In recent years, the rigor and quality of educational research have drawn much attention. This increased interest has been driven by state efforts to collect student achievement data, the creation of the Institute of Education Sciences (IES), the explicit call for"scientifically based research" written into the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act,…

This article focuses on the potential and actual use of child social indicators and indices in the policy-making process. It opens with a brief overview of the child indicators field and its current development and trends. A discussion of these new developments follows, with special emphasis on the consequences of the changing field to the…

This article is based on sessions at AUA Conferences in 2006 and 2007, which looked at some factors to take into account when considering the structure of the administration. Roughly, "administration" is defined as the "non-academic" management and operations that support the delivery of teaching and learning, research, and enterprise--in old…

"Harvard Education Letter" is published bimonthly by the Harvard Graduate School of Education. This issue of "Harvard Education Letter" contains the following articles: (1) The Invisible Hand in Education Policy: Behind the Scenes, Economists Wield Unprecedented Influence (David McKay Wilson); (2) Bonding and Bridging: Schools Open Doors for…

This report discusses issues involved in the debate over whether the United States should have national education standards, what must be considered in creating such standards, what problems must be addressed, and what trade-offs might be required among conflicting objectives. The first section provides a short summary of developments in education…

The present work analyses the role of the international organizations in the orientation of educational reforms and reforms of professional formation/training taking place, in particular, in Latin America countries and in the Caribbean Islands from the beginning of the 1990's on. This article is organized into four sections: in the first one, we…

On March 6, 2009, the APA Model Licensure Act Task Force released its second draft of the policy document known as the proposed "Model Act for State Licensure of Psychologists". This policy document serves as guidance to state legislatures for how they should set up their psychology licensing laws. The general expectations promoted in the model…

International science policy controversies involve disputes over cultural differences in the assessment of knowledge claims and competing visions of the policy-making process between different nations. This essay analyzes these dynamics in the recent controversy surrounding AIDS policy in South Africa. It develops the notion of an epistemological…

The shift in education reform to a goal of college and career readiness for all students is a change that has been embraced widely across the country. The challenge of designing new policies and programs that could accomplish the goal that all students should graduate from high school with the skills and knowledge necessary to succeed in college…

The people at National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) are passionate about their work. NASA's missions are exciting to learners of all ages. Since its creation in 1958, NASA's people have been passionate about sharing their inspiring discoveries, research and exploration with students and educators. When retired Marine Corps General…

The needs of academically advanced/high-ability students may not be met in today's schools. When educational needs are not met, students may not reach full potential, may lose intrinsic motivation for learning, and may develop poor work and study habits. The rural school district involved in this study lacks a formal gifted and talented program.…

Two decades of research have documented what now is common knowledge: no in-school factor matters more to students' educational experiences and outcomes than the effectiveness of their teacher. As a result, the national airspace is increasingly crowded with proposed reforms and initiatives designed to boost teacher performance, including new…

Using a global-local dialectic approach, this paper traces the rise of the basic education programme in the 1980s and 1990s in Botswana and its subsequent attenuation in the 2000s. Amongst the local forces that led to the rise of BEP were Botswana's political project of nation-building; the country's dire human resources situation in the decades…

The achievement gap that exists between white and minority students is, and has been, a persistent problem in education. Through research, many factors have been uncovered as contributors to this issue, although none has been shown to be the sole cause. A small number of schools have been able to narrow the achievement gap through the…

What assumptions about children and childhood are held by government officials and organisation representatives who are influential in policy formation in early childhood education (ECE) in New Zealand? How are assumptions manifested in policy? This article draws on a study carried out from 2001 to 2003, a time of radical ECE policy change in New…