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This document contains 18 policy, synthesis, and analysis papers and foreign experts' contributions examining the following topics: challenges facing vocational education and training (VET) in the Czech Republic; the main aims and strategies of reforming the country's VET system; the role of VET in transforming the republic into a learning society in the Czech Republic and elsewhere in Central and Eastern Europe; reform strategies and policies that have been used in the West; and the Czech Republic's policy options with regard to reform of its VET system. The following papers are included: "Education for Prosperity: Towards a Learning Society"; "Curriculum Assessment/Certification/Quality Assessment/Teacher Training" (Bohumil Janys); "Management/Financing/Social Partnership" (Jaromir Coufalik); "Legislation/Research and Development/Internationalisation" (Jan Kovarovic); "Curriculum, Assessment, and Certification" (Pavel Petrovic et al.); "Teacher Training" (Jana Svecova et al.); "Management" (Frantisek Bacik et al.); "Financing" (Igor Hartman et al.); "Legislation" (Jaromir Krejci et al.); "Social Partnership" (Jan Hrabek et al.); "Quality Assessment" (Michal Karpisek et al.); "Research and Development/Internationalisation" (Jana Hendrichova et al.); "International Developments in the Area of Curriculum Development" (David Parkes); "Assessment and Certification of Vocational Qualifications" (Olivier Bertrand); "Qualification Structure and Quality Control in Vocational Education and Training" (Ben Hovels); "Preparing Educational Leaders to Implement Reform: Lessons from Eastern Europe" (David Oldroyd); "Management of Education: An Overview of the International Context" (Gabor Halasz); "The Financing of Vocational Education and Training in Europe: An Examination of Recent Developments" (Jean-Pierre Jallade); and "The Involvement of Social Partners in the Development of Vocational Education and Training" (Jean-Marie Luttringer). Appendices contain a brief description of the Phare VET reform program in the Czech Republic and 161 references. (MN)

The chapters in this book originated as papers for a conference, School Choice and Educational Change, held in March 2000 at Michigan State University. An introductory chapter provides a comparative analysis of the lessons learned from international experience with school-choice policies, based on a review of case studies in several countries. The papers/chapters are as follows: "Does Privatization Improve Education? The Case of Chiles National Voucher Plan" (Martin Carnoy and Patrick J. McEwan); "School Choice in New Zealand: A Cautionary Tale" (Edward B. Fiske and Helen F. Ladd); "School Choice and Educational Change in England and Wales" (Geoffrey Walford); "Market Forces and Decentralization in Sweden: Impetus for School Development or Threat to Comprehensiveness and Equity?" (Holger Daun); "School Choice Policies and Their Impact on Public Education in Australia" (Max Angus); "Education Reform and School Choice in South Africa" (John Pampallis); "School Choice in the Peoples Republic of China" (Mun C. Tsang); "Public Support for Private Schools in Post-Communist Central Europe: Czech and Hungarian Experiences" (Randall K. Filer and Daniel Munich). (WFA)

This book, which is designed primarily for undergraduate and graduate students of education, contains 12 papers devoted the New Labour's policies for schools in the United Kingdom. "Introduction" (Jim Docking) presents an overview of the book's contents and lists questions to help evaluate the effectiveness of New Labour's educational policies. "What Is the Problem?" (Jim Docking) examines the background to the standards debate and the government's rationale for increasing investment in education and intervention to raise standards. "What Is the Solution? An Overview of National Policies for Schools, 1979-99" (Jim Docking) recaps successive governments' policies to raise standards. "Target Setting, Inspection and Assessment" (Derek Shaw) explains how standards are monitored and considers problems of benchmarking. "Curriculum Initiatives" (Jim Docking) reviews national programs to raise standards in literacy, numeracy, and information and communication technology. "The Revised National Curriculum" (Jim Docking) traces the curriculum's development. "Early Years Education" (Peter Jackson) explores issues and developments in early years education. "Special Educational Needs and Inclusion" (Ron Letch) discusses the drive to place more special needs children in mainstream schools. "14-19 and Lifelong Learning" (Roger Marples) examines the complexities of provision for learners aged 14-19 and the policy to improve provisions for of lifelong learning. "The Teaching Profession" (Graham Welch, Pat Mahony) looks at policies for reforming the teaching profession. "The Role of Local Education Authorities" (Ron Letch) focuses on the changing role of local education authorities. "Choice, Diversity and Partnerships" (Peter Jackson) outlines New Labour's policies regarding choice, diversity, and development of partnerships. "Disengagement, Truancy and Exclusion" (Jane Lovey) is devoted to New Labour's policies to arrest pupil disengagement and reduce the incidence of truancy and exclusion. All papers contain substantial bibliographies. (MN)

This journal issue describes in detail the work of a Trans-European Mobility Schemes for University Studies (TEMPUS) project, directed by John Sayer and based in the Department of Educational Studies of the University of Oxford. The project's activities, concerned principally with the development of democratic processes in the elementary, secondary, and higher education systems of the Czech Republic and Poland, are illustrated through 20 papers. Part 1 offers John Sayer's background and description of the Developing Schools for Democracy in Europe (DSDE) project, a TEMPUS initiative and includes a multi-university final report on teacher preparation and continuing development. In part 2 the professional development of teachers and the role of the university in the Czech Republic are examined by program participants, Jan Beran, Jitka Kazelleova, Jana Kohnova, John Sayer, and Jaroslava Tomancova. Part 3 presents the following Polish teachers, tutors, and researchers: Grzegorz Chomicki, Roman Dorczak, Dawid Friedmann, Aleksandra Kwiecinska, Andrzej Mirski, Malgorzata Niemczynska, and Andrzej Szyjewski, viewpoints on educational reform, democracy education teacher training, and the school setting in Krakow, Poland. In part 4 home (family) and school relationships, one of the eight areas of the DSDE project, are examined by Tatyana Bourmina and Milada Rabusicova. In part 5 David Martin, Hugh Starkey, and Eva Foldes Travers focus on aspects of citizenship and values as they relate to democracy education in the "New Europe." Taken together, these papers provide an extensive case study of a democratic collaboration of four European universities from very different social, economic, political and cultural settings, working with local schools and authorities across disciplines in an attempt to develop schools for democracy in Europe. (CB)