Among 2,357 elementary and secondary teachers in rural ethnic-minority regions of China, teacher's use of classroom instructional time and overall professional time was strongly influenced by grade level taught and somewhat influenced at the elementary level by teacher's preservice training. Results suggest that Chinese investments in preservice…

In 1992, the government of Indonesia initiated the Primary Education Quality Improvement Project (PEQIP) to improve educational quality at the elementary level. A World Bank-sponsored assessment of school effectiveness in two provinces found very large differences in student achievement among schools, with implementation of PEQIP components…

Reviews three books that argue that science education should reflect global scientific contributions, use multicultural and feminist perspectives, and be grounded in everyday life experiences with science. Suggests questions of policy and practice in moving from theory to implementation of a more equitable, socially responsible science education.…

Bibliography of comparative and international education lists 937 journal articles published 1998-99. Categories are adult education; comparative studies; curriculum and instruction; educational planning, policy, and reform; ethnicity, race, and class; gender; higher education; indigenous and minority education; multicultural education;…

Studies of 36 rural elementary schools in Kenya and interviews with 774 adolescents in the schools' attendance areas found that dropping out was significantly related to individual and family variables, with many stronger effects for girls than boys, and that girls' remaining in school was discouraged by nonsupportive classroom environments,…

Compares the implementation of quality assurance mechanisms at the City University of Hong Kong and the National University of Singapore. Discusses public policy contexts in the two countries, the introduction of "quality process reviews" in Hong Kong, managerialism and the new emphasis on educational efficiency, institutional self-assessment, and…

In Thailand, secondary school enrollments for males and females were negatively related to employment opportunities in the agricultural sector and positively related to opportunities in the manufacturing and service sectors. In Kenya, school supply, school quality, and service-sector employment positively influenced enrollments. Adult literacy…

Reviews three books that examine intersections of educational philosophy and research with the postpositivist landscape. The books present challenges for comparative education related to ethically examining the desire to know "the other," welcoming the new and diverse, employing dynamic concepts in analyses, and adopting a decentered approach that…

Reviews three books that examine the ongoing transformation of environmental education from a narrow science-focused framework toward new goals of public consciousness raising, social change, and environmental activism. (SV)

Reflects on the recent development of comparative education, focusing on modernity's ongoing possibilities and the value of metanarrative as providing meaning and a space for negotiating shared values across cultures. Discusses research on China's and Japan's experiences of education and modernity to illustrate how the author's search for meaning…

Reviews Cambodia's educational development, characterized by a series of successive crises since the country's independence from France in 1953. Examines various approaches of development discourse to the educational crisis, and suggests that previous analyses of Cambodia's educational development have failed to recognize the tensions generated by…

Examines the implementation in eastern Germany of western Germany's much-praised "dual system" of vocational education, in which students divide their time between work and school. Focuses on the role of European Union (EU) programs and funding that supported this transition. Includes information on specific EU education and training projects. (SV)

A survey of 10 national systems of higher education found that less than 10 percent of professors were women, and the proportion of female professors was negatively related to institutional prestige. This academic "glass ceiling" was related to women's shorter careers, tenure issues during hard times, and women's lower level of academic…

Reviews three books that critique and compare the ideas of Gramsci and Freire: "Revolutionary Social Transformation: Democratic Hopes, Political Possibilities and Critical Education" (Paula Allman); "Radical Heroes: Gramsci, Freire and the Politics of Adult Education" (Diana Coben); and "Gramsci, Freire and Adult Education: Possibilities for…

Reviews four books that explain modern schooling's irrelevance for many indigenous communities and that represent indigenous knowledge practices with respect: "What Is Indigenous Knowledge? Voices from the Academy"; "Escaping Education: Living as Learning within Grassroots Cultures"; "Intercultural Education and Literacy: An Ethnographic Study of…