemplary" teaching. The key characteristics of exemplary practice to emerge related to teacher attitudes and…

"Widening participation" and "fair access" have been contested policy areas in English higher education since at least the early 1990s. They were key facets of the 2003 White Paper--"The Future of Higher Education"--and the subsequent 2004 Higher Education Act, with stated objectives that the reach of higher education…

This article presents a study of written development in English as a foreign language produced in a content and language integrated learning (CLIL) environment. The texts analysed, from history classes, were collected annually over the four-year obligatory junior secondary education program from the same students (aged 12 to 16), in two state…

Among the most important features of a democratic way of life is public space within which we collectively make meaning of our work and lives together and take shared responsibility for past action and future intentions. This article looks briefly at the argument for democratic public space within political and educational theory before focusing…

The paper presents a notional account of the challenges facing the introduction of English as an international lingua franca (ELF) curriculum in the state schools of the expanding circle, taking Greece as a case in point. It broadly delineates an ELF curriculum as one focusing on the skills necessary for carrying out successful communication…

Alaska's Department of Education & Early Development shares a vision that all students can succeed in their education and work, shape meaningful lives for themselves, exemplify the best values of society, and be effective in improving the character and quality of the world about them. To support this mission, the Alaska State Board of…

Background: Competitive foods and beverages are available on most US school campuses. States and school districts are adopting nutrition standards to regulate these products, but few studies have reported on the extent to which schools are able to adhere to competitive regulations. The purpose of this study was to describe the extent to which…

This study examined how self-efficacy beliefs might be used to inform leadership regarding accountability. A survey of principals was used to investigate the degree to which they believed the goals of federal and state school measures were actually attainable, and to what degree they believed their leadership helped achieve these goals. The…

In this paper, we study a high profile case--the introduction of academy schools into the English secondary school sector--that has allowed schools to gain more autonomy and flexible governance by changing their school structure. We consider the impact of an academy school conversion on their pupil intake and pupil performance and possible…

Academies (state schools owned and run by private sponsors on a non-profit basis) are a key element in Labour's education agenda. Proposals to set up Academies, in most cases by taking over existing schools, have provoked local campaigns of opposition in many areas. Replacing a Local Authority with an Academy entails a process of consultation.…

Everyone knows it takes money to make money (although not necessarily to earn it), and that certainly applies to development departments. The cost of raising money can be significant; even the most streamlined operations spend about a dime to raise a dollar, and most spend closer to a quarter. For some, the cost is downright embarrassing. It…

As they wait to see how the latest push for common national standards plays out, some states are putting off or slowing the revision of their own academic standards to avoid wasted effort and spending. At least four states--Arkansas, Florida, Louisiana, and Pennsylvania--have halted revision of their standards for mathematics or English/language…