The Equity Raw‐Score Matrix – a multi‐dimensional indicator of potential disadvantage in higher education

Issues surrounding student participation, transition, retention and successful completion in higher education are topical. While the Australian federal government has identified broad groupings of under‐represented students, these do not shed light on the complexities underlying the issues of the educationally disadvantaged, such as the compounding problems of multiple equity‐group membership or the overlay of the acute or chronic effects of equity sub‐group membership. This paper details the Equity Raw‐Score Matrix. The matrix is a multi‐dimensional indicator of potential disadvantage in learners, created for the specific purposes of diagnosing the complexities of educational disadvantage and creating pre‐emptive strategies for the participation, transition and retention of students who are disadvantaged. The paper also describes the qualitative research study that was the catalyst for the creation of the matrix.     

Student persistence in distance education: a cross‐cultural multi‐institutional perspective

Following the 12th World Conference of ICDE (Vancouver, 1982) the author was invited to coordinate a project aimed at opcrationalizing a research methodology that was discussed during the conference. The essence of the proposed methodology (Taylor and White, 1983) was to conduct essentially the same empirical study in a variety of distance education settings. It was thought that such an approach could engender an objective synthesis of research results that might lead to a significant contribution being made to the empirical basis for distance education.

It was agreed that the study should focus on something of practical importance to distance educators. It was further agreed that the study could not be of too specialised a theoretical nature because of the need to involve a number of institutions across a wide range of cultural settings. It was finally agreed that the study should take a lead from Rekkedal's (1973) study on turn‐around time.

Major contributions to this first ICDE International Research Project were made by L.J. Barker and V.J. White (Darling Downs IAE, Australia), G. Gillard (University of the South Pacific, Fiji), D. Kaufman (Open Learning Institute, Canada), A.N. Khan (Allama Iqbal Open University, Pakistan), R. Mezger(Tasmanian State Institute of Technology, Australia) and the ICDE Research Committee regional coordinators.     

Variation in the conduct and the quality of self‐evaluations: a multi‐level path analysis

While self‐evaluation leads to valuable results in some schools, it appears that in other schools this is true only to a lesser extent or not at all. This raises the question of how differences in the results of self‐evaluations can be explained. This study looks at to what extent the results of self‐evaluation are determined by the way in which self‐evaluation is conducted, by characteristics relating to the general functioning of the school and by the support which schools enjoy. One thousand seven hundred and eighty‐six school principals and team members from 96 schools (primary and secondary) were surveyed by means of a written questionnaire. The data collected were then analysed using multi‐level structural equation modelling. The results provide strong empirical evidence that “attitude with regard to self‐evaluation”, “self‐evaluation as a policy action” and “self‐evaluation as an act of research” are powerful predictors of the quality of self‐evaluations.     

Gifted,talented and high ability: selection for education in a one‐dimensional world

This article attempts to explain why it is that in England, despite twentieth‐century moves towards egalitarianism in education, the selection and segregation of those regarded as being gifted, talented, or of higher ability in better resourced schools and programmes is now increasingly acceptable. Explanations for moves away from attempts to offer a common curriculum in equally well‐resourced comprehensive schools centre round the hegemonic view that in a world of global economic competitiveness, national economies need to nurture high levels of knowledge and skills. Unsurprisingly, selective policies benefit the upper socio‐economic groups with some concessions made to selecting out the able poor. The latest set of selective policies adopted by the English government centre round programmes for the ‘Gifted and Talented’. The article uses work from the Frankfurt school of critical theorists, notably Herbert Marcuse’s notion of ‘One‐Dimensional Man’ to suggest that there is an irrational one‐dimensional view of the world economy which leads to a competitive scramble to acquire élite qualifications, abandoning notions of equality and meritocracy, and deploying ruthless strategies which require economic, cultural and social capital. Parents and students in this one‐dimensional world are subject to a permanent oppressive educational competition. The article concludes that many middle‐class parents may come to feel dispossessed as promises held out for education and employment fail to materialise, and success in a competitive global economy proves to be a one‐dimensional mirage.     

Future aspirations of urban adolescents: a person‐in‐context model

Recognizing the importance future aspirations play in the developmental outcomes of adolescents, this study illuminates the role that individual and contextual factors play in the formation of future aspirations among urban youth. The data for this study were collected prior to the implementation of an intervention program at an urban high school. Focus groups, questionnaires, goal maps and a group identity collage were employed to solicit the perspectives of urban adolescents about their future aspirations and the influences on them. Using a grounded theory methodology, the authors classified the multiple sources of data into a theoretical model of urban adolescents’ future aspirations. Participants’ voices, which were used to construct the theoretical model, are also provided here to vivify the model. This ‘person‐in‐context’ model encompasses both individual/contextual resources and barriers to the future aspirations of urban youth. Limitations and directions for future research are discussed.     

Educative Evaluation: a model for quality‐added programme management

ABSTRACT

This article describes the development of a method for quality‐added programme management, based on a model of educative evaluation. The paper contains a discussion of reasons for the development of the model, the procedures involved and the issues that arose in its implementation. An outline of the model itself is followed by some recommendations for strategies for its successful implementation.     

The dynamics of disaster: A three‐dimensional view of documentation in a tightly regulated industry

Although effective public policy depends upon accurate post‐accident reports and investigations, accident reports in a large government agency reflect a linear, sequential model of cause and effect that fails to account for the multidimensional nature of accidents in tightly coupled technologies. As a result, unions, agencies, and operators engage in fiercely contested public debates over responsibility and authority when disasters occur. In proposing a three‐dimensional model of accident analysis (both visual and verbal), this article illustrates how underlying models of causality influence the structure of technical reports and the nature of the argument over responsibility and authority in largescale technological disasters.     

The politics of environmental education: a case‐study

ABSTRACT

The ‘Environment and School Initiatives’ (ENSI) project is an OECD curriculum development project based on a ‘process model’. Eleven OECD countries, excluding the UK, participated in Phase 1 (1986‐8). The author carried out a comparative analysis of case‐studies of this phase, then sought to gain government support for the participation of UK schools in the second phase of ENSI. This article tells the story of his efforts and the responses they met with. The narrative describes and analyses the complex roles and positions taken by government departments, charitable foundations and multinational companies. The negative outcome for the future of the project in England and Wales indicated that the British government were more interested in the construction of politically symbolic acts which publicly signify concern for the environment than with the promotion of effective and educationally worthwhile pedagogies for environmental education.     

The development of solution focused multi‐agency meetings in a psychological service

This article outlines the successful development of multi‐agency meetings as part of a staged approach aimed at supporting families and children within the Scottish Highland Council Area. Drawing on the research evidence for the factors which help to make meetings effective, a distinctive meeting structure was developed. This structure is outlined – including the key solution‐focused principles which underpin it. Two main evaluations focused on gathering the views of multi‐agency partners, head teachers, parents and voluntary organisations regarding the effectiveness of these meetings. Resulting improvements are reported along with a discussion of the limitations and strengths and the future of the meetings.     

Curriculum Reform in South Africa: a critical analysis of outcomes‐based education

Since South Africa's first national democratic elections in 1994, the Government of National Unity has issued several curriculum‐related reforms intended to democratise education and eliminate inequalities in the post‐apartheid education system. The most comprehensive of these reforms has been labelled outcomes‐based education (OBE), an approach to education which underpins the new Curriculum 2005. While the anticipated positive effects of the new curriculum have been widely heralded, there has been little criticism of these proposals given the social and educational context of South African schools. In this article the philosophical, political and implementational dilemmas of OBE are systematically analysed and assessed.

     

Toward a new rationale of science education in a non‐western society

Abstract

Science education in most non‐western societies is modelled on that of the west. Considering that science is a culture which westerners produced, we cannot but infer that science must be a foreign culture for non‐westerners and that science education in such a society must have some characteristics different from thoseof science education in a western society. In this essay, a model for a rationale of science education for a non‐western society is proposed, in which science and traditional culture can be seen tobe in conflict.     

Leadership in education: the case of Vice‐Chancellors

This paper is based on the Franklin Lecture given at the Guild of Educators on 17 November 2005 at the Bakers’ Hall, London.