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The aim of the OECD Career Readiness project is to identify patterns of teenage attitudes and activities that are associated with better transitions into employment by analysing multiple national longitudinal datasets. This paper looks for further evidence of the link between teenage activities, experiences and career-related thinking and adult career outcomes by analysing 10 new datasets from eight countries. Overall, the results of this paper find further evidence that secondary school students who explore, experience and think about their futures in work frequently encounter lower levels of unemployment, receive higher wages and are happier in their careers as adults. The findings of this paper are analysed together with the evidence from the two previous working papers of the Career Readiness project, concluding that there is international evidence to support 11 out of the 14 potential indicators that were explored as indicators of career readiness.

The worldwide school closures in early 2020 led to losses in learning that will not easily be made up for even if schools quickly return to their prior performance levels. These losses will have lasting economic impacts both on the affected students and on each nation unless they are effectively remediated. While the precise learning losses are not yet known, existing research suggests that the students in grades 1-12 affected by the closures might expect some 3 percent lower income over their entire lifetimes. For nations, the lower long-term growth related to such losses might yield an average of 1.5 percent lower annual GDP for the remainder of the century. These economic losses would grow if schools are unable to re-start quickly. The economic losses will be more deeply felt by disadvantaged students. All indications are that students whose families are less able to support out-of-school learning will face larger learning losses than their more advantaged peers, which in turn will translate into deeper losses of lifetime earnings. The present value of the economic losses to nations reach huge proportions. Just returning schools to where they were in 2019 will not avoid such losses. Only making them better can. While a variety of approaches might be attempted, existing research indicates that close attention to the modified re-opening of schools offers strategies that could ameliorate the losses. Specifically, with the expected increase in video-based instruction, matching the skills of the teaching force to the new range of tasks and activities could quickly move schools to heightened performance. Additionally, because the prior disruptions are likely to increase the variations in learning levels within individual classrooms, pivoting to more individualised instruction could leave all students better off as schools resume. As schools move to re-establish their programmes even as the pandemic continues, it is natural to focus considerable attention on the mechanics and logistics of safe re-opening. But the long-term economic impacts also require serious attention, because the losses already suffered demand more than the best of currently considered re-opening approaches.

The opportunity to study abroad is broadly hailed as a route for young people to develop a wide range of knowledge and skills, including intercultural understanding, interpersonal skills, and language learning, among many others. Universities around the world are investing significant resources in developing a variety of study abroad programmes, ranging from short or long term in duration, and from guided to independent study. These may have a number of aims, including to promote individual student learning and development and to enhance student mobility and employability, particularly in the context of a rapid and changeable global employment market. The terms 'global citizen', 'global graduate', 'global skills' and 'global mindset' have all taken on increased significance within this context. Limited research has been conducted, however, to explore students' own perspectives of these terms. This small scale study therefore set out to explore the perspectives of students on UCL's BASc programme and especially to better understand where and how the learning they gained during study abroad resonates with UCL's global citizenship and student mobility strategies. [Funding was provided by the UCL Global Engagement Office (GEO).]

This paper offers a broad look at accreditation and quality assurance in higher education and how these issues are addressed around the world. Section 1 is an overview of accreditation and addresses the aims and objectives of accreditation, standards, accreditation bodies, stages of the accreditation process, the quality of that process, the role of government in the accreditation process, some critical points of view concerning the process, and present accreditation trends. Section 2 looks at accreditation and quality assurance through brief national case studies. The nations represented are France, Germany, United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Sweden, the United States, China, India, Hong Kong, South Africa, Nigeria, Kenya, and Australia. This section closes with a section comparing accreditation and quality assurance in various regions. Section 3 takes a closer and more detailed look at the accreditation process in Romania, particularly in light of the recent political and educational changes in this nation and the fairly recent decision to introduce accreditation of institutions of higher education. This examination covers accreditation principles and objectives, standards for initial and subsequent accreditation, application rules, structure of the accreditation committee and its functions, and provisions for financing accreditation. Appendixes contain institutional evaluation standards and a glossary. (Contains 27 references.) (JB)

Papers on interlibrary lending which were presented at the 1982 International Federation of Library Associations (IFLA) conference include: (1) "Inter-Library Loan Service of the National Library of China," a description by Huang Jungui and Zhao Qikang (People's Republic of China) of the history, organization, purposes, and possible future enhancements of interlibrary loan services at the National Library of China; (2) "Core Collections of Journals for National Interlending Purposes," a review by Maurice Line and Brian Kefford (United Kingdom) of the general characteristics of core collections, the optimal means of identifying core lists of journals, and the development and maintenance of core collections, drawing on data and studies from the British Library Lending Division; and (3) "Interlibrary Lending Network Planning in Canada," a discussion by Hope E. A. Clement (Canada) of interlibrary lending in the evolving, decentralized, open Canadian library network situation, with a description of Canadian geographical, political, and cultural features which affect interlending, and current and future planning mechanisms. (ESR)

Study Abroad (SA) can be expected to promote personal growth, future employability, greater intercultural awareness, adaptability, and efficacy, alongside language improvement. However, students can encounter high thresholds to meeting their own expectations, and may struggle with personal and academic transition into and on return from SA. This study reports on the initial stage of a longitudinal survey-based study of the whole SA experience for a group of UK-based students of Chinese -- presenting here students' pre-departure expectations and goals. Participants had high positive expectations of linguistic gains, adaptability, and knowledge about life in China, but were less aware of broader personal gains in employability, while cultural gains for some suggested a focus on individualised 'cultural consumption'. We discuss implications for support offered pre-SA to better shape student expectations of realistic benefits and probable challenges, particularly for less familiar SA contexts such as for anglophone students in China. [For the complete volume, "Perspectives on the Year Abroad: A Selection of Papers from YAC2018," see ED603732.]

To frame the larger research agenda requires an intimate blending of knowledge of the situations of foreign research universities and those of public research universities in the United States. The first step was to bring together for a two-day symposium a group of scholars and practitioners, some with deep and varied knowledge of United States public research universities and others with specific knowledge of the university systems and recent changes in pertinent foreign countries. The purpose of the symposium was to share comparative information and analysis, to discuss major issues facing national and supranational systems of higher education and the role of research universities, and to identify the most promising avenues for further investigation. The symposium was focused on a group consisting largely of economically developed countries and regions that are important exemplars or locales for consideration of reform or alternative systems from those of the U. S. Considerations were structured around four major policy areas, including: (1) Fees and Finance; (2) Access, Quality and Accountability; (3) Science and Technology; and (4) Organization and Governance. Participants (a list of whom is in Appendix 1) provided working papers on assigned topics related to one or more of the four policy areas, or were asked to comment on the papers and the short presentations. This narrative provides a summary of the symposium proceedings, attempting to capture the gist of what was a varied and thought-provoking set of presentations and discussions. Presentations include the following: (1) Introduction (Chancellor Robert Birgeneau and C. Judson King); (2) OECD Perspective on Major International Issues Affecting Public Higher Education (Chaired by David Breneman and participated by Stephan Vincent-Lancrin); (3) Environmental Scan of U.S. Public Higher Education--Issues and Trends (Chaired by Ahmed Bawa and participated by Irwin Feller and Robert Berdahl); (4) Environmental Scan of Higher Education in Europe--Approaches and Trends (Chaired by John Aubrey Douglass Marijk van der Wende and participated by Michael Shattock, Wilhelm Krull, and Daniel Fallon); (5) Environmental Scan of Higher Education in the Pacific Region--Approaches and Trends (Chaired by Otto C. C. Lin and participated by Philip Altbach, Wan-Hua Ma, and Rory Hume); (6) Comparative Approaches to Financing of Public Higher Education (Chaired by Sheldon Rothblatt and participated by David Palfreyman, Katharine Lyall, and David Breneman); (7) Comparative Approaches to Access and Marketing: Undergraduate Education and Degree Production (Chaired by Steven Brint and participated by John Aubrey Douglass, Kerstin Eliasson, and Grant Harman); (8) Science and Technology Initiatives and Strategies for Economic Development (Chaired by Irwin Feller and participated by Otto C. C. Lin, Henry Etzkowitz, Taizo Yakushiji, and John Zysman); (9) Comparative Approaches to Governance and Management of Higher Education Systems (Chaired by Katharine Lyall and participated by Christine Musselin, Jeroen Huisman, and C. Judson King); and (10) Reflection on Discussion and Targets for Further Research (Delivered by Robert Berdahl, Taizo Yakushiji, Daniel Fallon and John Zysman). Appendices include: (1) List of Symposium Participants; and (2) References and Resources. (Lists 4 resources.)

More than any previous generation, today's students need to develop a global perspective and be knowledgeable about other nations in order to play a better role on the global stage. This paper first reviews some earlier and current studies on students' knowledge of the world, mainly conducted in the United States, and then it describes the global education status and similar studies in countries like Canada, Russia, the United Kingdom, China, Japan, South Korea, and Australia. Based on a review of studies in these countries, the paper proposes that contemporary assessments of students' cross-national and global knowledge and attitudes are necessary. The new research must be multinational, assessing what paired nations' school aged populations know about one another's history, geography, politics, economics, and international relations. (Contains 1 footnote.)

During the past decade, funding mechanisms for universities and technical education institutions and colleges have undergone massive restructuring in developed and developing countries alike. Governmental support has generally decreased, resulting in greater reliance on fee-based education or creation of privately sponsored engineering/technical colleges or universities. The following are some of the trends that will likely result from changes in the funding of technical education: (1) export of education will become an important component of the economies of advanced, rich countries such as Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and Canada; (2) privatization, commercialization, and marketing of education, especially business, commerce, and information technology will increasingly play a dominant role in developing countries; (3) quality management in developing countries will also move away from government monitoring to professional monitoring, as is now the case in developed countries; (4) the quality of education in developing countries will eventually be determined by market forces; (5) educational funding from individual family budgets will become increasingly difficult in developing countries as privatization results in increased fees; and (6) education will move from being a totally governmental activity to a more commerce- and industry-based activity and will eventually become a service industry. (MN)

This report presents data on peer-reviewed S&E journals and conference proceedings reflecting the rapidly expanding volume of research activity, the involvement and scientific capabilities different countries, and the expanding research ecosystem demonstrated through international collaborations. Publication output grew about 4% annually over the past 10 years. China and India grew more than the world average, while the United States and European Union grew less than the world average. Research papers from the United States and EU countries had higher impact scores. International collaborations have increased over the past 10 years. [SRI International, Center for Innovation Strategy and Policy assisted with report preparation.]

Humans are born with the natural ability to gain skills through play. Children learn about social norms, roles and responsibilities, and language through curiosity-driven, playful interactions and activities. Learning through play harnesses the power of children's imagination and inspires active engagement with the material. The Center for Universal Education at Brookings, is studying innovations that strive to improve education. If the education sector stays on its current trajectory, half of all youth around the world entering the workforce in 2030 will lack basic secondary-level skills they need to thrive--from literacy and numeracy to critical thinking and problem solving. It is believed that leapfrogging, or rapid nonlinear progress, is needed to change this trajectory. Education that allows students to leap forward in learning should incorporate experimentation and iteration, helping students make meaning of what they are learning, and engage with others in doing so. These types of student-centered, playful learning experiences are an essential component to leapfrogging in education because without them young people will not be able to develop the full breadth of competencies and skills they need to thrive in a fast-changing world. This paper is the first in in a series of Leapfrogging in Education snapshots that provide analyses of a global catalog of education innovations. Of the nearly 3,000 innovations captured in the catalog, two-thirds involve playful learning, which represents the largest category of innovations that were recorded. [Support also provided by the BHP Foundation.]

In this brief, authors Michael Ettlinger, Jordan Hensley, and Julia Vieira analyze how much the governments of different countries spend, and on what, to illuminate the range of fiscal policy options available and provide a basis for determining which approaches work best. They report that the United States ranks twenty-fourth in government spending as a share of GDP out of twenty-nine countries for which recent comparable data are available. The key determinant of where countries rank in overall government spending is the amount spent on social protection. The United States ranks last in spending on social protection as a share of GDP and twenty-second in per capita spending. The United States ranks at or near the top in military, health care, education, and law enforcement spending. Measuring government spending by different methods and including tax expenditures does not appear to significantly alter the conclusion that the United States is a low-tax, low-spending country relative to the other countries examined, particularly when compared to its fellow higher-income countries. [This paper is an evolution of a previous work, "Comparing Public Spending and Priorities Across OECD Countries" (ED606844).]

The "Psychological Sense of School Membership" (PSSM) scale has been used for more than 20 years to measure students' sense of school belonging, yet its psychometric properties have had limited examination with pre-adolescent children. This study investigated the utility and psychometrics of the PSSM in three primary school samples from the United States, China, and the United Kingdom. Exploratory factor analysis revealed good fit for a unidimensional factor structure in the U.S. sample, which was subsequently confirmed in all three samples. Partial invariance across all three samples and full invariance across pairwise samples (United States and United Kingdom; United Kingdom and China) was found. Path analyses revealed significant positive relations of the PSSM total belonging score with gratitude and prosocial behavior, and significant negative relations with symptoms of distress. Future directions and implications are discussed. [This paper will be published in "School Psychology International."]

This article discusses students taking part-time work whilst studying higher education (HE). It suggests that cross-national trends can be observed in the purposes, types, benefits, negative aspects and outcomes of part-time work by HE students. The paper reviews literature on HE students working part-time in the UK and the US, and UNESCO studies of many nations, which raise questions of the benefits and negative aspects of students taking part-time work. The paper reports two sets of empirical data from Macau, an emerging economy in a territory that typifies global trends in HE in the provision of diversified public and private education and cross-border student populations. Many similarities found between practices in Macau and other countries suggest that cross-national trends might exist in the issues and practices of HE students working part-time. Data are provided from Macau to indicate how undergraduate student employment is an ironical interpretation of calls to integrate the worlds of HE and work, and is a widespread phenomenon. A research agenda is suggested for future study. (Contains 1 figure, 4 tables and 3 notes.)

Early childhood education and school readiness is essential to preparing children to succeed in an increasingly competitive global economy. Compared to other countries, however, the United States lags far behind on preschool, trailing a number of other countries in enrollment, investment, and quality. In February 2013, however, President Barack Obama put forth a bold plan to significantly expand access to preschool. His plan would invest $75 billion in high-quality preschool, helping the nation catch up with other countries. On almost every element (preschool participation, typical age children begin early-childhood programs, teacher-to-child ratio in early childhood-education programs, and total investment in early childhood-education programs) the United States ranks behind most of the other countries in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, or OECD. This paper shows how far behind the United States is on preschool, making it evident that the president's plan needs to be implemented. Each of these elements is explored and compared with other countries' numbers. If the United States is to train a world-class workforce, it is imperative that it catches up to the rest of the world on pre-K.

This paper identifies and critiques literature on the experience of transition between primary and secondary school; how and why it is seen as critical and in what ways it can be supported. The aim of this literature review is to remind readers of this important period on the lives of young people and the diverse range of issues which they face. There is general consensus in the literature that well-designed and implemented transition approaches can assist in the process of supporting students, their families and school staff. Teachers are crucial in supporting children and young people moving in, between and out of school and making these transitions positive experiences. Therefore, pre-service teacher education needs to include awareness and understanding of the main issues in relation to transition. Teacher educators need to consider how they can incorporate transition programs and strategies in their courses to ensure that graduate teachers have the skills and knowledge to mediate some of the pressures that their students are facing when dealing with transitions. (Contains 1 figure.)

Using English as a global communicating tool makes Taiwanese people have to speak in English in diverse international situations. However, consonants and vowels in English are not all effortless for them to articulate. This phonological reduction study explores concepts about phonological (articulating system) approximation. From Taiwanese folks' perspectives, it analyzes phonological type, rate, and their associations with 2 genders. This quantitative research discovers Taiwanese people's vocalization problems and their facilitating solutions by articulating lessening. In other words, this study explains how English emerging as a global language can be adapted and fluently articulated by Taiwanese. It was conducted at National Changhwa University of Education from 2010 fall to 2011 spring, investigating Taiwanese university students' phonological lessening systems. It reveals how they face the phonetics challenges during interactions and give speeches by ways of phonological lessening. Taiwanese folks' lessening patterns belong to simplified pronouncing methods, being evolved through Mandarin, Hakka, and Holo phonetic patterns. This genre of facilitated articulation can be also titled as transformed or approximate methods of articulating formula. In this investigation, 59 students according to their individual articulating experiences provided their perceptions, based on their observations in their own English articulation systems. Statistics graphs analyzed by Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) display 4 consonants and 4 vowels that have been reduced and adapted. Moreover, the gender factor was taken into consideration, revealing male's and female's dissimilar difficulties in pronunciation. More specifically, this empirical study investigated the correlation between elements of gender and phonological reduction. Through statistical analysis, 8 intricate vowels and consonants are compared and contrasted based on Taiwanese students' perfections and difficulty-confessions in articulating them. Simplified phonetic patterns with Taiwanese accents involved into the articulating lessening system in Taiwanese students' English utterances were provided by the instructor. Based on 2 variables of female gender and male gender, the study discovered the lessening sequences in 8 phonetics. The significance of this study is its contribution to giving confidence to English speakers in Taiwan. Although they are non-native speakers, they still can resolve the pronunciation difficulty and talk with fluency by their created phonological reduction system. Appended are: (1) Survey (Instrument); and (2) Vowel diversities. (Contains 1 table and 2 graphs.

In the western literature, mathematics achievement and its related student self-concept are important education outcomes reciprocally linked and mutually reinforcing. The reciprocal relation model is examined in this study to assess its generalization in a cross-cultural setting. Hong Kong is the site of choice because of its exposure to influences between British and Chinese cultures. A contextual factor of English push has been examined for male and female students behind the language switch from English to Chinese (Cantonese) in most secondary schools. The research findings are employed to compare features of the reciprocal model two years before and after Hong Kong's sovereignty handover from the United Kingdom to China. (Contains 4 tables, 1 figure, and 3 notes.)

The article presents information about recent developments in the financial services industry. French insurance giant Axa Insurance PLC and Great Britain's financial services management company Aberdeen Asset Management PLC have reportedly contacted HSBC about buying majority stake in Framlington. Norwich Union, an insurance division of Great Britain's largest insurer Aviva, is to launch a new investment management service in conjunction with Aon Asset Management. Dutch life insurance company Aegon has officially opened its first branch office in China through its life insurance joint venture company in the Asian country, Aegon-CNOOC.

Despite extensive discussion on critical thinking (CT) by Chinese students, there are still debates over the question of why Chinese higher education students, when studying abroad, lack (or rather do not demonstrate) CT skills. The main objective of this paper is to explore how far it can be established from the published research literature whether the key factor affecting Chinese university students' CT with respect to academic study in English is cultural background or previous training. The conclusion is that culture cannot be the sole explanation for Chinese students' CT performance at universities abroad. The evidence strongly suggests that, while CT elements can indeed be found in ancient Chinese culture, many other factors, especially students' previous learning experiences, are of more immediate relevance and likely to affect performance. As a result, a holistic approach is suggested. The review also suggests that there is at times a lack of clear definitions and/or explanations of the scope of the key concept--culture--in the current literature. (Contains 2 notes.)

The objectives of this study were to: (1) document government and HE (higher education) sector responses to the recession within a select number of key countries which compete with the UK; and (2) compare these responses and analyse them by theme to draw out any common patterns. The focus of the work was to find, where possible, an evidence base that enables genuine like-for-like comparison, and to provide a high-level commentary and analysis on general country responses. The report begins by describing the impact of the global economic crisis on different regions, and how countries around the world have responded, particularly in reference to spending on HE. The focus then turns to the impact of changes to public spending on the sector itself, examining changes to patterns of demand and supply in specific countries, as well as the impact on research, particular subject areas and access. Finally, how universities have responded to the changed environment is investigated, including attempts to reduce costs and diversify income. Interview list is appended. (Contains 5 figures and 9 endnotes.) [This paper has been prepared by Pricewaterhouse Coopers (PwC).]

The growth of private higher education has come as a surprise to most governments, which have tried to catch up in their regulatory and funding policymaking. In China, Malaysia and South Africa they have given legal recognition to previously disallowed private higher education and this has helped to fuel its subsequent growth. Some governments encourage private higher education in order to help to meet the rising demand for higher-level qualifications, and also to provide their "public service" counterparts with further challenges to improve their market responsiveness and overall efficiency and effectiveness. Such private entities tend to be highly reliant on income from tuition fees and similar student charges for their business models and lack the capability or funds to engage in research, a function increasingly confined in most countries (other than the United States) to well-established public universities. In the United States, reliance on tuition fee income and other student charges has led to persistent violations by for-profit providers, such as paying admissions tutors a commission to enrol students who have little or no ability to benefit from the education provided. This has led to a toughening of federal rules. In the United States, private institutions include some of the longest-established and most prestigious universities, such as Harvard, Stanford and Yale, and this is also the picture in Japan and Chile. They possess large research and endowment funds and do not depend on tuition fees as their only or primary source of income. Long-established private universities of this kind have been rarely "for-profit", at least in a formal sense. Government regulation usually requires them to adopt a charitable-like "non-profit" structure in order to obtain tax advantages, even if they are business-like and quite commercial in their operations. These not-for-profit institutions cannot be organised to benefit private interests, their assets must be permanently dedicated to charitable purposes, and net earnings cannot be distributed to owners or shareholders. While international expansion of private higher education is occurring, most such provision is local, not least because local regulation and control remain significant barriers to such growth, even where individual countries' regulatory environment becomes more favourable. This paper explores different categories of private providers and their characteristics: not-for-profit private higher education institutions and for-profit institutions, including various types of for-profit institutions. (Contains 8 endnotes.)