What Makes Schools Effective? A Comparison between School Communities in Australia and the USA∗

This paper reports on findings related to the perceptions held by members of school communities with respect to the factors which most help schools to be effective. The data are from a study conducted in Melbourne, Australia and in seven states of the United States of America. Findings from this research indicate that members of school communities: principals, teachers, parents and students believe that the most critical elements that contribute to the development of an effective school are dedicated and qualified staff, clear school purposes, strong academic and administrative leadership, a safe school environment and a positive school climate.

     

Introduction

In the last issue of our predecessor journal, Teaching at a Distance, Alistair Morgan considered what the term ‘independent learning’ meant in the Open University context. This article continues that debate, placing it in the context of a general model of the teaching and learning system, and relates independent learning to the idea of learning as personal development. The author, Tony Wright, is Staff Tutor in Technology in the East Anglian region of the Open University.     

Educational attainment in the short and long term: was there an advantage to attending faith,private, and selective schools for pupils in the 1980s?

ABSTRACT

This paper asks whether private, selective, and faith schools in England and Wales in the 1980s provided an academic advantage to their pupils, both in the short and longer term. Using longitudinal data from the 1970 British Cohort Study, we examine academic outcomes in compulsory schooling and further education, and the highest qualification gained by age 42. School sector differences are substantially attenuated by controlling for prior pupil characteristics. Nevertheless, a residual effect of private, grammar, and secondary modern schooling remains, both in the short and long term, controlling for both pupil and school characteristics. In the case of faith schools, however, the apparent advantage is restricted to the short term once pupil characteristics are controlled. A unique feature of our analysis is that we control for the individual’s faith of upbringing, which is important in reducing what could otherwise be seen as a distinctive Catholic school advantage.     

Empirical observations on the session timeout threshold

The World Wide Web is a popular “tool” for companies. It can be used as a method of communication between companies and their customers; it also allows organizations to setup virtual storefronts that can be accessed by customers from all over the world. The ability to understand customers’ behavior is extremely important as companies strive to increase the usability and profitability of their web service. The concept of a session is a popular unit of measurement used to analyze recorded information. However, this concept is currently rather abstract and lacks definition. How we measure a session is a fundamental question for web services utilizing this concept. Currently, this question has no real answer. This paper presents a session timeout threshold model based on empirical observations as an initial answer to this question. The model seeks to provide accurate session data with respect to individual web services.     

Towards a method to disseminate knowledge from the post project review

In this paper we review several issues associated with post project review and dissemination of knowledge in information technology projects. We reflect on our practice of coaching project teams. In identifying the role of social pressure in forming teams’ perception of their performance, we suggest what could potentially be an interesting and fruitful avenue of future research on an approach to post project review and dissemination of knowledge in organizations.     

Vertical hydrodynamic focusing in glass microchannels

Vertical hydrodynamic focusing in microfluidic devices is investigated through simulation and through direct experimental verification using a confocal microscope and a novel form of stroboscopic imaging. Optimization for microfluidic cytometry of biological cells is examined. By combining multiple crossing junctions, it is possible to confine cells to a single analytic layer of interest. Subtractive flows are investigated as a means to move the analysis layer vertically in the channel and to correct the flatness of this layer. The simulation software (ADINA and Coventor) is shown to accurately capture the complex dependencies of the layer interfaces, which vary strongly with channel geometry and relative flow rates.     

Leadership and Culture in Chinese Education

This article discusses the evolution of Chinese culture in the People's Republic of China through recognizing a number of different stages and their respective influence on education and school leadership. Among the recognized stages are traditional culture, socialist culture, enterprise culture and patriarchal culture. To some extent these stages have developed sequentially, although all are claimed to be of relevance today. Traditional culture is reflected in continued respect for authority, collectivism and harmony in schools. Socialist culture has, in many ways, reinforced aspects of traditional culture while, at the same time, further politicizing the principal's role, and enterprise culture has served to integrate market values into the education system. The influence of patriarchal culture continues to determine the role of men and women in schools, and particularly in school leadership. The article concludes by briefly discussing both the cumulative and enduring influence of the hybrid Chinese culture on education.     

Place and Space in the Design of New Learning Environments

The development of online and virtual teaching and learning environments to augment formal face-to-face environments raises questions about the way the new communication and information technologies (CITs) are being incorporated into the on-campus environment. More importantly, this development challenges the meaning of the on-campus student learning experience. The new CITs require institutions, teachers and researchers to reconsider the relationship of the physical setting to the student learning experience. This paper highlights examples of recent developments of new learning environments which have been enhanced by the contribution of educational developers at several Australian universities. It also proposes a set of pedagogically informed principles to guide the development of on-campus teaching and learning environments which may feature the use of CITs.