Obama vs McCain on education
Mike Baker explains why, despite the fact that the Obama/McCain electoral battle offers a real and serious choice on education issues, Obama is the only candidate with a detailed reform programme.

Commercialisation is the key for FE colleges in the new competitive era
Helen James, Director of J2Profit, examines the need for colleges to become more commercially minded and explains how doing so can help to solve other issues that are likely to be presented over the coming year.

Raising achievement for 14 to 19-year-olds
Ian Nash exposes two fundamental flaws in government reforms of the further education sector, including skewing FE funding towards the 14 to 19s and reallocating budgets to local authorities.

Higher profile for higher education
John O’Leary writes about higher education’s newfound place in the national consciousness, with greater media coverage and discussion on such television programmes as the BBC’s The Apprentice.

Cash-strapped Wales
Our Wales editor, Professor Ken Reid, reports on severe delays to Welsh Assembly initiatives, which are due to poor across-the-board funding settlements for the next academic year.

Letter from Scotia
Our Scotland editor, John Dobie, on the problems caused by the lack of permanent job opportunities for newly qualified teachers and what action the Scottish Parliament is taking to address the situation.

Higher Ground
John Izbicki looks at research into rising sea levels, the production of an Electronic Document and Records Management system, Lord Attenborough’s last year as Chancellor of Sussex University, 19th century pop music and the new £32 million David Wilson Library at  Leicester University.

Putting energy efficiency on display
Natasha Jacobs writes about how schools, universities and libraries across the UK can become more energy efficient.

Sinnott Fellowship for secondary school staff announced
A unique Fellowship for secondary school staff is to be set up in memory of the late Steve Sinnott, former General Secretary of the National Union of Teachers.

General Section

Children’s Health
The link between poor coordination and obesity, asthma and gender, family cholesterol screening, and using children’s head shape to identify autism.

Obituaries
We record with regret the deaths of Max Morris, former president of the National Union of Teachers, and Nicky Harrison, a leading figure in local and national education politics and former Chairman of the National Foundation for Educational Research.

Opinion Section

John izbicki argues that Ofsted’s preoccupation with the collection of raw data results in inadequate feedback on other factors, such as healthy living, the environment or play-based teaching.

Age raging – the debate around age guidance on children's books
The debate around age banding of books has received much coverage in the media and angered many authors. Jonathan Douglas, Director of the National Literacy Trust, examines both sides of the argument.

Junior minister reshuffle

Media Watch
Suggestions that some academies are using exclusions to offload difficult pupils onto neighbouring schools in an attempt to improve their results.

Reference Section

Book Review
John Izbicki reviews Playing Politics with Terrorism – A User’s Guide, edited by George Kassimeris.

Events
The National Union of Teachers’ annual national education conference at Stoke Rochford Hall, the CBI education summit in London, the British Educational Research Association conference at Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh, and Aspect’s annual conference in York.

Conference round-up

Document Reviews
Reviewed this month are The Department for Children, Schools and Families and the Children’s Plan: Government Response to the Committee’s Second Report of Session 2007–08 and Testing and Assessment: Government and Ofsted Responses to the Committee’s Third Report of Session 2007-08 from the Select Committee on Children, Schools and Families.

Document Digest

Reports Digest
Multi-disciplinary work in children’s services and supporting parents in Bristol, a disability participation project in Buckinghamshire, a training strategy for Northumberland, and a strategy for the participation and consultation of children and young people in Sheffield.

Research Section

Research Notes
Our Research editor, Michael Marshall, discusses the idea of the pupil voice in school self-evaluation and the legal imperatives that underpin it.

A Simple Guide to Voodoo Statistics
Ian Schagen, Chief Research Analyst at the New Zealand Ministry of Education, formally of NFER, discusses how to ensure that policy and practice in education is well-served by statistical information, including how to resolve the tension between simplicity of analysis and providing misleading statistics.

Pupils as Partners is the Key to Personalised Learning
Bob Garnett, Former Director of Children’s Services in Nottinghamshire, writes about the need to include children and young people as partners when evaluating the learning process.

Research Abstracts

Research Digest

Parliament Section

Scottish Futures Trust
EPM Scotland editor Arabella Hargreaves reports on a ministerial statement about a new way of funding public services in Scotland.

Jobs for new teachers
We report on a debate in the Scottish Parliament on local authorities.

Adult literacy in Ulster
We report on a parliamentary question in the Northern Ireland Assembly on literacy and farmers.

From early years to higher education
We report on two education questions in the Welsh Assembly on early years and higher education.

Parliamentary Questions

Phoenix