Suggests that comparative education tries to obtain an idea of the development and differentiation of the modern educational structure.

Overall objective of the test was to arrive at an internationally valid measuring instrument covering a wide range of content and objectives, such as measuring mathematical achievement, within which each country could find its own emphasis. (Author/RK)

Emphasizes the importance of teacher training in the development of educational policies, and the need for teachers to continually update their education. (RK)

Outlines China's 1985 educational reforms, and the political and economic factors behind them. Examines the impact on the school system, on higher education, and on teachers of reforms such as nine years' compulsory education, rapid introduction of technical and vocational training, and greater institutional autonomy. Contains 37 references. (SV)

Examines the long-term consequences for employment, income, occupational integration, and organizational participation among Norwegian graduates of vocational and academic secondary programs. Uses data from 1973 and 1982 surveys to compare the effects of education before and after national reforms in the early 1970s. Contains 26 references. (SV)

Examines the dynamic aspects and political nature of educational policymaking in France's centralized educational system. Considers the obstacles to the introduction and implementation of comprehensive middle schools, created in 1963 to permit social mobility through education. Contains 48 references. (SV)

Compares administrative reforms and decentralization in the public educational systems of 3 Hispanic countries 10 years after transition to democracy. Discusses the effects of collaboration and compromise among political parties, incremental approaches to change, continuity of policies, costs and resource management, and formalization of…

Compares Zimbabwe's rapidly expanding educational system to those of Kenya, Malawi, Tanzania, Zambia, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, United Kingdom, and United States with regard to enrollment rates, government expenditures, per pupil costs, student teacher ratios, teacher salaries, internal efficiency, and cost per graduate. Contains 16…

Reviews the dismal state of Mali's educational system: extreme poverty, 95 percent adult illiteracy, low school enrollment rates, inefficiency, poor quality and inappropriate curricula at all educational levels, exclusive use of French, and top-heavy higher education that burdens the state and produces unemployed graduates. (SV)

Describes the USIA's Teacher Text Technology Initiative in Tanzania, providing teacher education in science, mathematics, and English, while serving as a vehicle for American educational practices and cultural values. Discusses the adaptation of foreign ideas to an indigenous context as an avenue allowing modernization minus dependency. Contains…

Presents a historical and international overview of student political movements. Discusses the sporadic nature of student activism, effects of mass media attention and government response, characteristics of activist leaders and participants, and the cultural and educational impact of student protest in Third World and industrialized countries.…

Describes the "Nordic model" of small-scale, child-centered, equal education found in Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, and Iceland. Discusses challenges to this model from growing unemployment, increasing institutionalization of children's lives, and economic integration with the rest of Europe. Outlines Nordic hopes for future European…

Describes recent educational changes in Czechoslovakia, Poland, and Hungary, from total uniformity under former totalitarian regimes to ideological pluralism, free selection of curriculum and textbooks, elimination of the state monopoly in elementary and secondary education, loosening of the uniform school structure, and reduction of…

Reviews recent educational changes and issues in six republics of the former Soviet Union, including controversies over language of instruction, revision of curriculum and textbooks to eliminate Marxism and emphasize national history and culture, reappearance of religious schools and instruction, and criticisms of teacher education and teaching…

Discusses issues in the merger of East and West German educational systems, including problems of communication at interpersonal and administrative levels, structural differences in secondary and higher education, changes in the east in teaching style and ideological indoctrination, problems in vocational education, and growing European and…