Most nations now administer standardized tests--for adult job seekers and young students alike--but the Chinese remain the world's preeminent practitioners. The nation's national college entrance exam, known as the "Gaokao", lasts for nine hours across two days. The author has seen the intensity of China's work ethic firsthand as…

Early childhood education and care settings in England and the people who work in them constitute an important sphere of influence, shaping young children's characters and values. But the values and dispositions expected of the early years workforce are missing from statutory policy documentation despite its clear requirement that practitioners…

Generating knowledge for various constituents and for society has always defined colleges and universities. Recent decades, though, have witnessed shifts in knowledge production and consumption. Research-oriented higher education institutions have developed closer linkages to for-profit firms, which have sought to exploit and commercialize…

It may be salutary to remember that the new Australian Association had a predecessor (in the Federal Council of the W.E.A.) to acknowledge its achievements and to probe for the causes of its eventual failure. Within the first five years of its existence, the W.E.A. Series had brought out no less than seven creditable works. Most of them were…

Service-learning as a popular term refers to an educational model that combines academic study with social activism and civic service. However, some countries, such as China, use different terms. This article explores the differences and commonalities between service-learning in the USA and social practice in China in the following areas:…

In this article, the authors offer a descriptive essay outlining the framework and processes of a five-year institutional renewal effort at Bank Street College of Education. Extended the opportunity to participate in the "Teachers for a New Era" (TNE) initiative, a multi-year, multi-million dollar effort to enhance and "radically…

Scotland's new "Curriculum for Excellence" (CfE) has been widely acknowledged as the most significant educational development in a generation, with the potential to transform learning and teaching in Scottish schools. In common with recent developments elsewhere, CfE seeks to re-engage teachers with processes of curriculum development,…

EU neighbouring countries (partner countries) have made considerable efforts to improve their vocational education and training (VET) systems, with different policies and strategies that take account of country-specific priorities in human capital development. This article addresses the donor community. It analyses the role of partner countries'…

This research draws a comparison between the School of Music at the University of Illinois, USA and the Faculty of Music Education at Helwan University in Cairo, Egypt (the researcher's academic appointment is at Menofia University, but she teaches on the faculty of Helwan University). The research answers two important questions: (1) What…

Community college systems were established across North America from the early 1960s through the early 1970s. The new systems had two principal models: in one model, the college combined lower-division, university-level general education with technical education programs; in the other, most or all of the colleges were intended to concentrate on…

This article provides an overview of ECEC services in France for children under three. It reviews research carried out in this area, and shows its genesis, main issues, cultural context and modalities of its production. The French provision for the under threes' is characterized by its increasing diversification. French research shows a diversity…

After an overview of the history of short-cycle education within the Bologna process, this article details the development of short-cycle higher education policy in Flanders, the largest of the three communities in the Federal Kingdom of Belgium. By developing a Flemish national qualification framework in agreement with the European qualification…

Since 2006, the Netherlands has been actively engaged in a process of developing, piloting, and institutionalizing a new 2-year, short-cycle higher education degree, titled the "associate degree". This initiative evolved as a collaborative grassroots effort spearheaded by several Dutch national higher education and business organizations…

Thirty years or more of striving for a coherent theme in the educational system from preschool to gymnasium might now be at an end. Millions of Swedish kronor have been spent on projects concerning cooperation between pre- and primary school. The curricula for preschool and the gymnasium are similar in structure, and they are connected with each…

This historical narrative tracks the evolution and devolution of visual arts education from Dewey's progressive era pedagogy and the theory of the arts as experience through the modern accountability movement. Archival material, state curricular documents, and conversations with policymakers show an increasing focus on core subject areas of…