This issue of "Cross Currents" includes the following articles: "The Japanese Concept of Hanashi-Kata and Its Potential Influence on Foreign Language Acquisition" by James R. Bowers; "Linguistic Relativity and Foreign Language Learning" by Ronald Taubitz; "On Being a Sansei English Teacher in Japan" by Ruth…

The South Carolina Impact Study, a formal research project designed to describe the effects of changing patterns of institutional and student financing on postsecondary enrollments, is described. It has as its objectives to: (l) examine the enrollment patterns and characteristics of the September freshman classes of 1972 and 1977; (2) relate…

About half the states in the U.S., either by legislative or administrative action, have moved toward the imposition of statewide performance standards in their elementary and secondary schools. Typically these standards pertain to the basic skills--reading, mathematical computation, and written and oral expression. Almost all of these programs…

This document presents materials that were developed for a presentation explaining how the Gordon Cooper Technology Center in Shawnee, Oklahoma, obtained state certification for the geometry and trigonometry program that is embedded in its residential and commercial construction program and enables its students to receive high school geometry or…

Possible ways of conducting research examining the changing context of workplace basic skills policy in the United Kingdom were explored. First, workplace literacy was examined from the perspective of its role in the U.K. government's lifelong learning agenda, and existing research in workplace literacy policy and related studies were reviewed.…

This report reassesses recommendations made by the Council on Graduate Medical Education in earlier reports which had, beginning in 1992, addressed the problems of physician oversupply. In this report physician supply and requirements are examined in the context of a health care system increasingly dominated by managed care. Patterns of physician…

This history of the "polytechnic experiment" covers the period from the establishment of a binary British higher education policy in the mid-1960s to the passage in 1992 of the Further and Higher Education Act, which abolished the binary policy and the polytechnic sector, thus enabling the polytechnics in England and Wales to acquire the…

This document contains information from and about the Pan-Canadian Forum on Community Learning Networks (CLNs) that was conducted to identify existing and emerging needs of CLNs and identify emerging trends and issues related to CLNs. The document begins with a discussion of role played by CLNs in building a lifelong learning culture. Presented…

Calls over the last decade for national educational goals, high academic standards, and improved student performance represent the first sustained challenge to the dominant philosophy of schooling. Chapter 1, "The Professionalization of Curriculum Planning," traces the transformation of American education by elites professionalizing…

Many observers have noted that corruption in higher education is widespread in the states of the former Soviet Union. Little empirical evidence is available, however. This article examines some theoretical approaches to the study of corruption, and presents empirical data on corruption in higher education from Russia and Azerbaijan, collected by…

Across OECD countries, governments, policy makers and university managers are examining the future of higher education and questioning the role of educational research. These discussions are taking place against the backdrop that knowledge production and the contribution of higher education to the economy and the prestige and standing of nations…

Reports analyzing vocational-technical education (VTE) in individual member countries of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation Development (OECD) were reviewed to identify changes in the role of VTE in the context of technological and structural change, economic crisis, and uncertainty. Major transformations in VTE affecting its organization,…

Past, present, and possible future government involvement in postsecondary education in British Columbia was analyzed. Special attention was paid to the following topics: challenges facing British Columbia's education system and the importance of postsecondary vocational education; issues in postsecondary education and adult education; the…

These proceedings contain papers from a symposium during which 33 practitioners from the fields of education and employment policy formation met to discuss the following topics: the political reality of a Republican majority in Congress and the trend toward increased reliance on block grants as a method of awarding federal funding; the economic…

This publication contains 25 papers from a conference on defining quality higher education. Opening sections cover the conference program and members of the conference's steering committee. A representative sampling of papers includes the following: "The College Student Experiences Questionnaire: A Follow-Up Study of Academic and Social…