The enactment of the No Child Left Behind Act (2002) and the subsequent succession of legislative acts have had a profound impact on educational policy. An increased emphasis on teacher accountability and effectiveness led to the use of standardized test results to determine tangible rewards or punishments. In response, a culture of teaching to…

This report aims to provide insight into the realities faced by higher education academic staff at a time of fast-moving change and increasing societal demand. Fluctuating student numbers, new funding and steering mechanisms are among the features of today's European higher education landscape, but not enough is known about how academic staff are…

This paper provides an overview of key policy developments in education, training, and employment in Armenia. The paper contains sections that review the country's key demographic and economic characteristics; education trends, challenges, policy and institutional setting; and labour market and employment trends, challenges, policy and…

This report provides an overview of key policy developments in education, training, and employment in Georgia. The paper contains sections that review the country's key demographic and economic characteristics; education and training trends, challenges, policy, and institutional setting; and labour market and employment trends, challenges, policy,…

Despite the Scottish Government's frequent affirmation of its commitment to social justice principles, there has of late been a recognition of the need for firmer action to tackle the social class gap in higher education participation, reflecting wider social inequalities in Scotland. In a recent policy statement, Angela Constance, Cabinet…

The issue of plurilingual approach usage to the study of foreign languages has been made actual on case study of Swiss universities. Basic concepts of English philologists' formation at Swiss universities have been determined. These components have been analyzed with relation to their relevance to the prospective philologist in English Linguistics…

This report reviews the collection, availability and quality of system-level data and metadata on education from countries participating in the PISA for Development project: Cambodia, Ecuador, Guatemala, Paraguay, Senegal and Zambia. PISA for Development aims to increase low income countries' use of PISA assessments for monitoring progress towards…

The very first issue of "Educational Perspectives" was published in October of 1962. Dr. Albert Carr wrote one of the inaugural essays on the topic of current developments in science education, and he went on to write several other articles for the journal. This article shares why Dr. Albert Carr's colleagues remember him for his…

This comment was given to an international panel on the economics of education at the invitation of the Beijing Forum, China, on 3 November 2012. It was published in Chinese in Volume 11, 2013, of the "Peking University Education Review". It considers the connections between ethics, economics and policy towards higher education, using a…

This article considers the development of educating cities from a political perspective, illustrating in detail the diversity of organisations and individuals involved and the challenges they are facing. Bearing in mind that educating cities were established from the 1990s onwards in Europe and spread to other continents from there, the purpose of…

The evolution of the education system in Scotland is explained as the starting point for future developments, particularly in science and related subjects. The Curriculum for Excellence (CfE) provided the backbone of current reforms in which the emphasis on skills is seen as more important and potentially more lasting than concentrating on…

During the nineteenth century many European countries proclaimed sovereignty of the people and simultaneously founded their national educational systems. In order to provide public schooling, free and compulsory education was established. Political and sociocultural revolutions led to the rise of nation states, based on democratic or…

This paper highlights how returnees and knowledge diaspora are important sources for China's human resources development, identifying push and pull factors that also contribute significantly to innovation in the higher education sector. By outlining China's key projects and schemes for recruiting international professional workers, the paper…

The early 1990s saw the emergence of a rapidly changing landscape of higher education in Singapore with influence from various trends internationally. This article shares on the embryonic stage of staff development in Singapore and the journey of encounters with SEDA pioneers who helped sow the seeds of understanding the true scholarship of…

The author states that, at the liberal arts college where he used to work, he would step out of his office each fall to teach an undergraduate course on higher education. What better opportunity for reflection and critical engagement, he thought, than to investigate the enterprise to which the students and he had each made some serious…