Exploring data use practices around Europe: Identifying enablers and barriers

In this article we explore what data-based decision making use looks like in schools in five different countries (United Kingdom, Germany, Poland, Lithuania and the Netherlands). We explore for what purposes data are used in these countries and what the enablers and barriers to data use are. The case study results show that schools in all five countries use data for school development, accountability, and instructional improvement. Also, the schools in the five countries struggle with the same type of problems: e.g. lack of access to high quality data, lack of professional development in using data, and a lack of collaboration around the use of data. Finally, we discuss how some enablers can turn into barriers for effective data use.     

School context and instructional capacity: A comparative study of professional learning communities in rural and urban schools in China

This study examines the teaching gap between rural and urban schools in China from the perspective of teacher professional learning communities (PLCs). Drawing on in-depth interviews with 36 primary school teachers, the study finds striking disparities between rural and urban schools in the working of Teaching and Research Groups (TRGs). These disparities in TRGs result in divergent patterns of instructional capacity building in rural and urban schools. The evidence shows that teaching and teachers are strongly shaped by the school organizational context. It suggests that strengthening school-wide PLCs is an important way of narrowing the rural-urban teaching and learning gaps.     

Bad boys,good girls? Implicit and explicit attitudes toward ethnic minority students among elementary and secondary school teachers

Teachers’ attitudes toward ethnic minority students might differ by students’ gender and the type of school teachers are working in because of different motivations for teaching and different school practices. Hence, the aim of the current research was to investigate elementary (n = 82) and secondary school (n = 82) teachers’ implicit and explicit attitudes toward male and female ethnic minority students. Teachers worked on either a male or a female Implicit Association Test and filled out a gender-specific questionnaire for measuring explicit attitudes. The results showed that elementary and secondary school teachers had negative implicit attitudes toward ethnic minority students, independent of students’ gender. Whereas secondary school teachers were implicitly more positive toward boys, elementary school teachers were implicitly more positive toward girls. Elementary school teachers were more enthusiastic about teaching ethnic minority boys than girls. The findings provide the first insights into differences in attitudes between elementary and secondary school teachers.     

The effects of school-based physical activity interventions on students' health-related fitness knowledge: A systematic review

This systematic review includes 34 studies examining the effects of school-based physical activity interventions on students' health-related fitness knowledge. The study design, methodological quality, and effectiveness of interventions on students' health-related fitness knowledge were analysed. The majority of the studies (79.4%) revealed significant positive intervention effects on students' health-related fitness knowledge. Studies examining adolescents were more frequently in a position to influence students' health-related fitness knowledge (87.5%) than studies examining children (75%), and studies with low methodological quality (88.8%) had more frequent positive effects than studies with moderate quality (75%). The effects on students' health-related fitness knowledge were independent of moderator variables such as the intervention content, duration and frequency. Only few studies were able to simultaneously positively influence students' health-related fitness knowledge and students' physical activity and/or fitness levels. These programmes can positively influence students' health-related fitness knowledge, but it remains unclear what the practical significance of these changes is. Further research is needed to clarify the influence of students' health-related fitness knowledge on reflection, understanding, physical activity behaviour, and overall physical literacy levels.     

艺术兴学理念下啦啦操的开展促进了校园文化建设

艺术兴学的办学理念影响桂林师范高等专科学校啦啦队的开展和发展，校园啦啦操队的不断成熟与完善，增强校园的凝聚力，营造良好的校园氛围，促进了校园文化的建设与发展．     

Social relations as predictors of achievement in math in Kenyan primary schools

In sub-Saharan Africa, where there is limited financial and human capital, it is important to examine how social relationships may serve to promote or undermine human capital formation. However, little is known about the contributions of social relations to human capital development, especially in terms of academic achievement in Africa. This study examined how variations in key aspects of social relations among teachers; between teachers and students; between principals, teachers, parents and students affect achievement in mathematics among sixth graders in 70 schools in six districts in Kenya. We modeled mathematics achievement as a function of measures of social perception and support while adjusting for school-, classroom- and student level background characteristics. We found that net of teacher subject knowledge and background characteristics, teachers who display commitment to teaching by always correcting homework and keeping students engaged during math lessons had their students performing better. Teacher absenteeism and lack of interest in teaching were negatively associated with performance in math. Lack of parental involvement in the classroom also had negative effects on grades. At the school level, the level of engagement of the principal, measured by supervision of teachers and good interpersonal interactions with parents had positive effects on math achievement. Schools where parents provided material and financial support had better grades, while student delinquency and absenteeism negatively affected grades.     

Do children spend too much time in schools? Evidence from a longer school year in Indonesia

I examine the effects of a longer school year in Indonesia on grade repetition, educational attainment, employability, and earnings. I exploit an arbitrary rule that assigned students to a longer school year in Indonesia in 1978–1979, which fits a fuzzy regression discontinuity design. I find the longer school year decreases the probability of grade repetition and increases educational attainment; it also increases the probability of working in formal sectors and wages later in life. These results suggest the length of school years in Indonesia is not too long.     

Exploring school exclusion through the perspective of child labourers living in Sultanbeyli,on the periphery of Istanbul,Turkey

This study employs a socio-ecological perspective to explore the impact of the community, school environment and personal circumstances of young people living in the squatter district of Sultanbeyli in Istanbul, Turkey, who have been excluded from school and who are working in very difficult conditions. The views explored in this paper are derived from semi-structured interviews that covered the reasons for their exclusion. The findings show that the elimination of poverty and the provision of universal education are linked and that one cannot be achieved without the other. The impact of poverty on the processes of school exclusion requires greater recognition, because it helps to perpetuate an intergenerational cycle of social and educational disadvantage. In the case of these young people from Sultanbeyli, the school system has failed to contribute to their inclusion; instead, it has further increased their marginal, disadvantaged position by unintentionally pushing them into the worst forms of child labour and criminality.     

Prejudices Unshelved: Variation in Attitudes toward Controversial Public Library Materials in the General Social Survey, 1972–2014

Using the General Social Survey from 1972–2014, we examine variation in attitudes toward retaining controversial materials in libraries. Previously controversial topics have become much more widely accepted. We find that other controversies remain, showing how global conflicts become intertwined in local cultural controversies, and how the perceived threat from particular groups informs public concern with disseminating information from those groups. We find that more frequent library users are somewhat less likely to want to remove controversial books from the shelves, although some of these relationships are explained by variation in the respondent’s age, race, and other characteristics.     

对口招生拉动中等职业教育

随着经济和社会的快速发展，越来越多的中等职业学校的学生希望能升入高等学校继续深造。实行对口招生制度以来，中等职业学校一直将对口招生列为学校的培养任务之一，做好单招工作赢得了社会地位，同时对口招生制度也对中等职业教育产生了深刻的影响，推动了职业教育的健康发展。