Can the English Baccalaureate act as an educational equaliser?

ABSTRACT

Ensuring equal access to a broad and balanced curriculum for all students is a key component of a socially just education system. Yet in England, the freedom that 16-year-old students have to choose the GCSE subjects they study has created divisions in the pathways taken by students from different backgrounds. In 2010, a new accountability measure, the English Baccalaureate (EBacc), was introduced to encourage more disadvantaged students to study the ‘core academic’ GCSE subjects. This paper investigates the success of this initiative by analysing the relationship between free school meal (FSM) eligibility, studying the EBacc subjects and GCSE attainment. The findings are used to illustrate the complexities of balancing equal access to academic subjects against fair access to future opportunities, which often depend on good grades, when trying to deliver social justice in an education system that has an entrenched attainment gap.     

Perceptions of low ability students on group project work and cooperative learning

The benefits of cooperative learning strategies, such as group project work, have been advocated in a wide range of educational contexts. There is however, scant information on the outcome of such programs on students of low academic ability. In this study, interviews were conducted with four groups of low-ability students, with the aim of investigating their perceptions on the effectiveness of group project work in promoting their social and cognitive skills. Our findings show that although the students recognized that the program improved their competence in interacting with others, there are problematic organizational and instructional issues that have to be ironed out before students can profit fully from cooperative learning programs.     

Contemporary induction to teaching in Australian universities

Australia has 42 universities. In 2015/16, 30 of 40 universities reviewed provided one or more days of teaching induction for their staff, while 10 did not. Twenty-six of the 30 teaching induction program directors were surveyed and 24 of those were interviewed to provide a snapshot of professional development for new teaching staff in Australian universities. The key findings of that research showed that almost two thirds of universities did not pay sessional staff to attend a teaching induction program; just over half the programs included peer observation of teaching; only one in five programs offered mentoring opportunities; three quarters of programs included assessment; and approximately a third of programs provided credit towards an award course. We conclude that all universities need to provide new teaching staff with a longer teaching induction program, which will support them to develop student-centred, scholarly behaviours and attitudes.     

A longitudinal study of upper secondary school students’ values and beliefs regarding policy responses to climate change

Abstract

This article explores changes of environmental values and beliefs among secondary school business and economics students regarding government and market solutions to climate change. The quantitative study is longitudinal and a survey was administrated to students at two occasions including 212 participants in the first measurement. Results show a small significant increase in importance for altruistic, biospheric and egoistic value orientations at average. At an individual level, there are substantial movements over time. Nearly two-thirds of the students changed the strength of their value orientations over time. Taxes and legislation were regarded as the most effective solutions to climate change, however there was a decrease in seeing market prices as important mechanisms for change. Analysis suggested no direct relationship between change in environmental value orientation and change in norms. However indirect associations were mediated by changing beliefs in the efficacy of education and information and the efficacy of tax policies. For example, students who became more egoistic and more convinced about the efficacy of tax were less likely than others to be willing to take personal actions.     

Towards mapping competencies through learning analytics: real-time competency assessment for career direction through interactive simulation

Abstract

The selection of career paths and making of academic choices is a difficult and often confusing task for young people. The impact on their lives, however, is enormous as it can determine entire future career possibilities. In India, a general remedy to this stress is that instead of choosing a field of study tailored to individual preferences and strengths, topics are chosen that align with the choices of the students’ families or their friends. This can have the effect of entrenching patterns of intergenerational inequity. The aim of this research is to give students greater access to the knowledge capital which will help them make better choices. This is achieved by engaging students in the career planning process, in order to convey information in a likeable and credible way. The COMPCAT (Competency and Career Assessment Tool) game engine combines the use of learning analytics and real time, interactive computer simulations designed to gain insights into the students’ engagement in the making of these complex decisions. This paper presents the conceptual architecture of the game and demonstrates its role in enhancing the learning effectiveness of the students.     

School principals and racism: responding to Aveling

This study responds to Nado Aveling's call in ‘Anti-racism in Schools: A question of leadership?’ (Discourse: Studies in the Cultural Politics of Education, 2007, 28(1), 69–85) for further investigation into racism in Australian schools. Aveling's interview study concluded that an overwhelming number of school principals denied the presence of racism in their schools, and that there were no discernible differences in how principals in different schools constructed racism. In contrast, our research found that school principals' constructions of cultural racism are strongly influenced by their school contexts. We elucidate these differences examining the various intersections between race, class and religion deployed by principals in different sites, and argue for the utility of examining and theorising cultural racism using an intersectional approach. By bringing context into our analysis we provide a more nuanced insight into the different ways in which racism is constituted and understood by Australian school principals.     

Developing educational goals: insights from a Peer Assisted Teaching Scheme

The rapid changes facing higher education are placing increased focus on the quality of the student experience, achieving learning outcomes, and employability expectations. As a result, academics in teaching roles are increasingly measured on performance via student evaluations amplifying attention on professional development initiatives for academics. One such initiative is the Peer Assisted Teaching Scheme currently in practice across many Australian universities. The critical component of the scheme is the establishment of teaching goals that provide focus and direction for the peer partnership. This study addresses two questions: (1) Around which aspects do academics set their goals for teaching improvement? and (2) How do academics’ goals align with the SMART goal-setting framework that is prescribed in the scheme? Findings from five Australian universities showed that goals align with a variety of educational areas yet many were underdeveloped, or misaligned with the proposed strategy. The implications of this are discussed and a framework for setting education goals for teaching improvement is developed.     

Further evidence of the effectiveness of phonological instruction with oral-deaf readers

The effectiveness of phonological instruction with 6 deaf students in an oral program was investigated. In a previous investigation (Syverud, Guardino, & Selznick, 2009), promising results had been obtained in a case study in which the Direct Instruction curriculum titled Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons (Engelmann, Haddox, & Bruner, 1983) was used with an oral-deaf child. Given these results, Syverud and Guardino were asked to replicate the procedures with additional struggling readers. A multiple case study design was implemented for a period of 10 weeks. Tests of nonsense words were administered to monitor weekly progress in phonological decoding. Intervention journals were completed for each tutoring session to provide qualitative information. Although the results were mixed, all 6 participants showed gains in phonological decoding skills. Suggestions for both practitioners and researchers are offered.     

The fidelity of formative assessment implementation: issues of breadth and quality

The paper examines the breadth and quality of formative assessment implementation of 202 mathematics and science teachers who participated in a two-year, school-based professional development programme that focused on formative assessment. Results are triangulated using three sources of data: baseline and end-of-Year 2 data from an annual survey, logs that were completed daily at six two-week time points and reflections on formative assessment techniques that the teachers wrote weekly during the log collection periods. The data indicate that while teachers made significant improvements in some areas, certain aspects of formative assessment are less emphasised and there are some patterns around quality of implementation that suggest more targeted professional development is warranted.     

The extent of similarity in concept development for children with and without handicapping

ABSTRACT

This paper examines and integrates findings from six investigations of similarity in concept development for children with and without handicapping conditions. The studies were designed to ensure comparability and are brought together to provide fuller understanding. They were carried out with children who have hearing, language or visual impairments as well as with those termed mentally retarded. Similarity in sequence of development was strongly supported by scalogram analyses in every investigation. The educational implications of common orderings are clear. Similarity in structure was supported in the case of non‐retarded and retarded children with no known organic condition. Further study is needed before conclusions are drawn about structure and retarded children who have organic conditions.