President John Brooks Slaughter has pushed to create diversity at all levels at Occidental College (California), including students, faculty, staff, administrators, and trustees, while maintaining academic excellence. Many say he has succeeded in his leadership, although some alumni are critical of the changes and some supporters are concerned…

The University of Texas at El Paso has provided leadership and support for several collaborative K-16 reform activities. A closed-loop, K-12, preservice teacher preparation system supported by generous extramural funding has provided the university, community college, and local schools with opportunities for conversation, shared vision, and…

Discussion of the higher education system of Macedonia includes a description of the various institutions, the undergraduate and graduate programs of the two principal universities, admission and enrollment procedures, higher education finance, and international linkages, particularly the intention of creating cooperative arrangements with…

A reexamination of recommended reforms for public college and university governing boards, outlined in an Association of Governing Boards policy paper, suggests that borrowing approaches from private higher education will not necessarily solve the challenges facing private education. Issues discussed include the board's role and functions,…

Describes the successful bilingual education program at Socorro High School, Texas. As a result of site-based management, teacher-collaborative strategic planning, widespread ESL certification, and a parent-student-teacher school improvement team, students (98% Hispanic, 90% poor) consistently score above state averages; fewer than 2% drop out,…

Seven plans for financing higher education's expansion in the United Kingdom are described, analyzed, and compared, particularly as each addresses three issues: student loan program design; tuition; and student loan repayment. Criteria for evaluating the plans include efficiency, equity, and implications for stability of public spending. The…

The Glion Declaration, issued after a 1998 higher education leadership colloquium, proposes strategies for addressing higher education challenges in the 21st century. Issues addressed include teaching as moral vocation, scholarship as public trust, creation of new intellectual alliances, use of information technology, public service as…

Gifted children in the preschool and primary grades may demonstrate advanced abilities in the verbal areas in several different ways. Many gifted children show precocious oral language ability by talking early and with greater complexity and manipulation of language than their age peers. Some gifted children also demonstrate precocious reading…

Teachers in Ireland fear that benchmarking in the context of the present review of pay and conditions for all public service workers camouflages a shift of concern away from the development of the individual student to concern for the quality of the educational process provided by schools. A recent dispute between secondary teachers and the Irish…

Recent educational reforms in China are placing increasing emphasis on the integration of new technologies in the English language curriculum. At the same time, a debate has begun concerning the effectiveness of Information Technology (IT) usage in transforming language pedagogy in the Chinese context. In response to points made in the discussions…

This article sets the scene for the other papers in this Special Issue on children's and young people's participation, by outlining the nature of the ESRC Seminar Series from which all are derived and by developing the main themes discussed at the seminars. The focus of this Issue is participation by children and young people as this relates to…

Legislative and programmatic efforts to improve teacher quality have become a major focus of state policymaking in recent years. States have employed numerous strategies in response to concerns about the preparation, quantity, and capacity of the teacher workforce. In this chapter, the authors introduce conceptual frameworks for understanding…

Ethiopia is a nation of more than 70 million people characterized by diverse ethnic, linguistic, and religious groups. Since the early 1990s Ethiopia has entered into the process of transformation towards a more civil society. This transformational process has led to numerous socioeconomic and political policy reforms. Central to reforms in the…

Educational systems worldwide still continue to rely heavily on public sources of funding. Nearly 80% of the expenditure on higher education comes from public sources in OECD countries; the share is even larger in developing countries. There is a concerted effort in many countries to reduce the reliance on state funding and move towards…

The purpose of this study was to examine principals' perceptions and practices regarding bullying prevention. A survey instrument was developed to assess principals' stages of change and perceived barriers regarding selected bullying prevention activities as well as the effectiveness of bullying prevention activities. Of a national random sample…