Education & Pedagogy

Public education in the United States faces many challenges. Ways in which districts are meeting these challenges are discussed in this State of American Education speech given by U.S. Secretary of Education Richard W. Riley. After providing an overview of American education, with mention of reading scores, drug use, the Hispanic dropout rate, evaluating student achievement, interest in the arts, higher academic standards, gender equality, and the opportunities awaiting in public education, highlights of various issues in education are offered. These topics include the importance of early childhood development, efforts at improving national literacy, reducing class sizes in elementary schools, modernizing schools with an ambitious school construction initiative, public support for voluntary national tests, how vouchers divide and undermine public education, the fallacy of "either/or" thinking and how improved mathematics instruction can promote logical thinking, middle school as a turning point in students' lives, and the need to create new partnerships for public schools and higher education. A renewed focus on collaboration among all levels of education is urged, and examples of programs that foster interchange and equity are presented. (RJM)

The Native Hawaiian Education Act (NHEA) seeks to develop innovative educational programs to assist Native Hawaiians. The Department of Education (Education) administers NHEA and has provided grants for a wide range of activities. Education is authorized to establish a Native Hawaiian Education Council and seven island councils to help implement NHEA. To inform reauthorization, GAO was asked to analyze (1) what is known about NHEA's impact on Native Hawaiian education; (2) Education's efforts to oversee NHEA grants; and (3) the extent to which Education and the Native Hawaiian councils have fulfilled their roles and responsibilities. To do this, GAO reviewed federal laws and regulations and departmental documents, and interviewed Education officials, council members, grantees, and experts in Native Hawaiian education. GAO recommends that, among other things, the Secretary of Education report to Congress on the activities under the act, establish additional performance measures, track grant activities, and provide more guidance and assistance to grantees and the Education Council. Education agreed with the majority of recommendations, but not fully or in part with two regarding establishing performance measures and tracking grant activities. GAO believes these recommendations remain valid.

In light of recent developments in educational policy and the positioning of vocational education and training (VET) across the European Union, it was timely to explore these new directions and the lessons for Australian VET. A striking feature both in the European Union and Australia is the wide scope of issues that governments are addressing and the role they envisage for VET. The nine most common themes: higher education and VET inter-relationships; validation of non-formal and informal learning; access, inclusiveness and learner engagement; development of VET teachers; adult and continuing education; retention and guidance services; employer engagement and the role of social partners; and key competencies for lifelong learning and higher-level apprenticeships. A list of emergent themes in recent European literature is appended. (Contains 5 tables.) [Funding for this report was provided through the Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations.]

The experience of public policy in Sri Lanka has had a profound impact on the thinking of the global development community in relation to the role of education in economic development. In particular, the example of Sri Lanka helped to persuade policy makers around the world that governments can successfully develop a general education system to enable universal enrolment and completion of primary education, and provide widespread access to secondary education. This paper analyses the historical evolution of the Sri Lankan education system, discusses the policy framework for general education and discusses the performance of the Sri Lankan education system in terms of equity of access and quality. The paper proceeds to discuss the main future educational challenges facing the country. (Contains 10 footnotes, 15 tables, and 11 figures.) [This monograph is a revised version of the Second Annual CREATE lecture organized by the Institute of Education, London and held at the London International Development Centre on November 18th, 2008.]

House Democrats recently unveiled draft legislation for the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. Widely touted as an economic stimulus package, the $825 billion draft legislation included as much as $142 billion for education. This includes the creation of a $79 billion State Fiscal Stabilization Fund to assist state governments in providing public education and other services. The act also includes significant spending increases for current and proposed federal programs for K-12, postsecondary, and early childhood education. This approach is bad economic policy and bad education policy. An unprecedented federal spending increase for education will not improve economic growth--and past experience strongly suggests that this plan will not improve American educational performance. Instead of a massive federal spending increase, Congress should embrace fiscally responsible solutions to help states meet fiscal challenges and improve educational services. This paper discusses the top ten reasons why this spending plan is the wrong approach. (Contains 22 footnotes.)

In order to guide organizational growth in the Master's in Education with an emphasis in Special Education program, offered at Southwestern College, an in-depth qualitative study was conducted with participants from three specific realms located in the state of Kansas. Participants from the Kansas State Department of Education, Southwestern College, and the Wichita, KS area were interviewed and provided with questionnaires on the topic of special education. In addition, the current curriculum offered at Southwestern College was superficially compared to the curriculum offered at three other specific colleges in the state of Kansas. The data was then analyzed for possible gaps in the current M.Ed. in Special Education program offered at Southwestern College and used to guide feedback to the Director of Education, with regards to the current program curriculum compared to the current needs in the field of special education.

According to the U.S. Department of Education, shortages of special education and/or related services personnel continue to be a significant challenge for all states. In response to this challenge, state education agencies (SEAs) are implementing various strategies to improve recruitment and retention efforts. The purpose of this document is to provide in-depth information on eight states' infrastructures and activities intended to address personnel shortages in the area of special education and related services. A collaboration between Project Forum and the Personnel Improvement Center (PIC) at the National Association of State Directors of Special Education (NASDSE), this document was completed as part of these projects' cooperative agreements with the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP). A companion document, "State-Level Efforts to Recruit and Retain Qualified Special Education Personnel Including Related Service Providers", presents findings from a survey of all states and nonstate jurisdictions, and is available for free download. A table showing state-level approaches to recruitment and retention about which States were interviewed is appended. (Contains 47 footnotes.)

"Studying Diversity in Teacher Education" is a collaborative effort by experts seeking to elucidate one of the most important issues facing education today. First, the volume examines historically persistent, yet unresolved issues in teacher education and presents research that is currently being done to address these issues. Second, it centers on research on diverse populations, bringing together both research on diversity and research on diversity in teacher education. The contributors present frameworks, perspectives and paradigms that have implications for reframing research on complex issues that are often ignored or treated too simplistically in teacher education literature. Concluding the volume with an agenda for future research and a guide for preparing teachers for diversity education in a global context, the contributors provide a solid foundation for all educators. "Studying Diversity in Teacher Education" is a vital resource for all those interested in diversity and education research.

This volume contains reactions to the career education concept as proposed by the U.S. Office of Education from a panel of 23 educators, practitioners, businessmen, and students representing such disciplines as anthropology, law, political science, sociology, mathematics, vocational education, psychology, philosophy, and counseling. The Foreword is written by Sidney P. Marland, Jr. Section 1, Laying a Foundation, contains essays dealing with cultural aspects of career education, philosophy, improvement of guidance services, and provision of career education opportunities for women. Section 2, Building a Framework, contains essays concerned with who shall teach career education, career development, dropout prevention, curriculum development, manpower programs, and the role of community and four-year colleges. Section 3, Satisfying the Consumers' Needs, contains essays dealing with problems faced by high school graduates, the commitment of education to society, career education needs of black students, utilizing community resources, and designing career education programs to meet the needs of consumers. Section 4, Redesigning the System, includes essays concerned with pathologies of work, need for competency-based credentialism, accountability and humanism, eliminating barriers separating vocational education from academic subjects, and research needs. (SB)

Educational, cultural, and scientific activities of the Council of Europe are reported in this bulletin. Part I reviews the areas of higher education and research, general and technical education, out-of-school education and cultural development, and educational research and documentation together with a resume of the 22nd session of the Council for Cultural Cooperation. Part II highlights higher education reform and the concept of permanent education. Four lectures presented at the Symposium on Higher Education, held in Vienna, Austria, June-July, 1972, are included: "Development of Higher Education Structures in Europe,""Student Unrest and Student Participation,""Study Reform and Permanent Education," and "Post-School, Recurrent and Higher Education--Proposals for an Overall Reform." The purpose of the Symposium was to study, from the standpoint of political responsibility, problems raised by the organization of higher education in a post-industrial society. In addition, there is a report to the Consultive Assembly (October, 1972) about the Symposium, "Present Trends in Higher Education Reform and Further Prospects With a View to Permanent Education," and a speech by the Secretary General of the Council of Europe, "Towards a European Policy in Higher Education." (BL)

This compendious study was undertaken to consider how to deal with increasing student enrollments and decreasing higher education budgets so that students would not suffer unduly from program reductions. The study includes Part I, Perspective, considering the changing purposes and goals of higher education and recommending strategies for changes expanded upon in subsequent parts; Part II, Some Alternative Arrangements for Higher Education, with sections on A More Efficient Allocation of Higher Education's Resources, The Affluent Librarian, A New Concept of College and University Administration, U-Net - The University Network, The Urban University, and Higher Education and the World of Work; Part III, Surveys of the Current Scene, including a discussion of A Short History of Higher Education, Options and Issues Concerning Grading in Higher Education, Curriculum Change, Increase University Teaching Effectiveness, Voluntary Cooperation for Effective Resource Allocation in Higher Education, Cooperative Education in Colleges and Universities, Management in Institutions of Higher Education, Can Mathematical Models Contribute to Efficiency in Higher Education?, Allocation of a University's Resources to Instruction, Innovation in Private Colleges and Universities in California, The Computer in Higher Education, and Television in Higher Education; Part IV concludes the study with a 114 page bibliography. (WVM)

To determine the degree of school counselors' favorableness toward postsecondary vocational-technical education and to identify factors from counselors' backgrounds that are related to their perceptions of vocational-technical education, questionnaires were mailed to all Colorado secondary school counselors who devoted at least half their time to counseling and all full-time postsecondary teachers in vocational-technical education programs. Results from 83 percent of the counselors and 72 percent of the teachers revealed that the teachers' perceptions of postsecondary occupational education were significantly more favorable, and they were more sensitive to criticism than the counselors, while the counselors were more favorable than teachers to the need for greater enrollment in occupational education. There were significant relationships between counselors' perceptions of postsecondary occupational education and their knowledge of occupational education and their study of vocational counseling and occupational information. The data indicated tendencies toward relationships between favorableness to postsecondary occupational education and (1) the length of time the counselor had worked in commerce or industry, (2) length of time as a counselor, (3) sex, and (4) number of hours of preparation in job placement. (Author/SB)

Educational technology, new materials and methods, and a growing realization that each person learns in an individually unique way has opened up new potentials in correctional education. The delivery of education and training services is very difficult in a prison setting. However, the creative program manager can develop and implement an appropriate delivery system to meet the special needs of the population in a particular institution. Management by specific and measurable objectives, marshalling of internal and external resources, and highly individualized, learner centered, and flexible programming are the essential characteristics of an up-to-date correctional education model. Early and continuing linkages with the real world and intensive assistance during the critical post-release period can reduce the degenerative impact of incarceration. Top level support and commitment to education and training are necessary in order that correctional education may serve the overall mission of any correctional system. (Six appendixes include an inmate data profile, a correctional education model, testing standards, learning center diagram, and Bureau of Prisons educational standards and checklists.) (Author)

A volume in the Merrill Series in Career Programs, this book is an attempt to analyze and interpret changes in vocational and technical education and the public attitude toward it, and to suggest ways in which administrators might use this information in planning and operating programs that prepare youth and adults for employment and help to maintain employability. In Part One, particular emphasis is given to the classic relationship issues regarding: general education and specialized education; liberal arts and vocational education; practical arts; occupational preparation; the emerging career education model, which culminates in vocational education; policy-making process. Part Two provides an overview of administrative theory and deals with key subjects of organization, leadership, and decision-making and their relationship to institutions providing specialized occupational education. Part Three examines administrative structures and functions for delivery of vocational education from the point of view of specific problems likely to be encountered by vocational education administrators. The concluding section deals with some of the critical issues in administration of vocational and technical education which remain to be solved. (Author/EA)

The document is comprised of a large collection of program and course goals developed by outstanding teachers, together with a taxonomy of health education (which serves as a table of contents and provides an overview of the topics in the subject area) and several indexes to which the course goals are coded for reference: health education program goals, career education program goals, and knowledge and process classifications. Printed in subject collections, the goals may also be grouped in and across subjects. A concept/value code provides further help in interdisciplinary planning. Concise statements of what students can know and do in the major content areas of health education and in the areas where health education relates to values education, basic education, and career education, the goals will require further development of specificity by the teacher to create instructional goals. Computerization is in process to permit retrieval by any of the codes; a measurement product is also under development. (Eleven additional collections of course goals and two introductory volumes are available from the source cited.) (AJ)