bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Lake Woebe guaranteed: Misuse of Test Scores in Massachusetts, Part I
Authors: Haney Walt
Published: March 2015

Misuse of test results in Massachusetts largely guarantees woes for both students and schools. Analysis of annual test score averages for close to 1000 Massachusetts schools for four years (1998—2001) shows that test score gains in one testing period tend to be followed by losses in the next. School averages are especially volatile in relatively small schools (with less than 150 students tested per grade). One of the reasons why scores fluctuate is that the Massachusetts state test has been developed using norm-referenced test construction procedures so that items which all students tend to answer correctly (or incorrectly) are excluded from operational versions of the test. This article concludes with a summary of other reasons why results from state tests, like that in Massachusetts, ought not be used in isolation to make high-stakes decisions about students or schools.
Elm Street School:A Case Study of Professional Development Expenditures
Authors: Gallagher H. Alix
Published: March 2015

This article addresses the question of how much is spent on teachers' professional development.  A review of the literature finds two problems that have frequently led to inaccurate estimates of professional development spending: 1) the accounting codes that are used in many studies provide little description of spending, and 2) studies generally focus on district or state expenditures for professional development, but do not collect data on school-level spending.  These problems are compounded by the fact that studies define professional development spending differently, and thus it is difficult to compare findings across studies.  In an effort to begin to address this problem, this study utilizes a detailed cost structure to analyze both district and school site expenditures on professional development across cost categories.  The study found that school-level expenditures were a significant source of professional development for teachers.  This has implications for the methodologies used to estimate current professional development expenditures and what level of expenditures would be necessary to generate dramatic improvements in student achievement.
Corrective Action and School Choice in NYC
Authors: Hamman Doug , Schenck E. Allen
Published: March 2015

Districts play a critical role in reforming schools. In January 2000, NYC community school districts applied for Title I, IASA, funding to carry out corrective actions against historically low-performing schools. Our purpose was to examine (a) how districts planned to take corrective action to address problems that cause low performance; and (b) the extent to which school choice could be implemented in those districts which were applying for corrective action funding. Districts most commonly identified teacher turnover, poor-quality instruction, and student needs as causes of low performance. In response, districts proposed providing professional development related to instructional strategies, but often ignored other important issues. Moreover, most districts described plans to take corrective actions that would decrease schools’ decision-making authority, but then failed to identify steps to increase the districts’ own capacity to execute greater responsibility once control had been taken from the schools. Districts overall seemed unable to implement school choice plans in an effective manner.
Perceptions of a National Achievement Assessment Program
Authors: Simon Marielle , Forgette-Giroux Renée
Published: March 2015

The School Achievement Indicators Program (SAIP) has been collecting data across Canada on 13- and 16-year-old student achievement in mathematics, in science, and in reading and writing since 1993. In 1999, it completed its second assessment cycle and was reviewed in Spring 2000. The review design included a survey of officials from all the school boards/districts that participated in the science assessment program held in 1999. The results of this study show that this stakeholder views as the most pressing issue for SAIP to succeed in its mandate, the need for development in four areas: a) Increased teacher and student motivation to participate wholeheartedly in the program; b) Effective dissemination options; c) Leadership through innovation in teaching and in assessment practices despite high accountability orientation; and d) Cost-effective, yet rigorous means of providing both snapshot information and longitudinal means of comparisons. Although universally appealing, such approaches have yet to be supported by sound educational theory and methodology.
Power-discourse Relationship in a Croatian Higher Education Setting
Authors: Fox Renata , Fox John
Published: March 2015

Croatian higher education system's public space is researched through a critical analysis of a Croatian faculty's discourse. Representing a typical faculty social situation, two council meetings recorded in minutesare critiqued. Both meetings' minutes provide evidence of discourse strategies of deception used by faculty power holders to create an illusion of consent. We attribute the success of the deception to council members' ideas about the Faculty's groups/individuals, relations and issues related to the Faculty's hierarchy, their rank within that hierarchy, and their position within the Faculty's social network. To support our argument, we explore how the Faculty power holders' discourse is built on a power/ideology/language formation. We conclude that, failing to critique the faculty's discourse, council members neglected their historical task of paving the way to democracy.
Networks of schools.
Authors: McMeekin Robert W.
Published: March 2015

The study proposes: (1) that the institutional climate in schools, which includes formal rules, informal rules, mechanisms for enforcing both kinds of rules, clear objectives and an atmosphere of cooperation and trust, has a strong influence on school performance; (2) that “networks” of schools such as the Accelerated Schools Project in the U.S. and the Fe y Alegría schools in Latin America help improve school performance in a variety of ways, and have been successful in providing good education to disadvantaged children; and (3) that one of the reasons some networks are successful is that they promote the creation of sound institutional environments in member schools. The argument draws on New Institutional Economics and especially on the role of institutions inside school organizations in reducing agency problems and facilitating transactions between actors in school communities. Three examples of networks with a specific orientation toward improving equity—the Matte Schools of Santiago, Chile, the Fe y Alegría schools in multiple Latin American countries, and the Accelerated Schools Project in the U.S.—are presented and analyzed in terms of how they influence intra-organizational institutions.
Embracing Pedagogical Pluralism:An Educator's Case for (at Least Public) School Choice
Authors: Ferrero David J.
Published: March 2015

Pedagogical and curricular beliefs and commitments are expressions of deeper philosophical and ideological worldviews that empirical research can sometimes modify but not ultimately eliminate. The pluralism these views produce is reasonable in that they all represent plausible interpretations of liberal-republican values and professional standards of practice; they should be granted some room to flourish under a system of carefully regulated autonomy and choice. Three objections to a conception of school choice grounded in a notion of reasonable pluralism among educational doctrines are addressed: 1) that it would undermine educators' efforts to secure status for themselves as professionals by admitting that “best practices” in education offer rough guidance at best; 2) that it would leave parents and students vulnerable to quackery; 3) that it abandons the common school tradition and its aspirations. I conclude with an examination of why the conceptual basis on which a society designs a system of choice makes a difference.
English Learners in California Schools: Unequal resources, 'Unequal outcomes
Authors: Gándara Patricia , Rumberger Russell , Maxwell-Jolly Julie , Callahan Rebecca
Published: March 2015

The Williams vs the State of California class action suit on behalf of poor children in that state argues that California provides a fundamentally inequitable education to students based on wealth and language status. This article, an earlier version of which was prepared as background to that case, reviews the conditions of schooling for English learners in the state with the largest population of such students, totaling nearly 1.6 million in 2003, and comprising about 40 percent of nation’s English learners. We argue, with evidence, that there are seven aspects of the schooling of English language learners where students receive an education that is demonstrably inferior to that of English speakers. For example, these students are assigned to less qualified teachers, are provided with inferior curriculum and less time to cover it, are housed in inferior facilities where they are often segregated from English speaking peers, and are assessed by invalid instruments that provide little, if any, information about their actual achievement. We end with suggestions for ways in which teachers, administrators, and policymakers can begin to address these inequities, even while legal remedies may remain in the distant future.
Varieties of Knowledge and Skill-Based Pay Design
Authors: Milanowski Anthony
Published: March 2015

This article describes the design of knowledge and skill-based pay systems for K-12 teachers in six U.S. school districts and one charter school. Based on a theory of action that relates knowledge and skill- based pay systems to improvements in instruction, and the expectancy theory of motivation, seven dimensions for comparison are identified and the systems are compared based on these dimensions. While there were a variety of reasons for designing new pay systems, similarities included that teachers were involved in the design processes, and that the knowledge and skills rewarded are more closely related to instruction than in the traditional salary schedule (though none of the systems placed heavy emphasis on content-specific pedagogy). Most systems made use of existing standards or definitions of good teaching, such as the Framework for Teaching (Danielson, 1996). While most of the systems involved performance-based assessments of teacher skills, in no case were seniority and graduate degrees eliminated as a basis for pay progression. Few of the programs had developed a coordinated professional development program specifically linked to the knowledge and skills rewarded by the new pay system. Implications for policy makers and system designers are drawn.
The Effects of Full and Alternative Day Block Scheduling on Language Arts and Science Achievement in a Junior High School
Authors: Lewis Chance W. , Cobb R. Brian
Published: March 2015

The effects of a full (4 X 4) block scheduling program and an alternate day (AB) block scheduling program in a junior high school were under investigation in this study through the use of an ex post facto, matched sampling design. Measures investigated were standardized achievement tests in science and language arts. Both forms of block scheduling had been in place for several years, and one teacher in science and one teacher in language arts had taught students under both forms of scheduling. Because the sampling designs and analyses were different for the science and the language arts areas, two studies are reported here—each examining the effects of 4 x 4, AB, and traditional scheduling with attribute variables of gender and student skill levels in each analysis. Results consistently show students in both forms of block scheduling outperforming students in traditional scheduling, and that AB block scheduling has the largest positive impact on low-achieving students.
Ethnic Segregation In Context: The Case Of Education In Vallecas - Puente De Vallecas
Authors: Poveda David
Published: March 2015

This article presents an ethnographic analysis of the social conditions and ideological processes that help understand how students are distributed unequally between private and public schools on the basis of their ethnicity. To do so, it examines the form these mechanisms adopt in a particular area of Madrid (Spain): Vallecas-Puente de Vallecas. This part of the city has undergone dramatic social changes during the last fifty years and has a very intense social history in Madrid. Currently, it shows a high degree of ethnic segregation between schools depending on their status (public vs. ‘private-concerted’). Also, contrary to what is considered the usual tendency in Spain, even though this area is predominantly lower-middle class, the majority of students of these two districts are enrolled in private-concerted schools. These circumstances are explained through a folk theory present in the community regarding the role of private education in processes of social mobility and an emic categorization of the type of pupils who attend public and private-concerted schools. In the conclusions, two themes are discussed: (a) implications that this case has for practical implementations of policy measures geared at reducing the “dualization” of the Spanish educational system and; (b) some strands of research that could be followed in the study of the role the educational system plays in the construction of social inequality.
Differences in cognitive outcomes between cognitive and non-public school students and private secondary education in Argentina: A multilevel analysis
Authors: Cervini Rubén
Published: March 2015

In this article, effects of attending public or private schools on cognitive achievement (Mathematics and Language) and on non-cognitive outcomes (attitudes toward Mathematics and educational and success expectations) of students in the last grade of the secondary education in Argentina are explored by means of multilevel analysis. The study examined data of more than 130,000 students of approximately 3,300 high schools, depending on the outcome indicator considered, from the Censo Nacional de Finalización del Nivel Secundario 1998 (High School National Census of 1998). Student's math and language scores were based on standard tests applied to the students at the end of the academic year. Using multilevel linear modeling with three levels (student, school and state), the author found that (i) the relative influence of schools on cognitive achievements is much higher than on non-cognitive outcomes; (ii) there is no difference in Mathematics achievement between public and private schools once socioeconomic and cultural school composition (“peer group”) are controlled for, while private schools have a small advantage over public school in Language achievement; (iii) the most important effect of the public-private dichotomous variable is detected in relation to the distribution of student “success expectations.” The results are discussed in terms of both the “cultural reproduction theory” and the segmentation process of the educational system in Argentina. Some implications for policy are drawn from the analysis.
Creating a System of Accountability: The Impact of Instructional Assessment on Elementary Children’s Achievement Test Scores
Authors: Meisels Samuel J. , Atkins-Burnett Sally , Xue Yange , Nicholson Julie , DiPrima Bickel Donna , Son Seung-Hee
Published: March 2015

This study examined the trajectory of change in scores on the Iowa Tests of Basic Skills (ITBS) of low-income, urban, third and fourth graders who had been enrolled in classrooms where the Work Sampling System (WSS), a curriculum-embedded performance assessment, was used for at least three years. The ITBS scores of children exposed to WSS were compared with those of students in a group of non-WSS contrast schools that were matched by race, income, mobility, school size, and number of parents in the home and to a comparison group of all other students in the school district.
How Feasible is Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP)? Simulations of School AYP "Uniform Averaging" and "Safe Harbor" under the No Child Left Behind Act
Authors: Lee Jaekyung
Published: March 2015

The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB) requires that schools make “adequate yearly progress” (AYP) towards the goal of having 100 percent of their students become proficient by year 2013-14. Through simulation analyses of Maine and Kentucky school performance data collected during the 1990s, this study investigates how feasible schools would have met the AYP targets if the mandate had been applied in the past with “uniform averaging (rolling averages)” and “safe harbor” options that have potential to help reduce the number of schools needing improvement or corrective action. Contrary to some expectations, the applications of both options would do little to reduce the risk of massive school failure due to unreasonably high AYP targets for all student groups. Implications of the results for the NCLB school accountability system and possible ways to make the current AYP more feasible and fair are discussed.
Predicting higher education graduation rates from institutional characteristics and resource allocation
Authors: Hamrick Florence A. , Schuh John H. , Shelley Mack C.
Published: March 2015

This study incorporated institutional characteristics (e.g., Carnegie type, selectivity) and resource allocations (e.g., instructional expenditures, student affairs expenditures) into a statistical model to predict undergraduate graduation rates. Instructional expenditures, library expenditures, and a number of institutional classification variables were significant predictors of graduation rates. Based on these results, recommendations as well as warranted cautions are included about allocating academic financial resources to optimize graduation rates
The Effects of Performance Budgeting and Funding Programs on Graduation Rate in Public Four-Year Colleges and Universities
Authors: Shinn Jung-cheol , Milton Sande
Published: March 2015

This study was conducted to determine whether states with performance budgeting and funding (PBF) programs had improved institutional performance of higher education over the five years (1997 through 2001) considered in this study. First Time in College (FTIC) graduation rate was used as the measure of institutional performance. In this study, the unit of analysis is institution level and the study population is all public four-or-more-year institutions in the United States. To test PBF program effectiveness, Hierarchical Linear Modeling (HLM) growth analysis was applied. According to the HLM analysis, the growth of graduation rates in states with PBF programs was not greater than in states without PBF programs. The lack of growth in institutional graduation rates, however, does not mean that PBF programs failed to achieve their goals. Policy-makers are advised to sustain PBF programs long enough until such programs bear their fruits or are proven ineffective.
The Influence of School Policy and Practice on Mathematics Achievement During Transitional Periods
Authors: Holt Janet K. , Campbell Cynthia
Published: March 2015

In this study, the effects of school policies and practices on math achievement growth, as students transitioned from middle to high school, were examined while controlling for school contextual variables. A pattern of accelerated growth in mathematics achievement from grades 8 to 12 occurred, in which higher achieving students in mathematics at grade eight accelerated more than lower achieving students in mathematics growth during the transition from middle to high school. Controlling for school context, school policy promoting parent involvement and academic counseling had significant positive impacts on the acceleration in growth during this period. The implications of using multilevel growth models to study growth during transition periods are discussed.
School Size and the Influence of Socioeconomic Status on Student Achievement:Confronting the Threat of Size Bias in National Data Sets
Authors: Howley Craig B. , Howley Aimee A.
Published: March 2015

Most of the recent literature on the achievement effects of school size has examined school and district performance. These studies have demonstrated substantial benefits of smaller school and district size in impoverished settings. To date, however, no work has adequately examined the relationship of size and socioeconomic status (SES) with students as the unit of analysis. One study, however, came close (Lee & Smith, 1997), but failed to adjust its analyses or conclusions to the substantial bias toward larger schools evident in the data set used. The present study, based on the same large data set, but with size issues in the rural circumstance clearly in focus, reaches rather different conclusions, extending previous work for the first time to a more adequate examination of size effects on individual students. Findings challenge assertions about ideal and minimum size. Analyses include comparison of means and multi-level modeling. Methodologically, the study illustrates the challenge of using nationally representative data sets of students to investigate second-level contextual phenomena, such as school size. When aggregated to schools attended by nationally representative students, the result cannot be a nationally representative set of schools. Adjustment with weights to simulate such a distribution, moreover, is inadequate to overcome this threat if one is interested in investigating size relationships among the smaller half of US schools, as one must be in seeking to generalize results to the nation as a whole. The present study finds that the smallest national decile of size maximizes the achievement of the poorest quartile of students. Moreover, appropriate size is shown to vary by student socioeconomic status.
fragmentation of knowledge processes and institutional knowledge: The Case of the Argentine Research and Teaching (1989-2003)
Authors: Saguier Eduardo R.
Published: March 2015

The study of the centralizing mechanisms of academic power that very often work to obstruct and boycott individual and collective demands to produce critical knowledge, as well as impose circuits or networks made of multiple and combined knots (clientelism, nepotism, careerism and ethnocentric, sectarian and nepotic reciprocities), must necessarily go to their historical origins, analyzing several phenomena such as the coloniality of power, the subordination to a geopolitical and socio-technological stratification of knowledge, the fragmentation of knowledge processes, and other phenomena like endogamy, sectarianism, corruption and social, economic and political crises. Also, we are going to study the centripetal forces of decentralization, privatization or education federalism and their academic demands, the role of confidentiality in the formation of networks in academic and scientific environments, as well as their noxious effects in the practice of academic freedoms, the dissociations of power from knowledge and research from teaching, the distinction of teaching decentralization from research decentralization, the segregated education circuits, the intensity of the market of human capital and the quality of the levels of excellence of social and cultural capital, in the knowledge society. Also, we are going to refer to deformations in philanthropic politics and subsidies to scientific research, to models of technological innovation, the origin and development of the triadic partition of academic power or the tri-functional academic model, and the evaluation functions such as accreditation, extension, transference, counseling, programming and planning.
The No Child Left Behind Act and the legacy of federal aid to education.
Authors: Anderson Lee W.
Published: March 2015

The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB) builds on a tradition of gradually increasing federal involvement in the nation's public school systems. NCLB both resembles and differs from earlier federal education laws. Over the past five decades, conservatives in Congress softened their objections to the principle of federal aid to schools and liberals downplayed fears about the unintended consequences of increased federal involvement. The belief in limited federal involvement in education has been replaced by the presumption by many legislators that past federal investments justify imposing high stakes accountability requirements on schools.
Progress of African Americans in higher education attainment: The widening gender gap and its current and future implications.
Authors: Kaba Amadu J.
Published: March 2015

This research argues that despite all of the obstacles that African Americans have confronted in the history of the United States, they have made substantial progress in higher education attainment from the 1970s to the beginning of the 21st century. It reveals that the rise in attainment of college and university degrees has resulted in a substantial increase in living standards and that African Americans are making important economic, social and political contributions to the United States. I present several reasons why black males are not performing as well as black females in higher education attainment. Analyses are also presented regarding the current and future implications of the growing gap between black males and black females.
What do Klein et al. tell us about test scores in Texas?
Authors: Toenjes Laurence A.
Published: March 2015

A paper appearing in this journal by Klein, Hamilton, McCaffrey and Stecher (2000) attempted to raise serious questions about the validity of the gains in student performance as measured by Texas' standardized test, the Texas Assessment of Academic Skills (TAAS). Part of their analysis was based on the results of three tests which they administered to 2,000 fifth grade students in 20 Texas schools. Although Klein et al. indicated that the 20 schools were not selected in a way which would insure that they were representative of the nearly 3,000 Texas schools that enrolled fifth graders, generalizations based upon the results for those schools were nonetheless offered. The purpose of this short paper is to demonstrate just how unrepresentative the 20 schools used by Klein et al. actually were, and in so doing to cast doubt on certain of their conclusions.
Response to "What do Klein et al. tell us about test scores in Texas?"
Authors: Klein Stephen P. , Hamilton Laura S. , McCaffrey Daniel F. , Stecher Brian M.
Published: March 2015

Wherein the authors reply to Toenjes, Vol. 13 No. 36 "What do Klein et al. tell us about test scores in Texas?"
The Federal Law of Education in Argentina: Its Application in the Province of Buenos Aires
Authors: Arias María Fernanda
Published: March 2015

The present work seeks to analyze the results of the educational reform of the secondary school system in Argentina initiated by the Ley Federal de Educación in 1993. This article has chosen Greater Buenos Aires, the biggest conurbation in the country, as a "case study." The methodology used is based on quantitative and qualitative surveys administered to the top authorities of state and private schools in the area. We conclude that the reactions toward the reform are, in general, negative. Furthermore, there are no differences in attitudes between private and state schools. Both of them agree that the worst effect is the leveling down of the quality of education. In other words, the main cause of disagreement is mostly pedagogic.
Concepts of Education and Education for Women Clients of a Health Center in Rio De Janeiro
Authors: Cabral Félix de Sousa Isabela
Published: March 2015

Educational and Schooling Concepts of Client Women at a Public Health Clinic in Rio De Janeiro: This work has the objective to evaluate concepts of education and schooling reported by women attending a Public Health Clinic in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Using a qualitative research methodology, the selection of women for 60 interviews followed two criteria of maximum variation in the sampling for both the hour of the interview as well as the age of the women. The results indicate that these women had little schooling and a few if any opportunity to take part of educational non-formal courses. The concepts of education and schooling were divided into the following categories: adequate social behavior, value, professional development, health and lack of schooling. This research concludes that it is pressing to develop educational projects taking into account what is significant from these women's perspective in regard to education and schooling, what would be decisive to promote their citizenship. Key words: formal education, non-formal education, informal education, women and citizenship
NCLB: Local implementation and impact in southwest Washington state.
Authors: Mabry Linda , Margolis Linda Mabry and Jason
Published: March 2015

The research reported here is from the first two years of an ongoing and largely qualitative study to examine the impact of the No Child Left Behind federal education policy on educational practice and climate in elementary schools in two districts in southwest Washington. Based on systematic drop-in observations in classrooms and interviews with teachers and school and district administrators, data indicated that the policy had partially yielded the intended standards-based reforms but at considerable local cost. While most participating administrators described efforts to use NCLB to leverage needed change, most teachers described struggles to sustain best practice and to avoid some negative consequences to their students and schools. Administrators anticipated that resistant teachers would be nudged from the profession, and the greatest attrition among participating teachers was from the fourth-grade level at which the state’s standards-based test was administered. Fourth-grade teachers particularly expressed concern about test-related stress and test-driven curricula interfering with children’s individual needs and with their own ability to provide developmentally appropriate instruction adapted for their particular students. The validity and utility of test results was a local issue.
The Argentine Universities in the Context of Policies of the 90s: The Case of the Joint Degree in Science Education UNICEN
Authors: Richmond Iris
Published: March 2015

This article analyses the changes caused by the implementation of an articulated degree in Educational Sciences at the Universidad Nacional at Centro de la Provincia in Buenos Aires (Argentina). This educational program should be understood within the framework provided by the structural reforms of the educational system, promoted by the national government in the 1990's with the intention of restructuring the State–Society relations. This program that appeared to be promoting the democratization of access to the university system was transformed into a market mechanism, for the provision of financial resources to the university by selling "knowledge" to graduates from teacher education programs.
School size, student achievement, and the "power rating" of poverty: Substantive finding or statistical artifact?
Authors: Coladarci Theodore
Published: March 2015

The proportion of variance in student achievement that is explained by student SES-"poverty's power rating," as some call it-tends to be lower among smaller schools than among larger schools. Smaller schools, many claim, are able to somehow disrupt the seemingly axiomatic association between SES and student achievement. Using eighth-grade data for 216 public schools in Maine, I explored the hypothesis that this in part is a statistical artifact of the greater volatility (lower reliability) of school-aggregated student achievement in smaller schools. This hypothesis received no support when reading achievement served as the dependent variable. In contrast, the hypothesis was supported when the dependent variable was mathematics achievement. For reasons considered in the discussion, however, I ultimately concluded that the latter results are insufficient to affirm the statistical-artifact hypothesis here as well. Implications for subsequent research are discussed.
The legend of the large MCAS gains of 2000-2001.
Authors: Camilli Gregory , Vargas Sadako
Published: March 2015

Issues related to student, teacher, and school accountability have been at the forefront of current educational policy initiatives. Recently, the state of Massachusetts has become a focal point in debate regarding the efficacy of high-stakes accountability models based on an ostensibly large gain at 10th grade. This paper uses an IRT method for evaluating the validity of 10th grade performance gains from 2000 to 2001 on the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System (MCAS) tests in English Language Arts (ELA) and mathematics. We conclude that a moderate gain was obtained in ELA and a small gain in mathematics.
The Democratization of the Educational Administration in Argentina: A Comparison of Provincial Policies
Authors: Gorostiaga Jorge M.
Published: March 2015

This article analyses some of the main school management reforms implemented at the provincial level from the mid-1980s in Argentina, and relates them to the national policies and to global trends regarding the governance of educational systems. It is argued that democratic and participatory proposals, which responded to a great extent to the return of the country to political democracy, began to give ground as the provinces focused on administrative rationalization and as the national government promoted a concept of school autonomy based on educational quality and efficiency criteria defined at the central level. On the other hand, participatory policies and programs faced various obstacles that originated in a context of social inequality, the prevailing institutional cultures, and the lack of a clear idea about the requirements and implications of implementing democratic practices at schools.
Organizational Change in Distance Higher Education: the Re-negotiation of Employee's Psychological Contract
Authors: Topa Gabriela , Morales José. F.
Published: March 2015

The main purpose of this study is to explore empirical relationships of employees' attitudes towards organizational change, the perceived breach of the psychological contract and outcomes such as burnout, job satisfaction and OCB. The proposed model suggests that organizational identification will be a mediator variable in these relationships. Results of an empirical study conducted among university staff (N =150) showed that the model was an adequate fit to the data. Organizational identification mediated the relationship between psychological contract breach and outcomes while attitudes towards organizational change had a direct impact on outcomes.
The Professional Ethic Values Promoted by Governing Documents of a Public University in Mexico
Authors: Osuna Lever Cecilia , Luna Serrano Edna
Published: March 2015

This study analyses the professional-ethic values promoted by education policy in public university education in Mexico, the semantic correspondence of said policy with programs, and the strategies for its implementation. Following the methodology of textual analysis, we reviewed the National Programs of Education, documents that embed the academic plan at the Universidad Autónoma de Baja California, and the curricula of licenciaturas in the areas of natural science and engineering and technology. It was identified that the core elements of university education are social compromise, professional competence, and education in values. Our findings indicate that there is textual correspondence among the most relevant categories of the documents; however, it is worth pointing out the absence of strategies that explicitly promote student development of professional-ethic values.
Organizational commitment, job satisfaction and intention to leave: A comparative analysis between part-time and full-time faculties
Authors: Simo Pep , Sallan Jose M , Fernandez Vicenç
Published: March 2015

The importance of part-time work has been growing in recent years, due to its significant increase in today's societies, and higher education institutions have not been alien to this trend. The present research tries to study the relationship between organizational commitment and job satisfaction with the intention to leave the institution, comparing part-time and full-time faculty. An empirical research, grounded in the model proposed by Currivan (1999), has been undertaken, with a sample of faculty of ETSEIAT, a college of the Technical University of Catalonia. Results show the existence of the relationships with organizational commitment, job satisfaction and intention to leave predicted in the literature, and significant differences in job satisfaction and organizational commitment between part-time and full-time faculty. The paper ends with some proposals of further research.
Academic capitalism and academic culture: A case study.
Authors: Mendoza Pilar , Berger Joseph B.
Published: March 2015

This case study investigated the impact of academic capitalism on academic culture by examining the perspectives of faculty members in an American academic department with significant industrial funding. The results of this study indicate that faculty members believe that the broad integrity of the academic culture remains unaffected in this department and they consider industrial sponsorship as a highly effective vehicle for enhancing the quality of education of students and pursuing their scientific interests. This study provides valuable insights to federal and institutional policiescreated to foster industry-academia partnerships and commercialization of academic research.
Teachers' response to standards-based reform: Probing reform assumptions in Washington State.
Authors: Loeb Hilary , Knapp Michael S. , Elfers Ana M.
Published: March 2015

Because teachers' efforts are central to the success of standards-based reform, it behooves the policy community to look carefully at the beliefs about instruction that are rooted in this reform theory. Building on teacher-centric research on standards-based reform and ideas about teaching practice from research on multicultural education, this paper focuses on the assumptions embedded in Washington state's approach. Survey data from a representative sample of teachers suggest that the state's program of high student learning standards, aligned assessments and an accountability system has shaped teachers' instructional practice and their students' learning in ways that the state's reform theory assumes. However, teachers' concerns about student achievement and instructional supports indicate problems with the inherent logic of the state's reform regarding how well it serves a diverse student population.
Childhood and Disability in Brazil: A History of Blindness and Silencing
Authors: De Oliveira Cristina Borges
Published: March 2015

This article is a continuation of research involving inclusive educational policies, conceptions and transmission concerning childhood and the disabled child in Brazilian physical education academic production.  The aim is to understand the history of childhood in Brazil, from the colonial period to the Republic and the role of government and civil society in relation to problems in the lives of children, specifically those with disabilities, in the history of Brazilian educational policies.  Bibliographic and documentary research methods were used and the conclusion was reached that the history of childhood in Brazil has been marked by abandonment and disrespect.  From total anonymity in the first centuries to our days, when the child is recognized as a citizen with rights and obligations, the idea of institutional and social care for children with disabilities has been given mere lip service.
The Relationships Between the Postmodern Agenda and the Bases of Teacher Education Policies in Brazil
Authors: Masson Gisele
Published: March 2015

This paper attempts to show the relationships between the Postmodern agenda and the bases of initial teacher education policies in Brazil. After describing the assumptions of the postmodern agenda, it describes the bases of initial teacher education policies and shows the main problems of the influence of the postmodern agenda on initial teacher education. The topic of this essay is relevant to the field of education policies, since initial teacher education can contribute either to the reproduction of a pragmatist/utilitarian education or to the construction of an education project according to the working class interests. With regard to the methodology, this research was based on the historical and dialectical materialism and used bibliographical and documentary sources. This study made it possible to conclude that since the 1990’s teacher education policies in Brazil have adapted to pragmatic, relativistic and subjectivist ideas, especially by praising the epistemology of practice, considering the concept of reflective teacher and the logic of competences. The postmodern agenda has many points in common with teacher education policies regarding the emphasis on local, ephemeral and short-sighted actions, whereupon social reality is seen as fragmented, multifarious, fluid and plural rather than as an integral unity. Within the context of teacher education, this can be clearly observed in the fragmentation of actions, projects, resources and educational entities, in contrast to a consistent and integrated proposal, which is what a policy of State and nation should be.
Constitutional Reform and the Opportunity for Higher Education Access in Ecuador Since 1950
Authors: Post David
Published: March 2015

Ecuador's 2008 Constitution, and its 2009 national development plan, assign universities the role of reducing social inequality by, among other means, eliminating user fees.  This article offers the first over-time assessment of the background tendencies in the accessibility to secondary and postsecondary university.  Based on the analysis of 1990 and 2001 census data, and on household surveys from 1988 to the present, I find that women have overtaken men in all levels of education participation.  The gaps are growing between ethnic groups, income groups, and language groups.  This historic tendency will be difficult to reverse through the suspension of user fees because the main beneficiaries of free higher education are the most advantaged students in Ecuador.
Municipal education departments: Planning and education outcomes
Authors: Paes de Carvalho Cynthia , Bonamino Alicia Catalano , Kappel Dolores Bombardelli
Published: March 2015

This article examines the actions and perceptions of managers of 551 Municipal Education Departments concerning the contribution of a particular program implemented by the Ministry of Education in Brazil. This program, implemented in the North, Northeast and Midwest, aimed at disseminating strategic planning tools for the improvement of management and educational results. An exploratory analysis was also carried out regarding the possible relationships between managers’ perceptions and the results of their respective education systems in external evaluations. The study pointed to the potential and some of the limitations of this tool in terms of both the managerial aspects of the Education Departments, as well as the educational results in the school systems under their responsibility.
Education Alignment and Accountability in an Era of Convergence: Policy Insights from States with Individual Learning Plans and Policies
Authors: Phelps L. Allen , Durham Julie , Wills Joan
Published: March 2015

In response to the rising demand for market-responsive education reform across the U.S., since 1998 more than twenty states have created individual learning or graduation plan (ILP/IGP) state policies. Using extensive policy document analyses and stakeholder interview data from four early-adopting ILP/IGP states, the goal of this four-state case study was twofold. First, to determine the extent to which states are leveraging federal and state resources to align their ILP initiatives with other policies aimed at fostering education innovation and assisting economic recovery. The second goal was to develop policy recommendations for making intergovernmental investments to strengthen performance outcomes in education and workforce development in ILP/IGP states. The federal interest in equal protection and improving equity for special populations including youth with disabilities stimulated and animated the investigation. Several key findings emerged across the four states. First, to date limited fiscal investments in professional development and systematic data collection have constrained ILP-IGP implementation and evaluation efforts. Second, the opportunity to align and leverage the state investment with federal programs and other state employment and education initiatives was largely unexplored in these states.  Recommendations for state policy improvements include aligning ILP policies with state plans for improving outcomes in federal programs for students confronting economic, language and disability challenges.
Identifying Personal and Contextual Factors that Contribute to Attrition Rates for Texas Public School Teachers
Authors: Sass Daniel Allen , Flores Belinda Bustos , Claeys Lorena , Pérez Bertha
Published: March 2015

Teacher attrition is a significant problem facing schools, with a large percentage of teachers leaving the profession within their first few years. Given the need to retain high-quality teachers, research is needed to identify those teachers with higher retention rates. Using survival analyses and a large state dataset, researchers examined teacher data to identify those teacher and school variables associated with attrition. Unique to this study was the investigation of testing era (basic competency vs. higher standards based), school districts’ yearly ratings based on state-mandated testing, and charter school status. Analyses revealed that teacher attrition was greater during the high stakes-testing era, at low-performing schools, and for charter schools; however, beginning teacher age, gender, and school level moderated several attrition rates. Implications for public policy are discussed.
O nível socioeconômico dos alunos das escolas públicas e as condições de oferta de ensino nos municípios brasileiros
Authors: Alves Thiago , Gouvêa Maria Aparecida , Viana Adriana Backx Noronha
Published: March 2015

O objetivo deste artigo é descrever o contexto socioeconômico dos alunos das escolas públicas de educação básica nos municípios brasileiros por meio uma medida sintética, o Indicador Socioeconômico Estudantil dos Municípios (ISE-M) e analisar o desempenho nas avaliações educacionais e as condições de oferta de ensino dos municípios. O ISE-M foi gerado por meio da análise fatorial com a utilização de dados do questionário contextual da Prova Brasil 2007 de cerca de 4,1 milhões de alunos agregados em 5.553 municípios. Os resultados ratificaram a associação entre o nível socioeconômico dos alunos e os resultados educacionais verificados em outras pesquisas. Além disso, mostraram que há relação entre o status socioeconômico e a infra-estrutura educacional disponível nos municípios, pois há evidências de que as condições de oferta de ensino são inferiores nas localidades que possuem maior proporção de alunos menos favorecidos socioeconomicamente.