Changing Forms of Accountability in Education? A Case Study of LEAs in Wales

Political mechanisms of accountability were marginalized by Conservative government reforms during the 1980s and 1990s which sought a more market-oriented approach within the public sector in order to enhance ‘consumerism’. In education, parents were given more choice between schools and were provided with more information on school performance. The promotion of market accountability has involved a reduction in the powers of local education authorities (LEAs) which had been central to the operation of political accountability. However, whilst market-based forms of accountability were firmly enhanced in principle by the legislation, to what extent have the forms of accountability operating within LEAs changed in practice? Interviews with Chief Officers and the Chair of the Education Committee are used to identify changing perceptions and practices of accountability in LEAs in Wales. The findings indicate that although local politicians and officials have been forced to operate within the legislative framework of market accountability, they have sought to impede its successful implementation. The policy community in Wales facilitated the LEAs’ capacity to respond in this way. The market-based reforms conflicted with fundamental values held in Wales, which remain those of professional accountability.     

Reporting under International Human Rights Treaties: Perspectives from Timor Leste's Experience of the Reformed Process

This article explores Timor Leste's experience of reportingunder the reformed international human rights treaties reportingsystem during the period 2004–2007. Whilst consciousnesshas grown of the difficulties faced by states by the duplicationof treaty reporting processes and the resource burden representedby reporting, the reforms instituted to date have been comparativelyminor. Timor's experience with the new Common Core Document(CCD)/treaty-specificdocument format affirms that reporting serves useful purposes,particularly in stimulating human rights education initiatives,government/NGO collaboration and awareness of human rights gapsin practice. The reformed process highlights cross-cutting humanrights matters. Yet, significant challenges remain, particularlyfor developing, post-conflict states, before reporting willattain its desired potential of support for improved human rightspromotion and protection at the national level. The CCD itselfraises complex conceptual difficulties needing resolution. Thereremains a paucity of appropriate methodological tools to supportthe reporting process and facilitate the integration of humanrights and development goals. Further work is thus needed toshape a sustainable process for reporting.     

Why decentralize decision making? English local actors' viewpoints

Decentralized decision making has created restructuring from larger to smaller administrative units, but in many places, strays little from existing arrangements. Moves toward decentralization from central government to city‐regions, and in some areas, below city‐region scale to neighborhoods, reflect a mandate for reform. What is the nature and extent of desired reforms? Using an institutionalist lens, homogeneity and heterogeneity in local narratives about possible future reform can be surfaced. This article emphasizes the importance of understanding the role of local actors' narratives in shaping decentralized institutions. This article uses the findings from a Q‐methodology study to identify and interrogate distinctive local viewpoints on attempts to decentralize decision making in England. In a systematic empirical analysis, local actors' narratives were largely in favor of relatively minor modifications to the status quo. The findings question a conflation of decentralization with participation in decision making.     

Making civic engagement go viral: Applying social epidemiology principles to civic education

This paper explores the connections between education for youth civic engagement and theories and strategies from public health (specifically, epidemiology). We illustrate this with four applications of epidemiologic theory to youth civic engagement: social determinants and fundamental causes, vulnerable populations and cumulative disadvantage, positive spillover, and herd immunity and critical mass. Formalizing concepts of current civics, in schools and the public, as a civic epidemic, we present a case for individual‐ and group‐level interventions based around targeted, school‐based, effective civic education initiatives. Grounded in epidemiological theory, such approaches call attention to the simultaneous need to improve broad civics education and ensure that particular populations receive necessary attentions.     

‘Sharpening the wooden sword’ in Imperial Germany: marital status and education in the work of Helene Lange

This article addresses the views of Helene Lange (1848-1930) in the campaign to reform German female education during the imperial period (1871-1918). A former educator, Lange was a key leader in national discussions of both female education and women's rights. Education, middle-class interests, and marital status formed the pillars of Lange's reformist vision. Lange contended that nineteenth-century education was misguided in its emphasis upon marriage as the primary goal of middle-class female lives. She cited a perceived surplus of unmarried women (Frauenüberschuss) as a key reason to change the nature of female education. Lange saw this surfeit as particularly problematic among the middle and elite classes. In doing so, she acknowledged derogatory depictions of unwed women but inverted such stereotypes in order to promote her cause of improved female education. As a solution for the perceived female surplus, Lange advocated educational and professional experiences that would embrace the maternal character of women. Helene Lange believed that women were not to be educated to compete with men, but to stand beside them in creating a better world – patriarch and matriarch renewed.     

Expert Testimony on Psychological Injury: Procedural and Evidentiary Issues

This article introduces psychologists to aspects of the legal process most pertinent to their role as expert witnesses in civil litigation. It summarizes the role of psychological evidence in the adjudication of common law tort claims, the structure of the court system, and the stages of the litigation process. It also explains the various roles a psychological expert may play during litigation and the implications of those roles for expert confidentiality and disclosure. The article then provides an overview of legal policy governing the admissibility of psychological expertise, especially as admissibility is affected by the “Daubert” standard applied in most North American courts.