Aspiration levels and educational choices: An experimental study

The explanation of social inequalities in education is still a debated issue in economics. Recent empirical studies tend to downplay the potential role of credit constraint. This article tests a different potential explanation of social inequalities in education, specifically that social differences in aspiration level result in different educational choices. Having existed for a long time in the sociology of education, this explanation can be justified if aspiration levels are seen as reference points in a prospect theory framework. In order to test this explanation, this article applies the method of experimental economics to the issue of education choice and behaviour. One hundred and twenty-nine individuals participated in an experiment in which they had to perform a task over 15 stages grouped in three blocks or levels. In order to continue through the experiment, a minimum level of success was required at the end of each level. Rewards were dependent on the final level successfully reached. At the end of each level, participants could either choose to stop and take their reward or to pay a cost to continue further in order to possibly receive higher rewards. To test the impact of aspiration levels, outcomes were either presented as gains or losses relative to an initial sum. In accordance with the theoretical predictions, participants in the loss framing group choose to go further in the experiment. There was also a significant and interesting gender effect in the loss framing treatment, such that males performed better and reached higher levels.     

Low cost private schooling in India: Is it pro poor and equitable?

India has seen an explosion in low-fee private (LFP) schooling aimed at the poorer strata of society, and this once-urban phenomenon has spread in the last decade to rural areas, with implications for equity due to the level of direct costs involved. This study explores whether or not LFP schooling in rural India is pro-poor and equitable, and finds that these schools are unaffordable to the bottom two wealth quintiles of families. This conclusion has implications for policy formation and shows that increased reliance on a market in education will not help to achieve equitable access to primary schooling for all.     

Rural Communities Lacking Multi-Sector Schooling Options: Indiana’s School Choice Deserts

ABSTRACT

Despite Indiana’s school choice landscape – including private school vouchers, tax-credit scholarships, inter-district and intra-district enrollment, magnet schools, and charter schools – not all Indiana communities have reasonable access to options outside of their traditional public schools. This research explores what lack-of-reasonable access differences – defined as greater than a 30-minute one-way drive time to a choice school – exist by locale, with a focus on rural communities. Geospatial analysis is used to identify “school choice deserts” lacking multi-sector schooling options in various communities. These deserts tend to exist wholly or mostly in rural areas, although Indiana students in grades K–8 exhibit greater access levels to non-traditional schools than those in high school.     

Private schooling promotes political and economic freedom? An international fixed effects instrumental variables analysis

Specialised learning environments provided through private schooling may increase educational quality, which may increase the likelihood that citizens will pursue human rights through civic engagement. We employed 2-stage least squares year and country-level fixed effects and examined how private schooling could affect political rights, civil liberties, and economic freedom indices in 174 nations across the globe from 1999 to 2014. We used an innovative instrumental variable, fluctuations in the short-run demand for schooling within countries, over time, in order to predict private schooling. Our results suggest that an increased share of private schooling enrolment at the primary level leads to enhanced political and economic freedom.     

学校变革的三种影响力量

教育行政推动、社会需求驱动和学校自主选择是影响学校变革的三种主要力量,它们对学校变革的影响各不相同。为使学校变革能顺利推进,一方面要尽力改进教育行政管理和引导社会对教育的需求,为学校变革创造支持环境;另一方面要从学校自主选择切入,培育推动学校变革的力量。为此,要重点提升校长的教育责任感、事业心、办学理念、开拓精神、改革意志等办学品质。     

Do private schools improve public school quality or increase stratification?

Utilizing a 4-year longitudinal dataset (2007−08 to 2010−11) of 212 public secondary schools from two districts in Nepal, I conduct panel regression analyses to determine the association between public school high stakes examination outcomes and measures of private sector competition. I find that there does not seem to be a significant positive or negative association between public school outcomes and the extent of private competition in recent years. However, there is evidence to suggest that the gap between public and private school outcomes is higher in localities with higher private sector growth, providing suggestive evidence of stratification.     

论我国普及高中阶段教育的认识问题

在加快普及高中阶段教育的要求下,需要全面而科学地认识我国普及高中阶段教育的主要问题。必须科学审视高中教育"普及"含义,科学决策普及高中阶段教育中的"收费"政策,把实现教育公平与提高教育质量作为加快普及的要求内容。     

教育服务运作过程及其产品的创新研究--兼谈学校教育质量的提高

服务产品的提供是通过服务生产活动和服务传递活动相结合的运作过程完成的。本文在对服务运作过程及其产品分析的基础上,对教育服务过程及其产品进行了全新的界定,并根据教育产品和教育质量的关系提出了学校教育质量提高的关键是加强师资队伍建设。     

‘The best school for my child?’ Positions,dispositions and inequalities in school choice in the city of Barcelona

This article deals with the discourses and practices employed by families involved in school choice processes in the city of Barcelona (Spain). It draws upon a study conducted by the authors in 2008/09, and it is based on surveys completed by a representative sample made up of 3245 families, as well as 60 in-depth interviews with families with children at the age of commencing universal pre-primary education (three years old). Firstly, the article focuses on the types of concerns and pressures that families experience when choosing a school for their child. Secondly, we analyse the level and type of knowledge that parents have at their disposal about the field of school choice, as well as how they use and benefit from available information channels. Finally, we identify three unequal positions in which families find themselves when negotiating the field of school choice: ‘maximising’, ‘guaranteeing’ and ‘displaced’. These positions are, in turn, directly related to families’ locations in the social structure, which are also unequal.     

Filipino parents’ school choice and loyalty: a factor analysis

This quantitative study aims to ascertain the significant relationship existing between parents’ profile, and their school choice and school loyalty. Data were gathered using the researcher’s two-part made instrument. Respondents were first asked to fill in a robotfoto for purpose of profiling their baseline characteristics and were later asked to rate listed indicators, using a modified 8-point Likert scale. Using statistical tools such as the ANOVA, factor analysis, correlation, mean, and standard deviation, data were treated indepth. It is interesting to note that although parents are loyal to their alma mater, this does not have a much impact on their choice of school for their children. On the whole, parents’ choice of school is based on its indispensable qualities. Among the three interval-scale profiles of the parent respondents such as age, income, tuition fee payment and number of children, none of these relate to school choice, but age, income, and tuition fee payment negatively relate to school loyalty. From their nominal-scale profiles, significant differences were noted in their school choice when grouped according to civil status, place of work, and terms of payment. With respect to school loyalty, significant differences occurred in their responses when classified according to gender, terms of payment and their active participation in the Parent-Teacher Association (PTA).     

孝道现状及其教育对策研究

孝道是中华民族的传统美德,文章对2006年＂中国城乡老年人口状况追踪调查＂数据分析了全国范围的城乡老年人子女孝顺的现状,进行城乡对比后分析其原因,并结合孝道的城乡差异,提出应从家庭、学校、社会和法制四方面着手,有针对性地深入进行孝道教育,提高教育效果。     

云南省区域农民收入与其受教育程度的关系调查

为获得影响当前农民收入的主要影响因素,分析教育程度对农民收入的影响水平,本文在对云南省4200农户调查,并获得共计3432份有效问卷数据的基础上,结合统计年鉴相关数据和云南省人口普查数据,采用多元统计方法对农村居民家庭人均受教育程度对家庭收入的影响作用,及不同县域的居民受教育水平与其收入水平的变化关系进行了实证研究。研究发现,受教育程度是影响农民收入的主要因素,就县域范畴而言,初中教育对农民收入的贡献高于高中和中专,这对西部地区加大九年义务教育投入提供了实证依据。     

论“新教育实验”的教育幸福观

＂新基础实验＂、＂新课程改革＂、＂新教育实验＂是被当下教育人士称为＂三新鼎立＂的教育改革工程。＂新教育实验＂以帮助新教育共同体成员过一种幸福完整的教育生活为最高追求和努力方向,其理论基础中所蕴涵的人的发展、人的潜力的开发和个性的形成、追求崇高和和谐等一系列教育幸福观正是当前教育生活中所忽视和缺乏的教育理想。     

现代教育技术与学校教育文化变革

课程改革的本质是教育文化的变革,学校教育文化的变革是一个艰难的过程。现代教育技术是推动学校教育文化变革的重要力量,通过现代教育技术的运用,可以推动学校教育文化变革,从而推进课程改革。     

美国择校制度对解决我国农民工子女就学问题的启示

近几年来,我国农民工子女就学困难成为全社会共同关注的问题。美国的择校制度对我国解决农民工子女就学问题有一定借鉴作用。文章介绍了美国择校制度,并从创新体制方向提出了解决我国农民工子女就学问题的途径。     

新建地方本科师范院校办学模式创新探索

随着我国高等师范教育体制改革的推进,新建地方师范院校在规模、质量、效率上有了长足的发展,但如何发展仍是困扰新建地方本科师范院校的重要课题。应以科学教育发展观、全面素质教育质量观作为指导思想,实现两个对接,突出教师教育专业的学科建设平台,坚持多层次办学,服务基础教育和地方社会经济建设的办学模式新机制。实现人才培养目标的战略转移,实现从学历教育到能力本位的转移,注重学生的学习能力、创业能力和转岗能力的培养。