Welfare Reform on the Web (January 2005): Education - Overseas

EDUCATION OF GIFTED AND TALENTED CHILDREN: WHAT'S GOING ON IN CHINA

W. Yang

Gifted Education International, vol.18, 2004, p.313-325

Paper summarises the history of gifted education in China. It then describes the Chinese conception of giftedness, procedures for the identification of gifted children and special programmes for them. These include Key Point Schools which receive enhanced funding, youth classes at universities, summer camps, Olympic Schools, Children's Palaces offering enrichment programmes, and special schools for children talented in a particular domain.

EDUCATION REFORM POLICIES AND CLASSROOM TEACHING IN SOUTH KOREA

J.W. Kim

International Studies in Sociology of Education, vol.14, 2004, p.125-145

Argues that education reforms in Korea since 1995 have led to teacher frustration and demoralisation. They have been introduced with insufficient funding and have led to an increase in teachers' workloads while at the same time deskilling them.

HELPING CHILDREN LEFT BEHIND: STATE AID AND PURSUIT OF EDUCATIONAL EQUITY

J. Yinger (ed)

Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press, 2004

This book presets a timely study of education finance policy in the United States. The case studies of five states that reformed their public school funding highlight the technical and policy issues that face state aid systems under reform. Economists and policy analysts contribute articles on how best to design programmes that promote student achievement and educational equity alongside efficient school finance systems.

POVERTY AND SCHOOLING IN THE U.S.: CONTEXTS AND CONSEQUENCES

S. Books

Mahwah, N.J: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 2004

Poverty is an educational issue because it affects children's physical, emotional, and cognitive development. Especially in current times, taken-for-granted ideas about poverty and poor children must be scrutinized and reconsidered. That is the goal of this work. The book:

• describes what teachers need to know to understand the contexts of poverty and its consequences;
• provides analysis of the social context of poverty;
• examines the experience of many children and families living in poverty;
• documents the demographics of poverty and offers a critique of the U.S. poverty metric;
• looks at the typical school experience of poor children;
• considers the consequences of the federal No Child Left Behind Act;
• offers suggestions about the kind of educational reform that could make a difference in the lives of poor children.

NEW ZEALAND EXAMPLE SHOWS BENEFIT OF EXAMS REFORM PLAN

R. Garner

The Independent, Dec. 3rd 2004, p.19

Article looks at the recent massive reorganisation of the examinations system in New Zealand. New Zealand is the only country pioneering the kind of diploma proposed by the former chief schools inspector, Mike Tomlinson, in his exam reform inquiry, published in October. Though some schools have boycotted the reforms the overall signs from the level one exams, introduced three years ago, are encouraging. More youngsters are staying to gain qualifications and among Maori and Pacific students there has been about a 5 per cent improvement.

RECENT DEVELOPMENTS IN PROVISION OF EDUCATION FOR THE GIFTED & TALENTED (GT) IN INDONESIA

C. Semiawan

Gifted Education International, vol.18, 2004, p.297-300

Many schools in Indonesia are introducing accelerated programmes for gifted and talented children. Article presents an illustrative example of such a programme for language teaching.

STUDENT EXPERIENCES OF WORK PLACEMENT IN SCHOOL-BASED VOCATIONAL PROGRAMS

P.J. Smith, J. Dalton and R. Dolheguy

Education and Training, vol.46, 2004, p.262-268

In Australia, secondary school education is extended to offer significant opportunities for students to engage in vocational learning, using the same national qualification frameworks as the adult education sector. Using a sample of 446 students who had participated in a Vocational Education and Training in School programme, research compares the experiences of students who had undertaken a work placement with those who had not. Results show that participation in a work placement increased students' enjoyment of the programme, and boosted their confidence in gaining employment after leaving school. The work placement also assisted students in deciding whether to stay on at school or to leave.

TRAINING CUBS FOR THE CELTIC TIGER: THE VOLUME PRODUCTION OF TECHNICAL GRADUATES IN THE IRISH EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM.

J. Wickham and G.W. Boucher

Journal of Education and Work, vol.17, 2004, p.377-295

Rapid economic growth in Ireland in the 1990s was due to its success in attracting inward investment from foreign high-technology manufacturing companies. These firms required a steady supply of qualified technical labour. Ireland supplied this through the expansion of one- to two-year certificate and diploma courses at institutes of education.