Editorial: conceptualising Early School Leaving

Early school leaving has been identified as a key policy priority across Europe. In this article, we critically discuss the underpinning assumptions and rationale for this policy focus, challenging the association that is made between early school leaving, economic growth and employment. We suggest that ESL is important, not because it is inhibiting growth or that it is responsible for high levels of youth unemployment, but because it helps to sustain and reproduce inequalities. We problematise the utilitarian conceptualisation of education and linear models of educational pathways that are embedded in this policy framework and critically discuss strategies that are proposed to address early school leaving. We argue that the key criteria for assessing such strategies should be the extent to which they meet social equity and social inclusion goals.     

Specialist Teachers for Pupils with Learning Difficulties? A Survey of Headteachers in Schools and Units

Georgina Julian, a third year undergraduate, and Jean Ware, a lecturer in the Psychology of Education and Special Educational Needs, at the University of Wales, Cardiff, report on research into the current position on the relevant qualifications of teachers, and intending teachers, in schools and units for pupils with moderate to profound learning difficulties. They suggest that there has been little consistent progress in the preparation of teachers for this work since the ACSET (Advisory Committee on the Supply and Education of Teachers) Report in 1984.     

Poly-victimization among juvenile justice-involved youths

Objectives

This study replicates and extends the research literature on poly-victimization with a vulnerable and under-served population, juvenile justice-involved youths.

Methods

N = 1959, 10–16 year old youths (76% male; 74% youth of color) consecutively newly admitted to juvenile detention facilities completed psychometric measures of trauma history, posttraumatic stress, affect regulation, alcohol/drug use, suicide risk, and somatic complaints.

Results

Using latent class analysis derived from 19 types of adversity, three unique classes best fit the data. A poly-victim class (49% female, 51% youth of color) accounted for 5% of the sample and reported a mean of 11.4 (SD = 1.1) types. A relatively moderate adversity class (31% female, 70% youth of color) accounted for 36% of the sample and reported a mean of 8.9 (SD = 0.3) types of adversity and 2.65 (SD = 1.1) types of traumatic adversity. A low adversity class (59% of the sample; 17% female, 78% youth of color) reported a mean of 7.4 (SD = 0.4) adversity types but only 0.3 (SD = 0.45) types of traumatic adversity. The relatively moderate adversity class was comparable to poly-victims in endorsing extensive non-victimization traumatic adversity (e.g., accidental and loss trauma), but poly-victims were distinct from both moderate and low adversity class members in the likelihood of reporting all but one type of traumatic victimization, multiple types of traumatic victimization, and severe emotional and behavioral problems. Girls were at particularly high risk of poly-victimization, and African American and White youths also were at risk for poly-victimization.

Conclusions

Although youth involved in the juvenile justice system typically have experienced substantial victimization, a poly-victimized sub-group, especially (but not exclusively) girls, warrants particular scientific, clinical, and rehabilitative attention in order to address the most severe behavioral and mental health problems and risks faced by this vulnerable population.     

The Effects of Public School Choice on Those Left Behind: Evidence from Durham,North Carolina

Using student-level data from Durham, North Carolina, we examine the potential impact of school choice programs on the peer environments of students who remain in their geographically assigned schools. We examine whether the likelihood of opting out of one's geographically assigned school differs across groups and compare the actual peer composition in neighborhood schools to what the peer composition in those schools would be under a counterfactual scenario in which all students attend their geographically assigned schools. We find that many advantaged students have used school choice programs in Durham to opt out of assigned schools with concentrations of disadvantaged students and to attend schools with higher achieving students. Comparisons of actual peer compositions with the counterfactual scenario indicate only small differences in peer composition for nonchoosers on average. More substantial differences in peer environment emerge, however, for students in schools with concentrations of disadvantaged students and schools located near choice schools attractive to high achievers. The results suggest that expansions of parental choice may have significant adverse effects on the peer environments of a particularly vulnerable group of students.     

Socialization of Doctoral Students: Implications for Social Work Education

Recent discussions on social work education increasingly have drawn attention to doctoral education. The purpose of this article is to consider these discussions that debated some of the ways of improving doctoral student education and professional development, using professional socialization as a conceptual framework. Issues such as research, teaching, and research assistantship, and conferences are considered as key components of the process of preparing doctoral students for knowledge building through teaching and research. Finally, the paper discusses some implications for social work education.     

The Success of Schools in Implementing Eight Restructuring Designs: A Synthesis of First‐Year Evaluation Outcomes

In the UK there has been strong governmental pressure on schools to adopt a technicist‐rational approach to management. This paper reports an investigation of the relationship between the efficiency of resource management and school effectiveness using data from 117 secondary school inspection reports undertaken by the Office for Standards in Education (OFSTED). School effectiveness is assessed in terms of qualitative and quantitative measures of the quality of learning and teaching reported by inspectors. Quantitative indicators of the extent to which schools are assessed as ‘efficient’ in managing resources were derived. Statistical analysis suggests a positive association between school effectiveness and rational management practice.     

Enhancing the undergraduate student experience via fund-raising partnerships: an action research project

This project was developed from practitioner action research and considers the impact of integrating fund-raising activities into the formal curriculum with a target group of undergraduate students. The main aim of this project was to evaluate the impact of developing fund-raising activities as an integral aspect at both module and programme levels, grounded within practitioner action research. A core component of this aim was to develop value-added structures into established modules to support the student experience and student identity. Furthermore, the project sought to broaden, develop and strengthen links with the local wider community, recognising the value such interactions can bring. Finally, the project set out to develop integration opportunities between the students and organisations in order to develop the students’ awareness of workforce options as future professionals. This study is based within one post-1992 higher education institution and consisted of three inter-related but distinct phases. The project involved 60 students during Phase 1, building to some 200 students by Phase 3. The findings suggest that fund-raising activities built into the formal curriculum can be a useful medium for promoting student identity whilst providing a ‘value-added’ component to existing programmes of study.     

Narrative understandings of a school policy: intersecting student,teacher, parent and administrator perspectives

In this article, we examine one school’s experience with policy, as a means of shedding light on the intersection of factors contributing to challenges of implementing policies to support the academic achievement and social adaptation of immigrant and minority students in their school context. We begin with the presentation of a ‘big fight’ between two students of different ethnic and racial backgrounds, and consider multiple perspectives of how the disagreement was addressed by teachers and administrators, to offer insight into how issues of race and policy might have been understood by members of the school community. We use a narrative inquiry approach to examine ways in which a policy designed to enhance student participation was interpreted by various members of this school community. This study reveals nuances of the intersection between culture and (hidden) curriculum as it relates to the implementation of policies aimed at creating and maintaining safe school communities.     

Review Essay: Cultivating a Rhetoric of Agrarianism

CONTROL AND CONSOLATION IN AMERICAN CULTURE AND POLITICS: RHETORICS OF THERAPY. By Dana Cloud. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications, 1998; pp. 224. Cloth $67.95; Paper $31.95.

DANGEROUS LIAISONS: GENDER, NATION, AND POSTCOLONIAL PERSPECTIVES. By Anne McClintock, Aamir Mufti, and Ella Shohat. Minneapolis and London: University of Minnesota Press, 1997; pp. 560. Cloth $62.95; Paper $24.95.

WHITENESS: THE COMMUNICATION OF SOCIAL IDENTITY. Edited by Thomas Nakayama and Judith Martin. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications, 1999; pp. xiv + 314. Cloth $73.95; Paper $36.95.