While we were away...

Subtext was offline for nearly three months over summer, but while we were away the world of education reform kept on turning. Here are some stories from around the world from the past few months.

Men and women pay back student loans in same time

Men and women are paying their student loans back in full at about the same rate of time, according to Statistics New Zealand figures released in November.

A Statistics New Zealand press release is at this web page.

Australians create mega-sized childcare provider

Australia's largest privately owned childcare provider, ABC Learning Centres, is set to become one of the world's largest listed childcare service providers.

The company recently acquired the US's third largest childcare and early education centre, Learning Care Group, in a deal worth almost AU$218 million.

ABC currently owns about 700 childcare centres in Australia and New Zealand. Learning Care Group operates 460 corporate-owned and franchise centres throughout the US and internationally

ABC plans to acquire and develop another 250 centres by June this year.

The ABC website is at this web page.

An ABC investor statement is at this web page.

Competition can boost school performance, report finds

An increase in the competitiveness of a school's local environment can lead to an increase in average test scores, a recent US report finds.

"Choice and Competition in Local Education Markets" by Patrick Bayer and Robert McMillan is at this web page.

Vouchers work best in larger urban areas, report suggests

US voucher programmes are most appealing when states contain large cities, suburban districts are not included, housing values are not threatened and programme design allows for compromise between disparate political ideologies, a report suggests.

The National Center for Privatization in Education paper was written by researcher Lawrence Kenny and is at this web page.

Largest school choice bill ever introduced

The US's largest school choice bill was introduced in December.

Up to 372,000 schoolchildren displaced by hurricanes Katrina and Rita are eligible to receive federal funds to use in the public or private school of their choice.

Meanwhile, lobby group Alliance for School Choice described 2005 as the best year ever for school choice, citing: 38 states introducing targeted school choice bills this past legislative session; school choice legislation passing 19 legislative houses in 12 states plus the US Congress; and six states enacting into law 10 programmes - four new and six expanded.

More information is at this web page.

US doctorate programmes to be ranked

The National Research Council has begun a study to rank doctorate programmes around the US. It last carried out the study in 1995.

More information is at this web page

Increasing US government encouragement for private sector in education

A new study has found an expanding role for the state in encouraging education market activity, an increase in test-related services and products, and emphasis on technology-based solutions.

More information on the Columbia University study is at this web page.

Lifelong learning's economic impact studied

Lifelong learning is a prominent issue in many countries, with many business leaders and policymakers viewing it as an effective strategy for producing skilled workers and helping economic growth.

However, there is not much education research looking at how lifelong learning programmes might be financed and their costs distributed. A new paper by researcher Hans Schuetze examines these issues.

The National Center for Privatization in Education paper is at this web page.

Safeguards proposed to improve international education

With more and more people taking university degrees from foreign providers, there is a growing need for safeguards against low-quality services. A UNESCO and OECD initiative aims to meet this need.

More information on "Guidelines on quality provision in cross-border higher education" is at this web page.