Program evaluation of a school consultation program

The results of a school psychological and social work program are presented on children referred for behavioral and learning problems. Through the consultation service, the average student objective for learning problems was achieved to 85% of criterion, and the average objective for behavioral problems was achieved to 82% of criterion during a 10-week period. An analysis of the consultation activities was made in relation to the accomplishment of the objectives for both learning and behavioral problems. No clear evidence was found for any single activity being related to success. Also analyzed was the time spent on each consultation activity and the accomplishment of the student objectives. There was a positive relationship between total consultation time and student outcomes on learning problems, but there was no significant relationship between total consultation time and the accomplishment of objectives for behavioral problems. General findings show that consultation activities can be conducted with small investments of time and with a high degree of student accomplishment of objectives. A case is presented for the merits of program improvement by monitoring psychological and social work services.     

A computer science and robotics integration model for primary school: evaluation of a large-scale in-service K-4 teacher-training program

Education and Information Technologies - Integrating computer science (CS) into school curricula has become a worldwide preoccupation. Therefore, we present a CS and Robotics integration model and...     

Autonomy and religious education: lessons from a six-year evaluation of an educational reform in an Israeli school network

This study investigated the tension that exists between promoting an educational agenda and practising an educational approach which emphasises autonomy within the framework of religious education. Our main thesis is that every educational deed contains a dialectical tension between endorsing an educational agenda and the promotion of autonomy. Moreover, this tension is not restricted to religious education. The intensity of such a conflict varies in accordance with the flexibility (or inflexibility) of the dogma, the conceptual cohesion of the educational agenda and the perceived importance of granting autonomy to students. The more cohesive and inflexible the educational agenda is, the greater the danger that autonomy will be discarded. The present research examined an educational reform implemented in the National-Religious School Network in Israel, which included the promotion of autonomy among principals, teachers and students. Conducted over a six-year period (2006–2012), the research employed both qualitative and quantitative methodologies and involved various stakeholders in the school network. The multifaceted picture that emerged of the relationship between educational autonomy and religious agenda is presented.     

Mapping out the ICT integration terrain in the school context: identifying the challenges in an innovative project

This article discusses the research findings from the start-up phase of an innovative information and communication technology (ICT) project focused on ICT integration as a complex process involving many factors such as leadership, school readiness and organisational culture. Known locally as Hermes, the project's core objective was to provide an improved and ‘trouble-free’ ICT infrastructure for schools using thin client technology and a wireless broadband network, which would be managed centrally rather than locally. It was anticipated that this solution would help remove the barriers associated with ICT integration caused by technical issues. Based on an in-depth study of innovation adoption in eight schools involving a survey (n=119 teachers) and interviews (n=60 teachers), the study portrays a picture of the ICT integration patterns prior to and during the Hermes intervention in terms of schools' ICT readiness, leadership and vision. This small scale study can help us understand first- and second-order barriers to ICT integration in schools. In particular, this study informs us about the ecology of schools and ICT-based innovation, innovation scalability and contributes to a critical study of educational technology via a context-rich account of how educational technology is actually being mediated, rather than an idealised account of how technology could be used.     

Global citizenship education in context: teacher perceptions at an international school and a local Israeli school

We apply semi-structured interviews to conceptualise perceptions of global citizenship among teachers at an international school and teachers at a local public school in Israel, revealing discrepancies between theory and practice in global citizenship education (GCE). We find that teachers perceive global citizenship differently along three major axes: boundaries of global citizenship, practical aspects of GCE, and through the effect of Israel’s context. This study offers a comparative perspective that discerns the differing impacts of school context and student background on teacher perceptions at different kinds of schools and highlights the importance of teacher agency in GCE.     

Reshaping the Nordic education model in an era of efficiency. Changes in the comprehensive school project in Denmark,Norway, and Sweden since the millennium

The Nordic Education Model was an important part of the social democratic welfare state for many years in the second half of the 20th century. Since the millennium, transnational agencies have drawn education from the realm of politics into a global market place by advocating strategies such as efficiency, competition, decentralisation, governing by detailed objectives, control, privatisation, and profile schools. This article gives brief accounts of major trends in current school development policies, discourses, and practices in Denmark, Norway, and Sweden since the millennium, and explores how the values of the Nordic model are affected by the new policies. It is argued that the Nordic model still exists as the predominant system for the large majority of Scandinavian children at a national level, but that a number of new technologies aiming to increase the efficiency of teaching and learning are gradually undermining the main values of the Nordic model.     

Pre-service teachers in an after school program: increasing understanding of students,communities, and teaching

The purpose of the After School Creative Expression Program (ASCEP) was to provide a short-term afterschool program focusing on the visual and written creative arts to a group of elementary school children attending a Title 1 school. Pre-service teachers attending a liberal arts university within the same geographic region developed lessons in writing and photography and served as afterschool educators for ASCEP. The program provided pre-service teachers a valuable experience outside the classroom. Findings demonstrate pre-service educators gained new insights from ASCEP that will impact their teaching practices during school. Overall, results show ASCEP provided future educators with valuable learning experiences and opportunities to connect more deeply with their students and their community.     

Measurement and evaluation issues in education: The value of multivariate techniques in evaluating an innovative high school reform program

The purpose of this chapter is twofold. The first is to explore uses of new methods for the analysis of multilevel data in school effectiveness research with limited observed data, where the word “limited” is used because more often than not interesting information about changes in teaching styles and the influence of teachers on students is limited, and sometimes incomplete. The statistical and mathematical models we use to analyze our data should allow us to deal with these facts. Secondly a contribution is made to school effectiveness research by establishing that multilevel causes determine student achievement. The combination of student ability, a new curriculum and teacher satisfaction predict student achievement in a multilevel multivariate analysis. The rich data set contains 342 students, 20 teachers and more than 50 variables for each level, the student level and the teacher level. Half of the teachers were in an experimental condition, teaching a new type of class, called Humanitas, the other half taught history in a traditional way, and served as the control group in twelve schools in Los Angeles county.The statistical models used in this chapter can be described as (1) a data reduction model, where several observed variables are combined into a single scale, (2) a regression model for multilevel data, with a single dependent variable, and (3) a model for multilevel multivariate analysis. One of the conclusions of this chapter is that researchers should have a certain amount of knowledge of how the data are generated regarding the important relationships between the variables, before choosing a complicated model. It is advisable to explore the data, guided by a theoretical model, before fitting complicated hierarchical bilevel path models with latent variables.Above statements are in support of Rubin's statement (1991, p. 306): “that complicated analyses are often necessary in complicated problems, but unless their conclusions can be represented in clear summaries that can be supported by the real data and the observations in the field, they should not be trusted. Too often, the results of complicated analyses are summarized without making clear how the conclusions are consistent with the raw data”. The multilevel analyses in this chapter are such complicated analysis tools. The data are experimental data, collected under close observation by the researchers. The knowledge gained from the complicated data analysis is supported by observations, interviews and simple exploratory data analysis. The positive effect, on students and teachers, of an experimental curriculum in ten secondary high schools is revealed by multilevel path analysis with latent variables.     

Differentiation and integration in the Swedish upper-secondary school

This country report is devoted to the Upper secondary school introduced in Sweden in 1971, whose creation is the most radical reform attempted in Europe. It strives to integrate study-related and occupation-related education in higher secondary education. A brief explanation of the new concept is followed by a discussion of the structural and curricular characteristics of this school type, with emphasis on the importance of general subjects. In the final section the didactic principles of differentiation and integration and their implications for the organisational structure are juxtaposed and their interdependence is investigated.

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Zusammenfassung Dieser Länderbericht ist der seit 1971 in Schweden eingeführten Gymnasialschule gewidmet, welche die in Europa radikalste Reform darstellt, in der eine Integration von studienbezogener und berufsbezogener Bildung in der Sekundarstufe II angestrebt wird. Nach einer knappen Begründung der neuen Konzeption werden die strukturellen und curricularen Qualitäten der Gymnasialschule erörtert, wobei die Bedeutung der allgemeinen Fächer unterstrichen wird. Im letzten Abschnitt werden die didaktischen Prinzipien der Differenzierung und Integration (mit ihren Auswirkungen auf die Organisationsstruktur) einander gegenübergestellt und ihrer wechselseitigen Abhängigkeit untersucht.

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Résumé Ce rapport national est consacré à L'Ecole Secondaire Deuxième Cycle qui a été introduite en Suède en 1971 et dont la création constitue la réforme la plus radicale entreprise en Europe. L'objectif en vue est d'intégrer l'enseignement général et la formation professionnelle dans l'éducation secondaire du Deuxième Cycle. Après avoir expliqué brièvement cette nouvelle conception, l'auteur analyse les caractéristiques de la structure et du curriculum de ce type d'établissement en soulignant l'importance des matières générales. Dans la dernière partie il compare les principes didactiques de différenciation et d'intégration — avec leur portée sur la structure de l'organisation — et il examine leur interdépendence.

     

Behavioral objectives for psychological consultation in the school as evaluated by teachers and school psychologists

A set of behavioral objectives was developed for the consultant role of the school psychologist, based on Meyers' consultation model. A Likert-type questionnaire was developed to assess the degree to which teachers and school psychologists agreed upon the desirability and the actual accomplishment of these objectives. Based on a sample of 120 teachers and 83 school psychologists, it was found that both groups perceived a difference between the “desired” role and the role that school psychologists actually fulfill. However, there were also significant differences between teachers' and school psychologists' rating of the “actual” role, the school psychologists' rating agreeing more with the consultation model. Examination of individual items showed greater acceptance of objectives relating to Meyers' level of indirect service to the child, and less acceptance of Meyers' levels of direct service to the teacher and service to the school system.     

Toward integration of reading and service learning through an interdisciplinary program

This study examined the effect of an interdisciplinary program of reading and service learning on the cognitive and affective development of university students in Hong Kong. As Nussbaum (1997) stated, literature plays a vital role in educating citizens of the world through its narrative imagination and its power of promoting understanding and empathy toward the life of others. Halstead and Pike (2006) also emphasized that art can foster reflection upon action and bring about change in behavior as a result of perspective change. In this study, 24 freshmen read literary works under the theme of children??s welfare and explored issues related to the welfare of children worldwide. Their reflections on these materials were expressed in writing and in a presentation. In the following semester, the students participated in voluntary services within and outside Hong Kong. All students completed a questionnaire on their humanistic concerns and sense of global citizenship at the beginning and the end of the project. Results showed that students were conscious of their changes after joining the program and stated their growth in values and knowledge. The pre?Cpost-t-test analysis suggested that students had made significant improvement in the following areas: (1) their attitude toward serving others, especially in their personal and social values; (2) their engagement in reading literary and nonfiction works which reflect social and moral issues of the world; (3) their attention to world affairs; (4) their concern for the underprivileged; and (5) awareness of their potential in helping the poor.