Perceived rates of return to higher education in Cyprus

The paper estimates perceived rates of return to higher education in Cyprus and uses them in logistic regression analysis in order to study the effect of economic considerations on the decision of secondary school pupils to pursue higher education. Unlike earlier studies, the data used in the computation of these rates are based wholly on the pupils' subjective estimates. The results are supportive of human capital theory: The mean rate of return to higher education estimated by higher education candidates is considerably higher than that perceived by labour market entrants. Logistic regression analysis shows the percieved rate of return to higher education, as estimated by both the elaborate and the short-cut methods, to have a significant effect on the pupils' educational intentions.     

From reproduction to learning cultures: post‐compulsory education in England

This paper examines recent empirical work on the lived experience of learners in post‐compulsory education. The starting point is a brief examination of the socio‐economic context of the sector. Despite the sophistication of analyses of learning cultures, a more radical approach is needed. Failure to do so renders these analyses amenable to appropriation by ‘new labour’ modernisers.     

Earnings, rates of return to education and the earnings distribution in Pakistan

Utilizing data from a survey of 1000 households in Rawalpindi, this study presents estimates of the rate of return to schooling and differences in these rates of return by schooling level and sector of employment. The major finding reported is that the rate of return to schooling in one of Pakistan's major urban areas is low, both in relation to the rate of return on physical capital and in relation to the rates of return to schooling in other developing countries. These low rates of return appear to be a result of a conscious government policy which drastically compressed the skill-wage structure.     

Perceived rates of return to higher education: Further evidence from Cyprus

The paper provides new estimates of the perceived rates of return to higher education in Cyprus and compares them to previous estimates for the year 1994 in the same country. Both the elaborate and the short-cut methods are used in the estimation of rates of return. The estimated rates are entered as independent variables in logistic regression analysis in order to study the effect of economic considerations on the decision of secondary school students to pursue higher education. The findings show an increase in the perceived rate of return for both higher education and labour market entrants. In agreement with human capital theory, the mean rate of return to higher education expected by higher education candidates is considerably higher than that expected by labour market entrants. In two logistic regression models, the perceived rate of return to higher education, as estimated by both the elaborate and the short-cut methods, has a significant effect on the students’ intention to pursue higher studies.     

义务教育免费之后的考验：实践难题与现实出路

全面实施城乡免费义务教育,是完善我国义务教育体制,促进义务教育均衡发展,推进教育公平的童大决策.在回顾中国义务教育百年梦想,实现城乡义务教育全面免费目标的同时,剖析义务教育免费之后的三大实践难题一农民工子弟入学、城乡教育资源占有不均及学生择校三大问题,并通过"提供经费保障.消除入学心理门槛"、"缩小城乡差距,实现教育均衡发展"、"强化政府责任,限期治理‘择校热'"提出解决问题的对策,以促进免费后义务教育的均衡发展.     

Perceived quality and citation rates of education journals

Citation rates have been shown to be positively related to the scholarly stature of individuals, academic departments, and scientific journals in a number of academic disciplines. The results of this study show a much weaker relationship between the citation rates and perceived quality of education journals than reported in studies of other disciplines. However, this overall finding masks wide variation in the relationship for specific education specialty areas and between core and allied education journals. The implications of these findings for subsequent research on the complex process of knowledge diffusion and utilization are discussed.     

Predicting teacher retention behavior: Ex ante prediction and ex post realization of a voluntary retirement incentive offer

Teacher retention and retirement decisions are increasingly affected by retirement benefits as the date of retirement eligibility approaches. As part of an effort to rein in operating costs, Chicago Public Schools sought to induce earlier retirement of senior, hence costlier, teachers by offering a voluntary retirement incentive that would be implemented only if enough teachers indicated their willingness to accept it. We used a structural model to predict teacher willingness to take the incentive, and later, when the number of teachers signing up was realized, we compared predictions to the outcomes. We found that the predicted number of willing takers would be less than required to implement the incentive, and this proved true. Further, the predictions were similar to the patterns of takers by age and year of service, though some differences were apparent. We discuss implications for using structural modeling to inform policy design.     

Access to post‐compulsory education and training: economic,sociological and political determinants and remaining research gaps

This paper presents a review and assessment of existing theoretical accounts to explain differentials in access to education and training in advanced economies. These theories tend to focus on the analysis of the influence of a set of economic, sociological and political variables on access to education. Existing theories are criticized on two grounds. Firstly, they seldom take into consideration the crucial role of political‐institutional factors, and in particular, welfare states’ actions through direct investment and regulation in shaping access levels. Secondly, they focus narrowly on the analysis of different stages of education and training, and this does not reflect the current policy emphasis on lifelong learning. The paper concludes with an outline of a future research agenda to address these gaps, and also calls for a more rigorous analysis of the weight of the different factors affecting access.     

Differences by degree: Evidence of the net financial rates of return to undergraduate study for England and Wales

This paper provides estimates of the impact of higher education qualifications on the earnings of graduates in the U.K. by subject studied. We use data from the recent U.K. Labour Force Surveys which provide a sufficiently large sample to consider the effects of the subject studied, class of first degree, and postgraduate qualifications. Ordinary Least Squares estimates show high average returns for women that does not differ by subject. For men, we find very large returns for Law, Economics and Management but not for other subjects. Degree class has large effects in all subjects suggesting the possibility of large returns to effort. Postgraduate study has large effects, independently of first degree class.A large rise in tuition fees across all subjects has only a modest impact on relative rates of return suggesting that little substitution across subjects would occur. The strong message that comes out of this research is that even a large rise in tuition fees makes little difference to the quality of the investment – those subjects that offer high returns (LEM for men, and all subjects for women) continue to do so. And those subjects that do not (especially OSSAH for men) will continue to offer poor returns. The effect of fee rises is dwarfed by existing cross subject differences in returns.     

Quality of education and student earnings

When a university increases expenditures in an attempt to improve quality, a natural question for social policy is raised: is the improvement worth the cost? One partial measure of “worth” in this context is given by earnings of graduates: will those earnings rise by enough to pay a reasonable return on the investment in higher quality? The question is hard to answer by statistical means: universities of higher quality have better reputations which allow them to select students who are themselves of higher quality; so in trying to measure the relation between earnings and university quality, quality of the school may be confounded with quality of the students. Recently, however, several large data sets have been made available which give sufficient information on the students' own backgrounds, and on their later earning, that we can hope to disentangle the effect on earnings of the school from that of the student himself. This article summarizes the results of several such studies, including our own work. The verdict to date is that the relation between “quality”, however measured, and earnings is significant, and that expenditures to improve quality are worth the cost, even when “worth” is measured narrowly as higher earnings for graduates.     

论教育标准化与义务教育均衡发展

教育标准化是学校硬件、师资、课程建设等方面的全面标准化.教育标准化是实现义务教育均衡发展的重要政策和措施.当前的教育标准化建设要从改进标准化评价指标、改善投资政策、改造薄弱学校、提高师资待遇等方面切实推进.     

森有礼国家主义教育思想及其对日本近代普及义务教育的影响

森有礼是日本明治维新时期著名的政治家、教育家。森有礼国家主义教育思想主要体现在为国家富强而办教育、贯彻忠君爱国思想、由国家来办教育三个方面。森有礼国家主义教育思想对日本近代普及义务教育具有重要影响,主要表现在政策制定、师资培养及课程改革等方面。森有礼的国家主义教育思想帮助近代日本确立了义务教育制度,有力地推进了日本近代义务教育的普及。     

论农村义务教育的问题和改革

作为整个国家教育体系的重中之重的农村义务教育，在当前呈现出许多令人担忧的问题。文章以教育过程的首尾两方面——入学和就业为着眼点，分析了它们陷入困境的原因，提出实行免费的义务教育是走出低谷的必由之路。     

中国农村义务教育投资:基本格局和政策讨论

随着我国财税体制改革的重大调整和社会主义市场经济体制的确立，重构农村义务教育投资体制已成为能否巩固“两基”成果的关键。在对“九五”期间我国农村义务教育投资变化作出量化分析的基础上，对目前农村义务教育投资体制存在的弊端展开了讨论，提出在中央财政比重已经加大的新形势下，有必要在公共财政的政策框架下，重新划分各级教育财政的事权和财权，建立规范的教育专项转移支付制度，调整政府教育投资分配的政策建议。     

我国义务教育的机会公平与质量公平

教育公平有教育机会公平和教育质量公平两上不同层面。我国义务教育现阶段,教育机会公平是首要迫切的目标,即人人都有相同的受教育机会,在已基本普及义务教育的城市和发达地区,应更多地关注教育质量公平的实施,大面积提高教育教学质量。     

Second Chance Programmes: a response to educational needs in compulsory education

This paper asks whether the integrated training provision currently offered through the different Spanish Second Chance Programmes (SCPs) constitutes a valid response to the educational needs and deficits known to exist among those young people who do not satisfactorily complete the Compulsory Secondary Education stage (ESO). The objectives of the current Social Guarantee Programmes (SGPs) are examined, as are the characteristics of the young people who participate in them. The Programmes of Initial Vocational Qualification (PCPI) envisaged in the most recent educational legislation are also discussed. Having identified the key factors which the empirical studies suggest influence the effectiveness of these programmes in addressing the educational needs and training deficiencies of the young people involved, a number of proposals are presented in connection with the training needs of teaching staff. The paper concludes with a number of proposals for improving the educational response to the challenges that the new perspectives and expectations raise for the development of a system of inclusive education to overcome the education deficits of the young people concerned.     

河南省农村义务教育阶段经费投入研究

本研究依据《河南教育年鉴》所公布的官方数据对河南省农村义务教育阶段的经费投入、生均事业费、生均公用经费等进行了分析,发现财政性教育投入占GDP的比例远远低于4％标准;财政性教育经费增长比例低于全省财政收入的增长比例;生均事业费虽有所增长,但主要用于教师工资发放;生均公用经费连年低于全国平均水平。有限的教育投入仅仅能维持农村义务教育的基本运行,教育发展步履维艰。