Educational accountability tests,social and legal inclusion approaches to discrimination for students with disability: a national case study from Australia

The UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disability promotes equal and full participation by children in education. Equity of educational access for all students, including students with disability, free from discrimination, is the first-stated national goal of Australian education. Australian federal disability discrimination law, the Disability Discrimination Act 1992, follows the Convention, with the federal Disability Standards for Education 2005 enacting specific requirements for education. This article discusses equity of processes for inclusion of students with disability in Australian educational accountability testing, including international tests in which many countries participate. The conclusion drawn is that equitable inclusion of students with disability in current Australian educational accountability testing is not occurring from a social perspective and is not in principle compliant with law. However, given the reluctance of courts to intervene in education matters and the uncertainty of an outcome in any court consideration, the discussion shows that equitable inclusion in accountability systems is available through policy change rather than expensive, and possibly unsuccessful, legal challenges.     

Do educational pathways contribute to equity in tertiary education in Australia?

A key assumption of equity policies in Australia, as in many countries, is that pathways from lower-status, vocationally oriented ‘second’ tiers of tertiary education to ‘first’ tier higher education are able to act as an equity mechanism. This is because students from low socio-economic backgrounds are over-represented in former and underrepresented in the latter. The assumption that pathways support equity is tested in this paper through an analysis of the socio-economic profile and institutional destination of student transfers from vocational education and training to higher education in Australia. It finds that educational pathways deepen participation in education by existing social groups but do not effectively widen participation for groups that do not have equitable access. This is as a consequence of the hierarchical structuring of qualifications within VET as well as in higher education.     

美国教育充足理念的形成、依据及政策影响

教育充足表现为较高的最低质量标准,强调确保所有学生公平地获得为达到特定水平的知识与技能所需的教育机会,体现了教育公平的实质。与传统的教育公平发展政策不同,教育充足政策不仅关注于平等对待的标准,而且更关注学生个体需要。     

Social exclusion and school participation in India: Expanding access with equity

In recent years, increased demand and massive expansion have brought into Indian schools huge numbers of children who might not have attended in the past. Still, large numbers, and specific groups, of children remain excluded from schooling for various reasons, jeopardizing equitable access to elementary education. Further accentuating this inequity in provision, the quality of education remains deeply unsatisfactory, particularly for children from disadvantaged groups. This article explores the dimensions and issues related to exclusion from education and the policies and actions required to make educational expansion more equitable, which would contribute to pluralism and harmony and promote greater social cohesion.     

加拿大土著远程教育及其对我国的启示

加拿大土著远程教育体现了教育家和政策制定者的教育理念。他们相信,远程教育课程不仅可以使边远地区的学习者不必离开自己的居住地就可享受到更多的平等教育选择机会,而且还是一个更为划算的教育传播体系,因为它可以大大地降低教育成本。加拿大的土著远程教育由来已久,发展独具特色,对于我国少数民族地区开展远程教育具有启示作用。     

Bernstein in the urban classroom: a case study

Despite a long-standing concern within the sociology of education for ameliorating educational inequality, the challenge of improving educational opportunities for disadvantaged students remains deeply entrenched. While ‘macro’ issues such as segregation and systemic inequalities in school funding and access to qualified teachers must be addressed as matters of social and educational justice, Basil Bernstein's novel focus on ‘relations within’ education as the site of pedagogic discourse offers teachers and those working inside school systems a particularly powerful vision for promoting more equitable outcomes for students. This paper examines this assertion through a case study of the ‘mixed’ pedagogical practice of a successful teacher in a fifth-grade urban classroom in the United States.     

An examination of the values and perceptions of parents and teachers in relation to parental involvement in school policy formation

Abstract

In the last decade access initiatives have been designed to facilitate greater access and participation for people from marginalised groups who have traditionally been excluded from higher education. In common with international trends, young people with disabilities in Ireland have been included in this process. However, people with disabilities remain under‐represented in higher education. This study explored the quality of access to higher education for young people with disabilities through existing access routes. Both the young people and the professionals (career guidance teachers) agreed that access routes lack transparency. There was a dearth of professional knowledge about the options available to young people with disabilities leaving school. This lack of professional knowledge combined with the opaqueness of access routes forced the young people to rely on parental support and/or disability agencies for information and guidance. It can be concluded that goodwill and compassion are no substitute for an informed system that ensures equitable access for young people with disabilities to higher education.     

Gender issues in teaching information technology courses by distance education

This paper looks at reasons why women are still under‐represented in tertiary level technological education after 20 years of discussion, and argues that it is important for society to look at ways of not only improving educational access to women but also providing equal benefit once enrolled. Distance education is often seen as a solution to access problems but the particular needs of women in distance education must be considered. Financial, attitudinal and skills barriers may need to be overcome if there is a pre‐enrolment requirement of quality access to computing equipment. Ways of improving both participation and persistence of women in information technology courses are discussed.     

Towards equality: the voices of young disabled people in Disability Rights Commission research

Increased participation and success in education for disabled people will improve their social inclusion and benefit society in general. In this article Louca‐Mai Wilson discusses Disability Rights Commission research on education and its implications for policy and practice. Research findings are considered in relation to the need for the voices of young disabled people to be heard in research, policy and planning. A key finding was that young disabled people want to be regarded and treated as equal to their peers, with the same rights of access and educational opportunity. But schools and educational establishments vary in their willingness and capacity to address and remove existing access barriers. Inclusion is a key issue for many young disabled people; many feel isolated at school and college and often have lower expectations about their future than their non‐disabled peers. Inclusive practice and participation are key to ensuring that disability equality in education is achieved.     

江苏省普通高中教育公平现状考察与问题分析

推进教育公平是我国教育改革与发展的基本策略。江苏省普通高中教育在走向普及化的过程中,还存在着诸多不公平的问题,包括教育资源配置的区域差距、城乡差距、校际差距,高中教育机会获得中的家庭阶层差距,以及择校对高中教育公平的不利影响。江苏高中教育在发展过程中,需要不断地解决这些问题,促进高中教育公平的发展,提高教育公平的品质。     

Gender equality in education: Definitions and measurements

International consensus on education priorities accords an important place to achieving gender justice in the educational sphere. Both the Dakar ‘Education for All’ goals and the Millennium Development goals emphasise two goals, in this regard. These two goals are distinguished as gender parity goals [achieving equal participation of girls and boys in all forms of education based on their proportion in the relevant age-groups in the population] and gender equality goals [ensuring educational equality between boys and girls]. In turn these have been characterised as quantitative/numerical and qualitative goals respectively. In order to consider progress towards both types of goal, both quantitative and qualitative assessments need to be made of the nature of progress towards gender equality. Achieving gender parity is just one step towards gender equality in and through education. An education system with equal numbers of boys and girls participating, who may progress evenly through the system, may not in fact be based on gender equality. Following Wilson (Human Rights: Promoting gender equality in and through education. Background paper for EFA GMR 2003/4, 2003) a consideration of gender equality in education therefore needs to be understood as the right to education [access and participation], as well as rights within education [gender-aware educational environments, processes, and outcomes], and rights through education [meaningful education outcomes that link education equality with wider processes of gender justice].     

Valuing production values: a ‘do it yourself’ media production club

In this paper, we identify how and why digital media production can contribute to the active participation of children in education and also consider how much of the existing work in this area is framed as a ‘miraculous’ answer to educational challenges without critical interrogation of either the process or product. To begin, we identify some of the prominent research and issues that have emerged from work of this kind and discuss the barriers to accessing equitable education in relation to new media production projects with kids. We discuss the changing state of knowledge production and communication in a new media world and address the place of literacy in this changing educational context. Following this, we present one example of a media production club and the way we look at this work to value students' productions in a way that differs from other research of this kind.     

Analysing support in inclusive education systems – a comparison of inclusive school development in Iceland and Canada since the 1980s focusing on policy and in-school support

ABSTRACT

This paper compares the systems of support in inclusive education in Canadian and Icelandic schools. The rationale for comparing these two support systems is grounded in the idea that they were developed in two countries with a long tradition of inclusive school development. They shifted the responsibility and the necessity of support for all learners towards the regular school, as it is embedded in the Salamanca Statement. The comparison is based on research findings from two comprehensive qualitative studies on inclusive education (Óskarsdóttir 2017. “Constructing Support as Inclusive Practice: A Self-Study.” Doctoral Thesis University of Iceland, Reykjavík; Koepfer 2013. Inclusion in Canada. Bad Heilbrunn: Klinkhardt) and is focused on the role of support as an integral part of inclusive practices. A system of support can be considered an inevitable pillar of inclusive education, in order to remove barriers, to enable participation in educational and social activities and to ensure equitable access to learning. Although the organisation and implementation of support is contextualised and bound in different historical and political frameworks, this international comparison shows that both countries – with all its ambivalences and conflictual settings – emphasise a human-rights based understanding of inclusion. They on a cultural transformation process of schools to implement support for all pupils.     

南非推动义务教育均衡发展的主要机制与措施分析

义务教育的均衡发展是保障"人人都有接受基础教育的权利"的重要体现,为此,南非政府通过采取许多机制和措施来切实推进义务教育的均衡发展.教育经费的均衡分配和教师资源的均衡配置,是保障义务教育均衡发展的两个重要方面.针对弱势群体采取行动和各种措施,是义务教育均衡发展得以落实的关键.通过采取各项措施,南非的义务教育均衡发展状况有了一定的进步,其主要机制和措施对我国推进义务教育均衡发展具有重要启发意义.     

Free education and social inequality in Ugandan primary schools: A step backward or a step in the right direction?

The intent of this study is to understand both direct and indirect resource effects in the context of a mass education system in Uganda. We find that under certain conditions, policies that promote physical resource availability can lead to substantial equity gains. A school's social composition appears to improve educational quality but it is also related to wider gaps between rich and poor students. We also show that heavier teaching workloads have the most damaging effect on low-income students who have fewer private resources to devote to academic pursuits. The policy implication is that equalising access to formal primary education does not guarantee equitable outcomes.     

论我国教育政策评估的价值基础

我国现阶段教育政策评估的价值基础是教育利益、教育公平和教育自主。教育政策要增进教育利益和公平分配教育利益,还要保证个体自主追求和实现教育利益。     

小学教师的公平素质及其构建

小学教师公平素质的构建,有助于实现教育公平由教室外向教室内最后0.5米的冲刺,促进教育过程和教育活动参与的公平。小学教师公平素质包括小学教师应有的公平知识、公平意识、公平责任、公平方式和公平情感五方面内容。小学教师公平素质的培养与提升,应当从教师专业标准、教师培训与培养和教师主动潜能出发。     

The politics of languages in education: issues of access,social participation and inequality in the multilingual context of Pakistan

This paper, based on some findings of a wider three‐year study, sets forth the issue of languages used and taught in education as a dimension of inequality and highlights its implications for widening participation and access in the multilingual context of Pakistan. The paper takes secondary education in private and government schools in Pakistan as a point of departure, and through themes that emerge from a qualitative multiple‐case studies account of 32 participants (final year graduating students and their same‐sex five‐ to six‐years older siblings) explores issues of inequality with reference to Amertya Sen's capability approach and Pierre Bourdieu's social critical theory. The findings revealed that the concurrent processes of (a) hegemony of English; (b) its discriminatory distribution through schooling; and (c) devaluation of local languages, led by the language policy and mediated through educational institutions, diminished the transformative impact of education in expanding opportunities for widening participation and access. Issues of inequality continue to haunt the underprivileged despite their secondary education. The paper highlights the importance of considering the political economy of languages chosen and taught in formal education as a means of evaluating social justice in educational contexts and considering languages in education decisions with reference to national language policy.     

Problems of securing equal access to higher education: The dilemma between equality and excellence

In the last few years higher education has undergone a thorough reassessment. In the classical liberal philosophy of equality of opportunity, education was regarded as the chief instrument for bringing about equality of life chances. Free access to further education and the provision of more places with the purpose of increasing participation were conceived as the main policy instruments for achieving equality of opportunity. Nevertheless, imbalances between social strata tended to remain in spite of increased participation. Research has contributed to increased sophistication and the realisation of a series of equalisation incompatibilities.The formal education system exists to impart competence considered to be of value both to the individual and society. Some enter the system better equipped than others, initial differences tend to increase instead of being levelled out. At the core of any admissions policy are the criteria of access. Cognitive differences account for only half or less of differences in educational attainments. Attitudes, aspirations and motivation are also of importance and explain a large portion of the social imbalances that remain after the removal of more tangible factors. Different combinations of criteria in varying degrees achieve equality of access.The question is raised whether in a mass system of higher education one would have to consider a dual admissions procedure to preserve the academic core system, i.e. graduate studies and research.Invited address to the Third International Conference on Higher Education, University of Lancaster, England, September, 1975.     

The K-12 educational technology value chain: Apps for kids,tools for teachers and levers for reform

Historically implementing, maintaining and managing educational technology has been difficult for K-12 educational systems. Consequently, opportunities for significant advances in K-12 education have often gone unrealized. With the maturation of Internet delivered services along with K-12 institutional trends, educational technologies are poised to help support the transformation K-12 education by providing student access to educational resources on an anywhere, anytime, any device basis. In addition, an emerging body of empirical research shows that when implemented systematically, technology can support a wide range of potential education innovations including inverted classrooms, peer-to-peer teaching and customized learning as well as increased academic achievement.A major public policy question is how best to insure educational technology resources reach all K-12 students in the shortest time and most equitable way possible. In response, this paper adopted an educational technology value chain model to assess potential avenues and barriers to implementing educational technology inK-12 systems. We find that a fully implemented educational technology value chain would directly benefit students, teachers, school systems and society. However, the analysis also finds that efforts to implement educational technology in K-12 systems still must overcome challenges and risks.