In the "Sydney Morning Herald" of 23 March 2005, Ross Gittins argued that the funding arrangements for private schools positively encourage parents to move their children from the state system. The then Federal Minister for Education, Dr Brendan Nelson, in a letter to the "Herald" of 25-27 March, responded by saying that 68% of all school pupils go to state schools, and those students receive 76% of Government funds allocated to the totality of all pupils attending schools....
Topics: ERIC Archive, Public Policy, Private Schools, Educational Finance, Foreign Countries, Educational...
This paper addresses to the question of how to empower research competence of a kind which would lead a peripheral university like SNU to becoming a world-class university. There have been noticeable achievements in building competitive, first class universities in many developing nations, particularly in Asian countries. This paper will examine the process by which SNU can be transforming SNU into a world-class university in Korea. The analysis will focus on the internal reforms implemented at...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Foreign Countries, Developing Nations, Research Universities, Educational Change,...
Computer-based technologies are now commonplace in classrooms, and the integration of these media into the teaching and learning of mathematics is supported by government policy in most developed countries. However, many questions about the impact of computer-based technologies on classroom mathematics learning remain unanswered, and debates about when and how they ought to be used continue. An increasing number of studies seek to identify the effects of technology usage on classroom learning,...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Public Policy, Mathematics Education, Developed Nations, Educational Research,...
Four typical arrangements for relating faith to schooling were developed in Canada during the nineteenth century. All resulted from compromises between the assimilating traditions of Christian Constantinianism and Enlightenment liberalism. These arrangements only reluctantly accommodate the religious diversity within society. Although scholars classify Alberta's system as non-sectarian public schooling with minority denominational districts, evidence suggests the advent of a new pragmatic...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Foreign Countries, School Choice, Public Schools, Religion, Public Policy, Canada...
This paper is set against a history of school funding policies in Australia that begins with the first public policy recognition of the disadvantages experienced by government and non-government schools in the 1973 Schools in Australia (Karmel) Report. The paper traces a history of school funding policy linking it with the current backlash against public education and retaliatory backlash constructions of public schools as the new disadvantaged in an increasingly competitive and deregulated...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Foreign Countries, Public Policy, Politics, State Schools, Public Education, Private...
Despite a fall in the percentage of young people choosing this course between 1993 and 1994 (58.17%) and 2003 and 2004 (55.23%), vocational training remains the main path chosen by young people in Bulgaria. The national programme for developing pre-school, school education and training (2006-15), adopted in 2006 due to major public interest in this issue, aims to reform initial vocational training. This article presents the main pillars of this reform based on European strategic guidelines. The...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Trend Analysis, Foreign Countries, Vocational Education, Guidelines, Employment...
The training received by workers depends predominantly on the organisational choices and funds allocated by businesses. It is therefore justifiable to ask whether public policy should either endorse the spontaneous distribution of training or take measures to correct it. This paper analyses the motivations and limitations of public intervention, focusing on the Italian case in which, in recent years, the system has changed radically as a result of opportunities offered to social partners to...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Public Policy, Foreign Countries, Vocational Education, Work Environment, Resource...
This paper explores the issue of how a country for which the prioritization of public spending towards poverty reduction is a key policy concern can monitor the distributional effects of public spending. Employing standard benefit-incidence analysis, this paper empirically examines how public education spending is currently distributed in Yemen. It also considers the extent to which the distributional benefit to the poor should and can be improved, focusing on possible changes in cost sharing...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Foreign Countries, Economically Disadvantaged, Public Education, Public Policy,...
Can all the universities that claim to be "world-class" actually live up to the claim? If they could, would that be desirable public policy? It could be that there are so many different meanings of "world-class" that the term in practical effect is an oxymoron: the definition of "world" is determined locally when conceptually it should be defined internationally. This paper discusses different kinds of institutional quality, how quality is formed and how it can be...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Public Policy, Educational Quality, Academic Achievement, Productivity, Reputation,...
Mergers have been a frequent phenomenon in higher education in the last quarter century. The conventional wisdom is that mergers are undertaken mainly for economic reasons, either to expand markets or to reduce costs. About four out of five college or university mergers survive. In the for-profit sector the comparable rate is closer to two out of five. From this one might conclude that the future for mergers among colleges and universities is robust. If, however, the principal purpose of...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Organizational Change, Higher Education, Postsecondary Education, Competition,...
Throughout human existence, changes in technology have influenced human life. Innovations in technology also impact civic life. Radio and television became prominent fixtures in the United States in the twentieth century. In entering the twenty-first century, another technological innovation, the Internet, emerged as a new factor in civic life. Technology has and continues to influence how people participate in their democracy and, in turn, shapes what educators must consider as they prepare...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Democracy, Citizenship Education, Access to Information, Program Effectiveness,...
Understanding the Presidents of the United States, their actions, beliefs, and contradictions, is constructive in understanding the nation's complex societal issues. As a society, Americans inherit the problems, challenges, and legacies of these leaders. Multicultural education and multicultural education theory offer an alternative lens from which to analyze and interpret the actions and inactions of the Presidents. This article, the fourth in a series about American Presidents and their...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Multicultural Education, Cultural Pluralism, Social Environment, Educational Policy,...
This article focuses on issues related to boys, literacies, and schooling as played out in the Australian context. It reflects on the swathe of populist discourse centring on boys, and on literacy, that drives a potentially divisive education agenda. In providing more nuanced analyses of the debates surrounding the disputed territory of boys, literacies, and schooling, the article offers examples of disaggregated literacy test data to demonstrate the importance of adopting a "which...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Foreign Countries, Males, Gender Issues, Literacy, Agenda Setting, Public Opinion,...
Influencing government policy in adult learning areas requires consistent efforts in having findings noticed by educational policymakers. Submissions by Adult Learning Australia and researchers have called for unified educational policies and practices across Australia. This paper argues that, whilst it is important to address macro issues of policy formation, research into micro issues can also be valuable in assisting policy formation. Using information technology and communication teaching...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Policy Formation, Adult Learning, Older Adults, Information Technology, Foreign...
This article reports on continuing education in China. It discusses the emergence of the field in the 1980s, the Chinese characteristics of continuing education, recent developments, and limitations. Continuing education became available in China in the 1980s following a change in government policy and economic reform. It caters mainly for training specialist technicians, although the field has recently diversified to include programs for government officials, leaders of public services,...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Continuing Education, Educational Change, Foreign Countries, Public Policy,...
High school students engaging in career decision making encounter significant challenges due to changing social and economic conditions. The student needs assessment focus of this study provides unique insights into student perceptions of the effectiveness of high school career programs. Results indicated that Grade 12 students value resources that support transitions, have a passion for career, and report a wide range of occupational choices. However, students may not perceive career...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Student Needs, High Schools, Needs Assessment, Program Effectiveness, Public Policy,...
Increasingly, public health promotion is about more than influencing individual behavior. Rather, it is equally important to undertake efforts to impact social, environmental, and political factors. Having a clear understanding of the inner workings of the legislative process enhances one's ability to effectively influence policy. It is important to know who can use information from public health and related professions, what type of information to provide, when, and how. With that in mind,...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Health Education, Health Promotion, Public Health, Public Policy, Activism, Access to...
There has long been controversy in this country about the implementation of school-based sexuality education. In recent years, however, the controversy has centered on abstinence education. Critics of abstinence education programs seem to have three major concerns relative to abstinence education programming: (1) promotion of religion; (2) provision of inaccurate information; and (3) ineffective programming. The focus of this article is on the charge that abstinence education programs are...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Sex Education, Program Effectiveness, Programming, Federal Government, Sexuality,...
In examining the childhood obesity epidemic from the perspective of economics, John Cawley looks at both possible causes and possible policy solutions that work through markets. The operation of markets, says Cawley, has contributed to the recent increase in childhood overweight in three main ways. First, the real price of food fell. In particular, energy-dense foods, such as those containing fats and sugars, became relatively cheaper than less energy-dense foods, such as fresh fruits and...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Food Service, Obesity, Physical Activities, Nutrition, Children, Costs, Child Health,...
In examining recruitment and retention of teachers in rural areas, David Monk begins by noting the numerous possible characteristics of rural communities--small size, sparse settlement, distance from population concentrations, and an economic reliance on agricultural industries that are increasingly using seasonal and immigrant workers to minimize labor costs. Many, though not all, rural areas, he says, are seriously impoverished. Classes in rural schools are relatively small, and teachers tend...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Teacher Recruitment, Teacher Competencies, Teaching Skills, Geographic Location,...
Noting that the failures of the U.S. health care system are compounding the problems faced by low-income Americans, Alan Weil argues that any strategy to reduce poverty must provide access to health care for all low-income families. Although nearly all children in families with incomes under 200 percent of poverty are eligible for either Medicaid or the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP), the parents of poor children often lack health insurance. Parents who leave welfare normally...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Poverty, Low Income, Tax Credits, Dependents, Health Insurance, Access to Health...
In Mark Greenberg's view, a national child care strategy should pursue four goals. Every parent who needs child care to get or keep work should be able to afford care without having to leave children in unhealthy or dangerous environments; all families should be able to place their children in settings that foster education and healthy development; parental choice should be respected; and a set of good choices should be available. Attaining these goals, says Greenberg, requires revamping both...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Poverty, Family Income, Tax Credits, Federal Government, Block Grants, Low Income...
Lawrence Mead addresses the problem of nonwork among low-income men, particularly low-income black men, and its implications for families and children. The poor work effort, he says, appears to be caused partly by falling wages and other opportunity constraints but principally by an oppositional culture and a breakdown of work discipline. Mead argues that if government policies are to increase work among poor men, they must not merely improve wages and skills but enforce work in available jobs....
Topics: ERIC Archive, Wages, Employment, Correctional Institutions, Economically Disadvantaged, Criminals,...
Greg Duncan, Jens Ludwig, and Katherine Magnuson explain how providing high-quality care to disadvantaged preschool children can help reduce poverty. In early childhood, they note, children's cognitive and socioemotional skills develop rapidly and are sensitive to "inputs" from parents, home learning environments, child care settings, and the health care system. The authors propose an intensive two-year, education-focused intervention for economically disadvantaged three- and...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Human Capital, Public Policy, Early Childhood Education, Preschool Children,...
Amy Jordan addresses the need to balance the media industry's potentially important contributions to the healthy development of America's children against the consequences of excessive and age-inappropriate media exposure. Much of the philosophical tension regarding how much say the government should have about media content and delivery stems from the U.S. Constitution's First Amendment protection against government interference in free speech, including commercial speech. Courts, Jordan says,...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Video Games, Industry, Freedom of Speech, Federal Regulation, Courts, Constitutional...
Kathryn Edin and Joanna Reed review recent research on social and economic barriers to marriage among the poor and discuss the efficacy of efforts by federal and state policymakers to promote marriage among poor unmarried couples, especially those with children, in light of these findings. Social barriers include marital aspirations and expectations, norms about childbearing, financial standards for marriage, the quality of relationships, an aversion to divorce, and children by other partners....
Topics: ERIC Archive, Divorce, Females, Economically Disadvantaged, Prerequisites, Marriage, Parents,...
During the past century the U.S. family system has seen vast changes--in marriage and divorce rates, cohabitation, childbearing, sexual behavior, and women's work outside the home. Andrew Cherlin reviews these historic changes, noting that marriage remains the most common living arrangement for raising children, but that children, especially poor and minority children, are increasingly likely to grow up in single-parent families and to experience family instability. Cherlin describes the...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Divorce, Marriage, Incidence, Marital Status, Parents, Attitude Change, Poverty,...
Over the past fifty years, powerful cultural and social forces have made marriage less central to Americans' family lives. In reaction, the United States is now engaged in a wide-ranging debate about the place of marriage in contemporary society. In this article, Steven Nock examines the national marriage debate. He begins by reviewing the social and demographic trends that have changed the role of marriage and the family: the weakening link between marriage and parenthood caused by the...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Marriage, Role, Public Policy, Debate, Parents, Social Change, Fathers, Divorce,...
Many young children in immigrant families do not have good access to health and education services. To the extent that their life prospects are compromised as a result, these children--and the entire society--suffer. This article discusses the needs of children from birth to age eight, with a particular focus on the education needs of young children in immigrant families. Key observations include the following: (1) Children's skills in kindergarten and their achievement at the end of third...
Topics: ERIC Archive, After School Programs, Young Children, Family Literacy, Immigrants, Interpersonal...
A number of economic and labor market trends in the United States over the past 30 years affect the well-being of workers and their families. This article describes key changes taking place and the implications for social and economic policies designed to help low-income working families and their children, particularly those families that include immigrants. Important conclusions that emerge include the following: (1) Diversity--The workforce, like the population, is more diverse than in past...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Wages, Poverty, Economically Disadvantaged, Labor Market, Labor, Employed Parents,...
A growing number of children over age 10 reside in and emancipate from foster care every year. Older children face many of the same challenges as younger children, but they also have unique developmental needs. This article discusses older children in the child welfare system and finds: (1) Approximately 47% of children in foster care are over age 11, and in 2001, 20% of children leaving foster care were over age 16; (2) Older children need permanency, stability, and a "forever...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Daily Living Skills, Substance Abuse, Homeless People, Educational Attainment, Child...
Reunifying children placed in foster care with their birth parents is a primary goal of the child welfare system. Yet, relatively little is known about the reunification process. This article analyzes new data on trends in family reunification and discovers: (1) Although most children still exit foster care through family reunification, exit patterns have changed over the last 8 years. Currently, reunification takes longer to happen, whereas adoptions happen earlier; (2) A child's age and race...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Racial Factors, Child Welfare, Foster Care, Well Being, Family Relationship, Parent...
Over the past two decades, the foster care system experienced an unprecedented rise in the number of children in out-of-home care, significant changes in the policy framework guiding foster care practice, and ongoing organizational impediments that complicate efforts to serve the children in foster care. This article discusses the current status of the foster care system and finds: Agencies often have difficulty providing adequate, accessible, and appropriate services for the families in their...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Foster Care, African Americans, Minority Groups, Child Welfare, Family Needs,...
Even though federal laws have had a major influence on foster care and child welfare policy for more than 40 years, additional reforms are needed to ensure safe and stable families for children in care. This article describes the complex array of policies that shape federal foster care and observes: A number of federal policies addressing issues such as housing, health care, welfare, social security benefits, taxes, and foster care reimbursement to the states, form the federal foster care...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Safety, Courts, Child Welfare, Foster Care, Public Policy, Family Environment,...
This article argues that, although No Child Left Behind (NCLB) is not presented as a jobs policy, the Act does function as a substitute for the creation of decently paying jobs for those who need them. Aimed particularly at the minority poor like its 1965 predecessor, the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, NCLB acts as an anti-poverty program because it is based on an implicit assumption that increased educational achievement is the route out of poverty for low-income families and...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Minimum Wage, Low Income Groups, Federal Legislation, Poverty, Economically...
This paper addresses the extent to which government policy has helped increase the number and diversity of private secondary schools in Hong Kong, which, in turn, has expanded the options for parental choice. Five indicators were selected to measure this objective. They are as follows: (1) Number of private schools and students enrolled; (2) Types of private schools and their curriculum; (3) Number of aided schools joining the Direct Subsidy Scheme; (4) Number of government-built premises...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Secondary Schools, Private Schools, Foreign Countries, Public Policy, Policy...
A large portion of the early childhood literature in the area of cultural, racial, and linguistic diversity addresses the practices of institutions for young children, immigrant/refugee parents' understandings of their situation, and provides recommendations for more inclusive practices. This body of literature has proved very useful in bringing issues related to young children and families from racialized minorities to the forefront of discussions in early childhood. What has not been widely...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Early Childhood Education, Minority Group Children, Discourse Analysis, Foreign...
Critical analysis of change in public policy within and across nations recognizes that the education and welfare of children, families, and all citizens is intertwined with economics, politics, and cultural discourse(s). In the United States, increasingly narrow media, judiciary, and academic discourses have supported legislative actions that limit social provision and opportunity for a range of children and family types, including linguistic and cultural minorities. This narrowing of...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Social Science Research, Social Systems, Social Sciences, Politics of Education,...
This article unravels the political, public, and private discourse shadowing Mexican immigrants in the Southwestern U.S. The author illustrates how the dominant discourse with regard to immigration in the U.S. has led to the dehumanization of migrant people significantly impacting what occurs in their daily lives and directly influencing the perceptions of both policymakers and educators. Negative connotations are ascribed to the movement of people of color the moment they cross the border. The...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Mexican Americans, Cultural Differences, Immigrants, Mexicans, Public Opinion,...
There are situations in public policy where there are figurative $100 bills lying around waiting to be picked up. Public investment in college students is one such case. To the government, each potential college graduate is a figurative $560,000 bill lying on the ground. True, it costs $74,500 to pick it up, but that is obviously a great deal. Indeed, this deal is made more than 2 million times a year nationally, as new college graduates start creating all sorts of positive fiscal effects in...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Investment, Deception, College Graduates, Public Policy, Higher Education, College...
School health education has been and still is guided by a number of different and often competing philosophical orientations. The field seems to be moving toward a skills-based philosophy, but the adoption of this approach is taking place with little discussion or analysis in the professional health education literature. The purpose of this article is to propose an integrated behavioral alternative to the present skills-based trend and to encourage the health education profession to examine...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Medical Services, Comprehensive School Health Education, Health Conditions, Citizen...
Legalized gambling is growing substantially and provides both a dilemma and an opportunity for those in the health promoting professions. Gambling represents a form of economic development and, for certain segments of society, improved health and quality of life. On the other hand, gambling is a known addiction, with a host of sociological problems associated with its practice. Consequently, a number of opportunities and responsibilities emerge for health educators. This paper provides both...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Economic Development, Health Education, Quality of Life, Self Destructive Behavior,...
Advocacy and public policy were determined to be one of the six key focal points for the profession at the Health Education in the 21st Century meeting held in 1995. A content analysis of journals of the member organizations of the Coalition of National Health Education Organizations was conducted to discover whether there was a difference in the number of advocacy and policy initiative-related articles published between the 5-year periods immediately preceding and following this meeting. The...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Health Education, Health Promotion, Public Health, Content Analysis, Public Policy,...
The message that college matters is getting through to more and more young people. Young people understand that a middle-class lifestyle increasingly requires at least an associate degree. Yet the percentage of college students actually completing a two- or four-year degree has not increased significantly in more than 30 years. College completion correlates highly with academic preparedness for college-level work. Yet, according to one study, only 32 percent of high school graduates are...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Higher Education, Elementary Secondary Education, Family Income, Family...
The annual "America's Best Colleges" issue of "U.S. News & World Report" is to the news magazine what the annual "Swimsuit" issue is to "Sports Illustrated." Both are best sellers that make big money for their publishers. And both succeed because they are sexy, glamorous, superficial and largely without redeeming social value. But "America's Best Colleges" has evolved into something else too: a widely recognized barometer and instigator of...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Higher Education, Integrity, Social Values, Public Policy, Selective Admission,...
Mass Insight Corp, a public policy and communications firm that organizes public-private initiatives to support economic growth in Massachusetts, recently issued a new report, titled "An Economy at Risk," making the case for a Massachusetts economic development strategy organized around higher education and science and technology. Massachusetts, with its mix of world-class universities and technology industries, has long proved the benefits of industry-university connections. But a...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Economic Progress, Higher Education, Innovation, Public Policy, Technology Transfer,...
The national reform agenda of the Council of Australian Governments challenges community education agencies to contribute to its goals and raises questions about their capacity to do so. It is crucial to define the conditions that are necessary to develop the capability of adult and community education (ACE) organisations to play a broader social and economic role. These include not only policy frameworks underwritten by strategic research, but the engagement of practitioners and organisations....
Topics: ERIC Archive, Foreign Countries, Action Research, Community Education, Educational Change, Public...
Higher education research stands at a kind of half-way house. At present, it is highly directed by Government research priorities. Yet the Government's ambition is to create a much more deregulated system, with self-created winners and losers. Tom Clark suggests a different starting-point. All higher education institutions generate research, and all academic staff should be expected to do so, regardless of where they work. It is better policy to foster the full range of the research resources...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Foreign Countries, Higher Education, Public Policy, Educational Research, Academic...
After nine years spent in opposition, it's still hard to know what Federal Labor intends by way of an economic policy platform. Kim Beazley still seems to believe that the prime purpose of opposition is to oppose. John Quiggin disagrees. Without a coherent and well-understood economic direction, he argues, Labor's sniping will continue to look like unfocussed opportunism.
Topics: ERIC Archive, Political Attitudes, Politics, Political Issues, Economics, Public Policy, Quiggin,...
Conventional wisdom suggests that the Teaching-Family Model (TFM) approach to treating youthful offenders is not effective in reducing post-treatment recidivism. This article reviews two major studies referenced in support of this widespread perception. Data presented in one widely referenced study are treated with a Cochran-Mantel-Haensel test, which, the author argues, is appropriate for data originally presented in two separate 2 X 2 tables (one for boys and one for girls). The construct and...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Delinquency, Juvenile Justice, Public Policy, Construct Validity, Outcomes of...