Welfare Reform on the Web (September 1999): Education - Overseas

APPRAISAL POLICY AND IMPLEMENTATION ISSUES FOR NEW ZEALAND SCHOOLS.

C. Cardno

International Journal of Educational Management, vol.13, 1999, p.87-97

The failure of schools between 1990 and 1995 to respond to the imperative to establish systems for staff appraisal resulted in the Ministry of Education in New Zealand prescribing guidelines for schools to follow from 1996 onwards. Paper explores the forces which shaped national policy in the context of the education reform movement, describes the policy development process and the national training programme for its implementation, and examines the challenges presented to principals who are expected to be accountable for the introduction of appraisals.

THE AUSTRALIAN WAY: COMPETENCY-BASED TRAINING IN THE CORPORATE SECTOR

D. Kellie

International Journal of Training and Development, vol.3., 1999, p.118-131

Article examines Australian endeavours to improve the education and skills base of its work force through competency based training. It is argued that the corporate sector has responded well, if slowly, to the introduction of competency-based training and development. As industry bears more of the cost, and the task, of meeting its own training needs, it is more than ever keen to see a direct return on training investment through concomitant increases in productivity.

ECONOMIC AND HEALTH EFFICIENCY OF EDUCATION FUNDING POLICIES.

T.R.C. Curtin and E.A.S. Nelson

Social Science and Medicine, vol.48, 1999, p.1599-1611

Public spending programmes to reduce poverty, expand primary education and improve the economic status of women are recommended priorities of aid agencies and are now being reflected in Third World governments' policies, in response to conditions imposed by the World Bank and OECD countries. Papers shows that donors' lending policies, especially those which restrict public spending on education to the primary level:

• perpetuate poverty;:
• minimise the impact of public health programmes;
• prevent significant improvement in the economic status of women.

Health status in developing countries would be enhanced by increasing the proportion of the population which has at least post-primary education.

FOSTERING TALENTS IN VOCATIONAL TRAINING: CURRENT STRATEGIES IN GERMANY

T. Bals

High Ability Studies, vol.10, 1999, P.97-105

Presents and overview of the status and organisation of vocational education in Germany and discusses a pioneering effort in providing for the vocationally gifted.

LESSONS FROM BRITISH COLUMBIA: LEADERS GET THE JOB DONE DESPITE THE ODDS

School Leadership and Management, vol.19, 1999, p.209-212

External reform efforts in British Columbia are characterised by multiple innovations in curriculum, instruction, evaluation and parental and community involvement imposed from above. Article describes some of the strategies by which some schools attempt to mediate provincial government expectations while working simultaneously and independently to create rich learning opportunities for students.

MICROPOLITICS IN THE TASMANIAN CONTEXT OF SCHOOL REFORM

J. Bennett

School Leadership and Management, vol.19, 1999, p.197-200

Micropolitics exist in schools, and it is important to consider how they are manifested. Principals need to understand that staff have different views of the world. If principals can recognize actors and ascertain what they are struggling over, it will influence how they as leaders communicate, collaborate and decide courses of action.

NEW SCHOOL OF THOUGHT

P. Waldmeir

Financial Times, June 7th 1999, p.22

Seven white parents in Charlotte, N.C., some of whose children were denied access to certain schools because of race, are sueing the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education for reverse discrimination. They say that the Board's practice of 'racial balancing' (forced bussing across racial lines of children as young as four, and mixing school children by race-based quotas) should be abolished because it is unconstitutional and unnecessary.

TEN YEARS OF COMPETENCY - BASED TRAINING: THE EXPERIENCE OF ACCREDITED TRAINING PROVIDES IN AUSTRALIA

E. Smith

International Journal of Training and Development, vol.3, 1999, p.106-117

The introduction of competency-based training to the Australian vocational education and training system has been controversial and has led to far-reaching changes in the roles of every stakeholder in the system. While some mistakes were made during the implementation of CBT, the system has evolved into one which is workable, although there is some doubt about whether it is actually improving student and trainee outcomes.

WHAT CAN THE STUDY OF MICROPOLITICS CONTRIBUTE TO THE PRACTICE OF LEADERSHIP IN REFORMING SCHOOLS?

J. C. Lindle

School Leadership and Management, vol.19, 1999, p.171-178

Today, education is a more overtly contested terrain for communities, governments, teachers, parents and administrators. Though public schools in the US have always had an ambitious mission, the increased expectations for reform make schools and their communities unavoidably more political. Thus the study of micropolitics is essential for the survival of school leaders and other educators.

WHEN WILL THEY EVER LEARN? ANOTHER FAILURE OF CENTRALLY - IMPOSED CHANGE

P. Bishop and B. Malford

School Leadership and Management, vol.19, 1999, p.179-187

Paper describes the experiences of a principal and teachers in one secondary school in Victoria, Australia when a new state government set in train a radical change in the education system. The imposition of the new system adversely affected trust between principal and teachers resulting in a negative impact on the school.