Policymakers and education leaders in Southern Regional Education Board (SREB) states have been working since 2002 to meet all 12 "Challenge to Lead" Goals for Education. At the same time, SREB states have had to struggle with the toughest economic challenges in decades. Even so, SREB states have succeeded in achieving many of the goals…

Policymakers and education leaders in Southern Regional Education Board (SREB) states have been working since 2002 to meet all 12 "Challenge to Lead" Goals for Education. At the same time, SREB states have had to struggle with the toughest economic challenges in decades. Even so, SREB states have succeeded in achieving many of the goals…

Policymakers and education leaders in Southern Regional Education Board (SREB) states have been working since 2002 to meet all 12 "Challenge to Lead" Goals for Education. At the same time, SREB states have had to struggle with the toughest economic challenges in decades. Even so, SREB states have succeeded in achieving many of the goals…

This chapter is a draft of Chapter 7 of a planned book, "Preschool and Jobs: Human Development as Economic Development, and Vice Versa." This book analyzes early childhood programs' effects on regional economic development. Four early childhood programs are considered: (1) universally accessible preschool for four-year-olds of similar…

The average educational attainment of US students is weak by international comparison. For example, mean results of PISA test scores are below the OECD [Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development] average. This is despite substantial resources devoted to the schooling system. One partial explanation for this is that academic standards,…

The link between strong academic preparation in high school and success in college and careers is clearer than it has ever been. Recognizing that the standards students have to meet in the "real world" have become more demanding, governors and policymakers in a growing number of states are taking action to increase the requirements for earning a…

This study examines student achievement and prevalence of students with disabilities in Finland and the United States (U.S.), by analysing international test scores, national reports, and special education legislation. The variables of interest include institutional design of each country, resources invested in and values surrounding public…

Virtual Reality (VR) is a computer-created sensory experience that allows a participant to believe and barely distinguish a "virtual" experience from a real one using computer graphics, sounds, and images to reproduce electronic versions of real-life situations. This digest describes how VR works and discusses applications of VR in…

This book is the personal account of William Bennett who formerly served in the U.S. government as the Chairman of the National Endowment for the Humanities, Secretary of Education, and Director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy. The volume suggests what is right and what is wrong with education in the United States; discusses the…

Between 1983 and 1987, every state in the United States adopted some sort of education reform. This paper presents findings of an analysis of reform activity in the 50 states during the mid-1980s, with a focus on several education and socioeconomic indicators. The conceptual framework was grounded in general-systems theory, which attributes some…

This document describes current and recently completed projects at the University of Chicago's Chapin Hall Center for Children, an interdisciplinary research body which considers the needs of children and ways to meet those needs through public policy. The descriptions of current funded projects are divided into three sections: (1) "Exploring…

As part of a process of discerning the future direction and mission of the Sisters of Saint Joseph College Consortium (SSJCC), a year-long study of 11 institutions founded and run by the Sisters of Saint Joseph was undertaken. Sisters of Saint Joseph (SSJ) is a Roman Catholic women's religious congregation founded in 1836 which operates a…

Ethnographers have traditionally encountered problems in conducting qualitative research in elite settings. The powerful, in this case, the administrative and political elite in the United Kingdom, have considerable constitutional, legal, and cultural resources that enable them to deflect or channel any research in which they are the objects of…

This paper examines the proposition that administrative policy has the properties of a myth, with myth defined as a grand narrative of explanation and justification. It illustrates the proposition with an example of radical restructuring in a large education system, the Department of Education in New South Wales, Australia. It reviews the…

The North Carolina 1994 legislative plan to reform the preparation of school administrators involved an application process through which seven universities would be selected to offer the restructured Master of School Administration degree. The continuation of state programs in school administration was dependent on being able to offer the…