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The purpose of this paper is to assess the channels of education financing as they exist currently in Iraq. It argues that the current model of financing is highly centralized and in order to encourage a school-based management and better school outcomes, there needs to be decentralization of financing. The paper considers block grants as a mechanism for decentralization and explores other country experiences in this area.

The paper opts for both an analytical and exploratory study of the financing channels in the education sector in Iraq based on both primary field-based surveys and secondary sources of information such as World Bank and UN documents. For understanding other country experience of school block grant provision, the paper reviews literature and attempts to find learnings for Iraq.

The paper provides a detailed insight into the service delivery modal and channels of education financing in Iraq across multiple tiers. It argues that the centralized model of education financing is one of the factors that contribute to weak school governance and school performance indicators. It explores the idea of school block grants as a model of decentralized financing and a review of other country experiences on provision of school block grants gives some interesting insights into what might work for Iraq.

Economic wars, sanctions and conflict have severely affected the country and as a consequence there are very limited data and information available and this has impacted the study. Furthermore, though the country has been liberated from ISIS, the peace is fragile and any research findings have to be seen in this background.

The paper does not stop at identifying the problem, i.e. centralization of financing but attempts to explore and provide a way to get around this in the form of provision of school block grants.

There are very few studies that explore the service delivery model and financing channels in the education sector in Iraq and therefore this paper should add value to any discussion on post-conflict reconstruction.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the current school‐based management (SBM) policy reform in Indonesia, with an emphasis on the impacts of shifting authority and responsibility to school level, as well as challenges confronted by the school council members, followed by remedial measures to minimize the problems.

The paper employed a mixed‐method research design comprising an extensive empirical survey followed by semi‐structured and focused group interviews and examination of relevant documents. The data reported here are on the basis of an empirical survey involving 504 school council members from Ngada‐Flores, followed by 42 interviews and focus group discussion (FGD) with all relevant stakeholders.

The research findings demonstrate how devolution of power and authority to school level can create partnership in participatory school decision making in terms of setting a school mission, shared‐vision, annual programs, school budget, school textbooks, school buildings, school‐based curriculum and even students’ discipline policies. In turn, devolving power and authority to school level has created several changes in schools, including in‐school culture changes, and increased participation of school communities. These factors have led to the improvements in teaching‐learning environments and student achievements.

The findings of this study are specific to the context of Ngada‐Flores, Indonesia. The possibility for the general applicability of the findings is limited by the scope, the sample, and the cultural context of this study. Accordingly, even though there could be common features, the findings may not have general applicability to other systems.

The paper suggests that capacity building in school level is required for the effective implementation of SBM policies and programs, including in‐service training, regular professional development sessions and workshops on effective school leadership and management, as well as school development planning.

This paper could be significant because of the absence of similar studies in the Indonesian context. The findings could be helpful in informing practitioners, the local and national authorities and all those interested in school education on how SBM with devolution of power and authority to school‐level decision makers assists in‐school improvements and student achievements, as well as problems and challenges confronted by school leaders in the implementation of SBM.

During the Great Recession, the increase in Greece's unemployment rate was the highest in the European Union (EU). However, there exists no multi-variate study which has assessed the association between parental unemployment and adolescents' grades. The present study aimed to examine whether parental unemployment is associated with deterioration in adolescents' grades during periods of economic decline.

The study utilised panel data from the same upper high schools in the periods 2011–2013 and 2017–2019 to assess whether the grades of adolescents were associated with parental unemployment. A variety of empirical specifications and robustness tests were employed to offer better informed evaluations.

The exogeneity of parental unemployment with respect to adolescents' grade was confirmed. The analysis revealed that parental unemployment was associated with a decline in adolescents' grades. Periods of economic decline, i.e. in 2011–2013, were found to be associated with deterioration in adolescents' grades. Moreover, during periods of economic decline, parental unemployment was associated with deterioration in adolescents' grades. Furthermore, parental unemployment was associated with lower adolescents' grades for those households that were not homeowners and whose schools were located in working-class areas. The outcomes were found to be robust, even after including information for government expenditure on education and social protection.

This is the first Greek study, and amongst the first international studies, to evaluate whether parental unemployment can lead to a deterioration in adolescents' grades during an economic decline. The potential long-lasting effects of parental unemployment on children's human capital should be considered by policymakers, as should educational interventions to support households experiencing adverse economic conditions.

The reauthorization of the Paperwork Reduction Act is now pending in Congress. Should it win House and Senate approval, the Act would reduce more than paperwork. It is the view of the American Library Association that it would further compromise the public's already diminished access to federal government information.

Community development was one of the first block grant programs, a “hybrid” which retained categorical features and constraints. The Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) has proven to be resilient and popular with local officials. It has been reauthorized by Congress a number of times over the past three decades, and is among the 15 largest federal grant-in-aid programs. In recent years, the Bush administration, Government Accountability Office, and others have called for major changes in the program, including funding formula, program priorities, performance reporting, and agency location. This paper describes the general characteristics of block grants, the dynamics of the block grant “balancing act,” and lessons from experience. In this context, the varying expectations of CDBG stakeholders and reformers are identified and implications for policy-makers are discussed. Options for the future design and direction of the program are offered.

School libraries in the United States have existed since the founding of private schools and academies in New England, such as Phillips-Andover and Phillips-Exeter in the late 18th century. The development of public secondary school libraries, however, did not occur until early in the 20th century. While New England's academies were national leaders in secondary school education, New England's public schools lagged behind their counterparts in the Central region of the United States in the development of school libraries. The first national standards for secondary school libraries was adopted by and published by the National Education Association (NEA) in 1918 from a study and report by the Committee on Library Organization and Equipment (CLOE), chaired by Charles C. Certain. The 1918 standards were entitled, “Standard Library Organization and Equipment for Secondary Schools of Different Size.” (NEA, 1918) This was the first attempt to quantify high school library facilities by identifying standards for a good high school library. In 1920, the American Library Association (ALA) endorsed and published these standards, which have become known as the “Certain Standards,” in honor of the committee chair. The “Certain Standards” addressed the need for high school libraries to become an integral part of the school by setting goals, planning, and establishing quantified collections, seating, and equipment. These standards also called for creating a library classroom and for hiring a qualified librarian (with 1 year of postgraduate study and one year of internship) (NEA, 1918; ALA, 1920). Most importantly, this document identified the role of the librarian as a professional who was not expected to do clerical work, but who “… should have the ability to work for and with teachers” (NEA, 1918; ALA, 1920, p. 12). Therefore, the standards movement began as an effort to quantify library facilities and to provide qualified librarians in secondary schools which became the focus for improving school libraries throughout the 20th century (Roscello, 2004).

The Training Boards for Engineering and Construction have both embraced the principle that grant for apprentices is to be conditional upon the apprentice following a day release course in a technical college. In Engineering this condition will come into force on 1st September 1966; in Construction, it already applies: grant will be paid only in respect of trainees attending a technical college course on day or block release. In their system, which the Construction ITB describe as transitional, and which they have adopted to get things moving quickly, no recognition in terms of grant is made for any in‐plant training — any training the company may do for manual workers on their own premises.

This chapter describes the changing nature of Japanese science production. The author explains Japan’s rise to prominence as the country with the second largest number of annual research publications in the world, followed by its subsequent decline to fifth in the world. The chapter highlights implications for Japanese universities of shifts in research policy.

The author examines bibliometric data as well as contextual data from Japan’s Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology to analyze the contributions of Japanese universities in STEM+ research from 1975 to 2010. The chapter examines changes in higher education funding policies and their relationship to university-based production of STEM+ research articles in recent decades. The chapter also includes brief comparative analyses with selected other countries, including highly productive countries in Asia (China, Korea, and Taiwan), Western Europe (France, Germany, and the United Kingdom), as well as the United States.

Bibliometric data show that Japan’s second-tier research universities contributed to Japan’s rise to the second largest producer of STEM+ scientific research. When these second-tier research universities received less money from the government, their scientific output declined and aggregate national research output declined relative to other countries.

The chapter uses more recent and comprehensive data than other studies of research output of Japanese universities and offers several implications for research policy and higher education funding. Indeed, the chapter argues that second-tier universities are the “unsung heroes” of Japanese science production. The chapter also suggests that Japanese policymakers may need to reconsider their reliance on competitive funding over block grants that sustain research universities.

This research employs institutional characteristics and market‐related factors to predict undergraduate students' tuition at 190 private colleges and universities in the USA. Results showed that the strongest correlations among variables for college tuition were reputation ranking and SAT scores. Results of a hierarchical multiple regression revealed that the type of institution, academic reputation ranking, the annual expenditures, geographic region, the existence of professional schools, the size of the faculty and the undergraduate student body, and university presidents' pay and benefits are all significant predictors of college tuition. After controlling all other variables, the unique contribution made by reputation ranking is still a significant predictor of college tuition. Research institutions charged their students more than liberal arts colleges, which, in turn, charged more than doctoral granting I institutions. Implications for parents and students, private colleges and universities, human resource management, and the Matthew effect are discussed.