The fiascoes that seem to accompany the annual publication of examination results in England, the subsequent inquiries instituted to ensure they "never happen again" and the Secretary of State's decision, reversed six months later because of fears about possible EU legal challenges, to "end competition between exam boards"…

As part of the international debate about new forms of governance and moves towards decentralization and devolution, this article discusses the increasing interest in the concept of "localism" in the UK, marked recently by the publication of the UK Coalition Government's "Localism Bill". A distinction is made between three versions--"centrally…

This paper provides a critical analysis of the Australian government's education revolution policy as promulgated in the media release document, "Quality Education: The Case for an Education Revolution in our Schools". It seeks to problematize the government's claim to marry quality and equity, via an analysis of the discursive strategies of the…

Accreditation is fast becoming the dominant method of evaluation used in the European Higher Education Area. This paper traces the political process supporting the introduction of this method in Europe and identifies different theoretical understandings and practices which shed light on how we can interpret the spread and role of accreditation in…

Lately, a deliberative conception of democracy has gained influence in policy debates throughout Europe. Individuals are here seen to be fostered into responsible, mature--democratic--citizens by being involved in dialogue. In the 1990s, calls for "democratic education" intensified in Sweden. This article analyses two pedagogical models influenced…

This article addresses the politics and policy-making of alternative forms of basic education in the context of EFA, with an emphasis on non-formal education (NFE) for school-age children. It explores how policy-makers interpret the relevance of such alternatives, the steps that are taken to implement the reforms and factors that play a role in…

The UK Government is keen to encourage the use of mediation, rather than court or tribunal, as the best means of resolving disputes between citizen and state on the grounds that legal proceedings are costly, lengthy and stressful. The policy of proportionate dispute resolution appears to be particularly applicable to the field of special…

For the past two years, teacher evaluation has been the most visible aspect of educational policy in Portugal. The model that was established in 2008 has prompted not only strong reactions among teachers but also many passionate discussions in the context of the Portuguese society at large. In this article, we discuss issues of teacher evaluation…

While there has been considerable scholarship on the role of school and district leadership within instructional change, there has been little analysis of the values and orientations that undergird current policy debates about instructional leadership. This article outlines the importance of examining instructional leadership in the context of…

In the UK, the vocabulary of public services is becoming infused with the prefixes "inter"-, "multi-" and "co-". Public-sector agencies are being encouraged to adopt"'multi"- or "inter-agency" configurations; "workforce reform" seeks to dissolve once-impermeable professional boundaries; leadership is to be "distributed". This tendency is referred…

In this paper, a model and tool is proposed to assist universities and other mission-based organisations to ascertain systematically the optimal portfolio of projects, in any year, meeting the organisations risk tolerances and available funds. The model and tool presented build on previous work on university operations and decision support systems…

While external quality assurance in higher education was originally developed to cater for various domestic needs, recent decades have seen various attempts in the use of quality assurance also as a mechanism for creating more trust in cross-national higher education activities. In this article, a conceptual framework for analysing available…

Using a conjoint survey of 161 students at South Dakota State University (SDSU), we mapped a probability-of-enrolment curve for SDSU students, consistent with demand theory. A quasi-demand curve was created from the conditional-logit model. This study shows that along with the price of tuition fees, distance from home, availability of majors, and…

This paper explores how, in the light of global economic downturn and rising student populations, new academic-industrial models for research collaboration based upon specific technological expertise and knowledge can be developed as potential mechanisms for preserving and extending central university research infrastructure. The paper explores…

The workload of academics in Australia is increasing. Among the potential ramifications of this are work-related stress and burnout. Unions have negotiated workload models in employment agreements as a means of distributing workload in a fair and transparent manner. This qualitative pilot study aimed to explore how academics perceive their current…