Increasing appropriate classroom behaviour and academic performance by reinforcing correct work alone

The present study examined indirect effects of modifying appropriate classroom behaviour by itself and academic performance by itself. Of particular interest were changes in appropriate behaviour as students were reinforced for correct work. Five disruptive boys were given arithmetic assignments during daily 20-minute experimental sessions. Changes in appropriate behaviour and arithmetic performance were measured during the following phases: (a) an initial baseline phase; (b) reinforcement for appropriate behaviour alone; (c) return to baseline; (d) reinforcement for correct arithmetic work. It was found that reinforcing appropriate behaviour increased that behaviour, but produced little improvement in arithmetic performance. However, reinforcing arithmetic performance not only increased correct work, but resulted in a high rate of appropriate behaviour as well. The implications of these findings for the management of classroom behaviours were discussed.     

Children’s education rights at the transition to secondary education: School choice in Northern Ireland

The principles of school choice and diverse provision underpin transition to secondary education in a majority of countries. This article focuses on the potential for structural diversity to constrain rather than promote choice. Although intended to improve equity in access and quality of provision, choice-based systems serve to homogenise school intakes and magnify attainment differences between schools. School choice decisions become high-stakes in such contexts, because eventual school placements influence the future character of children’s schooling. In Northern Ireland, existing community divisions are reflected in the available school types, with a majority of places at either Catholic or de facto Protestant schools, and only a small number at Integrated schools. This results in high levels of homogenisation along community lines. In addition, the provision of separate grammar and non-grammar schools means that intakes are also academically stratified, resulting in the extreme between-school attainment differences characteristic of systems arranged in this way. Drawing on documentary evidence and a survey of transition-age children, this research discusses how school choice within structurally complex systems can be constrained. The main focus is on how children’s education rights, as set down in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, are placed at risk by the interaction of system-level divisions. It concludes that school choice arrangements in Northern Ireland do not operate in compliance with children’s education rights when tested against each of the requirements set out in Tomasevski’s 4-As scheme, namely that education provision must be available, accessible, acceptable and adaptable.     

Is Education Getting Lost in University Mergers?

Mergers are common phenomena in higher education institutions. Improving educational quality is typically one of the stated goals of university mergers. Yet, little information exists about how merging institutions approach this goal. This paper presents results from a study of planning documents created prior to four mergers in the Finnish higher education system. These documents show that there was little concrete attention given to the educational issues related to the mergers. Most attention was placed on administrative issues and issues related to research. When educational issues were mentioned, it was almost always in the form of vague goals with few details provided about how the goals were to be reached. We conclude that this lack of attention to the educational aspect of mergers is a significant weakness of the planning process in these mergers.