Yifei Yan’s ambitious multi-method case study of government middle schools in Beijing and Delhi provides fresh insights into how educational accountability can be designed to work, in part and as a whole. Getting schools to work better is a challenge just about everywhere. Many policy experts prescribe measures for strengthening school accountability, either through government command and control or through alternative market and societal actors. In challenging this conventional wisdom, this book examines how China and India are tackling the challenge with a specific focus on supporting teachers along with traditional accountability-strengthening measures. The book draws implications from its case studies for how education systems can be designed towards the fulfilment of Sustainable Development Goal 4. It further develops the concept of "Accountability 3.0" to elucidate a novel and more holistic reconceptualisation of the appropriate means needed to fulfil multiple purposes of accountability, in which providing support to frontline workers is viewed as an integral component. This book will appeal to a wide spectrum of scholars and practitioners in the fields of comparative education, public administration, public policy and development studies, among others. It will be especially interesting to those from the developing world facing similar accountability challenges as described.
Translational research is of great importance for clinical practice. Therefore, this book provides comprehensive information on an important gap in pediatric urology: the description of basic concepts that allow a better understanding of urinary and genital anomalies. The content encompasses personal experience and research topics developed at Rio de Janeiro State University’s Urogenital Research Unit over the past 25 years. Throughout the chapters, the main aspects of embryology and fetal anatomy as applied to the various congenital malformations that most often affect newborns and children are described. Neural tube defects and Prune Belly Syndrome, two rare but highly relevant conditions that alter the structure of the urinary and genital system, are discussed in detail. In addition, the diagnosis and treatment of genital anomalies are addressed. Given its scope, the book offers a valuable resource for a wide audience including urologists, pediatricians, pediatric surgeons, and medical students.