Rates of Self-reported Delinquency among Western Australian Male and Female High School Students: The male–female gender gap

The Adapted Self-Report Delinquency Scale (ASDS) was administered to 328 adolescents (174 males and 154 females) from eight high schools in Perth, Western Australia. The ages of the sample ranged from 13 to 17 years. Males reported a greater percentage level of involvement than females in 36 of 40 individual delinquent behaviours comprising the ASDS. A between-subjects multivariate analysis of variance using a Bonferroni adjusted alpha revealed a significant multivariate main effect of gender, F(6, 318) = 3.98, p?η ²?=?0.08. No significant main effect of age was evident. Univariate F-tests revealed that males scored significantly higher than females on only one of seven delinquent factors (physical aggression). These data are discussed in light of established evidence showing male predominance in delinquency, recent reports suggesting a male–female gender gap, and theories that have attempted to explain this disparity in offending among males and females.     

The public–private test score gap in Brazil

This paper presents a counterfactual decomposition of the public–private gap on test scores obtained by 8th graders in Brazil. Quantile regression methods are used to obtain a characterization of the conditional distribution of scores, which is then used to build counterfactuals. The results obtained suggest that low performance students attending public schools would perform even worse with the returns to characteristics from private schools’ students. Further analysis brings the importance of the family background to children's scholar achievement.     

The relationship between classroom quality and students’ engagement in secondary school

Student engagement has been identified as an influential mediator between classroom interactional quality and adolescent learning outcomes. This study examined the relationship between classroom quality and student behavioural engagement in secondary school classrooms. Three dimensions of classroom quality (emotional, organisational and instructional support) and the dimension of student engagement were observed in nine classrooms using the Classroom Assessment Scoring System. Self-ratings of behavioural engagement were provided by 181 Finnish secondary school students along with their teachers’ ratings of classroom-level student engagement. The results showed, first, that there was variation in both classroom quality and student behavioural engagement between the classrooms. Second, classroom organisational support was associated with observed and with teacher- and student-rated engagement, and instructional support was associated with student-rated and observed engagement. Third, emotional support did not have a direct effect on student engagement but contributed to student engagement indirectly via organisational and instructional support. There were no gender differences with respect to self-reported engagement. Class size had a positive effect on teacher-rated engagement. The results demonstrated specific associations between the domains of classroom quality and student behavioural engagement in secondary school classrooms.     

The role of socioeconomic status and school quality in the Philippines: Revisiting the Heyneman–Loxley effect

In 1983, Heyneman and Loxley stated that in low income countries, school-level factors could account for a greater proportion of variance in student achievement as compared to student-level characteristics. The phenomenon has come to be known as the “HL effect” and signaled the important role of schools in developing countries. This study investigated the presence of the HL effect using a longitudinal sample of 1790 11.5-year-old students from 60 schools in a developing country, the Philippines. The main variables of interest were related to socioeconomic status and proxy measures of school quality. The correlates of achievement were explored using two-level multilevel modeling, while controlling for students’ prior ability. While findings did not support the presence of the HL effect in the sample, with schools accounting for only 3–5% of overall conditional variance, schools were found to be important in the production of higher achievement scores.     

The multilayered character of newcomers’ academic identities: Somali female high‐school students in a US school

Drawing from the findings of a qualitative study with female refugee high school students from Somalia in the US, this paper attempts to provide a window to understanding the multilayered character of newcomer students’ academic identity construction. The students’ micro‐level processes of creating spaces for belonging at school are linked to their macro‐level extra‐educational connections at the societal and global levels. The framework presented attempts to sensitise educators to increase their attention to the global‐socio‐cultural contexts of education and strive to create spaces within schools for the recognition and facilitation of students’ complex identities.     

The Way Men Act: dominant and subordinate male cultures in an inner‐city school

Focusing on sex/gender relations in an inner‐urban single‐sex school, the paper examines the cultural position and development of ‘the three friends’, a group stigmatised as ‘poofs’ and subordinated within a youth cultural hierarchy dominated by the school's sporting heroes, especially ‘the footballers’.

Power relations within the hierarchy are analysed as effects of intercultural articulations between boys’ friendship and ethnic groups and the institutional power of the school mediated through the cultures of teachers and other staff. Dominant views of appropriate male behaviour trade on essentialist, sexualising interpretations of unorthodox male practices, attributing them to homosexuality. More moderate views, represented by ‘the handballers’, offer family misfortunes as explanations for the ‘problems’ of the three. Teachers’ responses vary from support for the dominant view, through sponsorship of psychological therapy to positive intervention on behalf of the three.

The development of a positive and relatively autonomous culture, based on theatrical prowess, illustrates the politics of cultural struggle and suggests strategies for educational intervention in the processes of youth intercultural articulation.     

Primary school size and learning achievement in Senegal: Testing the quantity–quality trade-off

The literature on the effects of primary school size on learning achievement in sub-Saharan Africa is rather limited. To address this gap, we examine the causal relationship between primary school size and learning achievement of two cohorts of students, followed with collection of three rounds of data in Senegal. These two cohorts attended grades 2 and 4 at the beginning of the 2009–2010 school year. We implement an empirical strategy that hinges on value-added models estimated with a doubly robust approach; we find that fourth/fifth graders (and not second/third graders) attending mid-sized schools perform significantly better than their counterparts attending smaller or larger schools. These results are robust to a number of sensitivity analyses. The potential mechanisms through which school size operates include student’s gender, family socioeconomic status, class size and the urban/rural location of the schools. Importantly, we suggest optimal sizes of primary schools for both policymakers and parents. These optimal sizes are contingent upon schools’ urban or rural location.     

The role of school-based research champions in a school–university partnership

The value of teachers’ engagement in and with research is long recognised and it is acknowledged that school–university research partnerships are one way of enabling such engagement. But we know little about how research-based knowledge is negotiated into school practices. Here we draw on data from nine ‘research champions’, who are teachers in schools which are part of the Oxford Education Deanery, a research partnership with a university department. Taking a cultural/historical approach, the study examined the strategic intentions and actions in the activities of the champions as they negotiated research-based knowledge into their schools. Data comprised 59 completed templates that described what they did and why. Findings revealed differences between those with close links with senior leaders—who could take a whole-school approach—and those whose reach was restricted by their position in school practices. Nonetheless, all the champions carefully selected and targeted research in ways that reflected their knowledge of local contexts. The findings point to the need to incorporate the champion role into school systems and for universities to value the role as they develop their own research agenda.     

The quality of writing 7–13

This article examines the implications of the Primary Strategy for primary school teachers. It focuses on the framework for learning and teaching across the curriculum (DfES, 2003, Chapter 3 ‘Excellent primary teaching’) and questions whether the new framework is in fact a return to a ‘whole’ curriculum approach. The key issues explored are: curriculum and assessment; and sharing practice; all of which present challenges for primary teachers. The downward impact of curriculum and assessment issues on the early years is considered.     

The role of family literacy classes in demystifying school literacies and developing closer parent–school relations

This paper is based on a large study of family literacy provision in England, which was carried out between July 2013 and May 2015. It explored the impact of classes on parents’ relations with the school and their children, and their ability to support their children’s literacy development. The study involved 27 school-based programmes for pupils aged between five and seven, and their parents. It used mixed methods, which involved surveys of 118 parents and 20 family literacy tutors, telephone interviews with a sub-sample of 28 parents, analysis of teaching plans and observations of classes. Findings showed that parents wanted to learn the ways the school was teaching their child to read and write, and by demystifying school literacy pedagogies and processes the programmes developed greater connectivity between home and the school, and parents felt more able to support their children’s literacy development at home.     

Is there a gendered agenda in academia? The research experience of female and male PhD graduates in Australian universities

Women in higher education appear to lag behind their male colleagues in many respects. Research has shown that women are less likely than men to have full-time positions, tenure, or senior status. In research -- crucial to an academic career -- they tend neither to lead research teams, nor to apply for, nor to hold large research grants. Female academics are often seen as less productive, especially when it comes to publication rates. Women just beginning or resuming their careers appear particularly vulnerable. This paper draws on data from a study of PhD graduates in Australian universities in order to investigate the research experiences of women and men at an early stage of their careers. The findings presented in the paper suggest that some of the traditional disadvantages seen as affecting university women are now diminishing. The paper goes on to argue, on the basis of the data, that some documented phenomena such as women's lower publication output and their non-participation in collaborative networks are due to factors not always highlighted in the literature -- factors, for example, such as women's choice of discipline area. While the paper rejects the proposition that an explicitly 'gendered agenda' exists in academia, it notes that newly-graduated female PhDs in Australia are still more likely than their male colleagues to report dissatisfaction on a number of levels. The paper concludes with a call for further research on the more affective aspects of academic women's research experiences.     

The space between: building liberatory capital in a school–community partnership

Even before withstanding one of the most devastating economic crises in American history, families living in poverty have battled a dominant discourse that labels them as lacking personal responsibility, initiative, and the ability to make “good” choices. This discourse is reflected in the parent-involvement mandates of the No Child Left Behind Act, where parents living in poverty are expected to sign contracts promising to take a more active role in the education of their children. This study describes what it looked like when a grassroots, Community Based Organization (CBO) dedicated to speaking back to this dominant discourse partnered with an urban public school system to simultaneously help families leave poverty and improve the academic success of their children. This paper illustrates what it looks like when families living in poverty speak back to the dominant discourse, seek validation for their non-dominant discourses, and enter a potentially liberating Third Space between.     

The high school science library for 1933–34

The No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) is, quite possibly, the most comprehensive and systemic education reform act passed by Congress in the last 40 years. Given only 17 states ever fully complied with NCLB's predecessor, the 1994 Elementary and Secondary Education Act, it is only proper that legislators, policymakers, and researchers are now asking how we, as a nation, are doing implementing the law this time around? The Education Commission of the States (ECS) attempts, in the following article, to answer the question. The article covers information ECS has harvested and some of the insights ECS has gained since first examining state policy enactments related to NCLB. It provides information on the structure of the database, the methodology used to gather and verify the information, major findings of the tracking and reporting activity, specific gains made by category, key issues that merit immediate attention, and finally specific actions for consideration should federal officials and state policymakers be inclined to make changes to the law.     

The “mission” of nuns in female education in Ireland,c.1850–1950

This article provides a review and critique of scholarship on female education in Ireland, arguing that researchers have provided a consensual narrative in which women religious (nuns) played a central role in providing academic education to girls and higher education to women. The tendency has been to claim the activities of women religious as part of the impetus that drove the organised women’s movement in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries and that brought about a “revolution” in female education. But there remains a need to stand back from this decidedly secular “cause and effect” narrative, and turn a critical eye on the urge which congregations themselves identified as central to their mission in education. This is a revisionist perspective, qualifying and modifying claims made elsewhere by this author, and challenging the way in which the work of nuns in education has been interpreted as a part of the female education “revolution”. Recognising the spiritual impulse within religious orders that found expression in acts of duty, vocation and mission, the article concludes that convent education had purposes that were quite distinct from those prescribed by official “state” education programmes and examination systems, and that these purposes demand greater scrutiny in order to provide a more balanced understanding of female education in Ireland.     

The home–school interface in religious and moral formation: the Irish case

With the student body across Europe becoming more diverse, the issue of religious education in schools has come to receive greater attention. In the context of the specific historical and institutional context of the Irish primary educational system, this paper addresses aspects of the religious and moral formation of primary school children. The methodology employed in this study is qualitative: it is based on in-depth interviews with school principals, teachers and parents, and focus groups with students in five case-study schools. The paper examines the role of both home and school in the development of religious and secular beliefs. It also examines the way children are active agents in their own moral development, specifically how they mediate and interpret three sets of influences, namely formal school-based religious instruction, the broader school climate, and the implicit values and beliefs communicated by school, parents and the wider family.     

Exploring the educational aspirations–expectations gap in eighth grade students: implications for educational interventions and school reform

Over the past three decades, more and more students are expressing a desire to attend college, yet for many members of disenfranchised groups, this goal is often not attained. While many factors contribute to these disparities, research has shown that students begin adjusting their expectations (what they think they can achieve) for the future in relation to their idealised aspirations (what they would like to achieve). The current study explores this gap among 207 eighth grade students from two urban middle schools. Using the School Attitude Assessment Survey-Revised, three factors were found to predict expectations which matched student aspirations. These factors were academic motivation and self-regulating behaviours, academic self-perception and attitudes towards teachers. Implications for educational interventions and school reform are discussed.     

The influence of a game-making project on male and female learners’ attitudes to computing

There is a pressing need for gender inclusive approaches to engage young people in computer science. A recent popular approach has been to harness learners’ enthusiasm for computer games to motivate them to learn computer science concepts through game authoring. This article describes a study in which 992 learners across 13 schools took part in a game-making project. It provides evidence from 225 pre-test and post-test questionnaires on how learners’ attitudes to computing changed during the project, as well as qualitative reflections from the class teachers on how the project affected their learners. Results indicate that girls did not enjoy the experience as much as boys, and that in fact, the project may make pupils less inclined to study computing in the future. This has important implications for future efforts to engage young people in computing.     

Do we need more male primary teachers? Tensions and contradictions in the perspectives of male and female trainees

Primary teaching Initial Teacher Training courses across the UK have been under pressure from central government, Ofsted and the media to recruit more male students to their courses with the aim of increasing the proportion of males in the primary teaching workforce. This is because increasing the number of male role models in primary schools has been mooted as the solution to boys’ underachievement, especially in reading and writing. There is, however, little evidence showing any correlation between boys’ educational outcomes and the number of male primary teachers in schools. The purpose of the project reported in this paper was to ascertain the beliefs of the future primary school workforce about this focus on the need for male role models in schools. A mixed-methods approach was employed: 120 male and female primary trainees were surveyed and a further 48 took part in group interviews, all of whom were based in an Initial Teacher Training department in a university in North West England. Results indicated that although aspiring teachers felt that males and females could make equally good role models for children their personal value systems perpetuated the myth that boys need male role models to achieve better educational outcomes.