Education & Pedagogy

Higher education in Southeast Asia has developed considerably over the past decades. Marked with economic and socio-political differences across countries, the role of higher education in development is common. As one of the most compact and culturally diverse regions of the world with a population of over 692 million (Worldometer, n.d.), a more regional push for the higher education sector and markets is seen through initiatives such as the ASEAN Mutual Recognition Agreements (MRAs) which advocates for a free movement of professionals across the region. The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) was established in 1967 as a political and economic alliance and now consists of 10 country members, with observer status for Timor-Leste. Despite the diversity found across countries in the region, common themes relating to higher education issues are prevalent. Issues of quality, access and equity, governance, financing and employment, among others remain at the forefront of higher education development in Southeast Asia. [For the complete volume, "Higher Education in Southeast Asia. International Perspectives on Education and Society. Volume 49," see ED675089.]

Since 2013, the "Annual Review of Comparative and International Education" has covered significant developments in the intersecting fields of comparative education, international education, education for development, and comparative and international education. With an international authorship, the chapters presented in the "Annual Review of Comparative and International Education 2023" cover extensive perspectives from around the world on topics such as trends and directions, conceptual and methodological developments, research-to-practice, regional developments, and diversification of the field. The "Annual Review of Comparative and International Education" serves as an important reference, a source of knowledge, a record of the skills and how they are implemented, and a figurative mirror helping scholars and professionals alike reflect on their own practice and what it means both to the field and to each other. [Individual chapters are indexed in ERIC.]

This Special Report captures analysis of 42 governors' State of the State addresses and the education-related proposals mentioned within. In 2021, governors unsurprisingly focused on the COVID-19 pandemic and its implications for students, teachers and education more broadly. The six major themes among education-related proposals this year were related to: (1) Funding; (2) Remote learning; (3) Workforce development; (4) Reopening schools; (5) Student achievement and learning loss; and (6) Physical and mental health of students and educators. Each year since 2005, Education Commission of the States has tracked, analyzed and identified trends in education policy accomplishments and proposals featured in governors' State of the State addresses. For the past two years, ECS has also partnered with the National Governors Association to review education proposals in these addresses. The report includes excerpts and specific proposals from governors' addresses, in addition to resources that dive deeper into each issue. [For the 2020 report, see ED607289.]

The purpose of this chapter is to provide a comprehensive view of special education in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The chapter starts with the origins and attitudes of the Saudi citizens regarding persons with special needs. Next the chapter examines trends in legislation and litigation pertaining to persons who are disabled which led to the government's passage of Regulations of Special Education Programs and Institutes (RSEPI) in 2001. The RSEPI regulations were modeled after the United States 1997 Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). Included in the discussion of the RSEPI is a delineation of the Disability Code which is comprised of 16 articles. The author also provides information on prominent educational intervention employed in the Kingdom as well details about the preparation of paraprofessionals and special education teachers. The chapter concludes with the special education progress that has occurred since the passage of RSEPI. [For the complete volume, "Special Education International Perspectives: Practices across the Globe. Advances in Special Education. Volume 28," see ED608105.]

Special education is the largest categorical funding program in California's K-12 education budget. In 2016, the Public Policy Institute of California published "Special Education Finance in California" (ED571011), which looked at changes that would align the state's special education program with the principles underlying the Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF) and the goals of the 2015 Statewide Task Force on Special Education. The 2016 report spurred significant discussion about the funding and governance of services for students with disabilities. This second report revisits these issues, focusing on two main issues. The authors discuss the strengths and weaknesses of the state's financial formulas, and they identify options for ensuring that state support for special education keeps pace with district costs. The authors reexamine special education governance issues posed by the intermediary entities, known as Special Education Local Planning Areas (SELPAs), and provide options that will help align special education with the underlying principles of LCFF.

In 2020 the Australian Government reviewed the "Disability Standards for Education 2005" (the Standards). The Standards help to make sure students with disability can access and participate in education and training on the same basis as students without disability. This includes preschool, school, vocational education and training, and higher education. The Standards explain the responsibilities education providers have under the "Disability Discrimination Act 1992." During the 2020 Review of the Standards students with disabilities were heard from, as well as their parents and carers, disability advocacy groups, educators, and education providers. The Review had a focus on the experiences of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students and their families. It was found that some parts of the Standards need to be changed and that more people need to know about and understand the Standards. Four areas where changes will be made are highlighted in this summary. [For the full report, see ED617747.]

Charter schools must abide by federal special education laws and regulations because they are part of the public education system. However, the way this gets carried out in practice differs widely due to many factors, the most important of which are a charter school's "legal identity" and its "linkage" to a traditional LEA for purposes of special education. Familiarity with these concepts is critical to understanding a charter school's level of responsibility for special education. This section is divided into two parts: (1) A discussion of the legal status of charter schools and their linkage to other local education agencies (LEAs), and (2) A synopsis of federal laws that are most relevant to special education in charter schools. The content of this section is intended for those readers who may not fully understand the critical importance of a charter school's legal status within a state's public education system, or may not have a working knowledge of, or need a brief update on, federal special education laws and regulations. A glossary is included.

Most special education administrators do not get the chance to network regularly with professional peers to discuss job challenges and strategies. School-district special education directors routinely juggle complex, difficult, time-consuming, and emotion-laden job demands, but when things get tough, they usually find themselves solving problems on their own. The Special Education Leadership Academy in Massachusetts was developed to remedy that situation. Collaboration between special education directors and their general education counterparts to promote inclusive learning is a primary goal of the Academy. Funded by the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (MA DESE) and free to participants, the Academy aims to build directors' capacities to do their jobs effectively and minimize burnout. In fact, a major reason that MA DESE funds the Academy is to retain veteran directors in their positions longer, so that students and educators--especially those coming up through the special education ranks--can benefit from their knowledge and experience. [This article was first published in WestEd's R&D Alert, Vol. 14, No.3, 2014.]

Through a historical and comparative analysis of international education policy development in Canada and the U.S., this paper will map the similarities and differences in the two countries. It will highlight the contributions and challenges of the government's involvement in international education (IE) in the two federal states and in particular, explore the implications of the changing contexts, rationales and approaches for international education to the federal role in higher education. It will conclude with observations on the differential impact of the federal government's role in international/higher education on the higher education systems of the two countries and thus contribute to our understanding of how national specificities and characteristics outweigh the commonly stated policy rationales, approaches and outcomes for international education. [A bibliography is included.]

Data and information are important components of school improvement. They show how schools are changing and how students are progressing. Providing and interpreting data is one of the critical functions of the Iowa Department of Education. The annual Condition of Education report provides valuable data about students, educators and school districts across a number of statewide measures for Iowa. They include shifts in student populations and demographics, teacher and administrator salaries and characteristics, student achievement results, and school financial information. The data for this annual report are presented according to: (1) Enrollment; (2) Early Childhood Education; (3) Staff; (4) Program; (4) Student Performance; (5) Special Education; and (6) Finance.

This article discusses the role of the hybrid field of law education and its status in South Africa. The authors suggest that, in their consideration of education law, it should be understood as the particular collection of legal rules that regulate all activities and relationships in education. These legal rules as applied in education are derived from various sources such as legislation, common law and case law. Herein they discuss why education law research is necessary, why it is challenging, and the need for globally competent education law researchers. After a review of the current status of training and research in education law in South Africa, the authors suggest a target group for the development of globally competent education law researchers and offer a development strategy for training educationists as law education researchers in this area. [For the complete Volume 13, Number 1 proceedings, see ED568595.]

This report presents the statistics of 371 teachers' colleges and normal schools for 1919-20. For the first time the list of teachers' colleges appears. It is composed of institutions offering four years of work above the secondary school and granting degrees. The work offered in such schools is considered of collegiate grade and is of such importance to merit separate and special treatment. A graphic treatment and the discussion of the statistics contained herein will appear later in the Biennial Survey of Education for 1918-1920. However, this bulletin contains all the data on which such treatment will be based. (Contains 46 tables.) [Best copy available has been provided.]

This paper focuses on Greece's arts and cultural education. The main intention of the curriculum is the cultivation of pupils' creativeness and action, the production of artwork, the appreciation and awareness of cultural dimension and the contribution of art in the process of the society diachronic and synchronic. In this context, the main aims of curriculum are: (1) To develop pupils' imagination; (2) To become familiar and experiment with, to analyze and to evaluate; and (3) To produce. This paper contains the following sections: (1) Responsibility and purpose; (2) Organisation and aims of arts education; (3) Special provision with a focus on art education; (4) Assessment of pupils' progress and monitoring of standards in the arts; (5) Teacher education in the arts; (6) Initiatives; (7) Ongoing reforms and proposals; and (8) Existing national surveys and reports on practices. (Contains 6 footnotes.)

This paper examines issues related to women in higher education on a worldwide basis. Following an introduction, individual sections address the following topics: guiding principles for fostering a gender-inclusive culture through education; follow-up to the 1995 Beijing World Conference on Women; five challenges in higher education today, including the shift from elite to mass higher education and the growing reality of the internationalization of higher education; key aspects related to women and higher education (societal attitudes, women's lower enrollments in higher education, and the absence of a gender dimension in the curriculum); and trends in women as leaders in higher education. The paper concludes that the clear trends to strengthen the empowerment of highly qualified women in the fields of research, training, advocacy, and networking should constitute the foundations of UNESCO's Global Strategy for Women, Higher Education, and Development, with the aim of enhancing the participation of women in the decision-making process. Fourteen specific strategies are proposed to address advocacy, increased decision making, and action research and training; five additional goals are proposed for 2010. (Contains 15 references.) (DB)

This document addresses changes and trends in private higher education, with particular emphasis on Latin America. It focuses on specific issues facing private higher education, which has developed significantly worldwide. A variety of factors have brought private higher education to the forefront. There has been a shift in several countries from the "public good" model of education to the "private good" model. In addition, there has been an increase in the privatization of public institutions in some countries. The relationship between private higher education and the challenge of organizational diversity is explored, as well as the strengths and shortcomings of private higher education in Latin American countries, where public support for higher education has decreased and expanding enrollment has made private higher education a critical issue. Other countries serve as case studies, including Mexico, the Philippines, Malaysia, India, and Hungary. The document addresses the "missing link" between education and development. (HB)