Trust and schooling in the United States

I investigate the effects of trust on human capital measured as average years of schooling in U.S. states using data from the 1980s and the 1990s. I find robust evidence that an increase in trust increases schooling across U.S. states. According the results of the seemingly unrelated regression estimation, a 25 percentage point increase in Trust increases the average years of schooling by approximately 1.5 months. This is not insignificant since more than $5000 increase in per capita income (in 2000 prices) is needed to have the same effect on schooling.     

Does education foster trust? Evidence from compulsory schooling reform in the UK

Although many studies document that education and trust are positively correlated, few studies examine whether this correlation represents a causal effect. This paper fills in the gap with data from the British Social Attitudes Survey. Firstly, using the OLS method, this paper finds that education and the three measures of trust—trust in people, trust in politicians, and trust in government—are all positively and significantly correlated. Secondly, to examine whether this correlation represents a causal effect, this paper exploits exogenous variation in educational attainment induced by the compulsory schooling reform in 1972. The regression discontinuity estimates suggest that the effects of education on the three measures of trust are all small and statistically insignificant. The findings imply that the OLS estimates may suffer from omitted variable bias and the effects of education on trust may be small.     

安徽农村人力资本投资对农民收入影响的实证分析

人力资本投资决定人力资本积累,人力资本积累决定农民收入增长速度。文章采用安徽省1993—2009年时间序列数据,以农村劳动力教育年限、农民人均纯收入、农民人均家庭经营纯收入和农民工资性收入为变量进行实证分析。研究结果表明,农村劳动力教育年限对农民人均纯收入、农民人均家庭经营纯收入和农民工资性收入提高有显著正效应。文章提出提高提升安徽省农村人力资本水平的政策建议。     

Promoting Inclusion Via Cross‐Group Friendship: The Mediating Role of Change in Trust and Sympathy

To understand the conditions fostering positive outcomes of inclusive schooling, this two‐wave study examined the role of individual change in trust and sympathy for adolescents' cross‐group friendships and inclusive attitudes toward students with low academic achievement. Cross‐group friendships, intergroup trust, intergroup sympathy, and inclusive attitudes were obtained from surveys completed by 1,122 Swiss adolescents (M_{age T1} = 11.54 years, M_{age T2} = 12.58 years) from 61 school classes. Results from a parallel latent change score model revealed that the number of cross‐group friendships positively related to individual change in trust and sympathy; this growing trust and sympathy in turn predicted adolescents' inclusive attitudes. These findings are discussed regarding theories of intergroup contact and inclusive schooling.     

当前助学贷款工作主要障碍分析及对策措施

助学贷款是我国目前教育资助的主要方式之一,本文分析了当前助学贷款工作的主要障碍及原因,提出了要大力开展生源地助学贷款,规避制度性贷款风险;加大宣传教育力度,强化学生信用意识;建立完善大学生个人信用档案;增进银校之间的理解与信任,努力确保助学贷款工作良性循环。     

Measuring the effectiveness of schooling policies in developing countries: Revisiting issues of methodology

This paper revisits the following issues regarding measuring schooling cost-effectiveness: (1) difficulties in evaluating school effectiveness from behavioral data due to measurement problems, both unobserved determinants of outcomes and choices of those involved and imperfect measures of observed variables; (2) evidence on marginal values of schooling outputs and on schooling production relations and methodological issues in underlying studies and their carryover to cost-benefit estimates; and (3) reflections on methodological improvements in assessing the cost-effectiveness of schooling policies, inevitable limitations in such assessments given information problems, and on complementary and more general schooling policy changes to improve schooling in light of information problems.     

The role of teacher trust in segregated elementary schools: a multilevel repeated measures examination

This study aims to investigate how teachers’ trust in their students relates to reading comprehension achievement in socially and ethnically segregated elementary schools in Flanders (Belgium) by taking into account class composition characteristics. It is examined how student variables, ethnic diversity and the proportion of non-native students in the class, and teachers’ trust in their students relate to reading comprehension achievement and learning growth. A 3-level multivariate repeated measures analysis was conducted. At 2 measurement occasions, reading tests and questionnaires were administered to a sample (n = 417) of 7- and 8-year-old students in 32 classes. Teachers’ trust in their students was found to be a key factor relating to learning growth in reading comprehension, and mediated the relationship between the level of ethnic diversity in the class and learning growth. Teachers with a higher level of trust in their students seem to foster more learning growth in reading comprehension.     

The Relationship Between School Composition, School Process and Mathematics Achievement in Secondary Education in Argentina

Using data from the 1998 High School National Census from the Ministry of Education and Culture of Argentina, the present study examines relationships between school composition, some characteristics of schooling (such as institutional culture and climate), and students’ achievement in Mathematics in the last year of high school. The study applies multilevel linear modeling on the levels of student, school and state. It finds a close relationship between achievement in Mathematics and the variables of school composition and schooling processes. It shows that when both variables act together, the effect of all other variables significantly decreases. The variables of schooling processes, however, even when diminished in influence, nonetheless notably continue to affect students’ achievements. The study also identifes a reference model for future studies evaluating other institutional factors of learning.     

The Relationship Between School Composition,School Process and Mathematics Achievement in Secondary Education in Argentina

Using data from the 1998 High School National Census from the Ministry of Education and Culture of Argentina, the present study examines relationships between school composition, some characteristics of schooling (such as institutional culture and climate), and students’ achievement in Mathematics in the last year of high school. The study applies multilevel linear modeling on the levels of student, school and state. It finds a close relationship between achievement in Mathematics and the variables of school composition and schooling processes. It shows that when both variables act together, the effect of all other variables significantly decreases. The variables of schooling processes, however, even when diminished in influence, nonetheless notably continue to affect students’ achievements. The study also identifes a reference model for future studies evaluating other institutional factors of learning.     

Waging War on Children and Youth through Schooling Disruption

Education and its subsequent schooling component are among the most formative developments experienced by children and youth. It is an extremely important instrument for developing cognitive skills, for cultivating mechanisms of acceptable societal functioning and for ideological orientations. This factor is recognized by international treaties and conventions which guarantee that children and youth are entitled to a positive and safe schooling experience. However, the twentieth century began and ended with conflict. This societal propensity creates havoc on education systems in terms of two strategies: one, the total destruction of schooling or, two, schooling where an oppressor takes over governing and attempts re‐indoctrination. The question posed in this research paper is: How does schooling become disrupted due to political conflict situations? Historical antecedents indicate that a consistent evolution of the factors leading to repetitious schooling disruption emerges due to political conflict. This pattern is characterized by basic common macro factors but with some micro variables due to geographic locations. In this paper it will be argued that political conflict causes schooling disruption. The steps that unfold toward schooling disruption will be identified as a pattern that feeds the Richardson Schooling Disruption Model (RDSm).     

The quality vs. the quantity of schooling: What drives economic growth?

This paper challenges Hanushek and Woessmann's (2008) contention that the quality and not the quantity of schooling determines a nation's rate of economic growth. I first show that their statistical analysis is flawed. I then show that when a nation's average test scores and average schooling attainment are included in a national income model, both measures explain income differences, but schooling attainment has greater statistical significance. The high correlation between a nation's average schooling attainment, cumulative investment in schooling, and average tests scores indicates that average schooling attainment implicitly measures the quality as well as the quantity of schooling.     

A conceptual framework for trust in standardised assessments: Commercial,quasi-market and national systems

This article presents a conceptual framework for trust in standardised assessments. Standardised assessments play an important role in many education systems as they inform decisions about students' future schooling career or entry to the labour market. Also, standardised assessments are often used for teacher performance reviews and school accountability, or to monitor learning outcomes on the national level. Various stakeholders rely on the accuracy of assessment outcomes when making decisions about students' competences, or seek to improve the quality of education. Such reliance implies a need for trust in those who design and administer standardised assessments and make decisions on the basis of the outcomes. The framework presented in this article describes the type of relational and macro-level trust that is relevant for three types of assessment systems: national, quasi-market and commercial systems. Throughout the analysis presented, examples are provided to illustrate the ways in which relational and macro-level trust can vary by who is tested and by whom they are assessed; and how trust in evaluations varies by the purpose and consequences of testing, as well as the individual agency of students, their teachers and school leaders.     

教育场域中的信任及其教学实践意蕴

信任作为人的一种社会关系,存在于人类的一切交往活动之中。信任也是教育场域中最基本的关系,存在于一切教育互动中,从信任中显现出来的是以关系为本的教育世界。建构师生相互信任的教育场域,特别作为一种实践智慧在教育中的应用,它有着深刻的教学实践意义,主要体现在简化课堂教学复杂性、促进教学创新、完善教学秩序等方面。     

‘Becoming your best’: student perspectives on community in the pursuit of aspirations

Achieving equitable schooling outcomes for young people living in communities of low socio-economic status is a prominent issue that assumes focus in educational policy, theory and practice both in Australia and internationally. This paper draws upon the narratives of five secondary school students living in the northern urban fringe of Adelaide in South Australia, a region that is characterised by socio-economic challenge (Prosser et al. in Connecting lives and learning: Renewing pedagogy in the middle years, 2010). Specifically, the participants’ understandings and perspectives about community are used to examine their aspirations through the analysis of qualitative data obtained from a focus group, visual methods, a storying activity and semi-structured interviews. Discussion on students’ construction and pursuit of aspirations is framed by Appadurai’s (Culture and public action: 59–84, 2004, p. 67) conceptualisation of aspiration as a cultural capacity influenced by one’s social, cultural and economic contexts. This paper demonstrates that students from low socio-economic backgrounds have aspirations for their future which are influenced by their schooling experiences and the positive trust relationships they develop with teachers in community. As such, connections between place and learning are highlighted as critical factors in achieving more equitable schooling outcomes. The research identifies factors in ‘community’ that shape young people’s aspirations and ways in which young people can be supported in navigating toward their aspirations.     

人力资本、人力资本结构与区域协调发展——来自中国省级区域的证据

本文重点分析了1990-2004年我国各省、自治区和直辖市人力资本和人力资本结构的变化及其对地区经济增长的影响。首先,采用受教育年限法计算各省、自治区和直辖市的人力资本,然后运用基尼系数法测算各地区的人力资本结构系数;在此基础上,将1990-2004年各地区的有关数据组成面板数据模型,检验人力资本和人力资本结构对经济增长的影响。结果表明,我国绝大多数地区的经济增长还处于物质资本推动阶段,人力资本和人力资本结构的作用只在少数地区是显著的;在保持其他变量不变的条件下,人力资本每增加1%,地区生产总值将增加0.25%-0.52%,人力资本结构系数每减少1%,地区生产总值将增加0.18%-0.51%。     

Can education equality trickle-down to economic growth? The case of Korea

Education equality is generally neglected in the literature that investigates education’s contribution to economic growth. This paper examines the case of Korea where economic growth, education equality (as measured by years of schooling), and educational quality have all been on the rise for many decades. Using time series data on schooling for adults of 25–85 years, a measure of education equality is calculated. Education equality is shown to be increasing through the years. A Cobb-Douglas production function for the economy was estimated using both “years of schooling” and “education equality” measures. When both measures are included, education equality is a strong predictor of economic growth.     

我国学龄人口分龄平均受教育年数的计算及其应用研究

学龄人口年龄结构的变化对整个学龄人口的平均受教育年数会产生重要的影响.以与学制和年龄相对应的“标准(或适龄)受教育年数”为基本参数,以受教育程度构成的年龄变化为依据考虑学龄段内的错龄上学,对学龄人口的分龄及整体平均受教育年数的探索性研究结果显示,我国学龄人口的分龄及整体平均受教育年数普遍提高,总体受教育程度高移化趋势显...     

Effective investment in women's futures: Schooling with learning

Women's schooling has long been regarded as one of the best investments in development. Yet countries vary widely in the extent to which a year of schooling conveys useful skills and knowledge and hence schooling and education cannot be treated as synonyms. Using two different cross-nationally comparable data sets which contain measures of schooling, assessments of literacy, and life outcomes for more than 50 countries we show the association of women's education, defined as schooling and the acquisition of literacy, with four life outcomes (fertility, child mortality, empowerment, and financial practices) is much larger than the standard estimates of the gains from schooling alone. In our preferred instrumental variables (IV) estimates, that correct for the attenuation bias induced by measurement error, the gain from education is more than 3 times larger than the standard OLS estimates of gains from schooling alone. While our results are not causal estimates, if anything like our results are true in the causal pathways whereby schooling and learning lead to improvements in women's well-being this implies the estimates of the costs and benefits of expansions in grade attainment versus improving learning need to be adjusted accordingly.     

Education and Italian regional development

In this paper, we study the connection between growth and human capital in a convergence regression for the panel of Italian regions. We include measures of average primary, secondary and tertiary education. We find that increased education seems to contribute to growth only in the South. Decomposing total schooling into its three constituent parts, we find that only primary education in the South seems to be important, while tertiary education seems to have a negative impact on regional growth. Our main results are robust to the inclusion of additional variables in the regression analysis and the use of an IV estimator. Overall, this study suggests that Italian growth benefited from the elimination of illiteracy in the South, mainly in the 60s. It also suggests a possible relationship between the level of development of an economy and returns to different levels of education, with Italian regions still far from being able to capture the positive returns from higher levels of education.     

Where Money Mattered: Organizational and Economic Consequences of State Public School Expenditures in the United States: 1880-1940

This study uses historical state-level schooling data, a direct measure of manufacturing productivity, and quantitative methods to examine the relationship between changes in the rate and distribution of public school expenditures, the organization of public schooling, and economic growth at state-level in the United States from 1880 to 1940. The determinants of public school expenditures at the state-level are examined and interstate differences in the growth and distribution of public school funds are detailed. The paper then explores if state differences in the growth of per student expenditures on teachers salaries and school infrastructure were related to later changes in manufacturing productivity. Significant and substantial effects for per student spending on school infrastructure are found.