William K. Cummings

Alternative policies for the finance, control, and delivery of basic education

Abstract This chapter critically reviews alternative funding and control strategies and examines some of their policy implications. The early sections of the chapter address the nature and origin of some proposals for alternative strategies and reflect on their theoretical underpinnings. The next section summarizes the empirical findings from both historical and other comparative studies. The final section presents the policy implications of the different patterns of educational funding and control in a variety of contexts.

The Service University Movement in the US: Searching for Momentum.

While for much of the postwar period becoming a research intensive university has been the goal of most large American universities, in recent years many are reappraising their missions. This paper focuses on two institutions, Michigan State University and the University at Buffalo, that are seeking to combine a focus on a strong research mission that creates new knowledge with new initiatives to convey the practical implications of that knowledge to local clientele. These two institutions are seeking to serve their constituencies through both knowledge extension and instructional extension. In the process they face the challenge of sustaining the commitment of leaders, of altering long-standing structures, and of reforming financial procedures. Through focusing on two cases, the study seeks to identify some of the generic problems American institutions of higher education are encountering as they strive to strengthen their service function.

From Knowledge Seeking to Knowledge Creation: The Japanese University's Challenge.

Underlying the steady expansion of Japanese education is a strong public faith that success in schooling leads to a secure adult career with permanent employment in an organization. The Japanese work contract emphasizing stability and security pervades all walks of life including universities and research laboratories. This strength of the Japanese system is also its major weakness. It induces a penchant towards conformity and uniformity that sometimes conflicts with the creativity and initiative required in the best scientific and technical work. Thus, a major concern in the present reform effort is to bring greater flexibility and instability to a system that is premised on limited choice and stability. Japans university challenge is to identify the structural reforms required to reverse the traditional focus of the educational sector. The current concern to expand graduate education, break down the chair system, expand university-industry collaboration, and increase the number of foreign researchers in Japanese laboratories is all part of the thrust for a new more stimulating educational process. But even bolder reforms are required if Japan hopes to move the educational sector to a new knowledge creation paradigm.

The preference of Asian overseas students for the United States: An examination of the context

Asian students in increasing numbers have over the postwar period decided to go overseas for tertiary education, and an increasing proportion of those overseas students have selected the United States as their place of study. Eight elements of the changing context of Asian-American relations are identified which influence the Asian preference for American higher education:(1)The improving Asian-American political links(2)The increased volume of Asian-American economic exchange(3)The sharp increase in Asian immigration to the United States(4)The increasing similarity in the structure and content of Asian and American educational systems(5)The absorptive capacity of American higher education(6)The quality of American higher education(7)The complementarity of Asian demand and American supply(8)The opportunities provided in American higher education to cover educational costs through part-time work

Educational policies in crisis : Japanese and American perspectives

The essays in this book, prepared by Japanese and American educators, examine why the two countries have sought to learn about each others educational system and what lessons have emerged from this process.

Modeling strategies for enhancing educational quality

With the strengthening of the global economy, contemporary societies have come to view the educational achievements of their young people as a major component of national competiveness. But there are substantial variations in the strategies employed by different nations. To maximize educational achievements, some nations believe that the provision of a stratified system of schooling is effective, at least for the minority who are able to gain entry to the elite academic stream. In contrast, other nations prefer a more egalitarian strategy to education where all students attend a common school devoid of ability streams until well into their secondary level studies. The egalitarian strategy is believed to be just and fair. But does it enhance educational achievement? Several other strategies are also being advanced, and the same questions can be asked about them. There are a number of studies that explore the academic consequences of different strategies within particular national systems, but there are relatively few studies that explore these questions across several national systems. The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development-supported Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) studies enable a cross-national analysis; but the official reports from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development primarily provide bivariate analyses of these relations whereas a multivariate strategy taking into account several system level variables is preferred. In this paper we examine the historical origins of six contemporary strategies, and draw on the PISA studies to compare the relative efficacy of these strategies relying on path modeling.

Preschool in Three Cultures: Japan, China, and the United States.

A comparison of Japanese, Chinese and American preschools, discussing how these schools both reflect and affect philosophies of child-rearing and early childhood education and larger social patterns and beliefs in each society.

Education and Equality in Japan.

On the basis of direct personal observation in the classroom, systematically gathered data, and extensive reading in primary sources, the author provides a rich description of how a society can be gradually transformed by the educational process in its schools. He then relates this process to the problems of the advanced industrial world. Originally published in 1980. The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These paperback editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.