Education & Pedagogy

Testimony is presented regarding the Education of the Handicapped Amendments of 1986 which mandates special education for handicapped children from the age of 3 and proposes a discretionary program of infant intervention. Testimony from the following agencies and associations is included: National Association of State Boards of Education; National Center for Clinical Infant Programs; Alexander Graham Bell Association for the Deaf; Consortium for Citizens with Developmental Disabilities; United Cerebral Palsy Associations, Inc.; American Speech-Language-Hearing Association; Epilespy Foundation of America; House Select Committee on Children, Youth and Families; National Association of State Directors of Special Education; National School Boards Association; Association for Retarded Citizens; American Association of School Administrators; National Governors Association; National Indian School Boards Association; American Federation of Teachers; National Conference on State Legislatures; National Society for Children and Adults with Autism; Council for Exceptional Children; Federation for Children with Special Needs; American Rehabilitation Counseling Association; American School Counselor Association; National Association of Elementary School Principals; American Rehabilitation Counseling Association; American Mental Health Counselors Association; National Council on the Handicapped; National Association of Secondary School Principals; National Education Association; United States Department of Education; and National Network of Parent Centers. (CB)

Outdoor education has been a viable part of American education for the past 40 years. This book traces the development of outdoor education and is intended to address a variety of factors relating to the outdoor education programs that exist today. Chapter one, "Why Teach Outside the Classroom," contains sections which provide a rationale for the inclusion of outdoor education in the regular school curriculum. Chapter two, "Techniques of Teaching in the Outdoors," addresses the importance of the use of direct experiences and inquiry in outdoor laboratory settings, and includes several examples of teaching techniques. "Extending the School Curriculum to the Outdoors," chapter three, includes examples of learning activities in various subject areas that can be correlated with the objectives of the school curriculum. Chapter four, "Learning Experiences for Outdoor Laboratories," stresses that outdoor education can occur on the school site, and outlines several activities developed for that type of learning laboratory. Chapter five, "Resident Outdoor Education Programs," focuses on considerations related to programs involving overnight camping and the use of special resident facilities. Chapter six, "Evaluation Procedures in Outdoor Education," summarizes some ways to evaluate a program's effectiveness. The final chapter examines what research says about outdoor education. (TW)

Seventy-five Australian higher education institutions were surveyed to determine their policies and practices with regard to students with Technical and Further Education (TAFE) qualifications who might apply for transfer from TAFE to higher education. Forty-four of the 49 questionnaires returned were considered usable. It was found that many higher education institutions were more prepared to grant admission to selected courses to qualified TAFE students if the qualifications were in a course analogous to that which the students wished to study at the higher education level. While the practice of granting credit was said to be possible, it was not at all common. The two principal difficulties with transfer reported were (1) a lack of consistent and public policy on transfer to higher education institutions and the subsequent difficulty for TAFE-qualified students to make qualified judgments about the standing of their qualifications and (2) a shortage of real information on the success of TAFE-qualified students who have transferred to higher education. (Appendixes include a description of the Education Counselling and Credit Transfer Information Service; the project questionnaires; a description of a feasibility study on the establishment of counseling and credit transfer information services; and information on the TAFE transfer policies of the South Australian Institute of Technology, the South Australian College of Advanced Education, and Mitchell College of Advanced Education.) (MN)

To find vocational education curriculum materials, educators can contact their State Liaison Representative (SLR) to the National Network for Curriculum Coordination in Vocational and Technical Education (NNCCVTE), regional Curriculum Coordination Center (CCC), state vocational education resource center (SVERC), and/or one of the consortia that develop and sell vocational education materials. They may also search the ERIC (Educational Resources Information Center) and VECM (Vocational Education Curriculum Materials) databases. ERIC is a general education database that contains more than 700,000 references to print documents. VECM is limited to instructional materials but includes audiovisual as well as print materials. The NNCCVTE is made up of six regional CCCs and a web of SLRs that serve as links between the education community of a particular state and its regional CCC. One of the advantages of borrowing curriculum from a regional CCC is that the materials can be reviewed and evaluated before purchase. Some SVERCs are maintained as libraries of print and audiovisual vocational education materials, and provide services such as curriculum development workshops and computer searches. SVERCs can be contacted by calling a state department of vocational education, SLR, or CCC. Among the many commercial and nonprofit agencies that develop curriculum materials are the Vocational-Technical Education Consortium of States (V-TECS), Mid-America Vocational Curriculum Consortium, and American Association of Vocational Instructional Materials. (CML)

This report of the Illinois Council on Vocational Education for 1987-88 is 1 in a series of 25 technical reports prepared to fulfill mandates of the Carl D. Perkins Vocational Education Act. It focuses on policies needed to strengthen vocational education programs, specifically the Illinois State Board of Education's education for employment initiative. The report traces the historical development of the initiative and offers advice to the board on policies that may improve/expand it. It suggests several options for refocusing the implementation of that policy: (1) identify clearly those skills that all students must possess in order to prepare them for their future work roles and bring teachers together in the high schools to address these skills; (2) improve and expand those aspects of State Board of Education and Illinois Board of Higher Education relationships that will prepare new teachers for positions in secondary and postsecondary settings; and (3) involve the private sector in modernizing education for employment programs by using advisory councils in all regions with membership representative of the regional work force. The council considers these options, while dramatic in their scope, critical to the long-term success of the State Board's education for employment initiative. (KC)

The number of persons confined to correctional institutions continues to grow at an unprecedented rate. Some of the factors contributing to this growth include an increase in the 18- to 25-year-old population, a tougher stance on crime resulting in more prison sentences, longer sentences because younger offenders commit more violent crimes, and more severe sentences for some types of offenders. Education is offered by about 90 percent of correctional institutions, but only about 5 percent of inmates are enrolled in vocational education programs, although 50 percent could benefit from them. Despite its limited availability, vocational education has a long tradition in correctional facilities and is considered to have great potential. However, provision of vocational education is hampered by lack of funding, inadequate number of programs, outmoded equipment and materials, and limited space. Some studies have documented positive relationships between inmates' participation in vocational education and employment upon release. A newer issue is provision of vocational education to female inmates, a population that has increased 158 percent in the past 10 years. Female inmates have typically had training only in traditional service occupations; female inmates have sued for more opportunities for vocational education in nontraditional fields. (This fact sheet lists resources that provide information about correctional vocational education. Included are annotations of 14 print resources and a list of 5 organizations that can provide more information.) (KC)

This document describes efforts to educate inner city adults in Liverpool, England, since 1969. The prologue describes two approaches (the university settlement approach and the community development approach) historically used to provide education to inner-city adults. It also reports the feeling in Britain by 1969 that a nation of Britain's affluence at that time was obligated to use education to help those classified as disadvantaged. The second chapter describes adult education in Liverpool during the 1970s and includes the work of the settlements; use of the community development approach in Liverpool; the designation of the inner city as an educational priority area; the reasons for a breakdown in relations among education administrators; the inner area study that was conducted by Liverpool City Council, Merseyside County Council, and the Department of the Environment; a course, called Second Chance to Learn, for working class men and women who had left school as early as legally possible; and an adult literacy project. The third chapter describes what happened to adult education in Liverpool during the 1980s and includes university adult education, the workers' educational association, the local education authority, the Second Chance to Learn project, writers' workshops, and a personal comment about community education's blending of social work and adult education. Notes on each chapter and an index conclude the document. (CML)

This study analyzes the results of the increased access of students to postsecondary vocational education, especially in two-year colleges, in terms of completion rates and job placement. Data examined include the following: (1) initial enrollments in higher education; (2) fields of study in postsecondary education; (3) progress through institutions of higher education and the tendency to drop out; (4) completing credentials; (5) the special problems of dropout and completion of minority students; (6) the nature of transfers among institutions; (7) course enrollments and credits earned by noncompleters; (8) late entrants into higher education; (9) employment during postsecondary education; (10) postsecondary vocational institutions compared; and (11) vocational students in postsecondary education. The study found that although access to postsecondary education has expanded, some of the increased enrollment may serve no purpose if students are "milling around" without clear goals. However, the study concludes that it is still unclear how to interpret many of these results--are students who fail to complete credentials really dropouts, are they experimenters who have learned that higher education is not for them, or have they learned what they needed for employment? (In addition to 16 tables in the text, the document includes an appendix of technical notes and 48 tables comprising the greater part of the report. (KC)

The National Assessment of Vocational Education (NAVE) evaluated and described the vocational education services delivered to special populations under the Carl D. Perkins Vocational Education Act, the effects of the act in modernizing the vocational education system, the impact of vocational education on academic skills and employment opportunities, and other topics. Some of the findings and recommendations of the NAVE are the following: (1) the Perkins Act is a weak mechanism for achieving its goals because little additional direction has been provided on federal or state levels on the targeting of federal funds for supplementary services to disadvantaged and handicapped students, nor has technical assistance been provided on effective practices for serving these populations; (2) secondary education greatly needs improvement, and six major objectives for federal policy in vocational education are proposed; (3) although postsecondary education is a growing enterprise, its major problem is that many students do not stay in it long enough to receive in-depth training, and federal policy changes should be made to improve rates of program completion, especially among targeted groups; and (4) the federal role in vocational education should be strengthened and changes should be made in the current legislation. (KC)

This report provides the text of panel discussions from a working conference on adult/industry education and training. Four key issues facing North Dakota's education providers are identified: (1) the need for expanded leadership, planning, and a vision for adult and industry education and training; (2) the need for increased financing, both in terms of allocation and dollars, for adult and industry education and training; (3) the need to know what the adult and industry education and training needs are from the business perspective; and (4) the need to provide greater program flexibility for adult and industry education and training. A series of recommendations is presented for each issue. The bulk of the document consists of appendices containing a matrix of North Dakota's work force and training system; the conference program and participant list; highlights from the keynote address, "How Big Is the Challenge" (Leholm); weighted scores for 25 issues; the presentations of two legislative panelists (Hoffner, Richard), two private sector panelists (Gray, Kemnitz), five state panelists (Dietz, Graham, Hirsch, Rodenbiker, Tracy), and four education panelists (Burchinal, Richardson, Sanstad, Barnhardt); and closing remarks (Anderson). (KC)

The article deals with the problem of forming education managers' professional competency in the context of European integration educational processes. The peculiarities of education managers' competences as well as directions of their professional training in motivational, cognitive and metacognitive spheres have been theoretically justified. The performed analysis of curricula in higher education institutions of Central European countries has proved their use of the complex approach to forming professional competences of education managers. The author has revealed the peculiarities of education managers' professional training while mastering accredited specialized courses in School Management in the Centre for Lifelong Education at Faculty of Education at Palacký University in Olomouc, the Czech Republic; a Bachelor's degree in Education Specialization (School Management) at Charles University in Prague, the Czech Republic; in the context of the project launched by the European Social Fund (EFS) called "The Development of Education Managers' Competences in Schools and Educational Institutions in the Hradec Králové Region--the Model of Professional Education", the Czech Republic. It has been concluded that higher education institutions of Central European countries focus on the development of pedagogical and managerial competencies. It has been highlighted that the complication of training content and the modernization of disciplines will allow to form thinking and actions of education managers as comprehensively educated specialists able to successfully deal with professional tasks using their educational and intellectual potential.

Entrepreneurship Education in Colleges and universities is a profound reform of China's higher education paradigm. Which is a necessary choice for Chinese universities to break through the traditional educational model. It is an important measure to cultivate college students' entrepreneurial consciousness, entrepreneurship and entrepreneurial ability. On the whole, entrepreneurship education in China is still in the stage of exploration and rapid development. It is great practical significance and theoretical value to clarify the relationship between the entrepreneurship education quality and entrepreneurial intention. Based on this, this paper takes the social sciences, engineering and science students as the research object, and empirically explores the relationship among the entrepreneurship education quality, entrepreneurial orientation, entrepreneurial self-efficacy and entrepreneurial intention. We find that: (1) the quality of entrepreneurship education will positively affect entrepreneurial intention, and entrepreneurial self-efficacy plays as an intermediary role; (2) the relationship between the quality of entrepreneurship education and entrepreneurial self-efficacy will be affected by the adjustment of entrepreneurial orientation, the stronger the level of entrepreneurial orientation, the stronger the positive relationship between the entrepreneurship education quality and entrepreneurial self-efficacy; (3) the stronger the level of entrepreneurial orientation, the stronger the mediating effect between entrepreneurial self-efficacy and entrepreneurial intention.

This article has two purposes: (a) to consider existing platforms and future possibilities in the United States for what the authors refer to as Integrative Public Health-Aligned Physical Education (IPHPE), which integrates standards-based K-12 physical education with a public health agenda focusing on promoting increased physical activity and fitness, and (b) to consider the implications of IPHPE for the preparation of future physical education teachers and teacher educators/ researchers. First, the historical context that has nurtured the development of ideologies that inform IPHPE is summarized. Second, examples of these ideologies in terms of their current and prospective contributions to IPHPE perspectives are discussed. Third, building from existing public health-aligned recommendations for pre-service physical education teacher education (PETE) programs, IPHPE-based professional preparation requirements for future physical education teachers are considered. Finally, the focus shifts to doctoral PETE (D-PETE) programming and professional preparation requirements for future physical education teacher educators/researchers from an IPHPE perspective. The overall intention of this article is to propose a way forward for physical education which bridges educational priorities of the profession to contemporary and relevant public health needs.

The article presents the trends in higher education development in the countries of the Black Sea region, namely, historical, methodological, methodical and technological, which determine the objective and subjective connections and relationships that are common to the system of higher pedagogical education of the countries under study and define persistent pursuit of modernization and transformation of the nature, content, structure, functions, ways of management approaches to the education process, forms, methods, tools and techniques of teaching students. The trends in the public-authoritarian model of higher education have been revealed. It has been found out that the leading trend in Ukraine and other countries of the Black Sea is the governance and financing of future teachers with appropriate management functions and control that significantly affects the organizational structure of higher education. The features of a modern system of higher pedagogical education in the Black Sea region are the system of higher education institutions; main directions of modern reforms in higher education; functioning of leading universities that prepare teachers, their types, characteristics of structural units, students. According to the areas in development of higher pedagogical education in the Black Sea region, we have divided the trends into four groups: historical, methodological, methodical, technological, that are top priority for education systems.

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to review historical developments in higher education in Sri Lanka, and review issues faced and strategies adopted to improve higher education in state universities in the country. The paper also reviews national and international forces that influenced to modernise and improve higher education in state universities in the country. Design/methodology/approach: The paper reviews available published documents from the last two decades to present and discuss key national and international forces transforming the higher education of the country and strategies adopted to modernise and improve higher education in state universities in the country. Findings: Historical development in general and higher education together with key characteristics of the Sri Lankan education system are discussed. The governing bodies of the state university education, donor agencies and strategies adopted for the development of higher education in the country during the recent history have been reviewed. Conclusions and challenges for the future are also presented. Originality/value: The higher education of the country underwent rapid transformations over the past seven decades with the aim of strengthening the wider relationship between university, industry and society. A review on higher education in Sri Lanka could provide lessons valuable for academics and practitioners alike worldwide.