Using standards to evaluate accountability policy in context: School administrator and teacher perceptions of a teacher evaluation system

Accountability policy in the United States requiring school districts to design and implement state policy-directed teacher evaluation systems that utilize multiple measures, most often observations of professional practice and student achievement data, has been reflective of shifting international public discourse surrounding educational accountability, specifically related to teacher quality. Although the most recent wave of policy change provides states some flexibility in determining how teachers are evaluated, many are still mired in debate on how to improve teacher professional practice and increase student learning. This study examined the perceptions of school administrators and teachers in a large, suburban, public school district regarding their district’s new teacher evaluation system. Understanding the convergent and divergent views of participant groups regarding how (i.e., the standards by which) they defined and measured the effectiveness of the evaluation system is necessary to not only better understand their lived experiences but also to potentially inform policy change.     

研究型大学建设:拉美与亚洲国家高等教育政策取向

通过高等教育全面提高国家的综合国力和国际竞争力是目前许多发达国家和经济发展速度较快的发展中国家的既定国策。因此最近十几年来,建设研究型大学的热潮在世界范围内兴起。亚洲和拉美的许多国家也纷纷对本国的高等教育进行反思和改革,试图在新一轮的国际秩序整合中打破美国研究型大学在知识创新的主导地位。本文试图对韩国、日本、印度、阿根廷、巴西和墨西哥等国的研究型大学建设状况和改革思路进行分析,发现他们在建设研究型大学过程中遇到的问题,通过对比,发现他们在研究型大学建设中采取的策略与措施。     

美国拉美政策的调整和早期“睦邻政策”

对于关国“睦邻政策”研究,国内外学者已经研究的相当深入了,而且多数是把它同富兰克林·罗斯福的拉美政策联系在一起的。但是实际上“睦邻政策”并不是从罗斯福上任时才开始的,在他之前早期“睦邻政策”就已经在酝酿之中了。     

Dissecting the teacher monolith: Experiences of beginning basic school teachers in Zambia

This article explores the multifaceted experiences of beginning basic school teachers in Southern Province, Zambia, through a qualitative study comprised of interviews with 35 basic school teachers. Our research examines the uniqueness of beginning teacher experiences in the global South, and points to the need to recognize the implications of ‘Education for All’ for this particular sub-group of the teaching population. We found that these teachers faced significant personal and professional difficulties, while receiving little support. Nevertheless, teachers expressed a commitment to the profession. Recommendations are provided to suggest improvements to the transition and socialization process for future beginning teachers.     

拉丁美洲高等教育大众化探析

拉丁美洲国家在二十世纪六七十年代基本实现了高等教育大众化 ,采取的主要政策与措施包括改革公立高等教育 ,发展多层次的私立高等教育 ,创建公私立学校趋同的新型办学模式等。拉美国家高等教育大众化的成果是明显的 ,但也带来了职业分层化和投资效益低下等问题 ,其过度发展高等教育 ,忽视基础教育的教训应引起我们的警觉     

拉美现当代文学的整体意识与创新意识

二十世纪拉丁美洲现当代文学的基本特征 ,是它的整体意识与创新意识。继承古印第安文学的现实主义传统 ,表达反帝反殖反独裁的共同主题以及拉美作家的群体意识是其整体意识的标识。拉美文学经历了由依附、模仿到独立的道路 ,正确处理文学的批判与继承、扬弃与创造的关系 ,坚持拉美文学整体性与多样性的结合 ,坚持文学的不断创新     

Examining entrepreneurial attributes of Latin American female university students

The phenomenon of women engaging in entrepreneurship is expanding and becoming acknowledged as a valuable resource that must be institutionally and socially supported. Through entrepreneurship education, female students, as potential entrepreneurs, can develop and strengthen those skills and behaviours identified as characteristic of successful entrepreneurs. This paper explores four attributes associated with entrepreneurship (creativity, problem management, risk management, and self-confidence) of 1838 undergraduate students from 11 universities in Latin America (Mexico, Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, and Uruguay) and one in Spain, used as a control group. By comparing the results for the male and female student population, self-confidence appears as an attribute that is present at the same level in both groups; statistically significant differences were reported for the other three attributes (creativity, problem management, and risk management). Entrepreneurship programmes can utilise such information to strengthen in female students those attributes for successful engagement in entrepreneurial activity.     

Environmental education in Latin American and the Caribbean: the challenges and limitations of conducting a systematic review of evaluation and research

Abstract

This systematic review extends the boundary of prior reviews in the environmental education (EE) field by analyzing publications focused on Latin America and the Caribbean (LATAM). We examined peer-reviewed literature and dissertations/theses in four languages (English, French, Spanish and Portuguese) published between January 2000 and February 2018 to examine outcomes of EE interventions occurring in both formal and nonformal settings among LATAM youth up to age 18 years. Our findings reflect recurring critiques of EE, such as the field’s limited empirical research and a bias toward measuring knowledge gain. Our findings also highlight themes specific to LATAM, related to issue-based EE programs, EE versus Education for Sustainable Development, barriers to EE implementation and potential challenges posed by bias, privilege and power in LATAM-based EE research. Access to potentially appropriate publications was limited by weaknesses in search databases. Only a small selection of LATAM countries is represented in publications that met the search criteria, limiting our capacity to draw stronger conclusions about the region as a whole.     

拉美地区双语教育的发展困境及归因

拉美双语教育在20世纪80年代完成制度化后仍处于教育体系边缘,发展始终步履维艰,不容乐观。一方面政府当局未充分调动各方资源驱动改革,另一方面土著民族缺少必要资源推进改革。困境的根源来自于拉美主流意识形态中单语和单文化主义及种族主义对双语教育的压制和束缚,其背后反映的是土著民族现实诉求与殖民主义历史遗留这一根本性冲突。     

魔幻的《红楼梦》与拉美的魔幻现实主义

20世纪中叶以来拉美魔幻现实主义文学蜚声全世界,作家作品众多、理论构架完整,造成了拉丁美洲文学的空前繁荣,其魔幻现实主义表现手法的运用给小说的创作带来了革命性的变化。而比它早两百多年的曹雪芹却在其作品《红楼梦》中已娴熟地运用了魔幻现实主义的袁现手法。     

Salamanca 1994-2019: there is still a long way to Latin America

ABSTRACT

This article analyses the progresses and challenges in education in Latin America since the Salamanca World Conference on Special Needs Education. The main advances have been in the access to education of a greater number of students derived from a higher public expenditure. The challenges that still exist can be summed up through insufficient educational quality, especially with regard to the situation of teachers and the infrastructure of schools. It’s difficult to collect appropriate, rigorous and accurate data for special needs education. The article concludes by pointing out the importance of rebuilding three bridges to move faster in the inclusive process: first, a political bridge to agree on the improvement of the educational budget during the next decade; a social and cultural bridge that supports attitudes of citizens in favour of diversity and inclusion; and finally, an educational bridge with two fundamental pillars: education of infant and young children and training and professional development for teachers.     

The political economy of higher education in the era of neoliberal globalization: Latin America in comparative perspective

During the last two decades, Latin American universities have experienced intense pressure to abandon the main principles established in the 1918 Córdoba Reform (i.e., autonomy and autarchy). While funding for public higher education has declined, they are pressured to relinquish a large portion of institutional autonomy in order to accommodate to market demands and to a new set of control strategies emanating from the state.We argue that current changes in Latin American higher education cannot be examined in isolation from larger political and economic changes in the region, which in turn are related to the dynamics of globalization. After the decline of socialist and welfare-state models, neoliberal regimes have become hegemonic in many parts of the world. In most countries, changes in financial arrangements, coupled with accountability mechanisms, have forced universities to reconsider their social missions, academic priorities and organizational structures. Concerns about equity, accessibility, autonomy or the contribution of higher education to social transformation, which were prevalent during previous decades, have been overshadowed by concerns about excellence, efficiency, expenditures and rates of return. The notion that higher education is primarily a citizens right and a social investment – which has been taken for granted for many decades – is being seriously challenged by a neoliberal agenda that places extreme faith in the market.Though we focus on the international dimension of university change, it is important to note that global trends are promoted, resisted and negotiated differently in each national context and in each individual institution. In the emerging knowledge-based society, the polarization between North and South is expected to increase even further if the scientific and technological gaps are not narrowed. Latin American universities have a crucial role to play in this regard. The paper is organized in two parts. The first describes the context of university change, focusing on issues of globalization and neoliberalism. The second examines the main features of university restructuring in comparative perspective, with a particular focus on Latin America.     

Curriculum reform in Turkish teacher education: Attitudes of teacher educators towards change in an EU candidate nation

Educational development is one way through which Turkey enhances progress towards its social goals and prepares itself for European Union membership. A major effort to upgrade the Turkish educational system was made through a multi-phased comprehensive reform of the sector introduced during the 1990s. One part of this reform, perhaps most crucial to the long-term effectiveness of other developments in education, was a transformation of the approach to teacher education. This paper utilizes recently conducted research to assess the nature and extent of that reform as well as identifying the factors which enhanced its effectiveness.     

Explaining learning gaps in Namibia: The role of language proficiency

In a multilingual context, this study investigates the role on mathematics achievement of the provision of instruction in the home language. It compares characteristics of 5048 Grade 6 learners in 275 Namibian schools. The outcome variable is the standardized SACMEQ mathematics score collected in year 2000. Hierarchical linear modeling is used to partition the total variance in mathematics achievement into its within- and between-school components. The results do confirm the significant role of low language skills on the overall low mathematics scores, which may question the effectiveness and equity of the current bilingual policy.     

Restructuring reforms in Turkish teacher education: Modernisation and development in a dynamic environment

The paper examines the effectiveness of recent reforms in teacher education in Turkey, specifically the restructuring of programmes in university faculties of education. It first, briefly, sets the reforms of the 1990s in an historical context, prior to the 1997 Act which increased the length of compulsory schooling from 5 to 8 years, and the 1998 restructuring of faculties of education. It considers the national need for the restructuring of teacher education and the issues involved. The thrust of the paper is a study of how teacher educators across the country perceive both the changes and their effect on the quality of teacher education, methodology as a discipline, school partnerships, and relationships with the Ministry of National Education.     

Equity in education in Chile: The tensions between policy and practice

The article examines education policy in Chile after the return to democracy in 1990 from an equity perspective. Since then, policies have aimed for continuity, coherence and complementarity with the aim of furthering national development, promoting social mobility, and equitable access to quality education at all levels. However, Chile faces the challenge of implementing equity-oriented policies within the legal confines of an education system constructed under the neoliberal model which was introduced by the military government (1973–1990). This has resulted in tensions between policy and practice, which have constrained the role of the state in a highly marketised system in its efforts to distribute quality education more equitably.     

The social condition of higher education: globalisation and (beyond) regionalisation in Latin America

This article aims to discuss the relationship between higher education (HE), globalisation and regionalism projects focusing on HE in Latin America and Brazil. It is claimed that HE has predominantly taken the diverse, yet concerted and co-ordinated routes of globalisation and regionalisation and, by doing so, been profoundly transformed. The first section considers a set of theoretical categories in relation to the phenomena of globalisation and regionalisation. The second section analyses the global and regional dimensions of HE in Latin America, exploring: (1) the Common Market of the South (MERCOSUR), along with the processes and mechanisms put into place to settle MERCOSUR's Educative Sector. It is argued that despite the political relevance of this regional project, its major developments are still harbouring important but preliminary preparations for future regional positioning and empowerment; (2) it is argued that the commodification, privatisation and ‘marketisation’ of HE, having occupied the centre stage in determined nations of the world, have become the founding conditions of a global market in HE; and (3) the Brazilian HE policies are examined in order to develop an argument about the decisive role played by national government in promoting and adjusting the process of globalisation and the regionalism project for HE.     

格瓦拉及其领导的拉美游击运动失败的国际因素

20世纪60年代,拉美游击运动在格瓦拉等人的带领下走向了发展的第一个巅峰,但却在短短的数年内迅速溃败。从表面上看,这是由于游击队主要领袖的罹难,尤其是格瓦拉的逝世所带来的直接后果。然而,如果我们对当时西半球的冷战格局进行考察,就可得出这样的结论,即美国协同拉美亲美政府对游击队的全方位打击,以及社会主义阵营内部对游击运动态度的莫衷一是,才是导致游击运动失败更深层次的原因。     

Learning analytics initiatives in Latin America: Implications for educational researchers,practitioners and decision makers

This study presents several Latin American research initiatives in the field of learning analytics (LA). The study’s purpose is to enhance awareness and understanding of LA among researchers, practitioners and decision makers, and to highlight the importance of supporting research on LA. We analyzed case studies of LA research conducted at four levels of the educational system (the national, institutional, classroom and student levels), which were implemented in four countries (Brazil, Ecuador, Mexico and Uruguay). Diversified cases were selected to demonstrate the use of LA in primary, secondary and higher education, and to allow the inclusion of different types of datasets. These cases also showed the development of legal frameworks for handling ethical issues, and they met the requirements for data privacy protection in Latin America. The study concludes with a discussion of the findings and their implications for further research and practice in the field of LA for teaching and learning.     

Faculty research behaviour and career incentives: The case of Taiwan

This paper aims at exploring how faculty research behaviour changes before, during, and after promotion. Testing research hypotheses generated from behavioral reinforcement theory and an alternative claim on the learning effect of familiarity with publishing norms, the study collects career history data and longitudinal records on faculty research performance to fill literature gaps. The main findings include: (1) behavioral reinforcement theory receives support; (2) among different field groups, the research behaviour change curve of the natural sciences and engineering faculty best fits the theory; (3) different levels of anticipated promotion rewards have different effects for motivating subjects to publish.