Education & Pedagogy

The eight issues of the newsletter of the National Association for Bilingual Education contain articles on these topics in relation to bilingual education: federal policy and policy formation; teacher qualifications; the English-only movement; parent involvement; reading instruction; the effect of foreign-language schools on children's acculturation; education of American Indians; Asian/Pacific education concerns; cultural literacy; federal resource allocation; global learning networks; early childhood education; pre-literate older (late elementary/secondary school) students; learning culture through children's literature; electronic portfolios for student assessment; using graphic organizers for bilingual literacy education; communication with and within families; gifted education; Internet search tools; writing instruction; empowering language minority children in the mainstream; court litigation; learning strategy instruction; biculturalism; school-to-work programs; teacher education; and educational technology. Book reviews, resource listings, and professional announcements are also included in each issue. (MSE)

Taiwan has two technology teacher departments: one at the National Taiwan Normal University (NTNU) and the other at National Kaohsiung Normal University (NKNU). In recent years, both universities' technology teacher education programs have simultaneously followed two lines of development: the transition from an industrial arts education program to a technology education program and the pursuit of a diversified development. Materials relevant to technology education were reviewed and experts in the field of technology education were interviewed to identify program changes in technology teacher education in Taiwan. Among the conclusions of that research were the following: (1) although the pedagogical aims, structure, and content of the education programs at NTNU and NKNU are faced with diverse operational changes, training of technology teachers remains a main priority at both universities; (2) technology teacher training, technological training, and human resource development constitute the three main development trends for institutions providing technology teacher education in Taiwan; (3) clear differences exist in the direction and pace of development of technology teacher education at NTNU and NKNU; (4) both institutions have graduate programs; and (5) both departments are making special efforts to establish and increase cooperative relationships with business and industry. (Contains 10 references.) (MN)

This report summarizes and discusses some of the major fiscal policy questions surrounding the funding of special education in the current era of school reform. Part 1, "Current Special Education Financing: Issues and Provisions," addresses how special education is currently funded and the different formulas used for special education funding. Issues that are driving the reform of special education funding are outlined, including the need for greater flexibility in placement and use, rising special education costs and enrollments, concerns over the efficiency of special education services, the strict categorical nature of special education services, and fiscal policies that work at cross purposes with inclusion policies. Part 2 of the report, "State and Federal Reform Initiatives" discusses different ways that governments are addressing the issues of special education funding, including census-based funding, adjusting special education funding based on student poverty, removing fiscal incentives for restrictive placements, changing the federal "incidental benefit" rule, and blended funding and service provisions. Criteria that states should consider when developing funding systems to foster effective special education programming, how states' fiscal policies can encourage integrated services, and ways states have been able to overcome difficulties in implementing fiscal reform policies are also reviewed. (Contains 18 references.) (CR)

Business leaders are increasingly realizing that arts education is beneficial in preparing young people for the workplace. Increasingly, business is acknowledging that arts education develops collaborative and teamwork skills, technological competencies, flexible thinking, and an appreciation for diversity. The need for imagination and creativity in the work force is creating a new alliance between arts education and business. Aside from specific disciplinary content, arts education is valuable in three important senses: (1) arts education contributes to the quality of education overall and builds critical thinking skills; (2) arts education builds specific work force skills that business values; (3) an education in the arts builds values that connect children to themselves and to their own culture and civilization; and (4) arts education helps the nation produce citizens and workers who are comfortable using many different symbol systems (verbal, mathematical, visual, auditory). Examples of businesses supporting arts education can be seen throughout the country. One of the most effective ways for businesses and professional to support arts education is to become directly involved in partnerships with local schools and arts organizations. Making partnerships work requires having a vision, planning, leveraging resources, and generating commitment, as well as professional development opportunities for teachers, support for artists, good communication, and promotion. (MN)

This study uses the Benefit Incidence Analysis to examine the distribution of public spending across different socioeconomic groups before and after the government of Malawi made great changes in educational policy in 1994. Primary education was made the top priority with increased spending on education and primary school fees abolished. The Malawi example shows an effective way to increase the equity of public spending in education is to increase the total allocation of public resources to primary education while easing the constraints on the demand for education faced by poor households. The challenge in the near future is to maintain current enrollment levels in primary schools and simultaneously to improve the quality of education. The book is divided into five chapters: (1)"Introduction"; (2) "School Enrollment"; (3) "Recent Changes in Enrollment: Important Inequities Remain in Primary Education"; (4) "Public Spending on Education"; (5) "Who Benefits from Public Education Spending?"; and (6) "Policy Implications." Numerous charts and graphs accompany the text. A 29-item reference list and two appendices conclude the volume. (EH)

The National Centre for Vocational Education Research (NCVER) was asked by Technical and Further Education (TAFE) Directors Australia to consider, in a discussion paper for their conference held on the Gold Coast in September 2009, how a "tertiary education" sector impacts on the way people think about research and statistics. While a tertiary education focus would be a forward-looking step, it is important that both vocational education and training (VET) and higher education issues receive due attention. Individuals need to build on the good work done for the VET sector rather than subsume it in any sense. What is needed to make sense of the education, participation and achievement of individual students is an integrated tertiary education statistical system. This would require a common core set of standards. It would be relatively straightforward to populate a tertiary education student database from different collections. This database would then be a resource for policymakers and researchers. An integrated approach is required, not an approach which appends higher education statistics to the VET statistics or vice versa.

Employment in Hawaii (including hourly and salaried jobs and self-employment) is projected to grow by 14 percent from 2002 to 2012, adding over 78,000 new jobs to the state's economy and growing the workforce from 558,220 to 636,480. The rate of growth is slightly lower than the 15 percent increase projected for the nation as a whole. Over the next several years, workers who have the most education and training will have the best opportunity for high-paying jobs in growing sectors. In addition, a number of professions requiring education beyond the bachelor's degree are expected to see moderate to strong growth. Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education (WICHE) and its 15 member states-work collaboratively to expand educational access and excellence for all citizens of the West. By promoting innovation, cooperation, resource sharing, and sound public policy among states and institutions, WICHE strengthens higher education's contributions to the region's social, economic, and civic life. This brief provides brief descriptions and statistical information about Hawaii and WICHE's Student Exchange Programs. (Contains 2 tables.)

The study attempts to enquire into whether Papua New Guineans see education as a cargo cult, an investment or as an item for consumption. The definitions of cargo cult are examined as are the basic principles of the economics of education. The main discussion within the study is whether Papua New Guineans see education as a cargo cult, an investment or as an item for consumption? Some years ago European missionaries and settlers used to say that Papua New Guineans sought education simply as a "cargo cult", but the study indicates reasons for modifying this view. The histories of education and higher education in Papua New Guinea are briefly described, paying particular attention to the role of Goroka Teachers College in the area of secondary teacher education. The unequal distribution of resources between the constituent parts of the University of Papua New Guinea is also discussed. These conflicting cross-cultural perspectives are matters of concern. [This paper was published in: "Education/Higher Education as a Commodity in Papua New Guinea - Some Conflicting Cross Cultural Perspectives." Paper presented at ANZCIES Conference, University of Queensland, St Lucia, Queensland, 1-5 December 1986: Proceedings, pp. 406-418.]

This document describes the contributions made by the Primary Education Quality Improvement Program (1996-1999) to the broad goals of improved access, equity, and quality in girls' primary education in Pakistan. In Balochistan, the largest but least developed province of Pakistan, an innovative approach to educational development was successfully implemented through the Primary Education Quality Improvement Program (PEQIP). With the assistance of local non-governmental organizations (NGOs), villagers selected young, rural women to be trained as teachers. Parents then organized themselves into village education committees to support the new teacher and her school. Finally, NGOs helped establish partnerships between the government's education field officers and communities to promote the benefits of primary education. As a result of these interventions, more girls now go to school, teachers' attendance has improved, and student-centered, high quality teaching is evident. PEQIP inspired--and also benefited from--many other projects and programs, including the Balochistan Primary Education Development Program and national and provincial Social Action Programs. [Funding for this report was provided by the Royal Netherlands Embassy.]

Multicultural education has evolved over the last 25 years to become a promising, productive, and positive approach to education within an increasingly diverse schooling context. The academic discipline has developed models, robust definitions and goals, and specific pedagogical principles related to an education that is multicultural. Almost all teacher education programs now require some academic coursework that focuses on the theoretical and practical elements of multicultural education. In addition, school districts are also recognizing the importance of multicultural education through professional development, the hiring of cultural facilitators, and minority teacher recruitment. "Understanding Multicultural Education: Equity for All Students" brings the goals, ideas, theories, principles, and practices of multicultural education together in their most accessible form. The book is organized using the analogy of a house to make complex ideas understandable. It aims to move the ideals of multicultural education from the academic realm to the public. With the information provided by the authors, stakeholders who play a role in the implementation of multicultural education--students, teachers, administrators, parents, school board members, citizens--will be able to pursue its implementation more fully and authentically. [Foreword by Valerie Ooka Pang.]

Through special funding by the Ministry of Education and Science in 2008, the Research Institute for Higher Education (RIHE) at Hiroshima University has been able to implement a new research project on the reform of higher education in the knowledge-based society of the 21st century. RIHE hosted the third International Workshop on the Higher Education System under the theme of "Diversifying Higher Education Systems in the International and Comparative Perspectives," which was followed by the 38th Annual Study Meeting on the same topic. The following papers are presented at the conference: (1) Higher Educational Diversification in the United States (D. Bruce Johnstone); (2) Functional Differentiation or Hierarchical Differentiation?: The Case of Japan (Aya Yoshida); (3) The Diversification of China's Higher Education and Its Challenges (Weihe Xie); (4) Higher Education Diversification in Europe (Peter Maassen); and (5) Massification and the Growing Diversity of Higher Education (Futao Huang). Appended are: (1) Conference Program; and (2) List of Participants. Individual papers contain figures, tables, references and footnotes.

Partnerships among institutions of higher education and school districts are desirable. Partnerships enable organizations to leverage their resources as well as expand and enhance their capabilities. They also provide opportunities for personnel with specialized areas of expertise to address shared challenges. Partnerships take considerable time, effort, flexibility, consensus building, and political acumen if they are to succeed. For many districts, the strongest motivation to become involved in a partnership with special education teacher educators comes from a critical shortage in the number and quality of special education teachers. Institutions of higher education may form partnerships to increase the number of students in their teacher preparation programs as well as to enhance their programs. This Brief looks at two areas of partnering in special education teacher preparation for institutions of higher education and school districts--Alternative Route Certification (ARC) programs and Professional Development School (PDS) programs. These programs are among the most widely employed teacher preparation partnerships. They exemplify the range of partnerships, from the idealized, multifaceted, and high-maintenance PDS to the goal-focused and pragmatic ARC. This paper discusses the challenges and opportunities associated with these partnerships.

The primary goal of the Regents in their bilingual education program is to provide equal educational opportunity for non-English-speaking children through activities capitalizing on their proficiency in their native language and developing competency in English. Two complementary goals are inherent: (1) a vitally needed national resource, the bilingual adult, will be developed and (2) the total learning community--pupils, lay persons, teachers, administrators--will profit from the contribution of bilingual education to promotion of better understanding among people. The Regents direct that such priorities as the following be established: (1) develop individualized teaching strategies and supportive curriculums that reflect the particular needs of the bilingual-bicultural child; (2) reallocate present funds for programs for non-English-speaking pupils in the areas of occupational education, general education, higher education, early childhood education, adult education, drug education, and education of the handicapped; and, (3) require increased use of E.S.E.A Title I and Urban Education funds for bilingual and English as a second language programs. [Spanish translation of this document is available from the New York State Education Department, Albany.] (Author/JM)

Lifelong education is one of the leading principles of Peru's Educational Reform, part of the general post-revolutionary transformation of Peruvian society. The idea that state obligation to the child begins with the school age has been done away with. The three levels of Peruvian education are divided into modalities to allow for special attention to individual problems; the modalities are basic vocational education, out-of-school higher education, special education, special vocational qualification and educational extension. The country is now in the process of social mobilization, one of the components of which is community participation in the administration of lifelong education. The educational nuclearization system has established social units grouping two to four thousand inhabitants. The purpose is to mobilize the community to utilize their resources to develop lifelong education. The new plan for adult education ranges from literacy education to vocational and technological training. Vocational education is aimed both to prepare workers for jobs and to provide on-the-job training in technological advances. The National Service for Training and Industrial Work (SENATI) was established to improve the deficient qualifications of personnel in industries. A certificates system and coordination of out-of-school education are currently being studied. Educational extension consists of discussion groups and circles created by community groups. (KM)

The purpose of this study was to determine the degree of impact exerted by the Vocational Education Act of 1963 on business education in the public secondary schools of Missouri. The study encompassed an examination of the historical background of Federal Government participation in business education at the public secondary school level throughout the nation and the state of Missouri. The provisions of the 1963 Act and the Missouri State Plan for Vocational Education applicable to business and office education were examined. Additional data regarding educational programs were obtained from the files of the State Department of Education and from a questionnaire which was submitted to all teachers with valid certificates. Based upon data collected and subsequent analysis and findings, conclusions included: (1) Vocational business and office education has been given increased recognition by the Missouri State Department of Education, (2) Vocational business and office instructional personnel have been motivated by certification requirements to obtain academic preparation in the form of professional vocational courses, and (3) A larger percentage of school districts were offering vocational business courses than were doing so prior to the passage of the Act. (Author/JS)