Age is more than just a number! The role of age and maturity in the processes leading to early school leaving in Flanders (Belgium)

In many educational systems, age is used as a criterion to organise education. Children's age is used to group students together and indicate entry into particular programmes. The use of age for organisational purposes in education stems from the idea that age provides an indication of the development of children, which is associated with teaching and learning. However, more far‐reaching consequences of age‐related educational practices are insufficiently recognised in policy and academic research. Qualitative methods are used to study students and school personnel in diverse types of educational institutions in Flanders (Belgium) to assess how age and age‐related issues matter for the students’ educational trajectories and educational decision‐making processes leading to early school leaving. Data analyses reveal that school staff members consider age and perceived maturity during evaluation procedures. Students also consider age during educational decision‐making processes: when getting older or being too old for the grade, students increasingly weigh the costs and benefits associated with getting an educational qualification and being enrolled in school and alternative opportunities. Students’ expectations related to age shape their school experiences and feelings of belonging. The findings of this study demonstrate how these educational practices add to the reproduction of inequalities through education. These results could inform debates concerning the evaluation procedures in secondary education, compulsory education and the reduction of early school leaving in Europe.     

从学生资助政策看我国高等教育公平

随着中国高等教育规模扩张,以及高等教育入学收费制度的实施,越来越多的学生因经济拮据而失去入学机会或难以继续学业,有失教育公平。学生资助政策的实施,一方面有效缓解了这一矛盾,在很大程度上实现了人们对教育公平的追求;另一方面,由于资助政策本身和实施过程中存在着诸多问题,又在一定程度上加剧了这种不公平的现状。完善和落实学生资助政策、多渠道筹措资助资金并扩大资助范围、加强学生资助的管理和监督,是完善资助政策的应有举措,是促进我国高等教育公平的关键所在。     

中国区域教育公平问题研究

教育不公是最大的不公,本文列举了一些教育不公的现象:高考录取的地区差异,城乡教育资源分配不均、"重点学校"制度、农民工子女教育边缘化等等。要实现教育公平,就必须加大对教育特别是农村教育的投入,从政策和制度上确保弱势群体子女的受教育权利,改革高考招生制度和重点中学制度,真正落实国家颁布的《义务教育法》。     

The effect of the integration of students with special educational needs: Evidence from Chile

This paper studies the effect of the integration of students with Special Educational Needs (SEN) on the academic achievement of their peers without SEN. This achievement is measured using performance in standardized reading and mathematics tests. The study also evaluates the effect of a policy that recognizes and increases resources for special educational needs that had not yet been considered and improves education provision protocols for students with SEN. Using administrative data and standardized test scores, we constructed a panel that follows a cohort of students before and after the reform, determining for each individual and year whether the class to which he/she belongs has any students with SEN. Our identification strategy employs panel data with fixed effects at the school, individual, and time levels. Estimates show that, on average, having a peer with SEN in the classroom has a negative effect on the academic performance of students without SEN. However, these effects are small and decrease, or even vanish, once better inclusion policies are in place. These results suggest that the effect on peers is almost totally canceled when more resources are provided and when adequate treatment and support protocols are implemented.     

An Explanation for School Failure: Moving Beyond Black Inferiority and Alienation as a Policy-Making Agenda

Numerous authors identify a white supremacist ideology that shapes the educational opportunities for racially diverse students. We contend that this ideology informs educational policy and hampers the likelihood that racially diverse populations can achieve success at levels similar to students of European descent. In this paper we define the white supremacist ideology as it informs education policy and practices. Three examples from the United States are then used to illustrate the influence of such an ideology. These examples include the creation and protection of racially segregated schooling; desegregation policies; and the current uses of school report cards. We conclude with the relevance of this discussion to educational debates in Great Britain and South Africa, and recommendations to minimise the influence of this ideology on education policy and school reform efforts.     

On the testing of standards and standardized achievement testing: Panacea,placebo, or pandora's box?

Parents and educators concerned with the quality of education in Canadian schools have been subjected to a concerted campaign (through editorials, columns, and letters to the editor in major dailies and magazines, as well as a spate of books with alarmist titles) aimed at convincing them that the lack of adequate testing represents a major shortcoming and a stumbling block to educational reform. Provincewide and nationwide standardized achievement tests are offered as an indispensable tool to understand what works and what does not, to let parents know how schools are doing and how well their children are performing, and to make teachers and school boards accountable. Provincial education authorities are finding it increasingly difficult to resist the pressure, with Ontario the latest to jump on the testing bandwagon. However, although concerns about school curricula and about the best methods for testing student learning and performance are legitimate, the belief that standardized achievement tests are part of the solution to many ills allegedly afflicting our educational system does not stand up to the increasingly clear evidence of the many problems associated with the construction and administration of these tests, as well as the misuse and abuse of test scores. Far from being a panacea, this approach has proved to be fraught with dangers and adverse effects, from a narrowing of the curriculum to overemphasis of routine processes at the expense of higher learning skills, with virtually no empirical support for the purported benefits. With Canadian students facing the risk of being subjected to the same abuses as their U.S. counterparts, this paper reviews recent contributions and attempts to alert educators and policymakers to the serious deficiencies of this type of testing.     

基础教育“重点校”政策分析

我国基础教育"重点校"政策是社会经济非均衡发展战略在教育中的体现。"重点校"政策在推动部分学校教育质量提高的同时,也扩大了城乡间、学校间在资源配置和教育质量上的差距,导致了教育公平的缺失,使得基础教育群体间入学机会不公平,尤其接受优质教育不公平。应从制度入手,推进教育管理制度、教育人事制度、教育财政制度的改革,缩小基础教育校际差别,逐步取消"重点校"政策,使公众享受到较为公平的教育。     

Does socioeconomic sorting of teacher qualifications exacerbate mathematics achievement inequity? Panel data estimates from 20 years of TIMSS

Recent and older studies have reported either a persistence or a widening of the socioeconomic achievement gap—the difference in performance between students in top and bottom socioeconomic groups. Using a panel data technique with country fixed effects for 32 education systems and six waves of data from the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study, we examine whether the sorting of teachers by specialization level in mathematics education and novice status across students of different socioeconomic backgrounds exacerbates mathematics achievement inequity despite the presence of a time-varying control for socioeconomic school segregation. We find modest evidence that sorting by mathematics education is associated with achievement inequity, but no evidence supporting the importance of sorting based on teacher experience. Socioeconomic school segregation, on the other hand, clearly and persistently exacerbates achievement inequity. The results have policy implications regarding the effective distribution of educational resources.Availability of data and materialsThe data are freely available via the TIMSS data repository.     

The influence of closing poor performing primary schools on the educational attainment of students

This paper examines whether the closure of poor performing primary schools improved students' educational attainment. It is believed that school closure affects children's educational outcomes positively because children switch to better primary schools. At the same time, school closure creates a social disturbance such that educational outcomes may be affected negatively. There is no previous literature on the effect of this type of school closure on student performance. The empirical results indicate that student test scores are not affected by the school closure. Children are, however, tracked into higher secondary education levels after the school closure if they received more education years at the new primary school. This effect fades out and eventually becomes negative for children who received more than one education year at the new primary school. The results further suggest that there are no detrimental effects of a school closure in terms of educational performance.     

标准化测试在学校问责制中的角色——美国加州的经验教训

以一年或者更短的间隔为期,通过对学生进行标准化测试的方法,收集反映学生学习程度以及学校、教师教学能力的相关数据,是当前美国学校教育改革中的一个重要内容。文章以美国加利福尼亚州为例,考察了上述改革的实施情况,认为在《不让一个孩子掉队》（NCLB）法案推动下,相应的“学校文化”正在逐渐形成,即教师、学生和家长都开始认识到标准化测试在学生学业进步中的重要作用,成绩不好的学生也可以从中得到他们需要的帮助。在此过程中,一些在测试中成绩不佳的学校,可以以标准化测验的成绩为依据,转而雇佣职业素质更佳的校长与教师。然而,学校问责制对标准化测试的过分依赖也产生了一系列问题,如学校在有限的学科里减少与测试无关的课程安排,或者由于测试成绩不佳而惩罚一些在提高学生成绩方面能力有限的学校,包括那些学生大多是穷孩子或者移民后裔的学校。     

For-profit post-secondary education and civic engagement

Theorists such as Gumport (2000) suggest thatdifferent conceptions of higher education mayhave important consequences for students andsociety. We explore this possibility byconsidering a specific research question: Dostudents who attend for-profit post-secondaryschools show lower levels of civic engagementthan students who attend non-profit communitycolleges, either at the beginning of theirstudy or two years later? Using longitudinal data from the U.S. NationalCenter for Education Statistics (NCES)National Post-secondary Student Aid Survey(NPSAS90) and Beginning Post-secondary Survey(BPS), we test the hypothesis that students whoattend for-profit, post-secondary vocationalschools will show lower levels of civicengagement on several measures than similarstudents in community colleges. Studentsattending the two types of schools are alike intheir levels of civic engagement at thebeginning of their post-secondary education,but different four years later. We considerwhether observed differences in civic behaviorare due to variations in who attends thedifferent types of schools or to identifiableexperiences students may have in theirprograms, such as interactions with faculty orother students. The effect of proprietary school attendance onseven out of the ten different types of civicengagement measured here appears to be direct,rather than being mediated by measurableeducational experiences. We reflect further onprocesses that might explain the differencesand consider the policy implications of thesefindings for educational decision-makers.     

智利教育券政策述评

1980年,智利开始实施由公共经费资助的政府教育券政策.该政策以弗里德曼的自由市场教育券模式为理论基础,覆盖全国所有的公立和部分私立中小学.教育券政策的实施尽管扩大了学生及其家长选择学校的机会,但研究表明社会经济背景较好的学生才是该政策的更大受益者.此外,在改进学校效益、提高教育质量、促进教育公平等方面,智利的教育券政策也并没有取得预期的效应.因此,有必要重新认识教育券政策的目的与功能,以寻求新的突破.     

中国高等教育的成本分担与机会均等

对于中国这样的发展中国家而言,实行收费上大学、高等教育成本由各方收益人共同分担,是推动教育体制改革、促进高等教育健康发展的必然选择。但是,当前的高等教育私人成本水平,对于低收入家庭来说,已经成为一个相当重的负担,在相应的配套措施不完善的情况下,高额的学费很可能成为不少家庭接受高等教育的障碍,造成高等教育机会的不平等和教育结果的不平等。针对高等教育入学机会均等问题,总的来说,应该在教育成本合理负担的基础上,通过制度创新,采取“三管齐下”的综合治理对策,即政府主导资助,积极培育公民社会和民间组织,加强大学生人生观、价值观教育和职业生涯规划管理。     

Whose children gain from starting school later? – evidence from Hungary

We look at the effect of school starting age on standardized test scores using data covering all Grade 4 and Grade 8 students in Hungary. Instrumental variables estimates of the local average treatment effect suggest that children generally gain from starting school 1 year later, and the effects are much stronger in the case of students coming from low-educated families. We test the robustness of the results by allowing for heterogeneity in the age effect, distinguishing between fields of testing, using discontinuity samples and relying on alternative data. The hypothesis that delayed entry has a stronger impact on low-status children is supported by the robustness checks. The observed patterns are most probably explained by the better performance of kindergartens, as opposed to schools, in developing the skills of low-status children.     

从选拔性教育到选择性教育:英国基础教育的价值取向

20世纪80年代末,英国开始在基础教育阶段实行择校政策,试图在保证教育公平的原则下促进教育的多样化,主张"有差异的平等",承认所有学生具有不同的天赋并且使每个人达到优秀和成功,在提出多样性学校选择范围的同时,提出所有学校取得成功的政策目标,强调好学校必须发挥示范和带动作用,与本地区其他学校、地方教育管理部门和企业界合作,改造薄弱学校,推动整体教育水平的提高,达到均衡发展的目标。这一政策在取得效率与公平方面迈出了一步。     

免费师范生的合同研究

免费师范生政策,可以帮助没有足够的资金接受高等教育的学生完成学业,但由于就业政策的约束,使免费师范生丧失完全自主择业和未来若干发展机会的权利。在该政策的引导下,学生与学校和教育行政部门签订了三方合同,但该合同究竟是行政合同还是民事合同,抑或是公法私法化的行政合同,还是私法公法化的特殊民事合同,都有待进一步争论,但无疑,无论何种性质的合同,对免费师范生的教育权利的保障并不十分充分,因为,在合同的背后,折射出教育不公平的精神内涵。     

家长教育政策了解度与子女教育获得——基于课外补习的中介效应分析

家长教育政策了解度作为一项重要的教育素养,对完善家庭教育体系有着重要的意义。文章运用描述统计和结构方程的方法得出,目前家长教育政策了解度处在较低水平;家长教育政策了解度与子女教育获得呈显著正相关;课外补习在家长教育政策了解度与学生成绩间起中介作用;课外补习在中考政策了解度的中介效应高于高考政策和“双一流”政策。政府应从完善教育政策宣传路径,提升家长教育政策了解度;引导家长合理参与补习教育,制定低产阶层参与补习的帮扶机制;优化义务教育阶段资源配置,加快推动考试改革等方面提升家长教育政策认知度及教育获得感。     

Evidence-based decision making or a tunnel vision effect? TIMSS,problem definition and policy change in Israeli mathematics education

ABSTRACT

This study examines the influence of the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) 1999 results on mathematics education policy in Israel. Analyzing various documents, the study shows how these results transformed policymakers’ discourse regarding mathematics education. In order to achieve improvement in Israel’s ranking, the middle school mathematics curriculum was aligned with the TIMSS test. Following this change, the scores of Israeli students rose considerably in TIMSS 2011. Parallel results from Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) and Israeli internal standardized tests, however, do not show comparable improvement in mathematics achievement. High school matriculation data for the same period of time show a decline in the percentage of students who took the most advanced mathematics courses. Furthermore, none of these data sources show any noticeable reduction in social inequality in mathematics achievement. On the basis of theoretical insights from political science, it is argued that international tests influence the way educational problems are framed and defined. Thus, instead of enriching educational decision-making processes, these tests can create a tunnel vision effect that restricts policymakers’ attention to ‘problems’ and ‘solutions’ defined by the tests themselves.     

Restructuring Educational Leadership in Changing Contexts: A Local/Global Account of Restructuring in Australia

The 1990s saw considerable structural reform in school education in many Anglophone nation states, marked by trends towards school-based, site-based, self-managing and self-governing schools. This article illustrates through a case study of educational restructuring in Victoria, Australia, how leadership, as a discursive practice, is redefined in the context of spatial and cultural restructuring. Restructuring produced a spatial redistribution of educational provision and individual opportunities as a result of structural adjustment reforms. These same policy moves towards post-welfarism also produced cultural shifts in attitudes to education with the rise of the new instrumentalism and entrepeneurialism. For school principals at the forefront of self managing schools, this meant shifts in resource distribution through new policy mechanisms of managerial and market accountability, and also new priorities impacting on leadership practices with a move from dialogic to decisional modes of management. The question is how recent policy moves towards learning networks and reinventing systematic support with a focus on locational disadvantage are addressing what were increased educational disparities between schools and students. Does this provide scope for more equity-driven leadership practices?     

我国义务教育后分流政策分析

从政策分析的角度出发,通过对有关我国义务教育后分流政策文本及相关评论的回顾,对我国义务教育后分流政策的成效及副作用进行分析,并提出做好义务教育普及、变强制系统为自主分流、加强普职教育沟通、拓宽中职生接受高等教育途径,是顺利进行义务教育后分流的必要前提.