In two experiments, 330 3- to 4-year-olds competed for stickers in a game in which the optimal response strategy was to point to an empty box that their opponent would receive in order to obtain a baited box for themselves. When the baited box contained stickers, children showed a strong tendency to point at the baited box and therefore lose the…

No one publicly defends unequal educational opportunity, Christopher Jencks claimed in a well-known article two decades ago. But is this actually true? With the rise of a "global war for talent" and the push by business and political elites for a "global meritocracy", the terrain on which educators work is shifting radically. This article argues…

The present research examined the relationships between two social axiom dimensions, reward for application and fate control, with various achievement-related indexes across a wide range of cultures. Results showed that there was no relationship between reward for application and academic achievement or economic competitiveness, but reward for…

Economic theory suggests that competitive pressures will impact on organisational efficiency. In recent years, universities in Australia and New Zealand have faced increased competition for students. The aim of this paper is to explore the efficiency of Australian and New Zealand public universities and to investigate the impact of competition for…

This thesis examined the role of strategic marketing in organizational adaptation to a rapidly changing and competitive external environment among institutions of higher education. Colleges and universities adapt to external pressures as open systems operating within a broader external environment (Bess & Dee, 2008; Keller, 1983). How does…

It was 8:45 a.m. on Monday, March 29, 2010, when Paul Herdman got the stunning news. Just two states had won first-round grants in the Race to the Top competition, the largest federal competition of its kind in American history, out of 40 state applicants. Herdman joined the Rodel Foundation of Delaware (Rodel) as President and CEO in 2004. The…

The aim of this paper is to describe a digital game with an educational purpose in the subject of computer programming, which enables students to reinforce and improve their abilities on the concepts of sequencing, defined iteration and nesting. For its design, a problem solving approach was followed and a score comparing mechanism was implemented…

This article examines the ways in which a multimodal text--a YouTube video on globalization and business--was mediated in two English for Academic Purposes (EAP) classrooms, and how these mediations shaped the instructor's and her students' meaning-making in specific ways. I first explore the complex multimodal discourses involved with this…

Whilst much of the rhetoric of current educational policy champions creativity and innovation, structural reforms and new management practices in higher education run counter to the known conditions under which creativity flourishes. As a review of recent literature suggests, surveillance, performativity, the end of tenure and rising levels of…

This paper uses student level data from New York City to study the relationship between a public school losing enrollment to charter school competitors and the academic achievement of students who remain enrolled in it. Geographic measures most often used to study the effect of school choice policies on public school student achievement are not…

In higher education today, an overwhelming acceptance of neoliberal and neoconservative ideologies that advance corporate logics of efficiency, competition and profit maximization is commonplace. Market-driven logics and neoconservative ideals shape decision-making about what is taught, how material is taught, who teaches, who does research, who…

The Race to the Top fund (RTT) is intended to be a major federal investment in state and local education capacity and systemic education reforms aligned with federal policy priorities. In coming years, questions will be asked about the extent to which investments made through the RTT grant program improve educational productivity and…

Purpose: Competition for resources appears to be increasing at a time of political, security (including energy, food and climate) and economic change; leading to potential collapse. The purpose of this conceptual paper is to examine the impact of policies exercised at the macro level on methods and processes applied at the micro level through, for…

This article looks at one way for teachers to make classrooms emotionally, mentally, and physically healthy places to learn--places where tensions and stresses are lessened and where teachers and students are concentrating, yet relaxed. "Harmonious language learning classroom" is the term the author coined to describe this kind of language…

International learning mobility is a strategic and operational priority for both the federal government and the majority of universities in Australia. Dating back over a decade, successive governments have stressed the public good to be derived from having an increased proportion of students participating in mobility programs. It is seen as…