The Common Core State Standards Initiative seeks to prepare all students to graduate high school without remedial needs, to improve transparency across states' accountability systems, and to foster efficiencies in the development and distribution of educational resources. The reform was adopted in more than 40 states and has been described as…

This study evaluated a continuing education training program designed to increase field educators' capacities to support students in their application of the evidence-based practice (EBP) process. A cohort of social work field instructors and task supervisors from agency-based settings (N = 186) attended a 1-day interactive skill-based training.…

This hearing is the fourth in the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions' series examining issues in postsecondary education in anticipation of reauthorization of the Higher Education Act. Accreditation's role is to help ensure an acceptable level of quality across a wide spectrum of American higher education. Under the Higher…

This occasional paper is the first in a series on the National Quality Framework (NQF). This paper offers detailed insights into education and care service quality ratings for Quality Area 1 -- Educational Program and Practice, which focuses on ensuring that educational program and practice is stimulating and engaging, enhances children's learning…

When the goal of UBE, "Education For All" (EFA) which is in line with the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) was envisaged from the conception of the scheme, little did anyone know that fourteen years after, the policy would not make a significant achievement in competing with systems in other developed nations of the world. Recent…

Intellectual disability is commonly conceptualised as stigmatised identity; however, within the literature, the notion of a damaged identity is contested. The aim of this research was to explore the social construction of intellectual disability from the perspective of staff who work closely with people with intellectual disabilities. Informed by…

Government guidance in 2008 endorsed the "Targeting Mental Health in Schools" (TaMHS) agenda, which sets out to promote mental health in schools through the delivery of universal and targeted interventions. This paper initially defines mental health and outlines the TaMHS initiative. It then offers empirical findings from four focus…

In 2009, (and over a six week period) the National Literacy Trust (NLT) hosted a survey that was offered to the 21 local authorities making up the Partners in Literacy network at that time. Partners in Literacy (PiL) is a pilot project, funded from 2009 by the then Department for Children, Schools and Families and delivered by the NLT in…

This report describes agencies (established by government) and organizations (established by others) that dealt exclusively with postsecondary education in British Columbia, Canada and which had at least one professional employee and/or were separate legal entities. Of the fifty groups described since 1960, about two dozen existed in 2012. The…

The changing nature of the world that public managers inhabit requires strategies for sense-making. This is frequently the reason why managers engage in mid-career education. Disciplinary elements provide knowledge and insights. However, growing significance is being placed on enabling practitioners to reflect on their own practice and…

This article reports on the findings of a thematic review of research literature about integrated early years services (IEYS) [1995-2012]. Four themes are discussed: broad support for IEYS; critiques of claims about IEYS; a focus on inter-professional practice; and the challenge of evaluating IEYS. The article concludes with reflections concerning…

The notion of Child Friendly Cities (CFCs) was first developed during the Second United Nations Conference on Human Settlements (HABITAT II), held in Istanbul in 1996. The concept is based on four general principles of the United Nations "Convention on the rights of the child": (1) fair treatment of every child, regardless of ethnicity,…

Purpose: There is inconsistency in the design, understanding, implementation and monitoring of soil health programmes. Despite mounting scientific evidence for the credibility of certain soil health indicators, an increase in the reporting of programme benefits, and progress in communicating these benefits, many farmers remain hesitant to…

The birth of formal citizenship education in the United States emerged in the context of mass immigration, the Progressive Movement, and the First World War. Wartime citizenship education has been chastised for its emphasis on patriotism and loyalty, and while this is a trend, historians have minimised the ways in which the democratic goals of the…

A document from the U.S. Department of Education intended to clarify schools' responsibility to make sure students with disabilities have access to extracurricular sports has drawn sharply different opinions. Disability-rights advocates welcome the guidance, while critics say federal officials are pushing requirements that could place new…