Commercialising comparison: Pearson puts the TLC in soft capitalism

Abstract

This paper provides a critical policy analysis of The Learning Curve (TLC) (2012), an initiative developed by the multinational edu-business, Pearson, in conjunction with the Economist Intelligence Unit. TLC exemplifies the commercialising of comparison and the efforts of edu-businesses to strategically position themselves in education policy processes globally. In analysing TLC, our account seeks to proffer a critical analysis of this emerging policy genre, and the way it functions as part of the new ‘soft capitalism’. We analyse TLC in relation to Pearson’s new business strategy, which emphasises corporate social responsibility and accountability to consumers for the efficacy of its products and services. We argue that Pearson is now generating and appropriating various data to legitimise its products and services according to a ‘neo-social’ mode of accountability. Network ethnography is employed to document the global networks of both people and data associated with TLC and we reflect on the emergence of Pearson as a potential education policy actor.     

Primary schooling under New Labour: The irresolvable contradiction of excellence and enjoyment

This article aims to provide both an account and an assessment of the most significant policies adopted by New Labour on primary schooling since its victory in the election of 1997. A secondary intention is to determine what these policies reveal about New Labour and its political project. A key policy objective in New Labour’s two terms of office since 1997 has been the retention of the electoral support it received from voters who had benefited from policies pursued by the Thatcher governments.     

How do school resources and academic performance differ across Australia’s rural, regional and metropolitan communities?

This study uses data from the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) to gain a better understanding of how academic performance and resources vary across rural–urban school communities in Australia. While it is well known that schools in rural areas have difficulty recruiting and retaining teachers, the degree to which schools in larger sized communities across Australia also face this problem is less understood. Moreover, very little is known about the degree to which shortages of instructional materials and equipment are associated with rural–urban location. The analysis includes 353 schools across eight community types that range in size of <1,000 people in small country towns to more than a million people in large capital cities. School principals reported the degree to which instruction in their school is hindered by a shortage of resources, which include qualified teaching staff and instructional materials and equipment. The findings highlight the extent to which school resources vary across geographic location, as reported by school principals. Principals of schools in the centre of large cities were the least likely to report that shortages of teaching staff or instructional materials hinder learning, while principals in rural and remote communities were the most likely to report that such shortages hinder instruction. These differences closely mirror student PISA academic performance and school socioeconomic composition. PISA data indicates that schools located in small rural communities have the lowest socioeconomic profiles, the lowest academic performance and the largest shortages of teaching staff and instructional materials, while schools in central neighborhoods of large cities enjoy the highest socioeconomic profiles, the highest academic performance and the fewest shortages.     

Collaborative lesson hook design in science teacher education: advancing professional practice

This article documents the process of collaboratively developing lesson hook e-resources for science teachers to establish a community of inquiry and to strengthen the pedagogy of science teaching. The authors aim to illustrate how the development and application of strategic hooks can bridge situational interest and personal interest so that lessons may become more meaningful and enduring. Qualitative data from both teacher educators and pre-service teachers involved in the design process, participant research journals, and data from six focus group sessions, illustrate the systematic reflection involved in producing effective and transformative hooks to support teachers and promote deeper student engagement and learning. Key findings reveal a pedagogical model of hook design, the complex elemental make-up of a science hook, the value that this teaching tool adds to the science classroom, and finally, the beneficial outcomes of collaborative resource design between student and staff in pre-service teacher education programmes. These hook resources aim to move beyond simply capturing student attention towards voluntary self-engagement, and have significant potential to serve as a pedagogical tool for teacher educators, as well as pre-service, newly qualified, in service, out-of-field, and experienced science teachers, to increase student academic performance, third-level science enrolments, and science careers.     

The Costs of Experience Corps® in Public Schools

Objective: To describe the annual operational costs of a mature Experience Corps® program in elementary schools in the Baltimore City Public School System. Methods: Systematic records of expenditures kept by the community partner, Greater Homewood Community Corporation, to be reported to funders were made available for analysis. Expenditures were aggregated to the level of fiscal year and grouped in categories in consultation with the community partner. Results: Expenditures to provide reimbursement to volunteers and to administer this complex volunteer program in an environment in which the school district needed additional management resources for such a program dominate the total expenditures. In the 2008 fiscal year, the program provided 158,305 hours of older adult volunteer service to public elementary schools in Baltimore City and the cost per volunteer hour was $9.79; in the 2009 fiscal year the program provided 157,238 hours of older adult volunteer service and the cost per volunteer hour was $9.60. This suggests consistency and may also suggest that the program is becoming more efficient over time. Conclusion: The costs presented represent the costs of running a mature program after an initial investment has been made. These costs would need to be compared with the short-term and long-term benefits to the older adult volunteers, the school children, other school personnel, and the schools' and volunteers' communities to perform a comprehensive benefit-cost analysis to inform public policy.     

Students Designing Video Games about Immunology: Insights for Science Learning

Exposing American K–12 students to science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) content is a national initiative. Game Design Through Mentoring and Collaboration targets students from underserved communities and uses their interest in video games as a way to introduce science, technology, engineering, and math topics. This article describes a Game Design Through Mentoring and Collaboration summer program for 16 high school students and 3 college student mentors who collaborated with a science subject matter expert. After four weeks, most students produced 2-D video games with themes based on immunology concepts from the educational science game Immune Attack. Findings from three groups that finished their games and one group with an uncompleted game are explored.     

Strategic and bonding effects of enhancing the student feedback process

In order to produce distinctiveness that leads to competitive advantage, higher education institutions must remain cognizant that students are co-creators. Thus, to create genuine value in educational service delivery, there is a need for a more highly developed understanding of the student-institutional intersection. The present research contributes to the marketing of higher education by developing and testing a model related to the antecedents of a broader conception of student feedback as part of student/customer orientation and co-creation. Conceived as customer feedback, student feedback to an educational institution can be positive (compliment), negative (complaint), or be an idea for an improvement to any person, or service group of the institution. Perceived ease of the feedback process and perceived usefulness, customer orientation and affective commitment are found as antecedents to intention to provide feedback. The result is a model with conceptual and managerial implications for strategically bonding students to universities.     

Defining family engagement among Latino Head Start parents: A mixed-methods measurement development study

Given the increasing numbers of Latino children and, specifically, of dual-language learning Latino children, entering the U.S. educational system, culturally contextualized models are needed to understand how parents construct their involvement roles and support their children's educational experiences. Current measures of parenting and family engagement have been developed primarily with European American families and, thus, might not capture engagement behaviors unique to other ethnic groups. Lacking culture-appropriate measurement limits our ability to construct programs that adequately incorporate protective factors to promote children's successful development. The present mixed-methods investigation employed an emic approach to understand family engagement conceptualizations for a pan-Latino population. One hundred thirteen parents from 14 Head Start programs in a large, northeastern city participated in the first study, in which domains of family engagement were identified and specific items were co-constructed to capture family engagement behaviors. Then, 650 caregivers participated in a second study examining the construct validity of the resulting 65-item measure across two language versions: Parental Engagement of Families from Latino Backgrounds(PEFL-English) and Participación Educativa de Familias Latinas (PEFL-Spanish). Four theoretically meaningful dimensions of family engagement among Latino Head Start families were identified empirically. The measure was then validated with teacher report of family involvement and parent report of satisfaction with their experiences in Head Start.     

Recommendations for Preparing and Scoring Constructed-Response Items: What the Experts Say

We determined the recommendations for preparing and scoring constructed-response (CR) test items in 25 sources (textbooks and chapters) on educational and psychological measurement. The project was similar to Haladyna's (2004) Haladyna, T. M. 2004. Developing and validating multiple-choice test items , 3rd, Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum. [Crossref] , [Google Scholar] analysis for multiple-choice items. We identified 12 recommendations for preparing CR items given by multiple sources, with 4 of these given by at least half of the sources; and 13 recommendations for scoring CR items given by multiple sources, with 5 given by at least half of the sources. Many recommendations received minority support or were unique to individual sources. Research is needed both on the effect of the recommendations for measurement properties and the extent to which the recommendations are adopted in practice.     

Providing Consultation About Boundary Dilemmas to Paraprofessional Staff Working With People With Severe Psychiatric Disabilities

ABSTRACT

Social justice has been suggested as a possible global moral framework for school psychology. It is, however, culturally understood and research suggests that the engagement with “social justice” in school psychology has been largely limited to a U.S. context. This project sought to extend international understandings and practices of social justice in school psychology. A thematic analysis of nine interviews with educational psychologists based in England was conducted. Social justice was defined as complex, and participants suggested it is important to educational psychology practice in part because of current cuts to public services and educational reforms. Findings also indicated a role for social justice consultation, building relationships, and engaging with broader macrolevel work to enact a social justice agenda. We discuss these findings in relation to previous literature, concluding that our research begins to document the seeds of a broader social justice agenda in school psychology.