Feeling voice: The emotional politics of ‘student voice’ for teachers

In recent years, student voice has become a popular school reform strategy, with the promise of generating relations of trust, respect, belonging and student empowerment. However, when student voice practices are taken up by schools, student voice may also be associated with less affirmative feelings: it is often accounted for in terms of teacher ‘fear’, ‘resistance’ or ‘uncertainty’ about altered power relations. Such explanations risk individualising and pathologising teachers’ responses, rather than recognising the complexities of the institutional conditions of student voice. This article considers the affective politics of student voice: that is, the contestations that attend who gets to name how student voice feels in schools. Working with data from an evaluation study of three Australian primary schools who engage in ‘exemplary’ student voice practices, we listen to school leaders and facilitating teachers’ accounts about the responses of other teachers at their schools to student voice. Parallels are drawn between the construction of some teachers as reluctant, and previous analyses of ‘silenced’ student voices in schools. We argue that, in order to analyse the enactment of student voice in more nuanced tones, it is necessary to consider the profoundly emotional experience of teaching and learning, the ambivalences of teachers’ experiences of student voice and contemporary reconstitutions of teacher subjectivities.     

学生管理信息系统的构建探讨

近年来随着我国高校招生规模的不断扩大,大学生数量逐年增加,同时高校学生的基本信息量也大幅度增加.面对庞大的信息量,如何有效地提高学生管理的工作效率是一个高校急需解决的问题.探讨如何构建适合高校发展需要的学生管理信息系统,以便实现高校科学化信息管理、快速统计和查询等,并减少管理方面的工作量,从而提高管理工作效率.     

Student commitment and school organization in relation to on-task behavior and achievement

Three experiments considered student commitment to school, IQ, and school organization type in relation to student task behavior and to school achievement. The first two correlational studies indicated the relationship between student commitment and student task behavior; the third study used student task behavior, student commitment, IQ, and school organization to predict achievement. This prediction equation was quite robust with a final R² = .85. School achievement is predicted by intelligence and academic time on task in traditionally structured schools, and by intelligence and student commitment in open structured schools. Increasing the amount of teacher directed time would increase achievement in traditional schools, but decrease achievement in open schools.     

Exploring diversity through ethos in initial teacher education

This paper considers whether there is value in introducing student teachers to schools of different ethos as part of their initial teacher education. A 2-year study of undergraduate post-primary student teachers at a university college in Northern Ireland reveals that encounters with schools of different ethos can help student teachers to understand differences between schools and their visions of education, as well as correcting misunderstandings and challenging stereotypes. It is argued that as a result of experiencing diverse examples of ethos, student teachers may also be helped to understand the complexity of schools as organisations and to position themselves and their professional practice within wider debates about the aims of education and schools as communities of practice.     

Examining integrated leadership systems in high schools: connecting principal and teacher leadership to organizational processes and student outcomes

Research on school leadership suggests that both principal and teacher leadership are important for school improvement. However, few studies have studied the interaction of principal and teacher leadership as separate but linked systems in how they relate to student outcomes. In this study, we examine how leadership pathways are related in the context of high schools and compare findings to research in elementary schools. Using survey and administrative data from high schools in a large urban context, the paper explores direct and indirect pathways from leadership to student achievement growth. The results indicate that there are 2 pathways through which principal leadership is related to student learning in high schools. One pathway is mediated by teacher leadership, whereas the second pathway does not include teacher leadership. We find that similar to elementary schools, the learning climate is the only organizational factor that links principal and teacher leadership with student achievement.     

“Screening” or “Meritocracy”: Does the Choice of a Private School Help Students Achieve Higher Academic Performance? —Based on the PISA 2018 Analysis of Four Provinces and Municipalities in China

The introduced policy of “synchronized enrollment of public and private schools” has once again triggered the debate on the effectiveness of public and private schools. Based on the data of the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2018 from four Chinese provinces and municipalities, this paper explores whether private schools gain a relative advantage in student academic performance through student “screening” or academic “meritocracy,” through a hierarchical linear model (HLM) and an empirical test of the propensity score matching (PSM). It has been found that the academic performance of students in private schools is significantly better than that in public schools. But with background, metacognitive ability, and learning hours of students in private schools controlled for, such academic performance is not significantly superior, suggesting that private schools rely heavily on student “screening” to achieve a relative advantage in student academic performance. This finding has also verified the scientific nature of the above policy.     

High school identity climate and student identity development

This research investigated whether schools characterized by high school students as being rich in identity promoting features contribute to student identity development. A theoretical model posited that student perceptions of teachers as caring role models and their school as cultivating the whole student will foster student exploration and confidence about future identity development. Hypothesized mediators of these effects were student perceptions of a positive social climate, of experiencing meaningful studies and of affirmation of their agency and exploration. Participants were 2787 male and female students from the Jewish public-religious sector in Israel in 152 classes of 25 high schools. Results indicated that (a) schools with identity promoting features contribute to student identity development, (b) teachers as role models is a more potent variable than teacher caring in predicting student identity development and (c) experiencing meaningful studies is an especially important contributor to student exploration and identity confidence.     

The preparation of pre-service student teachers’ competence to work in schools

Competence to work in schools is an important dimension of professional competence, although it is often a neglected dimension of teacher development. This article reports a qualitative study that examined student teachers’ learning experiences in initial teacher education (ITE) in relation to competence to work in schools. In-depth interviews were conducted with 12 student teachers on an undergraduate ITE programme in Hong Kong. The findings of the study show that competence to work in schools is characterised by student teachers’ deep contextualised learning. In addition, it offers a deeper understanding of this competence in the ITE context by identifying its three facets, namely understanding of the micro-political realities of schools, social capital building and social strategies. The study provides insights for ITE and schools to support student teachers’ development of their competence to work in schools, including the design of ITE curricula, ITE processes and co-curricular activities in undergraduate studies. Moreover, it suggests the importance of developing schools as growth-fostering and positive micro-political sites for ITE fieldwork and teacher induction.     

Risk-based school inspections: impact of targeted inspection approaches on Dutch secondary schools

In most countries, publicly funded schools are held accountable to one inspectorate and are judged against agreed national standards. Many inspectorates of education have recently moved towards more proportional risk-based inspection models, targeting high-risk schools for visits, while schools with satisfactory student attainment levels are excluded from inspections. This paper looks into these newer inspection models and aims to enhance our understanding of the potential effectiveness of such targeted models on student attainment and other performance indicators. Random effects models, analyzing changes in schools over time, indicate that targeted inspections particularly have an effect on student attainment in literacy in weak schools, while also impacting on student satisfaction, student numbers and student-staff ratios.     

Putting dollars before scholars? Evidence from for-profit charter schools in Florida

This paper compares for- and non-profit management of charter schools in Florida using a unique dataset combining enrollment and student proficiency data with the annual independent financial audits filed by all charter schools. Comparisons reveal that independent for- and non-profit charter schools locate in similar markets and serve similar student bodies, whereas for-profits belonging to a network locate in lower income, denser, and more Hispanic areas. Bearing out the concerns of parents and policymakers, regression estimates indicate that, among independent charters, for-profits spend less per pupil on instruction and achieve lower student proficiency gains. By contrast, among charter schools belonging to a network, for-profits spend approximately 11% less per pupil, but expenses on student instruction are not being cut. The estimates, which control for differences across schools in student composition and other characteristics, imply that an equivalent level of per pupil expenses purchases about 0.03σ higher student proficiency at network for-profit charter schools.     

Observations of the middle school environment: The context for student behavior beyond the classroom

This article describes the use of an observation system to measure middle school staff practices, environment characteristics, and student behavior in the school common areas. Data were collected at baseline from 18 middle schools participating in a randomized controlled trial of school‐wide Positive Behavior Support. The observations were reliable and showed sensitivity to differences between school settings and between schools. Multilevel models with students nested in schools were used to examine the associations of staff practices and the school environment with student behavior. Less effective behavior management and more staff criticism, graffiti, and percentage of low‐income students were associated with student problem behaviors. Greater use of effective behavior management and positive attention, and fewer low‐income students were associated with positive student behavior. The use of data‐based feedback to schools for intervention planning and monitoring is illustrated. Implications for school‐wide efforts to improve student behavior in middle schools are discussed. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Student Success in First-Year University Physics and Mathematics Courses: Does the high-school attended make a difference?

This paper considers school factors that contribute to a successful transition from high school to first-year university Physics courses at the University of British Columbia by employing a two-level hierarchical model. It is assumed that there is a relationship between student performance and the high school they graduated from. It is shown that school location and type affect student performance: students from public schools in the Metro Vancouver area perform better in first year compared to students from independent schools and schools in distant communities. The study also considers rankings of schools based on student performance in first-year university Physics and Calculus courses. These university-based rankings differ significantly (essentially in reverse order) from the well-known Fraser Institute rankings based on measures internal to high schools.     

An analysis of efficiency in Senior Secondary Schools in the Gambia 2006 – 2008: Educational inputs and production of credits in English and Mathematics subjects

Abstract

This paper employs a stochastic production frontier model to assess the efficiency of the senior secondary schools in the Gambia. It examines their efficiency in using and mixing the educational inputs of average teacher salary, average teacher education, average teacher experience and students to teacher ratio in producing the number of students scoring credit and above in English and Mathematics. The schools are categorized into three types: the Government schools, the subsidized schools and the private schools. The paper finds no evidence that the private schools are different from the subsidized schools, but there is robust evidence that the private schools are significantly different from the Government schools. The average teacher salary is found to be irrelevant to the student performance, whereas high average teacher experience significantly improves student performance, and high student-to-teacher ratio significantly negates the student performance. Private schools appear to be the most efficient in 2006, but from 2007 to 2008, the performance of the schools in general is found to be highly volatile and unpredictable. Only one school emerges to consistently maintain a superior efficient performance throughout the three years studied.     

Schooling citizens: policy in practice in South Africa

The notion of ‘student citizen’ is implicit in a range of national and provincial policy documents in South Africa, with citizenship promoted as both an expected outcome of schooling and an encouraged practice within schools. This paper provides an account of how policy on student citizenship was translated differently into practice in four secondary schools in Cape Town, each with a different former racial categorisation under apartheid. It argues that student engagement with citizenship varied considerably between the schools and in many cases was significantly different from the policy framework. Influencing factors included staff–student relations, socio‐historical contexts and how diversity was played out in the schools.     

A Quantitative Procedure for the Identification of Effective Schools

This paper outlines a quantitative procedure for identifying effective schools. Effective schools are defined as those schools that produce student test performance that departs markedly, in an upward direction, from pre-established school and district trends. The methodology for this procedure is described, and correlations of procedure results with important student enrollment and attendance statistics, teacher background variables, and previous and concurrent absolute levels of student achievement are discussed. Finally, the use of this procedure for rewarding outstanding schools is described.     

职业学校学生干部队伍梯队建设探讨

职业学校在学生培养目标、学习环境、学习方式、学习内容以及在校学习年限等方面与普通中学、普通高校的差别,决定了学生思想政治工作也有所不同。就学校学生干部队伍的建设而言,要求其必须考虑学生的年龄、性别和经济状况,并在此基础上实行学生干部队伍梯队建设。本文对梯队建设的主要内容和方法进行了探讨。     

Perceived service quality-loyalty path: A PAKSERV based investigation of international students enrolled in business schools in Thailand

We aim to examine the international student perceived service quality of Business Schools located in Thailand to link it with their intentions to remain loyal. The survey based approach is adopted to collect data from 300 international students enrolled in various business schools in Thailand. All the dimensions of PAKSERV except Personalization are found to positively contribute to student satisfaction, which strongly leads to their loyalty to business schools. This is the first study which validates the PAKSERV scale in a business school context while collecting data from international students – investigating their perceptions of service quality to link it to their loyalty to business schools. The findings call for investment in faculty and process development to improve the international student perceptions of business schools located in Thailand. The findings will help Thai higher education policymakers specifically to improve student perceived service quality in order to attract and retain international students.     

Shifting selves: The emergence of new identities in South African schools

This is an exploratory study on the nature and extent of racial integration in South African schools in the post-apartheid period. While there is vigilant media attention to occasional, dramatic incidents of racial conflict in white schools, there is very little research on the ways in which student identities are framed, challenged, asserted and negotiated within the dominant institutional cultures of former white schools. The research findings suggest that student identities are shaped and framed within stable institutional cultures that remain impervious to change despite the changing demographics of the student body; but that even under these conditions student identities are constantly being questioned and recast as black and white students begin to engage each other in the daily routines of institutional life.     

The potential of teaching schools in enabling student teacher learning for the teaching profession

In 2011 the Integrated Strategic Planning Framework for Teacher Education and Development in South Africa was promulgated. This framework proposes the establishment of teaching schools to strengthen pre-service teacher education. This study arises from this initiative. A generic qualitative study was undertaken to explore the views of research participants from selected teacher education institutions and schools in South Africa on the potential of teaching schools to enable student teacher learning for the teaching profession. The key findings are that teaching schools can potentially make a distinctive contribution towards enabling student teacher learning for the teaching profession through student teachers experiencing good teaching in a model environment and through coordinating experiences in coursework and at the school. The discussion of the findings points to the distinctive potentialities of teaching schools for strengthening teacher education. The notion of hybridity and third space is invoked as a heuristic to shed light on the developing of a true collaborative relationship between the teacher education institution and the teaching school for enabling student teacher learning for the teaching profession.     

Religious schools in London: school admissions,religious composition and selectivity

While policy makers and school effectiveness researchers often insist that schools can make a substantial difference to student achievement, it is less clear whether school staff themselves really believe this. This paper draws on qualitative research in New Zealand schools where teachers, principals (heads) and trustees (governors) were asked how accountable they felt school staff could actually be for student outcomes. In contrast to official discourses about the responsibilities of teachers, the often complex responses of those interviewed illustrated relatively modest expectations of the ability of schools to affect student outcomes. The findings suggest that school staff have yet to take to heart the school effectiveness research catchcry that ‘schools can make a difference’ but that they also struggle to avoid a deficit approach without a stronger sociological understanding of the reasons for student failure.