Flexibility is a lever for change that occupies an increasingly prominent place in federal strategies for educational improvement. Flexibility assumes that local actors are in the best position to identify the most serious problems facing schools and students and to determine how to solve them. Consequently, these actors should be given greater…

Clearly defining what rural means has tangible implications for public policies and practices in education, from establishing resource needs to achieving the goals of No Child Left Behind in rural areas. The word "rural" has many meanings. It has been defined in reference to population density, geographic features, and level of economic…

This report presents the findings of the Trial Audit Panel (TAP) after studying a range of documentation before and during the audit and discussing issues with a wide range of University of South Africa (Unisa) staff during their visit to the University in June 2007. The original intention was to produce two reports, one in the format and…

In 2005, the School of Property, Construction and Project Management at RMIT University, Melbourne, introduced a new curriculum format for all first year students. All students enrolling in one of the four undergraduate degrees offered by the school commenced a common first year programme. This new curriculum was adopted to provide students with a…

This paper examines the reality of teaching math in the rural southeast. Rural districts have low student expenditures and high transportation costs, due in part to the limited tax-base available. This leaves limited funds for technology. Universities prepare preservice teachers to teach math using the latest technology, however, many of these…

Resilience is a trait that can help school leaders use their energy wisely when faced with adversity. But why do some leaders emerge from adversity with a balance in their account and others with a deficit? To explore this question, the authors conducted a case study with a single focus: "How do resilient school leaders move ahead in the face of…

Voters in the State of Michigan reformed K-12 school financing significantly in 1994. The reform largely removed local government from playing a role in the determination of school finance and lodged this authority mainly with state government. In this article we examine the long-term impacts of the reform legislation. We find that although the…

Over the past thirty years, considerable research has been conducted to understand the issues that affect a student's choice of a higher education institution. Past research has focused on understanding the phases of the decision process and the personal, financial, and environmental factors that influence institutional choice. Many of these…

The future of Greece's well-being will depend on improving educational performance to boost productivity and improve social outcomes. In the current economic context, with the need to get best value for spending, Greece must and can address inefficiencies in its education system. The challenges are significant. For example, Greece lags behind many…

This article by T. Edward Hollander, offers an overview of the current condition of state funding for higher education, noting that unlike secondary and elementary education, higher education may appear to be a discretionary appropriation which state leaders can expand or reduce depending on the state's fiscal circumstances. Suggesting that…

This paper uses examples of systemic sex discrimination at one Canadian university to illustrate the need to continue to redress the causes of such discrimination. An opening section explores some legal definitions of systemic discrimination from court decisions and government regulation. Using these, this section develops a working definition of…

Three generations of children have passed through the Baton Rouge (Louisiana) school system since the "Brown" decision (1954) and one generation since the federal court's 1981 desegregation order. The impact of school desegregation on African American children was studied in the East Baton Rouge School District. For the student body as a…

In order to determine the effectiveness of Hawaii State expenditures on public education (one-third of Hawaii's general revenues funds), the state legislature asked that the state auditor study the feasibility of applying a model to analyze expenditures for public education. The state auditor engaged Dr. Bruce S. Cooper, a professor at Fordham…

This paper describes the state of interactive distance learning in Connecticut, particularly the current and future provision of these services by the telecommunications and cable television industries. The overview examines questions of where obligation and responsibility lie (with schools, local exchange companies, cable franchises, etc.) in…

This book has been prepared so that taxpayers, school board members, and administrators may learn more about school finance in their own districts. It will equip them with the information necessary to understand and evaluate both the statewide system of education in Illinois and how this system relates to their own school district. Despite…