Educational Administration & Organization books

This book brings together for the first time the most current research about the academic effects and policy implications of the school reform known as parental choice. The topic of choice in education is discussed in terms of why, when, where and how, if at all, it should be implemented. The contents are fourteen original papers written by scholars from Israel, UK, the United States and Canada and brings together the empirical studies of school choice examined in an international context.

The contributors to this book cover theoretical aspects of leadership, current legal topics and issues, and best practices related to special education administration. They draw heavily from the current literature research base and best practices.

This volume addresses two major areas of inquiry in the field of early childhood education and care. The first section of the book includes scholarly reviews on early childhood education and care and its conceptual bases. Programme curriculum and implementation are explored, including theoretically driven programmes and programme evaluations. Traditional perspectives on early childhood outcomes are detailed, alongside comparative analyses of early childhood practice from an international perspective. Section two presents the first in a series on reconceptualizing play. Traditional views of play, as an abiding element of early childhood practice, are critiqued. Questions about conceptions of play are raised by historical, ethical, cross-cultural, narrative, and theoretical treatments of play practices. These views are designed to stimulate thought about our most basic ideas of play and children.

This book emphasises the central place that ethnographic work should have in the formulation and evaluation of education policy. Ethnographic studies contribute to a greater understanding of the process formulation, evaluation and critique. First, careful studies of policy initiatives at the local level can show the extent to which change actually occurs in practice. Second, ethnographic studies can investigate the unintended consequences as well as those planned by the policy. Third, ethnography can investigate the effects of policies in such a way that contradictions within the original policy itself are illuminated. As well as studying the effects and impact of policy, ethnography can also be useful in the formulation of new policies. The various chapters gathered together here give many examples of the ways that ethnography can trace the effects of particular policy developments and may be able to influence future policy debates. The contributors and case studies relate to several countries including the United States, Italy, England, France, Sweden and Switzerland, showing not only that ethnographic research in education is now widespread, but also increasing relevance to policy.

Rarely, if ever, have business schools experienced change as far-reaching and powerful as during the current wave of globalization. Understanding these changes, and their implications, was the charge given to an AACSB Task Force on Globalization of Management Education. In this comprehensive report, the Task Force explores broad globalization trends in management education that command the attention of any individual or institution striving to navigate in today's environment. Then, by exploring individual business school strategies, it provides valuable insights into how business schools can and should respond. The report aims to encourage and guide business schools to embrace globalization in ways that are mission-appropriate, manageable given available resources, and meaningful to the stakeholders being served. For organizations serving business schools, it will be a catalyst for action that elevates and improves business schools' capabilities. Readers will be left with the conviction that great opportunities exist for business schools to move from keeping pace with the sweeping changes of globalization, to leading the way.

Higher education institutions (HEIs) have experienced massive changes in the past three decades. Across England, the US, Australia and New Zealand, new public management has introduced corporate governance structures, strategic plans, performance management, quality assurance processes, a client-focused approach to students and curriculum, and a commodification of higher education that has seen an unprecedented growth in international student numbers. Increased numbers of HEIs has stimulated a variety of challenges for administrators, academics, students and the broader community. Drawing on data from England, Australia and New Zealand, this book addresses how policies of successive labour governments have decreased autonomy of academics and increased regimes of surveillance, radically altering how academics think about and engage in their intellectual work. It provokes the reader to think critically about the emergence of corporate styles of governance, management and leadership in HEIs and ways in which the demands of new public management and the knowledge economy has shaped and re-shaped scholarly work and identity.

New technologies provide new ways of delivering the programs and services of higher educational (HE) institutions. Social media such as Facebook, blogs, Flickr, Twitter, and the Second Life virtual world engage constituents and enhance effectiveness. Understanding the trends in the expanding role of social media in HE and the related implications for staff preparedness and training is necessary for future-oriented administrators and practitioners. This book examines how social media are redefining what university communities are and the purposes and practices of the various functional areas in HE. It presents an overview of innovative practices in the recruitment, advising, retention, graduation and engagement of students and alumni, and examines social media in connection with enrollment management, advising and mentoring, public relations and alumni relations. Topics covered include: how Facebook helps and hinders students' social integration; connecting fans and sports more intensively through social media; how to prepare staff to use social media in robust ways; and, using social networking sites during the career management process, for social research and studying abroad.

"Higher Education Research" provides readers with an authoritative, up-to-date overview of the current state of higher education research and its relationship to policy and practice. The internationally acclaimed team of authors examine the impact of current policy and practice on the research agenda, the dissemination of research findings and how researchers are perceived and utilised by practitioners. Addressing higher education research across the globe, this major book underlines the divide that exists between academically based research and research which is aligned on policy and practice. Drawing upon recent developments in higher education research in Australia, Canada, Japan and Latin America, this volume provides a unique comparative perspective on the current state of higher education research.

Within the United Kingdom questions about the relevance of educational research and its relationship to policy have recently been the centre of a prolonged, public and sometimes acrimonious debate. The chapters in this book illustrate the ability of ethnographic work to assist in understanding the effects of educational policies to gradually influence the policy discourse. The book includes studies of policy initiatives at the local level that show the extent to which an intended change actually occurred in practice, others where actual change occurred, but there were unintended consequences as well as those planned by the policy, and others that illuminate the contradictions within the original policy itself. Chapters focus on a diversity of topics such as the ideology of educational 'success', politics and school mathematics, ITC teaching, sports coaching, basic skills provision for offenders, second language learning, ESOL teaching, primary teachers work, and the teaching of reading and spelling.

A largely unseen phenomenon is shaping the direction of higher education today: the growth of leadership programs. These programs are hidden ladders that help the talented move up toward university presidencies. Their number and importance are rapidly increasing, and they will more and more determine who makes decisions in higher education. We need to know more about them. "Lessons in Leadership" is the first book to address them directly, highlighting their histories and achievements. In it, the directors of most major programs in the country describe their focus, curriculum, and participants' reactions. The book especially spotlights programs aimed at minorities, since they stand to benefit most from them and since their participation will likely have the greatest impact on U.S. higher education. This volume has three sections: Hidden Springboard - The Importance of Leadership Programs; The First Wave - Traditional Leadership Programs; and, The New Leaders - Programs Focused Entirely on Minorities. The first analyzes the rapid demographic changes occurring in American society and their consequences for higher education. The second looks at two of the major players in higher education leadership and describes the changes in the programs over the years. The third focuses on the latest entrants: programs created in part because of the lack of diversity in the traditional offerings. Although the new programs share many features with their older brothers, they provide special perspective on the challenges facing minority administrators in higher education. Leadership programs are an intriguing, important, half-concealed force in higher education today. "Lessons in Leadership" reveals them to a wider public.