This book pays special attention to the impact that a student's early childhood and socioeconomic status has on his or her educational achievement. It argues that discussions of education reform need a broader scope, one that encompasses a student's background as well as standardized testing, merit pay for teachers, and other issues regarding the quality of the teaching and learning.Education Reform: the Unwinding of Intelligence and Creativity features cases and examples f...

This is a thoroughly useful, authoritative and compassionate book about the last taboo subject-death. In exploring our responses to death, it reveals a great deal about Australian society. There is grim humour in the practical details of burial in the days of pick and shovel-and a priest if you were lucky. Stories of elaborate Victorian mourning etiquette, of poignant personal histories recorded on gravestones, of vehement debates about cremation, and much more, make good reading. The auth...

The science museum field has made tremendous advances in understanding museum learning, but little has been done to consolidate and synethesize these findings to encourage widespread improvements in practice. By clearly presenting the most current knowledge of museum learning, In Principle, In Practice aims to promote effective programs and exhibitions, identify promising approaches for future research, and develop strategies for implementing and sustaining connections between res...

A collection of stimulating essays exploring the wide-ranging debates surrounding the relationship between business and society in 21st century Ireland.Wide-ranging, diverse and thought-provoking contributions from leading business researchers, economists, sociologists and political scientists from Ireland and abroad probe five central themes: the making and unmaking of the Celtic Tiger; governance, regulation and justice; partnership and participation; the nature of Irish borders ...

The strategies adopted by governments and public officials can have dramatic effects on peoples' lives. The best ones can transform economic laggards into trailblazers, eliminate diseases, or sharply cut crime. Strategic failures can result in highly visible disasters, like the shrinking of the Russian economy in the 1990s, or the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans in 2005. This book is about how strategies take shape, and how money, people, technologies, and public commitment c...

This book opens up ways to engage critically with what counts as innovatory practice in lifelong learning today, locating its discussion of innovations in lifelong learning within an international and comparative framework.Innovations in Lifelong Learning engages first hand with issues and concerns from around the globe, offering an international perspective on current trends through its range of contributions from across the UK, Australia, New Zealand and the US. The broa...

A Handbook of Children and Young People’s Participation bringstogether key thinkers and practitioners from diverse contexts acrossthe globe to provide an authoritative overview of contemporary theoryand practice around children’s participation.Promoting the participation of children and young people - indecision-making and policy development, and as active contributorsto everyday family and community life - has become a central part ofpolicy...

Big cities have struggled to improve public school systems. This book shows why—and offers a framework for achieving future success. Fullan and Boyle, internationally renowned thinkers on school change, demonstrate that while the educational challenges of big cities may be overwhelming, they are not insurmountable. They draw on ten years’ of research to identify six essential “push” and “pull” actions that enable big school systems to improve student ach...

At a time when education is considered crucial to a country’s economic success, recent UK governments have insisted their reforms are the only way to make England’s system world class. Yet pupils are tested rather than educated, teachers bullied rather than trusted and parents cast as winners or losers in a gamble for school places.Education under siege considers the English education system as it is and as it might be. In a highly accessible style, Peter Mortimore, an author with ...

Many tools are on offer to politicians and other policy-makers when they seek to change policy outcomes. Often they choose to concentrate on one set of tools, but fail to see the costs as well as the benefits – and may not consider the available evidence regarding their effectiveness. This innovative new textbook clearly sets out the main tools of government, and provides an analysis of their efficacy when applied to public problems.Each chapter examines the relative benefits and c...

School leadership and management are fundamental components of school improvement. This is the first study of its kind to relate the principles of effective leadership to the broad spectrum of school life in Ireland.A key resource for school leaders in their personal and professional study, this book critically appraises issues in leading and managing schools. The editors bring together an array of renowned scholars to inform and stimulate the debate on the future of leadership dev...

This timely book provides a systematic overview and critique of contemporary approaches to educational change from some of the best-known writers and scholars in the field, including Andy Hargreaves, Larry Cuban, Ivor Goodson, Jeannie Oakes, Milbrey McLaughlin, Judyth Sachs and Ann Liebermann.Divided into four sections, the book addresses the key themes:What has been the impact of educational change?How has the impact differed in differen...