Systemic Reform: Good Educational Practice with Positive Impacts and Unresolved Problems and Issues

This article describes the National Science Foundation's systemic reform programming, including major accomplishments and barriers to systemic reform. The challenges of systemic reform and new directions for education reform are discussed. The focus in on the results and challenges of policies implemented by the systemic initiatives, namely the mandate for the alignment of standards, curriculum, instruction, and assessment with the implementation of a standards‐based K‐12 mathematics and science education program; increased science and mathematics requirements for high school graduation; the delivery of intensive, high‐quality professional development; and improvement in student achievement after three years of funding. A broader view of education reform in the future will require policymakers and educators to pay more attention to formulating mutually supportive policies across education, health, and social services; establishing fiscal policies that provide sufficient funding to ensure equitable outcomes; and revising accountability policies to facilitate rather than impede the reform efforts.     

Regulation as the Mother of Innovation: The Case of SO2 Control*

This paper explores the relationship between government actions and innovation in an environmental control technology—sulfur dioxide (SO₂) control technologies for power plants—through the use of complementary research methods. Its findings include the importance of regulation and the anticipation of regulation in stimulating invention; the greater role of regulation, as opposed to public R&D expenditures, in inducing invention; the importance of regulatory stringency in determining technical pathways and stimulating collaboration; and the importance of regulatory‐driven technological diffusion in contributing to operating experience and post‐adoption innovation in cost and performance. A number of policy implications are drawn from this work.     

CREDIBLE RESEARCH PRACTICES TO INFORM DRUG LAW ENFORCEMENT

Chairing the recent National Research Council Committee on Data and Research for Policy on Illegal Drugs, I learned that our nation has invested little in research on drug law enforcement and that the limited available research does not provide a credible basis for formation of drug control policy. This commentary conjectures reasons for the distressing status quo and recommends changes in research practices that may improve matters.     

THE IMPACT OF PUBLIC SERVICE MOTIVES ON WORK OUTCOMES IN AUSTRALIA: A COMPARATIVE MULTI‐DIMENSIONAL ANALYSIS

There is a general consensus that individuals who are driven to serve the public interest can possess a mix of public service motives for engaging in altruistic actions. This article proposes that when analysed simultaneously, some public service motives may play a more important role than others in influencing work outcomes. The pressing questions are which ones and how? Through a survey of a group of Australian public sector employees, this article explores the relationship between the various dimensions of public service motivation (PSM) and the common work outcomes: organizational commitment, job satisfaction and job motivation. The combinations of PSM dimensions that had a greater impact on these work outcomes are also found to vary with different outcomes.     

Finding Shangri-la

<正>Iwas standing in paradise, or at least that’s what the guidebook I had so blindly followed said. As I scanned my surround- ings, I felt duped. How could this be Shangri-la, that ancient utopia of perfection and youth?     

Size,Power, and Electoral Systems: Exogenous Determinants of Legislative Procedural Choice

I tested hypotheses about the relationship between exogenous institutions and legislative procedural choice using a unique cross‐sectional approach and a dataset gleaned from 55 legislative bodies from around the world. I focused on three entrenched characteristics of legislative bodies that we have theoretical reason to think will shape procedures: size, the relative power of the chamber, and the method by which its members are selected. Relatively small and powerful bodies generally have decentralized procedures. To a lesser extent, we can say the same of chambers that have electoral systems that incentivize the personal vote.