The "Bennett Belle." The words conjure an image that is genteel, old-fashioned--hats and gloves, brown-skinned women in flowing white dresses beaming as they take that final walk to graduation. The Bennett College for Women campus certainly reinforces the image, with its broad, tree-shaded lawns and quadrangle and its historic buildings--fully 15…

This overview of postsecondary education in the United States reviews the dramatic changes over the past fifty years in the students who go to college, the institutions that produce higher education, and the ways it is financed. The article, by Sandy Baum, Charles Kurose, and Michael McPherson, creates the context for the articles that follow on…

Developing vocational education is a necessity for the economic and social development of high-poverty areas in China. But vocational education in impoverished areas lacks social recognition and faces funding shortages, along with difficulties in recruiting students. Vocational high schools themselves also have shortcomings. This article considers…

This article discusses how Information and Communication Technologies can support 21st century assessment strategies and what needs to be done to ensure that technological advances support and foster pedagogical innovation. Based on an extensive review of the literature, it provides an overview of current ICT-enabled assessment practices, with a…

This publication presents a diverse collection written by a well-respected group of speakers and authors which includes government leaders, policy makers, education experts and administrators from all over the higher education world. The papers collected hereunder represent the conference proceedings of the Eurasian Higher Education Leaders' Forum…

In many countries, reforms in higher education have follow-on effects on social and economic development. This article relates mainly to economic and financial issues regarding the development of higher education. Starting from the notable increase in demand for higher education and the budgetary constraints on public education financing, we argue…

The present article discusses the role and impact of the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) in Finland. PISA has created a new geography of education policies and reforms by shifting global interest away from Anglo-Saxon education systems to Asian countries, as well as to Finland and Canada in the West. The article describes how…

This article aims to review the historical development of continuing professional development programmes (CPDPs) for teachers, as well as the policies and objectives of such programmes in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) from the inception of these programmes until now. Styles of CPDPs that the Education Training Centres (ETCs) offer are…

This paper will firstly address the four underlying principles that govern the mission of Thai universities providing and promoting academic and professional education, promoting and conducting research and studies for generating new knowledge, providing public service and preserving and promoting arts, traditions and cultural heritage. This paper…

"Teachers are at the far end of educational reform." Apart from students and parents, they are often the very last to be consulted about and connected to agendas of what changes are needed in education, and of how those changes should be managed. Educational change is something that government departments, venture philanthropists,…

An important challenge for media literacy education in the next decade will be to cultivate a commanding voice in the cultural conversation about new and emerging communication media. To really have a stake in the social, economic and educational developments that emerge around new digital media in the U.S. and globally, media literacy educators…

This article presents an interview with Barbara Thompson, the Director of the Office of Family Policy/Children and Youth in the Office of the Secretary of Defense. In the interview, Thompson talks about trends in military child care in the United States. She shares when the military got into the business of providing child care. She also talks…

On June 7, 2007, the Antioch University board of trustees declared that Antioch College, an independent liberal arts college in Yellow Springs, Ohio, was in a state of financial exigency, and, two days later, voted to suspend college operations after the next academic year. After that year, the board oversaw the closing of the college while…

This article profiles Dr. Norman Francis and describes how his longevity, strategic planning and vision as president of Xavier University bring academic and financial success. Higher education leaders say his 43 years at the Catholic HBCU in New Orleans is an increasingly rare example of the benefits possible from a lengthy presidency. It takes…

In the English-speaking world educational research is often conceived as the interdisciplinary study of educational processes and practices. Hence research in education strongly relies on theoretical input from a range of different academic disciplines. What is virtually absent in this construction of the field is the idea of education as an…