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This book chapter uncovers the black box of PreK-12 African American male students’ experiences and outcomes as a result of their participation in career and technical education. Theoretical and scientific literature – related to benefits and challenges of African American male students’ educational experiences in career and technical education and school reform initiatives that may contribute to their educational outcomes – is discussed. Additionally, recommendations for educational research, practice, and policy are summarized providing future directions for educational and noneducational stakeholders to consider on how career and technical education may serve the unique needs of African American males.

This study presents an innovative approach to Information and communication technology (ICT) skill training and employment generation for out-of-school and disadvantaged youths in Africa. With technical and policy assistance from the World Bank, ICTs can be used to revitalize technical and vocational training to meet skill and employment needs of disadvantaged youths in the region. The deplorable conditions of out-of-school youth and the state of secondary education in Africa underscore the urgency to engage disadvantaged youth in productive economic activities. An ICT-enhanced technical and vocational training program in Africa provides both private and social gains: it provides economic prospects for disadvantaged youth and; it adds to the development of the knowledge economy in Africa. The NairoBits Digital Design School in Kenya is presented as a model of a vocational and training school that uses ICTs to improve skill formation among disadvantaged youths in informal settlements in urban Africa. Meeting the objectives of an ICT-based training and employment generation program for underprivileged youth in Africa require strong regulatory frameworks and contributions from the World Bank. The involvement of the bank, particularly through private sector grants for ICT skill train in Africa will help to revitalize technical and vocational education and training in the region. Above all, the collaboration of government agencies, private businesses, other international development agencies and civil society groups in ICT skill training will help to meaningfully engage African youths in the development of their communities in the emerging knowledge economy.

Can having more education than a job requires reduce one’s chances of being offered the job? We study this question in a sample of applications to jobs that are posted on an urban Chinese website. We find that being overqualified in this way does not reduce the success rates of university-educated jobseekers applying to college-level jobs, but that it does hurt college-educated workers’ chances when applying to jobs requiring technical school, which involves three fewer years of education than college. Our results highlight a difficult situation faced by the recent large cohort of college-educated Chinese workers: They seem to fare poorly in the competition for jobs, both when pitted against more-educated university graduates and less-educated technical school graduates.

Since the 1960s, Egypt has sought to increase equality in access to higher education. Data show that completion of pre-tertiary education has become more equal. However, this trend toward equality did not extend to higher education. Rather, entry to higher education has become more unequal during this period, principally due to tracking at the secondary level. Secondary track is highly correlated with wealth: students from the poorest families overwhelming attend technical education; most children from wealthy families attend general (academic) secondary. Lucas (2001) has called this relationship between wealth and tracking “Effectively Maintained Inequality.”

In this chapter, Turkish educational system and institutional quality assessment initiatives of education are explained. And also, the relationship between educational quality assurance (QA) in Turkey and issues of effective schooling is summarised in terms of Turkish literature.

Education is widely accepted as a lifelong process. The school is an institution established in order to provide qualified education which contains complex and more abstract knowledge and ideas as well as literacy and simple numerical skills to the students. Each country has basically established education systems and educational institutions to ensure social integration, continuity and stability, and to sustain the social and cultural heritage of a society. Education in Turkey is one of the state’s basic functions according to the constitution and performed under the supervision and control of the state with the declaration of the Republic of Turkey. Ministry of National Education is responsible for the implementation of all education activities centrally managed in the Republic of Turkey. Higher Education Council (YÖK) is responsible for the management and thus the quality processes of the higher education institutions in Turkey. Two major attempts in this perspective are YÖK, which assesses the institutions with standards which are coherent with international accreditation institutions, and Higher Education Quality Council (YÖKAK), an independent and specific council which is established by YÖK. YÖK and YÖKAK are governmental-based quality-assessment institutions. Association for Evaluation and Accreditation of Teacher Colleges’ Educational Programs (EPDAD) is also an independent institution for quality assessment of education faculties which focusses on teacher training and education. The purpose of EPDAD is to strengthen the student learning in formal training and to ensure the quality standards for candidate teachers. Any undergraduate programme which meets the standards of EPDAD is accredited for three years. Standards of EPDAD are detailed in this chapter.

In this chapter, educational policy development addressing the learning needs of the at-risk population in Curacao is described as a direct result of the implementation of the global standards of the EFA goals. The at-risk student population is defined in this chapter as the proportion of students whose home language differs from the school language. Achievement is based on proficiency in the language of schools and a national tracking system, which has historically accommodated the learning needs of the at-risk into various school types. This chapter argues how the global promises for a quality education for all is exposing a more than 40-year-old policy of national tracking that questions the right to an academic education for the majority of the at-risk students. Goal 4 of the EFA places Curacao as an example of islands which have long surpassed the target for participation in technical and vocational programs. The chapter opens with an overview of the goals and targets that created a framework for continuous structural reform of a complacent system of education for all backed by compulsory education.