International Encyclopedia of National Systems of Education - Tapa dura

G.R. Batho, University of Durham, UK
...a valuable work of reference...
British Journal of Educational Studies
Dr F.G. Sharpe, Professor of Educational Administration
....this encyclopaedia remains an extremely useful, easily accessed and reasonably up-to-date and authoritative reference for academics and students of comparative educational administration, for teacher educators, for policy and research officers in education ministries and departments around the world, and for politicians and educational leaders engaged in the restructing of education systems and operations. It would also be a useful reference for families relocating from one country to another in our increasingly mobile international society. It should find a place in all major libraries in Australia and on the personal shelves of educational researchers and policy-makers.
Australian Journal of Education
C. Zlatos Washington State University
...Highly recommended for all collections in education.
Choice
Michael Crossley, University of Bristol
Comparative and international research in education has received increased attention in recent years as the influence of global trends and the implications of economic competition between nations have intensified. Major political realignments, including the breaking up of the former USSR, have also stimulated increased interest in international comparative studies. It is, therefore, most helpful for all involved in such research to have access to basic and concise accounts of national systems of education in one volume such as this. This remains a useful reference source, particularly for readers new to the field of study itself. This second edition of the encyclopaedia, with most entries updated to 1994, should attract a wide range of readers, with both comparative and more general interests, worldwide.

Comparative Education

This Encyclopedia, arranged alphabetically, contains 152 articles on national systems of education. The reviews are all structured in the same way, providing the following information.

· general background information, eg. geographical, social structure, economic factors.

· politics and goals of the educational system.

· the formal structure of education.

· administrative and supervisory structure.

· educational finance.

· personnel for the education system.

· curriculum development.

· examinations, promotion and certification.

· educational assessment, evaluation and research.

· review of the major reforms in the 1980s and early 1990s.

· problems for the year 2000.

· references and further reading.

· author index.

This new Encyclopedia draws upon articles in The International Encyclopedia of Education, Second Edition, (described by Choice as being "a premier resource when judged on virtually every criteria applied to a reference work"), with revisions as well as new articles. It provides the reader with an immediate overall impression of a country's system of education and its main features and special aspects.

Of particular value in the wake of the changes in the former Soviet Bloc, are the descriptions of ongoing reforms in Eastern European countries.

No other single reference source provides such a comprehensive and up to date collection of authoritative information on national systems of education.