Reports on educational activities in the Scottish Parliament for Fall-Winter 2000-01. Discusses efforts to prevent a recurrence of the Scottish Qualifications Authority's failure to deliver timely and accurate examination results; recommendations to increase student financial support for further and higher education and thereby widen access; and…

Describes how a bilingual school explores an innovative professional development approach that is shaped by teachers' needs and inquiries. Presents an account in process of one school's work with the National Council of Teachers of English Reading Initiative, that organization's first professional development program for elementary teachers. (SG)

Presents an interview with Allan Luke, current editor of "The Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy," and Deputy Director General of Education for Queensland. Discusses several reform projects--Education 2010 (a futures-oriented analysis and philosophy for Queensland Schools); The New Basics ( a new curriculum/pedagogy/assessment…

School-effectiveness research (SER) has an instrumental orientation. Although critics claim otherwise, SER researchers usually consider students'"innate" background characteristics when studying schools. Theory formation, foundational issues, and research viability are being addressed. The field is definitely alive and kicking, despite…

Describes an integrated curriculum activity directed by middle school students to promote voting during the presidential election. Notes how students raised money to pay for a billboard advertisement they designed. Discusses the connection between the project and content areas, including electoral procedure. (JPB)

Discusses the political diversity of the Caribbean. Focuses on historical issues such as the impact of colonial rule and distinctive political regimes. Explains four types of Caribbean society and considers the role of political leaders. Explores the interplay of community and insularity in the Caribbean. (CMK)

Reviews the many dramatically different forms of school choice proposals, warning against implementing sharply limited and regulated school choice plans and arguing that if the failure of school choice is wrongly attributed to too much choice rather than too little, broader and freer experiments in choice could be politically doomed. Focuses on…

Examines three international comparative research projects in higher education, commissioned by the Center for Higher Education Policy Studies (Netherlands). Develops a model of the influence of research on various stages of the educational policy process, focusing on three uses of research: enlightenment, political decision making, and problem…

Describes one superintendent's behaviors and activities while trying to implement a change agenda (site-based management) in his district. Although the superintendent's leadership style seemed based on theory, it created consternation and fear in many and acceptance in some. Administrators ultimately rejected the superintendent's…

Responses of 600 higher education experts in seven Western European countries to a survey concerning government influence on higher education, currently and in the future, were analyzed to assess how different approaches to government role would affect higher education policy. It is concluded that different approaches would effect very different…

Summarizes global findings from surveys of literacy levels around the world and makes the case for the sociopolitical bases for access to valued reading and writing practices. Drawing on recent Australian research, it focuses on difficulties in current provisions for reading education in institutionalized adult literacy programs. (seven…

The New Christian Right is hardly a new force in American education, but its recent activism leaves unresolved the question of whether it seeks to transform America in its own image or merely to protect its own position and respect for its special values. Implications for educational policy are considered. (SLD)

Argues that with the increasing complexity of American college and university governance, the presidency should be strengthened, and the president's goal should be to use the powers of the office in serious, not cosmetic, collaboration with others who have responsibility and interests in the institution, and to bring partial views together in a…

Notes that the potential of education to be a source of upward mobility is decreasing in the very communities where it is needed most, due to lack of resources and lower expectations for schools in poor neighborhoods. Details Republican and Democrat education plans. Notes that vouchers for private schools will only exacerbate the problem by…

Briefly discusses questions in Canadian education that no one seems to be pursuing: what works, who will lead, why is there so much rant and "can't," how to end the isolation in education, where are the good things happening, and when can we see results? (SAS)