The MISLEM Project : developing meta-level quality indicators for establishing a systematic linkage between educational institutions and the labour market:education, employment and graduate employability: project manual

The MISLEM Project comprised representatives from Higher and Vocational Education in four partner countries, Austria, Romania, Slovenia and the UK. In addition to this, representatives from a major UK graduate employment agency and the Austria Quality Assurance Agency were also involved. At the inaugural meeting of the Project, partner teams discussed and agreed upon appropriate methodological processes with which to carry the Project forward.

The experiences of South Asian university students in the British education system and in their search for work

This research aimed to provide a comparative analysis of South Asian and White British students in their academic attainment at school and university and in their search for employment. Data were gathered by using a variety of methodological techniques. Completed postal questionnaires were received from 301 South Asian and White British undergraduates from 12 British universities, who were in their final year of study in 1985. In depth interviews were also conducted with 49 graduates who were a self selected group from the original sample. Additional information was also collected by using diary report forms and by administering a second postal questionnaire to selected South Asian and White British participants. It was found that while the pre-university qualifications of the White British and South Asian undergraduates did not differ considerably, many members in the latter group had travelled a more arduous path to academic success. For some South Asians, school experiences included the confrontation of racist attitudes and behaviour, both from teachers and peers. The South Asian respondents in this study were more likely than their White British counterparts, to have attempted some C.S.E. examinations, obtained some of their `O' levels in the Sixth Form and retaken their `A' levels. As a result the South Asians were on average older than their White British peers when entering university. A small sample of South Asians also found that the effects of racism were perpetuated in higher education where they faced difficulty both academically and socially. Overall, however, since going to university most South Asians felt further drawn towards their `cultural background', this often being their own unique view of `Asianess'. Regarding their plans after graduation, it was found that South Asians were more likely to opt for further study, believing that they needed to be better qualified than their White British counterparts. For those South Asians who were searching for work, it was noted that they were better qualified, willing to accept a lower minimum salary, had made more job applications and had started searching for work earlier than the comparable White British participants. Also, although generally they were not having difficulty in obtaining interviews, South Asian applicants were less likely to receive an offer of employment. In the final analysis examining their future plans, it was found that a large proportion of South Asian graduates were aspiring towards self employment.

Compendium of effective practice in higher education retention and success

A collection of peer reviewed papers focusing on effective practice in higher education

Experiencing an 'inclusive' education:parents and their children with 'special educational needs'

This paper focuses on the experiences of British parents who have children identified with ‘special education needs’ within mainstream education. Expectations of mainstream education can have a negative affect on parents when a child is unable to maintain his or her education within a mainstream school. In England and Wales, ‘inclusion’ within mainstream schools is implemented by the current government and promoted as anti-exclusionary. However, current research indicates that actual ‘inclusion’ (the child experiencing inclusion as well as being placed in a mainstream environment) is not necessarily occurring in practice. As it stands, the conflict is between desires to embrace difference based on a philosophy of ‘equal rights’ (‘inclusive’ education) and prioritising educational performance, structuring it in such a way that it leaves little room for difference and creativity due to the highly structured testing and examination culture. Qualitative analysis of parents who have children identified with special educational needs indicate that they have hopes and expectations for their children. These hopes and expectations are challenged recurrently.

Regional interests in Europe:Wales and Saxony as modern regions in Europe

The question of how to organize and manage sustainable regional development has recently come to the fore in many places across the industrialized countries of Central and Western Europe, and especially within the European Union (EU).This book looks at the home-grown natural, economic and social, socio-political, political and administrative conditions which policy makers face, while also being subjected to numerous external influences. Political actors in less important EU regions The question of how to organize and manage sustainable regional development has recently come to the fore in many places across the industrialized countries of Central and Western Europe, and especially within the European Union (EU).This book looks at the home-grown natural, economic and social, socio-political, political and administrative conditions which policy makers face, while also being subjected to numerous external influences. Political actors in less important EU regions attempt to create and implement strategies of regional development in the context of regional policy-making by EU institutions, national governments and the globalization process

Sustainability in higher education:stories and strategies for transformation

Book review of Peggy F. Bartlett and Geoffrey W. Chase (eds.), Sustainability in Higher Education: Stories and Strategies for Transformation

Az exportpiac-orientáció előzményei és annak exportteljesítményre gyakorolt hatása a magyar felsőoktatási intézményekben (Antecedents to the export market orientation of Hungarian higher education institutions, and their export performance consequences)

A felsőoktatás nemzetközi versenyképességének vizsgálata azt mutatja, hogy egyre szélesebb körben alkalmazzák a sikeres egyetemek azokat a megközelítéseket, amelyeket az elmúlt fél évszázadban a menedzsmentirodalom az üzleti szférában meghonosított. A szerzők a felsőoktatási ágazatra terjesztik ki az exportpiac- orientáció elméletét, és azt vizsgálják, hogy milyen előzmények vezetnek annak kialakulásához. Elemzik továbbá, hogy az exportpiac-orientáció milyen hatással van a felsőoktatási intézmények exportteljesítményére. A tanulmány továbbá kitér az exportpiac-orientáció és az exportteljesítmény kapcsolatát befolyásoló környezeti tényezők hatásának vizsgálatára is. A szerzők az említett összefüggéseket két almintán vizsgálják (a nemzetköziesedésben és a tudományos kutatásban vezető egyetemek vs. az előbbi dimenziókban gyengébben teljesítő felsőoktatási intézmények). Az eredmények alapján megállapítják, hogy az exporttapasztalat mindkét egyetemi csoportnál az exportteljesítmény szignifikáns előrejelzője, míg az exportkoordináció csupán a nemzetköziesedésben gyengébben teljesítő egyetemek csoportjánál magyarázza az exportpiac-orientáció változását. Megfigyelhető továbbá, hogy az exportpiac-orientáció exportteljesítményre gyakorolt hatása erősebb a nemzetköziesedésben vezető magyar egyetemeknél, míg a nemzetközi piacokon tapasztalható verseny intenzitása fokozza a nemzetközi irányultság kialakulását ugyanezen csoportnál. ______ The authors extend the theory of export market orientation to the higher education sector, and explore the association between export coordination, export experience, export market orientation, export performance and the competitive environment in the context of Hungarian higher education sector. The aforementioned relations are analyzed on two subsamples (universities with a top performance vs. universities with a lower performance in regard of internationalization and scientific research). Based on the results, the authors conclude that export experience is a significant predictor of export performance in both groups of institutions, while export coordination can only explain changes in export market orientation for the group comprising the universities that lag behind in terms of internationalization. They observe, moreover, that export market orientation becomes stronger as competitive forces in the environment intensify.

Education, earnings, and rates of return: The case of Taiwan

Educational planners and economists have long recognized the importance of education as a form of productive investment in both advanced countries and developing countries. In the case of Taiwan, along with impressive economic growth, there was an even faster rate of growth of the government's investment in education. This leads some to question whether education has any role in economic development. ^ The purpose of this study is to provide a broad overview of the role of education, in terms of private rates of return to education, in Taiwan. In the process, a variety of hypotheses about human capital theory are examined and an empirical study of Taiwan's earnings functions are tested to show that education can be an important instrument to increase private rate of return, even under conditions of scarcity of natural and physical resources. Data was collected using the Manpower Survey and Manpower Utilization Survey, conducted by the government. Research questions were analyzed using descriptive statistics, frequencies, and regression analysis. ^ Results indicated that the Manpower Development Plans have been the decisive influence in allowing Taiwan to develop its human resources and achieve success in meeting the needs of Taiwan's economy. The structure of age-earnings profiles showed a strong relationship between earnings and education, and the profiles that successively shift upward are associated with higher levels of education. In the cross-sectional results of the rate of return in 1997, each additional year of schooling leads to a 6.2% increase in income. As to the private rates of return to different levels of education, the results found that the private rates of return are 2.88%, 4.85% and 10.05% for primary, secondary and higher education respectively. In an intertemporal comparison for 1980, 1985, 1990 and 1997, the results showed no significant trend except the private rates of return for primary education have been falling from 3.9% to 2.88%. ^ On the basis of this study, for individual student or family in Taiwan, there is likely to be a strong demand for education, particularly at the higher level. Therefore, a well-developed higher educational level becomes essential and the content of curriculum in higher education becomes another crucial question facing planners in Taiwan if they are going to use education as a means to foster economic development. ^

Universal Design for Learning and Differentiated Instruction: Resolving Competing Mandates of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act and No Child Left Behind

Recent federal mandates require accountability for providing students with disabilities access to the general education curriculum. In this paper, the authors recommend that principles of Universal Design for Learning and Differentiated Instruction can help school personnel tailor their teaching to meet the various strengths and needs of individual students.

Education policy and national income distribution: New evidence from recent cross -country data

In the mid 19th century, Horace Mann insisted that a broad provision of public schooling should take precedence over the liberal education of an elite group. In that regard, his generation constructed a state sponsored common schooling enterprise to educate the masses. More than 100 years later, the institution of public schooling fails to maintain an image fully representative of the ideals of equity and inclusion. Critical theory in educational thought associates the dominant practice of functional schooling with maintenance of the status quo, an unequal distribution of financial, political, and social resources. This study examined the empirical basis for the association of public schooling with the status quo using the most recent and comparable cross-country income inequality data. Multiple regression analysis evaluated the possible relationship between national income inequality change over the period 1985-2005 and variables representative of national measures of education supply in the prior decade. The estimated model of income inequality development attempted to quantify the relationship between education supply factors and subsequent income inequality developments by controlling for economic, demographic, and exogenous factors. The sample included all nations with comparable income inequality data over the measurement period, N = 56. Does public school supply affect national income distribution? The estimated model suggested that an increase in the average years of schooling among the population age 15 years or older, measured over the period 1975-1985, provided a mechanism that resulted in a more equal distribution of income over the period 1985-2005 among low and lower-middle income nations. The model also suggested that income inequality increased less or decreased more in smaller economies and when the percentage of the population age < 15 years grew more slowly over the period 1985-2000. In contrast, this study identified no significant relationship between school supply changes measured over prior periods and income inequality development over the period 1985-2005 among upper-middle and high income nations.

Fragments of a Samaritan Targum : edited from a Bodleian Ms. : with an introduction, containing a sketch of Samaritan history, dogma, and literature

by John W. Nutt, M.A., Fellow of All Souls' College, Grinfield reader on the LXX, sub-librarian of the Bodleian Library, Oxford