Although each public higher education system in California has a unique mission and social purpose, the systems are united in a most common and fundamental way: each aims to enhance the intellectual, technical, and creative capacity of its student learners. Because advanced knowledge--scientific, technical, and procedural--tends to be organized by…

In this article I use the concept of "re-agenting" to explore and explain the role of non-state agencies, principally private companies and business entrepreneurs, as key instruments in the government's transformation of the school system in England. Their role takes both for-profit and not-for-profit forms. The outsourcing to private…

The Council on Occupational Education, Inc. (COE) is a not-for-profit corporation that was established in 1994 to serve as a national accreditor for all providers of postsecondary work force training and education who can meet its standards. The COE has developed a new system of quality assurance for occupational education that emphasizes the…

Four agencies are involved in the U.S. Department of Education's vocational education data collection and reporting activities, as mandated by the 1990 Perkins Act: National Center for Education Statistics (NCES); Office of Vocational and Adult Education (OVAE); National Institute of Postsecondary Education and Lifelong Learning (NIPELL); and…

A study examined local U.S. Employment Service (ES) office placement performance and the role of the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) in guiding and monitoring state and local ES program performance. Regression and other statistical methods were used to analyze state and local program performance based on the following: placement data for…

Recommendations of the National Institute of Education (NIE) Laboratory Study Group are presented to the director of NIE. The study group reviewed the history and status of the laboratories and examined laboratory issues and options. Recommendations are offered regarding: laboratory purposes, laboratory governance, NIE management of labs, regions,…

Six examples of "ad hoc" White House policy formation in higher education are presented, using records from the Truman, Eisenhower, Kennedy, and Johnson archives. The process by which the higher education proposals of six task forces and commissions were formulated and then reviewed is reconstructed. The groups examined include the 1946…

The author analyzes the problems of state agency and institutional interaction in efforts for statewide coordination of colleges and universities. He discusses institutional autonomy, government involvement, accountability, and national pressures, concluding that some conflict can be constructive in producing a system of checks and blances. (JT)

The present and historical role of the University Grants Committee (UGC) in Britain are analyzed with the conclusion that the organization, which was originally thought of as a buffer to protect universities from interference by Government, is by its scale and mode of operation now indistinguishable from a department of state. (JT)

Noting that an alternative educational system must be understood as being distinctly different from alternative learning environments, this article argues that the Urban League's Street Academies have successfully explored the viability of alternative learning environments, and that in respect ot the public school system, they should be understood…

The article offers an overview of the product safety issue and offers ideas for helping students develop product safety awareness. The role of the Consumer Product Safety Commission and safety legislation are discussed. (MW)

Discussed the following aspects of a well-functioning family day care program: (1) clustering of homes; (2) preservice and inservice workshops; (3) consultation; (4) family day care assistants; (5) stable method of payment; (6) alternative systems; and (7) agency attitudes toward day care mothers. (Author/SDH)

The impact of urbanization, the main tasks facing the adult educator in an urban context, identifying the casualties of urbanization, recognizing and dealing with social deprivation, and the various agencies involved in adult education are relevant considerations for adult educators. (MW)