Supports for children with disabilities in regular education classrooms: an account of different perspectives in Flanders

This paper presents the experiences and interpretations of children, parents, teachers and support persons concerning the implementation of supports in regular school environments in Flanders, Belgium. The data were gathered through observations, interviews and focus group meetings. Those multiple perspectives provide insights into the complexity of implementing supports in a regular education context. The conclusions offer some possibilities for debate and alternative ways of thinking about supports that facilitate inclusive school communities by tapping into resources such as the children, the environment, creativity and courage to leave the beaten path.     

The influence of closing poor performing primary schools on the educational attainment of students

This paper examines whether the closure of poor performing primary schools improved students' educational attainment. It is believed that school closure affects children's educational outcomes positively because children switch to better primary schools. At the same time, school closure creates a social disturbance such that educational outcomes may be affected negatively. There is no previous literature on the effect of this type of school closure on student performance. The empirical results indicate that student test scores are not affected by the school closure. Children are, however, tracked into higher secondary education levels after the school closure if they received more education years at the new primary school. This effect fades out and eventually becomes negative for children who received more than one education year at the new primary school. The results further suggest that there are no detrimental effects of a school closure in terms of educational performance.     

Testing Extension Services through AKAP Models

Abstract

Purpose: The aim of the paper is to analyse the attitude of Italian farms in gaining access to agricultural extension services (AES).

Design/methodology/approach: The ways Italian farms use AES are described through the AKAP (Awareness, Knowledge, Adoption, Product) sequence. This article investigated the AKAP sequence by submitting a questionnaire to a sample of Italian farms, providing questions on each step of the sequence.

Findings: The results confirm the validity of the model and the necessity to evaluate AES in each phase of the sequence, through an in-depth analysis of the possible motivation for not adopting them.

Practical implications: The functional repositioning of agriculture redefines the role of the farm, by introducing new possibilities of production and by fostering multifunctional activities. In this context, new tasks for AES emerge, aiming at sustaining farm development along either sectorial or territorial paths. Difficulties in adopting AES call for both fostering higher levels of access to services on behalf of farms and the adequate supply of services to farms' new needs.

Originality/value: AKAP models have been prevailingly used in developing countries to evaluate the efficacy of extension in increasing agricultural productivity. This article demonstrates how this model could be of help in developed agriculture too in performing new lines of development rooted in the new models of multifunctional agriculture.     

‘Needle and Stick’ save the world: sustainable development and the universal child

This text deals with a problem concerning processes of the productive power of knowledge. We draw on the so-called poststructural theories challenging the classical image of thought – as hinged upon a representational logic identifying entities in a rigid sense – when formulating a problem concerning the gap between knowledge and the object of knowledge. More specifically we are looking at this problem in the contexts of sustainable development and childhood, using illustrating examples in order to test the validity of these theoretical accounts. The examples we use range from internationally agreed documents claiming universality concerning environmental protection and childhood to national curricula for the pre-school to a Swedish governmentally produced and distributed TV series called Needle and Stick save the world, addressing the issue of sustainable development. In short, we wish to problematise the rigid positions of the child and the human being in relation to nature.     

Who is granted authority in the mathematics classroom? An analysis of the observed and perceived distribution of authority

The article deals with the way in which authority was established and interpreted by teachers and students in two Flemish sixth-grade mathematics classrooms. Problem-solving lessons during a seven-month observation period were analysed regarding three aspects of teacher–student interactions that explicitly or implicitly reflect who bears mathematical authority: (1) to whom were students allowed to ask for help; (2) who was allowed to answer students’ mathematics-related questions; and (3) who was allowed to evaluate students’ responses. For each of these aspects, we were interested whether authority was ascribed only to the teacher or whether authority was distributed more broadly, with students being considered accountable for their own and other’s learning process. Interviews with teachers and students were conducted to investigate the meaning that participants gave to the practices in which they were involved.     

The effect of class composition by gender and ability on secondary school students’ school well-being and academic self-concept: A literature review

In the field of educational effectiveness research, the influence of a class’ student body on students’ individual achievement scores has been a popular research interest for many years. Yet, few studies have focussed on the effects of class composition on students’ non-achievement outcomes, and up to now, hardly any attempts have been made to summarize the findings of previous studies on this topic by conducting a literature review. The current study tries to fill in this gap and focuses on the effects of class composition in secondary education in terms of ability and gender on students’ school well-being and academic self-concept. The results of this literature review indicate that ability grouping is beneficial for strong students’ school well-being, but rather detrimental for the school well-being of weak students. The reverse holds for students’ academic self-concept. Furthermore, our results show that single-sex classes are advantageous for girls’ school well-being and academic self-concept. As for boys, the results are inconclusive.     

A comprehensive evaluation of lexical reading in Italian developmental dyslexics

Italian developmental dyslexic readers show a striking length effect and have been hypothesised to rely mostly on nonlexical reading. Our experiments tested this hypothesis by assessing whether or not the deficit underlying dyslexia is specific to lexical reading. The effects of lexicality, word frequency and length were investigated in the same group of children in four separate experiments. Although dyslexics were slower and less accurate than skilled readers and had large length effects, they showed lexicality and word frequency effects in both reading aloud and lexical decision. In a cross‐experiment comparison, we show that a single global factor explains a large proportion of the difference in reading performance between dyslexic and skilled readers. This factor may indicate a deficit at a prelexical level of analysis. Lexical activation seemed spared in the dyslexic children based on the effects of lexicality and frequency. These findings contrast the hypothesis that Italian dyslexics primarily engage in nonlexical reading.     

Early School-leaving in Spain: evolution,intensity and determinants

Spain has one of the highest levels of early school leaving and educational failure of the European Union. The purpose of this paper is to analyse the anatomy of early school leaving in Spain and its characteristics. In order to do so, in the first part we discuss the measurement problems related with this concept and the evolution of drop-out rates in Spain. We argue that the published figures of early school leaving slightly underestimate the phenomenon, and discuss the impact of the increase in immigration rates on the level of educational failure and its very unequal distribution in terms of gender. In a second part, using data from the Labour Force Surveys of 2000 and 2007, we explore the factors behind educational failure by means of a logistic regression. The results of this model confirm the explanatory power of social reproduction hypotheses, but also show that there are important aspects of the patterns and recent evolution of early school leaving which cannot be explained by a single theoretical approach.     

A comparative study of children's attitudes towards deaf children,children in wheelchairs and blind children in Greece and in the UK

This comparative study explores the attitudes of children towards deaf children, children in wheelchairs and blind children in Greece and in the UK. A total of 463 children participated in this study, with 229 children from Greece and 234 children from the UK, in the fifth and sixth grades in primary schools. The views of the children were elicited with the use of an attitude scale. The roles of prior contact and current contact were examined. Results indicated that all children were positive towards the three categories of children and that girls were more positive than boys. Comparative findings showed that children's attitudes in the two countries differed in several ways. Children in Greece were more positive than children in the UK. However, children attending schools with special education units in Greece held more negative attitudes than children attending schools with special education units in the UK. Also, children in Greece who had prior contact with deaf children were less favourable towards deaf children compared with children in the UK. Furthermore, the results indicated that children held positive attitudes at a superficial level, expressing mostly social and emotional concern, and not a willingness to interact with these children. The findings stimulate a discussion regarding the impact of sociocultural characteristics upon children's attitudes towards children with special educational needs.     

A phenomenological case study of teacher candidate experiences during a yearlong teacher residency program

Abstract

This phenomenological case study investigated teacher candidates’ experiences in a yearlong undergraduate teacher residency program to identify candidate conceptualizations of the effective design elements of an intentionally created practice-based teacher education program. Such experiences are generally characterized by full-year co-teaching experiences in PK–12 classrooms alongside a mentor teacher within a district whose values closely align with the preparation program, while simultaneously taking relevant coursework with supporting university faculty . Researchers interviewed 16 teacher candidates to develop deeper understandings of the meaningful structures of the residency program as manifested through their experiences. Through an analysis of candidate statements, multiple key design elements and candidates’ perceived impact of the residency were unveiled. Findings demonstrate a paradigmatic challenge to current preparation models, and the potential of practice-base preparation, in particular teacher residency programs.