Enhancing student outcomes through mentoring, peer counselling and parental involvement

The government of Ghana has designed various initiatives to achieve the Millennium Development Goals on education and the Education for All goals. Despite these initiatives, student outcomes continue to be poorer than desired. Although access to education has improved, student dropout remains a problem and student scores on achievement tests remain low, along with their rates of progression to higher grades. The authors propose a program of mentoring, peer counseling, and parent involvement for children from first through ninth grade. They believe this program is essential to sustain the government’s initiatives on education, and has the potential to achieve the educational outcomes that Ghana and many developing countries require to meet the goals of the EFA agenda.     

Education for all and the new development compact

Over the past decade, the achievement of universal primary education, under the somewhat misleading rubric of ‘Education for All’ (EFA), has steadily built momentum in international forums as a focus for discussion and action. The present study looks critically at the evolution of consensus about EFA within the international community. The first section of this contribution provides an overview of ‘education for development’ in the form in which it has been inherited from the 20th century. The second describes what has changed in the context, rhetoric and practice of such ‘education for development’. The final section reflects on two questions: ‘Why has EFA now moved beyond international rhetoric to action?’; and ‘What can our experience with EFA tell us about the prospects for multilateralism and global governance in the 21st century?’     

撒哈拉以南非洲中等教育改革分析

随着"非洲千年计划"的实施,撒哈拉以南非洲地区的基础教育得到了迅速发展,其发展的重点逐渐由小学教育转向相对薄弱的中等教育。为了加快非洲全民教育目标与千年发展目标的进程,世界银行和撒哈拉以南非洲各国政府对该地区的中等教育的体制和机制进行了改革,在教育经费、教学质量、课程和学校权力下放等方面推行了一系列的改革政策。经过几年的努力,改革虽然取得了一些成效,但是仍然存在很多制约实现改革目标的因素。     

Squaring the circle: EFA in the post-2015 global agenda

The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and Education for All (EFA) initiative have influenced educational development in poor countries both positively and negatively. From the perspective of Bangladesh, international assistance in the context of EFA and MDG has led to expansion at the cost of educational outcomes with quality and equity, to put it with only mild simplification. There will be unfinished tasks beyond 2015. But the future has to be envisioned with a lens broader and deeper beyond the unrealized and yet ‘minimalist’ 2015 agenda. Two inter-connected questions arise. The challenge in Bangladesh and other developing countries is how the global agenda, reflecting common essential goals (thus the least common denominator), can be taken as the floor rather than the ceiling by adapting, broadening and deepening global goals and indicators for the country. A related concern is how international cooperation can be supportive rather than confining. They pose a dilemma of squaring the circle, so to speak.This paper, drawing on the on-going process and substance of civil society discussion in Bangladesh, looks at the two questions. Experience in Bangladesh may bear similarity to and be relevant at least for other countries in South Asia.     

Education,development and poverty reduction: A literature critique

The concept of development has evolved from an exclusive focus on economic growth towards an interrelated, even integrated approach involving progress across a range of disciplines such as health, education, economics and agriculture. The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) are rooted in this evolved conception of development. A concerted global effort embracing multiple disciplines in the formal and informal sectors is now essential for their achievement. This paper traces the changing meaning of development, while at the same time tracing the benefits of investing in education for poverty reduction, and the conditions that facilitate and/or hamper education's contribution to poverty reduction.     

达喀尔论坛后的世界全民教育:进展、特点、挑战及前景

达喀尔世界教育论坛被认为是世界全民教育运动新的转折点.全民教育的十年评估以来,教育权利得到了世界范围内各国的广泛认同,教育质量成为全民教育的主要关注点.但世界全民教育依然面临巨大挑战,而全民终身学习是21世纪教育的关键,是实现更为有质量的生活和人性化社会的希望.     

Who are the custodians of Pacific ‘post-2015’ education futures? Policy discourses,education for all and the millennium development goals

This article discusses influences of Education for All (EFA) and the education Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) on education policies in the Pacific sub-region in the context of ongoing ‘post-2015 development agenda’ deliberations, focusing on Papua New Guinea and Vanuatu. It is based on doctoral work undertaken as a component of an Australian Research Council Linkage grant, partially supported by the former Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID), and continuing postdoctoral research.Pacific postcolonial nations’ engagement with EFA and the MDGs was compared through a critical discourse analysis of multi-scalar education policy formation processes. The research identified paradoxical influences of global approaches, and multi-level processes. While such frameworks at once facilitated educational debate and legitimized broader education policy participation, they also supported a status quo in mainstream donor and state dominance of educational development agendas. There is some evidence of wider national participation in the emerging ‘post-2015′ policy processes, but the extent of its influence on multi-level policy deliberations globally and regionally is yet to be seen. Many of the education issues currently being raised in both nations, and regionally, have endured since colonial occupation and independence. This article focuses on educational relevance and gender issues in education, and positions them in relation to the concept of ownership within post-colonial political dynamics and multilevel discursive contexts for participation, which I interpret as being of continued importance to understanding these enduring education concerns.     

全民教育:中国的解读与实践

全民教育既是一项由联合国教科文等国际组织推动的世界性教育改革运动,也是一种国际教育思潮。全民教育的基本理念是:以人的发展为教育的核心,受教育权是一项基本的人权,质量是教育的生命。我国参与全民教育运动以来,追随国际教育思潮,不断推进教育改革和发展。全民教育理念推动了我国教育民主、平等化进程,推进了教育决策、行动的科学化。在全民教育运动中,我国不断探索适合自己的全民教育途径和模式,这些经验值得世界借鉴。     

Hard-pressed to achieve the EFA goals by 2015 in the Philippines

The Philippines has experienced a setback in its progress towards EFA 2015 Goals. In particular, a decline in primary and secondary education performance indicators and a widening gap between boys’ and girls’ performance were noted. While the present policy environment in the country has been conducive to education reforms, a lack of political will, discontinuity in education leadership and an inability to capitalize on proven educational innovations and major programmes/projects are likely to further undermine EFA progress. The country must immediately introduce efficient and effective measures to arrest this trend. The government must also return to social marketing among all stakeholders, emphasizing the long-term benefits of basic education.

教育治理：实现全民教育目标的钥匙—对《2009全民教育全球监测报告》的解读

2008年11月联合国教科文组织发布了《2009全民教育全球监测报告》（EFA Global Monitoring Report 2009）,提出全民教育事业任重道远,教育治理是实现全民教育的关键。在国际范围内,历年的监测报告都以特定的主题与视角分析全民教育的发展状况。《2009全民教育全球监测报告》在教育治理方面提出了诸多理念与建议。     

Poverty alleviation and integrated service delivery: Literacy,early child development and health

This paper argues that many internationally financed literacy programs do not sufficiently take into consideration important daily life issues of the learners, including nutritional deficiencies that may hinder learning, or of children–parent–society interactions that may improve learning. As a result, many programs have become synonymous with increased supply of a low-quality education. Often, these programs address almost exclusively Education for All (EFA) international policy targets, without sufficiently addressing other poverty alleviation targets, as defined by the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). This paper further contends that approaches that would generate the greatest effects within an EFA-perspective may not be the best way to alleviate poverty within a MDGs-perspective. Based on a case study of a women's literacy program in Senegal, this paper proposes to look at needs within an MDG perspective, and to use multi-pronged and integrated approaches to intervene in sectors where the poverty alleviation impact is the greatest.     

Quality and equity in the Mongolian education sector

This case study identifies four targets groups that are specific to the achievement of the EFA Millennium Development Goals in Mongolia: boys, out-of-school children, vulnerable children and minorities, and children of herders. Boys from herder families in remote rural areas are at the greatest risk of drop-out or non-enrollment. The case study therefore focuses on problems with access to education for boys from nomadic herder families. The inverse gender gap in the Mongolian education sector is a well-explored topic in educational policy research. What is lacking, however, is a more comprehensive look at how, and why, the combination of gender, household income and location of school—urban, semi-urban, rural—affect access to education in Mongolia.

迈向教育公平的革命性理念——联合国教科文组织“全民教育”政策的话语实践分析

保障人的基本受教育权利,促进教育公平是UNESCO多年来一贯的追求。本研究借助福柯的话语实践理论,运用N-Vivo 8.0对UNESCO的全民教育政策文本进行处理,发现全民教育一方面延续了UNESCO追求教育公平的努力,另一方面又具有更为强烈的革命气质。这种革命气质促使全民教育与终身教育在信息时代不断走向融合。     

Assets and educational achievement: Theory and evidence

This special issue of Economics of Education Review explores the role of savings and asset holding in post-secondary educational achievement. Most college success research has focused on income rather than assets as a predictor, and most college financing policy has focused on tuition support and educational debt, rather than asset accumulation. Nevertheless, there is compelling evidence that household asset holdings, especially savings for education, may have a pronounced positive influence, independent from income, in post-secondary educational success. Moreover, the fundamental reality is that savings plays a role, even though sometimes small, in college financing for most households. For these empirical and practical reasons, it may be important to pay greater attention to savings and asset holding for education in the future than we have in the past. The articles in this volume contribute empirical evidence, theoretical understanding, and potential policy directions regarding saving, asset holding, and educational achievement.     

Poverty reduction and adult education: beyond basic education

One of the Millennium Development Goals declared by the United Nations in 2000 was to reduce by half the population of people living in extreme poverty, by 2015. Adult education can and should contribute significantly to this development goal. Nevertheless it has hardly been explored so far in the national Poverty Reduction Strategies Papers. In as far as attention has been given to the contribution of adult education to the reduction of poverty, the trend has been to focus on literacy or basic education. Nevertheless, adult education is potentially much more than literacy or basic education. Successful contribution of adult education to poverty reduction programmes includes also agricultural extension, vocational education, community development and training for active citizenship. In this introduction of the special issue of the International Journal of Lifelong Education, we will sketch the state of the art for each of these branches of adult education. Moreover, our central argument will be that developing countries do not only need a more extended system for adult education, but also a more flexible and more targeted system than the rather traditional practices in most developing countries.     

An assessment of debt‐for‐education swaps. Case studies on swap initiatives between Germany and Indonesia and between Spain and El Salvador

A decade has passed since participants in the World Education Forum committed themselves to achieve, by 2015, the six Education for All (EFA) goals under the Dakar Framework for Action. Despite significant progress, some of the goals are likely to be missed by a large margin. Besides the absence of a well co‐ordinated multi‐donor approach in education, another major problem is the lack of funds: the EFA financing gap in low‐income countries is now estimated at around $16 billion annually. This article zooms in on debt swaps as one particular instrument of innovative financing. More specifically it assesses the macro‐economic impacts of debt‐for‐education swaps and their relation to the aid approach now advocated by the donor community. It does so on the basis of theoretical insights from debt relief and case studies on recent swap initiatives between Germany and Indonesia and between Spain and El Salvador. Our conclusions are mixed. On the one hand, typical debt swaps suffer from macro‐economic flaws and, in view of competition amongst sectors, have limited potential in narrowing the EFA deficit. On the other hand, our case studies suggest that debt‐for‐education swaps can be engineered to better comply with the needs of recipient ownership and could in the future address deserving niche problems.     

HOPE for community college students: The impact of merit aid on persistence,graduation, and earnings

Community colleges play a major role in postsecondary education, yet previous research has emphasized the impact of merit aid on four-year students rather than two-year students. Furthermore, researchers have focused on the impact of merit aid on enrollment and outcomes during college, but to my knowledge, none have yet considered the impact of aid on earnings after college. This paper utilizes discontinuities in eligibility criteria for a large merit scholarship to examine the local impact of aid on student outcomes both during college and after college. The findings suggest that reducing the cost of community college does not impact persistence, academic performance, degree completion, expected earnings, or short-term earnings after college for marginally eligible students.     

Gendering corporal punishment: beyond the discourse of human rights

In the last few years the Global Initiative to End All Corporal Punishment of Children has been gathering momentum, with a submission to The United Nations Secretary General’s study on violence against children the most recent addition to the cause. Nevertheless, corporal punishment in schools is still condoned in many countries and its practice persists even where it is now illegal. However, it is usually discussed within a gender‐‘neutral’ human rights framework rather than being more usefully considered as a gendered practice, pivotal in sustaining the gender regimes of schools. Drawing primarily on an ethnographic study in four junior secondary schools in Botswana, in conjunction with other related studies in Sub‐Saharan Africa, it is argued that corporal punishment is gendered at the level of both policy and practice. Female and male students and teachers understand and experience the ‘giving’ and ‘receiving’ of corporal punishment differently as gender interacts with, and often takes precedence over, age and authority relations. Understanding corporal punishment as a gendered practice has important implications for how its persistence in schools might be more successfully addressed as part of the current drive to achieve the Millennium Development and Education for All Goals in relation to universal primary education and gender equality.     

联合国教科文组织教育质量框架探析

1990年世界全民教育大会以来,世界范围的全民教育取得了长足进步.但全民教育在数量得到空前提高的背后,质量却未得到同步发展.于是,在2000年达喀尔举办的世界教育论坛会议之后,全民教育的质量问题引起了国际社会的高度关注,并被各国列入教育发展的议事日程.在这一背景下,联合国教科文组织也适时提出了一个完整的教育质量框架.本文试图对这一框架的内容和特点进行解析,以期为广大理论与实践研究者提供一些启示.     

Science achievement, gender differences, and experimental work in classes in Slovenia as evident in TIMSS studies

Since 1999, Slovenia has been in the process of introducing nine years of compulsory education to replace the previous eight-year system of compulsory education. Under the new system, the school entry age is six years rather than the former seven years. This reform of the system necessitated a number of other changes, such as those relating to the curriculum and teaching approaches. The purpose of this study was to compare the “new” Slovenian science curriculum with the “old” to ascertain if different relationships exist between the two in terms of achievement and gender, attitudes toward science, and the amount of experimental work undertaken by students in school. Data from the IEA TIMSS 2003 study were used to analyze these relationships. The analyses employed basic statistics and log-linear modeling of the effects of gender, school system, amount of experimental work in school, and students’ science achievement. Compared to students taught under the old curriculum, students taught under the new curriculum performed slightly better on the overall science test. A large decrease in gender differences in achievement was also apparent. The relationship between experimental work and achievement strengthened. Conducting experiments at every lesson related to lower student achievement, while conducting experiments during half of the science lessons related to higher achievement. These findings have a clear message for teachers and policymakers. A moderate amount of time devoted to student experimental work seems to raise science achievement of students as well as promote more positive attitudes toward learning science.