Policy promise and the reality of community involvement in school-based management in Zambia: Can the rural poor hold schools and teachers to account?

Community participation in school management—and in hiring and firing of teachers in particular—has been actively advocated as an effective reform to improve school and teacher accountability in the Global South. This paper examines whether such reform functions in practice as suggested in theory, drawing on the findings of a case study of community schools in rural Zambia. Using the concept of the ‘context of practice’, efforts have been made to understand the local meanings of community participation in school management rather than that of the central government or development partners. Such analysis illuminates the important roles that local economic and cultural capital, complex cultural norms and unexpected micro politics play in shaping the way parents and communities are actually willing and able to participate in school management, and how these issues influence school and teacher accountability. The findings also underscore the difficulty that teachers face when attempting to respond to the local demands, especially in the context of grossly inadequate resources being allocated to them by the state. The paper concludes by arguing, first, that community management of schools in Zambia was an unfunded and unclear policy that shifted financial responsibility to already marginalized rural communities and, second, that direct hiring relationships between parents and teachers will dilute the importance of the political accountability of the state to ensure quality education for all.     

School Leadership in the 21st Century: Leading in the Age of Reform

In an effort to increase student readiness for college and career, many States have adopted new academic standards encouraged by education reform advocates. These standards are commonly referred to as the Common Core Standards. Schools from States that have adopted the Common Core Standards have been compelled to significantly restructure their existing curriculum and adjust how they teach that curriculum. These requirements can be particularly onerous for rural schools. Neoliberalism is the underlying political philosophy undergirding these changes in the current school reform movement and is similar to the political philosophy that drove the changes in agricultural policies in the mid 20th century. Neoliberal political and economic philosophy as it correlates to education policy is buttressed by three values: (1) education fosters economic growth; (2) education policy modeled on efficiency and business practices; (3) high stakes testing to measure what a student has learned. These values have created an educational policy structure that attempts to quantify student learning, teacher effectiveness and school district value. By understanding the similarities between agricultural policies in the mid 20th century and current education policies, rural schools and communities will be able to change the narrative surrounding the education of their children.     

Problems of schooling today: Accessibility and the curriculum factor

Many of the current problems regarding quality in education are traced back, both in political and education circles, to post-war development of the comprehensive school as an alternative for the traditional categorial system of secondary education. In this article this statement is investigated further using comparative analysis of the educational developments in the Federal Republic of Germany, Denmark, England and the Netherlands. The results seem to indicate that the current discussion about quality should be traced back primarily to curriculum changes, both in terms of restricting conditions and in terms of educational contents. These changes have been brought about during the last 25 years by socio-cultural and educational impulses. The results of these developments are often seen as directly connected to the current social problems of effectiveness in education, in terms of dysfunctionality and loss of quality. Such a way of thinking obscures the objective acquirements of the cultural change, which brought about a more democratic structure of education. The increasing accessibility and retentiveness this resulted in, are insufficiently included as independent factors in the current assessment of educational effectiveness. In criticisms of comprehensive schools and the loss of quality attributed to them, we see only ideological feints. But behind these appearances lurks a question, which demands thorough reflection on the tasks of education in our present information age.     

Cooperation and Individualization as Principles of Instruction in the Swedish School

1. Innovations in the Regular School System: The reform of the Swedish school system that introduced comprehensive schools as regular schools at the first level of secondary school in 1962 and the second level in 1971 was preceded by a redefinition of the school as an institution. Increased emphasis was placed on the school as an integral part of the society — influenced by social developments and, at the same time, contributing to social change. Accordingly, the school system should have a structure that enables it to help break down social barriers and foster conscious responsibility for social action in all schoolchildren.     

近代西方国家行政改革历程初探

近代西方各国遭遇了同样的政府管理困境,为了改变这种面貌,均在不同程度上引用新公共管理理念尤其是企业政府理论进行改革的指导。改革首先从部门(财政部)开始,再推进到整个行政改革中,并带动经济政治体制改革的同步进行,最终取得了显著的成效。本文着重从西方国家政府改革的共性来分析其改革的历程。     

The Value of Examination Success in Sri Lanka 1971‐1996: the effects of ethnicity,political patronage and youth insurgency

In the original Diploma Disease thesis Sri Lanka is presented as a ‘later developing country’. This article explores the validity of the original Sri Lankan case within the more general thesis, changes in the symptoms of the ‘diploma disease’ over the past 20 years and economic and political developments which may have influenced the course of the disease. Despite economic liberalisation and an expansion of the education system, the value attached to educational certificates appears to have increased. Two explanations may be found within the educational system itself. Access to the apex of the system, the university, remains restricted and maintains the pressure of competition in the upper reaches of the secondary school. At the base of system, the Year 5 scholarship exam channels students into schools differentiated by quality. Although access to Year 11 is free and open to all, access to the top grade schools is restricted and highly competitive. A third explanation moves beyond both the education and economic system to the political crisis in Sri Lanka—manifested by the growth of ethnic tension in the late 1970s, the institutionalisation of political criteria for job allocation in the 1980s and the insurgency of Sinhala youth in the 1980s. All three aspects of the political crisis have contributed to a reaffirmation of educational qualifications as the legitimate criterion of access to jobs and resources.     

改革开放30年小学数学教材建设的回顾与思考

改革开放30年以来,我国的小学数学教材与国家的政治经济文化背景密切相关,历经改革开放初期、普及九年义务教育时期、21世纪初期三个阶段的演变,逐渐形成了比较独立的、具有自身特色的、日臻完善的教材体系。30年来的小学数学教材建设,在正确思想的指导下,内容和结构的调整都更加体现时代的特点和要求,实现了从一纲一本到一纲多本,再到一标多本的演变,日益注重小学教材的可读性、实践性、综合性、创造性,适应并推动着小学教育的整体改革与发展。     

当代中国政治体制改革特点及现状分析

中国的政治体制改革,是一项长期而复杂的系统工程。虽然取得了一定的成效,但也暴露出了很多问题,当前政治体制改革已明显滞后于经济体制改革。本文通过对当代中国政治体制改革的特点及现状分析,探究政治体制改革改革滞后于经济体制改革的原因,并展望未来政治体制改革的走势。     

When Reforms Travel: The Sequel

In a previous paper, we described the process in which a reform, grown in the soil of one school district (Community District #2 in New York City) was transplanted to new soil, a new context (the San Diego City Schools). In this paper we examine the condition of the reform 6 years later, at the time Anthony Alvarado, the architect of the reform in New York City and its transplant to San Diego, left the San Diego City Schools, and a new phase of reform was underway. From 1998 through 2002, the San Diego City Schools engaged in a dramatic, daring, and possibly unprecedented reform. Their overarching goal was expressed consistently in terms of student learning. To achieve that commendable goal, the District instituted a content-driven, centralized, comprehensive, and fast-paced reform in 1998. We discuss the tensions that were produced when the ambitiousness of a reform outpaced the capacity of educators to carry it out; when the values, norms, and beliefs of teachers and principals col These developments have consequences for our assessment of how reforms travel from one district to another. Reforms that were developed for and proved their effectiveness in elementary settings appear to have limited transferability to middle and high school settings because elementary students’ learning trajectories are different from adolescents and the organizations of high schools are very different from elementary schools. And reforms that privilege the technical dimension of school reform must always be sensitive to the way that interacts with the political and cultural dimensions.     

CONSUMING THE PUBLIC SCHOOL

In this essay David Labaree examines the tension between two competing visions of the purposes of education that have shaped American public schools. From one perspective, we have seen schooling as a way to preserve and promote public aims, such as keeping the faith, shoring up the republic, or promoting economic growth. From the other perspective, we have seen schooling as a way to advance the interests of individual educational consumers in the pursuit of social access and social advantage. In the first half of the essay Labaree shows the evolution of the public vision over time, from an emphasis on religious aims to political ones to economic ones and, finally, to an embrace of individual opportunity. In the second half, he shows how the consumerist vision of schooling has not only come to dominate in the rhetoric of school reform but also in shaping the structure of the school system.     

Evaluation of certain plans of financing education in South Carolina

Reforming the way a state distributes its funding to local school districts is a challenging task. Too often, state leaders embrace major school funding reform only when they are directed by court decisions. In this seemingly contentious policy domain, the Rhode Island General Assembly defied the odds—working in a recessionary climate and in the absence of judicial mandates—and enacted its first major school funding reform in almost 20 years on June 10, 2010. This article examines the Rhode Island school funding reform and how the state's leaders were able to overcome political and fiscal barriers following years of unsuccessful efforts to develop a new funding formula. The article also discusses the design of and the rationale behind the key features of the new formula addressing equity and accountability.     

Reforms and challenges in the era of inclusive education: the case of China

This article, written by Meng Deng of Beijing Normal University and Kim Fong Poon‐McBrayer of the Hong Kong Institute of Education, reviews and analyses the reform of special education in China, the challenges confronting Chinese special education provisions, and how the Chinese inclusive education model, namely ‘Learning in Regular Classrooms’, has been shaped by the pragmatic needs aligning with the nation's economic and social developments. In an effort to provide wider school access, the current inclusive education model has become the form of educational placement that serves the majority of students with disabilities in China. The authors conclude that reforms in the last two decades have resulted in dramatic changes and progress in many facets of special education service delivery, school structure, administrative monitoring mechanism, and instructional practices. However, the current Chinese special education service structure is still shaky, with inadequate resources, personnel preparation and support at the local level. Fundamental changes to the examination‐oriented mainstream education system are still needed, to enhance the quality of education for students with special needs.     

风雨百年唱新诗

声诗是中国古代诗歌的主流样式。在中国百余年来波澜壮阔的现代性伟大历史变革中,新声诗始终呼应乃至推动着社会变革的大潮,歌唱新思想、歌唱新人物、歌唱新时代的伟大变革和激烈斗争。它成功地走过了学堂乐歌、救国战歌、建设颂歌、改革潮音四个阶段,出现了大量的长期活在亿万人民心头、口头的不朽诗篇。但迄今为止,它的思想、艺术成就仍未得到应有的评价并一直被排除在＂新诗＂之外。     

改革教育改革——从作为政治—经济改革到作为社会—文化改革

新中国60年来的教育历程大体是一个改革的过程。其间诸多重大教育改革,均为基于政治—经济需要和逻辑推论而操持的教育改革。建国初年,伴随着新民主主义教育政策的颁布,思想改造运动政治化地整饬了教师的角色;"52调整"既是经济重工业化的迫切需要,也是政治整齐化的重大举措;"85决定"则直接造就了此后20年转移政治—经济义务的"义务教育",并与重点学校制度一道使教育公平问题积重难返。1992改元市场经济以降,教育改革,尤其高等教育改革惟经济主义马首是瞻,走上"扩招""、升级"、"并校"的产业化和大跃进之路。作为政治—经济改革的教育改革,要么沦为政治的工具,要么用于经济的筹码,抑或受二者钳夹,效果堪忧。有必要改革教育改革,走向作为社会—文化的教育改革,并保有文化视野。     

Teaching in transition: Examining school-based gender inequities in central/southeastern Europe and the former Soviet Union

In the last decade, gender equity has become one of the most prominent issues in education reform efforts worldwide. Yet, questions of gender equity have received very little attention in the education reform efforts in the post-socialist countries during the transition period. Focusing on the political, economic, and social changes of the 1990s, this article examines school-based gender equity as it is treated in textbooks, curriculum, teacher attitudes, school environment, leadership and tracking. The article presents gender-sensitive strategies for reform and explores how existing ‘gender-neutral’ education practices detrimentally affect gender equity in schools, providing country-specific examples. The article concludes with recommendations for teaching in transition, given the education sphere's strong potential to redress gender inequities.     

So It “Became White Activists Fighting for Integration?” Community Organizations,Intersectional Identities,and Education Reform

Community-based organizations have long influenced education reforms, and urban areas are especially vulnerable to community work that transcends racial and economic boundaries. The purpose of this study is to explore how The League of Women Voters of Las Vegas Valley, a mostly White, middle-upper-class women’s organization, worked to pursue one of the most prominent urban education reforms in the last half century—school desegregation. Using interview and archival data, this historical case study is theoretically framed by various critical constructs to examine how the organization’s racial and economic privileges, and in some cases oppression, coupled with gendered systems of patriarchy and misogyny, influenced the process and outcomes of school desegregation reform in Las Vegas between 1966 and 1972. The organization’s intersectional identities afforded them unique opportunities and barriers. Nevertheless, they ultimately compromised on an inequitable policy that burdened Black children and their families for close to 20 years. These findings suggest that the intersectional identities of organizations can both empower and hinder community engagement in education reform. Because interests often diverge, organizations undertaking education reform should do the collective work necessary to address unintended policy consequences of education reform efforts.     

The Legitimation of Curricula Through Legislation

I. On the Significance of Curriculum Formation for the Educational System

Many of the problems that in past years have precipitated struggles in the areas of educational theory and policy today fade in importance before the question of what is taught in the schools and how it is taught: for example, how schools are organized, what qualifications those who create schools must have, what participatory rights students, teachers, and parents enjoy, and so on. A central aspect of any school system is what is taught in it. (1) Moreover, the methods by which the content of instruction is produced, given general validity, and translated into school reality are thus the most important instruments for controlling the content of the school system in general, as the German Education Council has stressed many times in the last few years. (2) This is not just a recent problem. Historically, the school system has not infrequently seen debate on the content of work in the school and on the methods used to transmit that content. (3) In the end, however, such differences of opinion have terminated with the state — formerly represented by the sovereign and more recently by the educational authorities — handing down a final and binding decision with which all involved in school life had to comply. Decisions on the school concerning content, that is, how schools are to organized and with what content, will continue to be required, even though such decisions may be continuously subject to revision. Since the mid-sixties, however, a broad scientific and political discussion has been conducted as to how traditional curricula may be replaced — both in terms of content and in terms of method of development — by instruments that are adequately adapted to actual sociocultural and economic conditions as well as to the requirements of a social and democratic state based in law.     

中国社会主义建设与法治的关联

中国社会主义建设与法治的关联是随着中国改革开放而逐步形成的。1956年社会主义改造结束至1978年十一届三中全会以前是中国社会主义建设与法治分离的时期,十一届三中全会到1995年十四届五中全会是中国社会主义建设与法治关联的准备时期,十四届五中全会标志着社会主义法治时代的到来。社会主义法治仍存在着严重危机,改革重心应从经济体制改革转向政治体制改革。     

Training the Mind: Continuity and Change in the Rhetoric of School Science

This paper identifies, depicts and sets out to interpret the common ground between the Australian radical education movement of the late 1960s and early 1970s and the present pre‐occupation with competency‐based reform in school education, the ‘new vocationalism’. The paper contends that both of these developments should be understood as historically novel, Janus‐faced radical movements. The helpfulness of the political‐economic concept of settlement for dealing with the nature and consequences of this congruence is explored. It is argued that the Janus‐faced radicalism of both movements locates them at the interface of modernity and postmodernity, and a particular interpretive response based on this perspective is proposed.