Recalling a study about public attitudes toward schools in various countries, the author of this article asked Jouni Valijarvi of the University of Juvaskyla how Finns perceived their schools and whether PISA (Programme for International Student Assessment) results had any impact on their perceptions. Valijarvi was the senior author of The Finnish…

Context: Obesity is epidemic in the United States, but information on this trend by type of rural locale is limited. Purpose: To estimate the prevalence of and recent trends in obesity among US adults residing in rural locations. Methods: Analysis of data from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) for the years 1994-1996 (n =…

English writer G. K. Chesterton (1874-1936) was an essayist, novelist, poet, and literary and social critic who was well known for his aphorisms, paradoxes, and Christian apologetics. Though his work was highly regarded in his lifetime, he went into a period of eclipse in the second half of the 20th century. Now he is being rediscovered by a new…

The objectives of this article are, first, to capture the main camps and patterns of the "social studies wars" since the beginning of the twentieth century and, second, to describe critical episodes from that long history that will help put the contemporary controversies in historical perspective. Here, the author features six critical episodes…

I have written this paper in response to a request for a bishop's perspective of Catholic higher education in the United States in the 21st century. My response contains four parts: (1) What is the nature and the purpose of the Roman Catholic Church in the United States at this point in our history? (2) What is a Catholic university in this…

This study explored the relations between epistemological beliefs, social status of parents (n = 262), and school preferences. Epistemological beliefs were measured by 20 bi-polar statements. School preferences were derived from paired comparisons of educational quality of available primary schools. Social status was measured in two dimensions,…

Would projections about adult education look different if they were made by people from multiple countries, backgrounds, and perspectives? The author believes that no matter how much global knowledge one has, interpretations and projections would be different and would be influenced by those aspects already mentioned. Trying to think globally as…

Purpose: This paper seeks to evaluate the arguments for and against the proposition that students in higher education are "customers" and should be treated as such. Design/methodology/approach: A critical review of the relevant literature from the domains of total quality management and marketing. Findings: The debate is polarised, with advocates…

This study investigated the impact of teaching about philosophical approaches on preservice teachers' coherence-non-coherence perspectives. Participants were 56 preservice teachers from two research universities in two states, and three professors at these universities. Data were collected using (a) a 105-item Philosophy of Education Scale (POES)…

Objective: The authors determine whether Massachusetts General Hospital's residency graduates believed their training reflected their current practice activities. Method: The authors surveyed 134 graduates from MGH and MGH-McLean residency classes from 1983 to 2003. Subjects ranked their satisfaction with different components of training on a…

In 2004, India's Congress Party wrested control of parliament from the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party. I present below an interview conducted with Professor Krishna Kumar, Delhi University, the new Government's choice for Director of the National Council of Educational Research and Training. Professor Kumar discusses the ways that…

The intent of this article is to explore how No Child Left Behind (NCLB) emerges from a discursive frame that is also used in relation to neoliberal corporate conquests and, significantly, America's war on terror. The article first demonstrates through reference to online resistance discourses and NCLB, how NCLB is a product of and reproduces the…

The purpose of this study was to examine factors related to the academic success of urban, African American youth. Participants were 118 African American male and female ninth graders from a large urban high school in the Midwest. A majority of students at the school receive free or reduced lunch. Factors studied were social support from five…

Learning assistance meets the demands of rigorous college courses through highly varied activities and approaches. The historic role of learning assistance in the larger scope of U.S. higher education is significant though sometimes low profile. Learning assistance bridges access for a more diverse student body. From students' perspectives, it…

With the due date for the reauthorization of No Child Left Behind (NCLB) right around the corner, "Education Next" thought it apt to probe the lessons learned in the five years since the act's passage. This article presents an e-mail interview with Sandy Kress, a lawyer and former school board member who, as a domestic policy advisor in…