This first issue of "Blueprint" focuses on standards that states have adopted to delineate what students should know at each grade level of the K-12 system. Textbooks, teacher training, professional development, and assessments are built upon education standards. To generate information that will help state leaders improve their standards and…

The previous issue of "Blueprint" reported significant variability among state standards for education. Such variability means that depending where a student attends school, he might not cover the same material in a course called Algebra I, or Algebra II, or Grade 4, or Grade 6. Many citizens and leaders understand that having a single set of…

In order to be competitive in today's world, it is necessary for North Carolina to have a well-educated workforce. Quality schools, including effective leadership, excellent teachers, and improved academic standards and rigor, are a significant factor in these endeavors. However, good schooling starts well before a student ever steps foot into a…

In this paper our first purpose is to outline a way of thinking about organizations and administration that has recently been gaining ground among theoreticians and practitioners, one that is portrayed frequently as a replacement for the well established newtonian or systems perspective. This way of thinking is the quantum perspective. Our second…

Throughout this era of greater educational accountability, assessment researchers have argued that large-scale comparative assessment data can enhance learning within and across systems of education and can foster reforms based on the practices of high achieving jurisdictions. Other researchers are less optimistic, warning that educational reform…

Adopting a post-structuralist and critical perspective, the author situates The Ontario Colleges of Applied Arts and Technology Act, 2002, often referred to as the New College Charter, and its developing Ministerial bodies regarding curricula at the colleges, in discourses of standardization, neoliberalism and globalization. Of concern is the…

Based on semi-structured interviews with high school teachers in Edmonton, Alberta, the reported study examined teachers' attitudes towards their roles and responsibilities in marketing their school, and the perceived impact of educational markets upon teachers' well-being. The teachers define marketing negatively and narrowly, resist any…

This research inquiry explored the factors influencing successful science program delivery among early- and middle-years schools within a rural school division in central Canada. The study is framed by the author's personal inquiry into how psycho-social factors at the classroom, school and school division level influence science program delivery.…

Economic growth in New Brunswick is increasingly dependent on the improvement of our educational system. Current initiatives to reform education and improve student performance are based on transforming the province's schools into professional learning communities (PLCs). A key factor that will determine this reform's success is the capacity of…

Over the past four decades, the concept of leadership has become increasingly more complex and elaborate. Considerable debate has emerged over the most suitable model for educational leadership. Dominating the literature are two conceptual models: instructional leadership and transformational leadership. This paper will review the conceptual and…

This paper discusses the implementation of Nunavut compulsory school attendance policy as part of the Nunavut Education Act (2002). Using a bottom-up approach to policy implementation in the literature and the author's six years teaching experience in Nunavut, the paper argues that the compulsory school attendance policy may not achieve its…

In a climate of accountability, the development of "assessment literacy" among school professionals has become critical to school success. The provision of "assessment leadership" is viewed as the means by which such literacy can be enhanced. The writers examine the conditions under which student achievement gains can be realized. Implications of…

The article reviews existing research on cyber-bullying, framed through a policy lens. It is clear that public policy issues for cyber-bullying involve tensions between the values of freedom of speech, the best interests of the child, and parental and school protective authority over the child. Given the complexity of the problem, as well as…

The moulding of the future of a nation depends on the teachers and the education they provide in schools. Research evidence from the US. National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) confirms this to be the case. Quantitative analysis of data indicates that measures associated with pre-service teacher preparation are by far the strongest…

This article provides an overview of the recent immigrant phenomenon in Japan and explains the complexity of the social integration (SI) of Nikkei Brazilians. Through the research, factors that explain the degree of social integration (SI) of Nikkei Brazilians are identified. Basic data include triangulated results from a survey of 80 people and…