bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
New Kid on the Block: English-Medium Instruction in Chinese Schools
Authors: Hu Guangwei
Published: January 2019

Although experimentation with English as an instructional medium for majority-language students in mainland China started at only the turn of the 21st century, this form of language provision has made significant inroads in the school system within several years. Despite being exalted by the mainstream educational discourse as a highly commendable reform initiative and a cornerstone of quality education, the spread of English-medium instruction has given rise to many thorny issues that deserve serious attention. This article presents an overview of the English-provision initiative. After a historical review, the article describes the impact of the initiative on the school system, outlines the main types of English-medium instruction that have been adopted, and examines major constraints on this type of language provision.
Why Teachers Leave Teaching: The Case of Pretertiary Institutions in Ghana
Authors: Agezo Clement K.
Published: January 2019

In Ghana, many professional teachers have been leaving teaching to seek employment in jobs that they think hold promise of better pay and prestige. This article critically examines the key factors that compel teachers to leave the teaching profession for other jobs. Thirty professionally trained teachers who had taught at pretertiary institutions for a minimum of 5 years before abandoning teaching participated in the study. The snowball sampling technique was used in selecting the respondents, whereas the interview technique was used to gather data. The study revealed that poor remuneration and loss of status and prestige among other reasons compel teachers to abandon the teaching profession. One recommendation, among others, is raise salary levels to a level more competitive with those of other jobs to help retain the best and brightest teachers in the Ghana Education Service.
Designing a Culturally Appropriate Format of Formative Peer Assessment for Asian Students: The Case of Vietnamese Students
Authors: Thanh Pham Thi Hong , Gillies Robyn
Published: January 2019

Peer assessment has recently been widely recommended in Vietnamese classrooms. However, there are argumentative opinions about this assessment because it has many conflicts with the learning culture of Vietnamese students. To date, there has not been any study addressing this issue. The present study investigated how Vietnamese students participate in peer assessment and how peer assessment should be designed to interest local students. In sum, 145 second-year students participated in a one-semester study. The results show that the students refused to participate in intragroup peer assessment because they were not confident in exchanging feedback directly and face-to-face. By contrast, intergroup peer assessment interested the students more because they could avoid direct conflicts with their friends and were guaranteed to save face by their group mates.
Modernization Discourse, Academic Advocacy, and Vested Interests: The Promotion of English-Medium Instruction in Chinese Schools
Authors: Hu Guangwei
Published: January 2019

Like many other developing countries around the world, China is witnessing a growing prominence of English in its school system. One immensely popular form of English provision in the country is Chinese–English bilingual education for majority-language students, which involves the varying use of English as a medium of instruction in the teaching of various school subjects. An overview of this recent development was presented in an earlier article (Hu, 2010). As its sequel, this article presents a critical analysis of the major driving forces behind the current craze for English-medium instruction in China.
Adapting a Portion of the Patterns of Adaptive Learning Scales for Research in Turkish Schools
Authors: Parlak-Yilmaz Nuray , Çikrikçi-Demirtaşli Nükhet
Published: January 2019

As research on achievement goals has increased, so has the number of ways to measure goal orientation. In this article, we focus on the Patterns of Adaptive Learning Scales. A translated and adapted version of a subsection known as the Teacher Scales: Perceptions of the School Goal Structure for Students is examined in terms of factorial validity, internal consistency reliability, and distributional characteristics among Turkish teachers. The results show that the Turkish version of the subsection exhibits a construct similar to that of the original; internal consistency reliability was also sufficient. In this context, the adapted version of the Teacher Scales can be used as a valid and reliable instrument in related fields in Turkey.
School District Leadership Stability: The Relationship between the Stability of a Board of Education and the Superintendent
Authors: Williams Paul , Tabernik Anna Maria
Published: January 2019

Board of education membership changes that are numerous or frequent appear to cause some level of disruption to the educational process in a school district. A board of education that is changing can be vulnerable to special interest groups. The purpose of this study is to determine the interrelationships among the following five variables and board of education membership stability: (1) changes in student scores on the Ohio tests of achievement, (2) changes in the district's operational millage rates, (3) changes in the number of staff conflicts and anxiety, (4) changes in the percentage of enrolled minority students, and (5) changes in overall student enrollment.
Exploring the Competitive Effects of Charter Schools
Authors: Carpenter Dick M. , Medina Paul M.
Published: January 2019

Central to the debate over school choice has been the question of how public schools respond to market-based competition. Many choice advocates suggest that competition can spur public schools to become more effective and efficient, but the evidence regarding the effect of competition from charters is comparably sparse and mixed. This article contributes to that literature by examining the relationship between competition, in the form of charter schools, and public school district effectiveness and technical efficiency. The investigation uses stochastic frontier analysis to analyze 6 years of statewide data in Colorado. Results indicate that charter competition appears to spur greater achievement in public schools but not greater efficiency.
A Descriptive Examination and Synthesis of Leadership Succession
Authors: Ryan Thomas G. , Gallo Mary
Published: January 2019

Leadership succession planning is a means to identify the need for systematic and purposeful change in education. Policy, planning, and research suggest that there is an acute shortage of school leaders globally. By illumination of these facts, we detail and describe what is happening within a Canadian context, and this we argue is similar to what is occurring globally. Our article puts forward practices that that have not been effective and need further investigation—particularly, the practice of rotating administrators every 3 to 5 years and assigning new principals and candidates to new schools without adequate preparation and knowledge of the school culture. The time is opportune for school boards to evaluate and assess their current practices related to succession planning, recruitment and selection, and induction programs to ensure that current and aspiring leaders are supported and encouraged to meet the leadership challenges of the future.
Doi Moi (Renovation) and Higher Education Reform in Vietnam
Authors: Hong Thanh Pham Thi
Published: January 2019

Vietnam has experienced significant social, economic, political, and educational changes during the last two decades since the Doi Moi policy was implemented. To respond to new requirements required by the global economy, Vietnamese education has undergone remarkable reforms. This article critically examines these reforms in three areas: teaching and learning, curriculum, and governance. New reforms have, to a great extent, demonstrated incredible ingenuity in responding to market requirements and helped to develop a strong labor force for Vietnam. However, pressures to update the education system quickly have brought about severe problems. The article discusses failures in advancing learning practices, and it raises concerns about both the low quality and the poor cohort of teaching staff as main issues facing Vietnamese education. This discussion provides policymakers with useful hints to develop healthy educational policies in the future.
The Emergence of Hybrid Role Conflict in Conflicting Settings: A Unique Challenge for School Leaders
Authors: Nir Adam E.
Published: January 2019

To what extent do divided cities characterized by geopolitical conflicts and a variety of contradictory expectations create a distinctive context and a unique professional conflict for individuals holding boundary-spanning roles? Data collected in a set of in-depth interviews conducted with school principals leading Arab schools located in East Jerusalem provide evidence for principals’ stress following the large and various number of role expectations they are expected to satisfy. The data testify to principals’ exposure to a hybrid role conflict—a unique conflict reflecting a mixture of incongruent expectations regarding a particular issue coming from both internal and external sources representing different sets of values. Moreover, it is evident that hybrid conflicts suggesting a clash between competing values and ideologies foster principals’ tendency to employ a radical coping strategy based on a cost–benefit minimal risk approach and to act deceitfully as means to diminish their stress. The study demonstrates the significance of contextual features that frame the scope for individuals’ professional behavior when serving in boundary-spanning roles and discusses some implications of hybrid conflicts for professional judgment and behavior.
Deep Culture Matters: Multiracialism in Singapore Schools
Authors: Tan Charlene
Published: January 2019

Multiculturalism is more accurately described as multiracialism in Singapore as the government classifies everyone based on four racial identities according to one's paternal line: Chinese, Malay, Indian, and others. Exploring the principle and practice of multiracialism in Singapore schools, this article points out that the surface culture approach is adopted, where emphasis is on learning observable and shared cultural manifestations, such as the food, attire, and religious and cultural festivals of the three “races.” Arguing that the surface culture approach is inadequate for students to develop cultural competence, this article proposes the adoption of a dialogical education that underlies surface culture and deep culture. Through practical dialogue and critical dialogue, students are encouraged to go beyond race to deep culture matters in terms of the underlying beliefs, values, and assumptions that motivate the behavior of others.
Ethnocentrism and Ethnic-Based Peer Preferences in Higher Education Institutions: Challenges and Implications for Ethiopia
Authors: Gebru Demewoz Admasu
Published: January 2019

Ethiopia, a country containing more than 80 ethnic groups, has remarkably expanded the higher education sector and established universities based on equitable regional distribution in the two past decades. This article discusses and analyzes attitudes and behaviors of university students from various ethnic groups toward their own and other ethnics and posits their effects on learning, teaching, and leadership exercises. Attempting to bring an academic discourse on the issue for the first time, it extensively draws from various sources, such as legal documents, research reports, personal accounts, and observations. By examining the current state of student ethnic diversity and consequent attitudes and behaviors, the challenges that higher education institutions are facing, and the implications, it concludes with specific questions for academic discourse.
Situating Programs of Study within Current and Historical Career and Technical Educational Reform Efforts
Authors: Stipanovic Natalie , Lewis Morgan V. , Stringfield Sam
Published: January 2019

This article provides a broad overview of the history of career-focused education in the United States and the reauthorization of the federal Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Improvement Act of 2006. The Perkins act required that the recipients of its funding offer at least one program of study, and this reauthorization included four core components that play a central role in the implementation of the overall Programs of Study initiative. As such, we provide a background of the development of the Programs of Study initiative in Perkins through earlier initiatives: Tech Prep, career pathways, youth apprenticeship, and dual/concurrent-credit programs. We also offer a brief overview of the challenges faced by each initiative, along with an overview of the three National Research Center for Career and Technical Education longitudinal studies represented in this special issue.
Do Career and Technical Education Programs of Study Improve Student Achievement? Preliminary Analyses from a Rigorous Longitudinal Study
Authors: Castellano Marisa , Sundell Kirsten , Overman Laura T. , Aliaga Oscar A.
Published: January 2019

This longitudinal study examines the impact of programs of study on high school academic and technical achievement. Two districts are participating in experimental and quasi-experimental strands of the study. This article describes the sample selection, baseline characteristics, study design, career and technical education and academic achievement results of 9th and 10th graders, and qualitative findings from site visits. Few differences existed across groups in 9th grade, but by the end of 10th grade, students’ test scores, academic grade point averages, and progress to graduation tended to be better for the students in programs of study (i.e., treatment students) than for control/comparison students. Qualitative results suggest that treatment schools have created school cultures around programs of study that appear to explain improved engagement and achievement.
Mature Programs of Study: A Structure for the Transition to College and Career?
Authors: Alfeld Corinne , Bhattacharya Sharika
Published: January 2019

This study uses a mixed methods approach to examine a new type of curriculum configuration that supports students’ transitions to college: career technical programs of study (POS). Interview and survey data were collected from a college and its feeder high schools in each of three well-established (“mature”) sites in geographically varied communities in the United States to investigate how POS are structured, what the key the “ingredients” are, and what students experience as they move through the POS. Interview findings suggest that the key elements of POS include dedicated staff to create secondary–postsecondary connections, active multistakeholder advisory committees, and flexibility and compromise in developing dual-credit options for students. Survey data show that high school students feel positively about their experiences in POS; however, career guidance is lacking. Student records indicate that even when POS were in place to support their transition, less than one-fifth of students remained in the same POS in college that they began in high school. Results are discussed in relation to the 2006 Perkins IV legislation.
The Future of Religious Freedom in Australian Schools
Authors: Babie Paul , Mylius Ben
Published: January 2019

This article explores the place of religion within Australian primary and secondary education. It is divided into three parts. The first examines religion within the Australian legal and constitutional structure. The second considers the accommodation of religion in government (public or state) and nongovernment (private) schools, using the State of South Australia as a representative example. The overarching question addressed in the third part is twofold: (1) Does religion find a place in Australia's schools, both government and nongovernment? (2) To the extent that it does, are there current legal threats to that place—in other words, to the freedom of religious faith in schools? The final section offers some brief concluding observations about the place of religion in Australian life generally, suggesting that there may still be some judicial support for the place of religion in the public sphere, which may auger well for its future in Australian education.
Reform Movement in Turkey: Changes in Geometry Content in Student Selection and Placement Examinations in Secondary Education
Authors: Incikabi Lutfi
Published: January 2019

This article aims to present the changes in student selection and placement examinations in secondary education by focusing on the geometry content during the postreform period. The methodology, also used by Petway (2000), includes three steps toward the aim of examining the following: technical aspects, content coverage, and examination results. Among the results of the study is that the new examinations covered more geometry content, which is distributed more evenly through the upper elementary grades than the previous ones, and that the new transition system to the secondary schools has placed more emphasis on students’ performance scores and their behavior grades at the each level of upper elementary school than the ones of the prereform period, which were mostly based on the examination results.
Beyond State Planned School-Based Curriculum Development: One Chinese School's Story
Authors: Ye Wangbei
Published: January 2019

View through a power perspective, this article critically evaluates tensions involved in China's school-based curriculum development (SBCD) in middle schools: the state's concern about control, accountability, and schools’ eagerness to struggle for more decision-making power. This article examines how a Chinese school and its teachers go beyond state-planned SBCD through analysis of power relationships in three stages of SBCD: goal setting, content and pedagogy selection, and implementation. It finds that the school and teachers negotiated with the governments and empowered themselves to gain more influence by taking the lead in collaborations with external groups, making major SBCD decisions, and distributing power democratically among school staff. The main purpose of the article is to highlight the complexity of the power redistribution in SBCD and to draw attention to the need for improved understandings of school power in Chinese context.
Perceptions of Creativity by Turkish Student Teachers
Authors: Dikici Ayhan
Published: January 2019

The purpose of this study is to determine whether Turkish student teachers have implicit opinions regarding creativity. For this purpose, whether the student teachers’ genders, backgrounds, and socioeconomic levels created significant differences on the formation of their implicit opinions regarding creativity was examined. First, the What Do You Think of Creativity Scale was translated into the Turkish language. Next, the validity and reliability of the scale were analyzed. The scale was subsequently applied to 1,274 student teachers. At the end of the study, the scale's health and youth dimensions showed that male student teachers are more strict-minded than female student teachers. Moreover, the study found that student teachers who grew up in rural areas were more strict-minded in the scale's birth order dimension. In addition, regarding the scale's race and intelligence dimensions, student teachers associated with high socioeconomic levels were more strict-minded than the student teachers associated with low and middle socioeconomic levels.
Revisiting Ontario Teachers’ and Students’ Perceptions of Large-Scale Reform
Authors: Ryan Thomas G. , Joong Yee Han Peter
Published: January 2019

Within the following text, educational reform is examined to reveal how and to what extent Ontario secondary teachers (n = 87) have implemented educational changes that had a direct impact on students (n = 396), themselves, and curriculum. Our mixed methods data, while limited in scope, indicated that secondary school teachers were largely content with in-service professional development, resource supplies, and leadership. These new outcomes marked a swing away from the discontent noted in research completed in 2003, as positive indications were found in curriculum planning, teaching, student evaluation, reporting, technology, and the delivery of special education programs. Some areas, such as special education programming, were still viewed as problematic, yet sample teachers were able to support the reforms even though changes required additional planning time and new knowledge in the areas of assessment and technology.
Teachers’ Micropolitics and School Change in Vietnam
Authors: Bui Chi Binh
Published: January 2019

The study describes and analyzes teachers’ micropolitics to serve two purposes: to understand how teachers make sense with the way change is led and to interpret if the way they make sense can influence the change process. This empirical study revealed the following: Teachers felt that their professional development was affected because of change tasks; the way they made sense as such would predictably determine the change process; teachers’ micropolitics was always played out in inseparable interaction with leadership; and the forms of teachers’ micropolitics and teachers’ seniority were surprisingly correlational.
Understanding the Complexities of Cognition and Creativity to Reform Higher Education Practice
Authors: Welkener Michele M.
Published: January 2019

This article focuses on the connections between the cognitive dimension of human meaning-making and creativity, using a metaphor from the artistic process of additive sculpture as a framework. The author weaves together various theoretical perspectives about cognition and creativity and shares the promise of recognizing the nexus of these notions for promoting students’ learning and development. Implications for human agency, teaching and learning in higher education, and future research are discussed to promote understanding of these complex ideas and inspire the reform of practice in postsecondary contexts.
If Programs of Study are the Solution, What is the Problem?
Authors: Stone James R.
Published: January 2019

Programs of study are the most recent in a series of federal efforts to create a more transparent and rational system for school-to-work transition for all youth. The current article places this construct in the context of today's labor market and the new focus on college and career readiness for all students. It then provides evidence indicating that all students need a mix of academic, employability, and technical skills to graduate ready for college and careers. Furthermore, it posits that effective programs of study enhance student engagement with school, improve academic and technical achievement, and facilitate students’ transition to continued education beyond high school and into the workplace.
Programs of Study: Development Efforts in Six States
Authors: Shumer Robert , Digby Cynthia
Published: January 2019

Educational reform in the United States is perpetually evolving. Much of the recent reforms have concentrated on high-stakes testing and assessment, but a parallel effort has been emerging in the field of vocational and career education. Prompted partly by federal legislation—most recently by the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act of 2006 (also known as Perkins IV)—the field has been dramatically altered to include a renewed vision of vocational education. The Perkins IV legislation officially changed the title and focus of the efforts, installing the name career and technical education as the replacement for the older version of vocational education and training. Armed with this new name, the focus of the reforms took on new perspectives, adding a career education focus and broadening the goals to include academic learning with vocational/work-based learning. The result has been a renewed effort to make all students “college and career ready.”
Analysis of Factors that Influence Beginning Teachers’ Perception of their Instructional Competency
Authors: Chong Sylvia , Loh Wai Mun , Mak Xueling Mabelene
Published: January 2019

Literature concerning teacher quality indicates that there is a core body of knowledge and skills that a teacher must be equipped with to develop competencies of effective teaching. Beginning teachers (n = 3,353; 1–3 teaching years) participated in an online quality evaluation project at the National Institute of Education, Singapore. Factors underlying beginning teachers’ perceptions of their teaching competencies were explored. First, the tool proved to be a reliable and valid measure. Second, analysis focused on a hypothesized path model of how the factors interact and contribute to beginning teachers’ preparedness to teach. Possible implications are presented and discussed.
Inclusivity in the Classroom and International Achievement in Mathematics and Science: An Exploratory Study
Authors: Barnard-Brak Lucy , Wei Tianlan , Schmidt Marcelo , Sheffield Rebecca
Published: January 2019

Purpose: Few studies have examined the role of inclusivity in international assessments of student achievement, such as the TIMSS (Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study). The current study examined how the inclusivity of students with disabilities at the classroom level across countries may be associated with achievement scores, thus affecting national rankings. Method: To achieve this purpose, TIMSS mathematics and science achievement data were utilized. Findings: Results revealed how national rankings may be adjusted after examining the role of inclusivity in the classroom while statistically controlling for national economic and well-being indicators. Limitations: In terms of international comparisons, a country's history and culture can be critical in understanding its educational system and how it relates to the observed outcomes. The variables that we included in this study are quantified indicators that may reflect only some facets of each country's education system and special education inclusivity. Practical Implications: This study provides an overview of the measurement issues of children with disabilities within schools from the international context of the TIMSS while exploring the impact of student participation on rankings. Social Implications: The current study provides an empirical investigation of how country rankings in international assessment can move according to sociopolitical decisions. Originality: The current study is the first of its kind to examine the impact of inclusivity in the classroom on country rankings in international assessments.
Arab Parents’ Involvement in School Reform in Israel
Authors: Arar Khalid , Abu-Asbah Khaled , Nasra Muhammed Abu
Published: January 2019

Current research indicates that parental involvement positively influences children's academic success. This study investigates parental involvement in the Arab education system in Israel, highlighting involvement in the New Horizon reform. We interviewed school principals and parent committee chairpersons from 15 Arab schools. The study confirmed recognized parent involvement patterns in schools: First, schools avoid involving parents, thereby limiting participation to material assistance. Second, schools view parents as a threat. Third, parents feel that schools promote academic achievement rather than education. We suggest paths to encourage meaningful parent involvement to improve the Arab education system in Israel, relevant also to educators in other developing societies.
Considering New Paths for Success
Authors: Flynn Joseph E. , Hunt Rebecca D. , Johnson Laura Ruth , Wickman Scott A.
Published: January 2019

This article examines urban school–university partnership research after No Child Left Behind. Central to the review is an analysis in the trend of research methods utilized across studies. It was found that many studies are single-case studies or anecdotal. There are few quantitative, sustained qualitative, or mixed-methods studies represented in the literature sampled. We suggest that significant hurdles make more reliable studies difficult to mount. In light of that, we offer suggestions about issues and factors for consideration when such partnerships are created.
Special Education Teacher-Training Programs in the United States and Turkey: Educational Policies and Practices and Their Repercussions on the Supply and Demand for Special Education Teachers in Turkey
Authors: Lozano Ricardo , Yildiz Yasemin
Published: January 2019

Educational institutions vary dramatically in their levels of development and implementation of teacher-training programs in special education. This comparative study observes the differences between teacher-training programs in this area between two universities in the United States and Turkey. The study presents legislations at the international, national, and local levels concerning special education. The study continues with an overview of teacher-training programs offered by these two institutions and highlights their characteristics regarding special education. The study provides policy recommendations regarding increasing the demand for special education teachers in Turkey.
Investigating the Gaps among Policy, Teacher Education, and Practice in Multigrade Education in Bhutan
Authors: Kivunja Charles , Kuyini Ahmed Bawa
Published: January 2019

Multigrade pedagogy has been used in Bhutan for more than two decades as a means of accelerating universal primary education. The study from which this article emerges used interviews, document analysis, and observations to investigate the gaps among policy, teacher education, and practice in multi-grade education in Bhutan. These gaps exist because government intention to train teachers and deploy them in multigrade classrooms lags far behind policy initiatives. We found that, currently, many teachers are either untrained or trained only in monograde pedagogy and are poorly resourced. Although the Ministry of Education has a policy to use multigrade teaching to achieve universal primary education, our research found a gap between policy intentions and practice in implementing multigrade teaching at the classroom level.
Educational Reform and African American Male Students after Brown v. Board of Education
Authors: Brown Frank
Published: January 2019

African American (Black) males in K–12 public schools lag behind all groups by race and gender. Black male students experience greater barriers in achieving academic success in school. This places Black boys at the bottom of the American's race and economic caste system. Black girls, for several reasons, are more successful in school than Black boys. This is true when you compare Black boys to Black girls from similar economic conditions. Black males are treated more negatively than any other racial or gender group in public elementary and secondary schools. They are more likely than other groups to be placed into lower academic tracks and lower academic programs (special education), and federal compensatory education programs. Black males are subjected to harsher school disciple and suspensions than are White students and Black females, which results in more Black male students being underachievers (Ladson-Billings, 2006). This sorting process by race and gender begins in elementary school, where more Black males are placed into lower academic tracks (Tyson, 2011) and are taught by less qualified teachers. This tracking system is coupled with more severe disciplinary action for Black boys. This article provides information on barriers for the lack of educational success among Black males.
The Impact of Brown v. Board of Education on Student Learning in Public Schools
Authors: Young Pamela , Dolph David , Russo Charles J.
Published: January 2019

This article discusses three aspects of Brown v. Board of Education. The first section offers a brief judicial history of desegregation in American public schools. The second portion discusses the promise and ultimate limitations of Brown, while the final part offers recommendations aimed at eliminating the effects of racial segregation in public education in the United States.
Doing the Work or Sharing the Work? The Educational Leadership Program Coordinator's Role
Authors: Hackmann Donald G. , Wanat Carolyn L.
Published: January 2019

Using distributed leadership as a theoretical framework, this study investigated the educational leadership program coordinator's duties in selected research universities, through interviews of 11 coordinators and 9 department chairs. Coordinators and chairs agreed that a significant time commitment was necessary for coordinators to provide oversight to the leadership preparation program. Most coordinators did not have job descriptions to delineate their duties, and few incentives were provided. Coordinators sometimes asked their chairs to intervene to ask faculty colleagues for help with programmatic responsibilities. This study concludes with recommendations to provide structure to and support for the educational leadership program coordination role.
Outcomes-Based Education
Authors: Yu Fu-Lai Tony
Published: January 2019

There are growing concerns among educators that the traditional teaching and learning method which is teacher-centered and places an emphasis on students’ inputs cannot adequately reflect what students actually learn. Outcomes-Based Education (OBE), with an attempt to measure the effectiveness of learning outcomes, has emerged as a response to the weaknesses of traditional teaching method. Since then, OBE has been adopted worldwide. Admittedly, OBE represents a significant advance in education reform. However, this paper argues that OBE should not be taken too far. Room should be made for non-measureable learning outcomes. This paper provides a subjectivist critique and identifies the limitations of OBE. Unlike positivist approach in OBE, this paper proposes “subjective understanding” as an alternative teaching and learning method. This subjectivist approach sheds new light on specific teaching and learning methods, such as assessment method, apprentice system, and school life. This paper concludes that educators should not neglect non-observable elements which can be tackled by the subjectivist approach.
If you Build It, Will they Come? Educational Leadership Program Coordinators’ Perceptions of Principal Preparation Redesign in Illinois
Authors: Hackmann Donald G. , Malin Joel R.
Published: January 2019

This qualitative study examined the impacts of Illinois principal preparation program restructuring mandates on programs and faculty, from the perspectives of 14 faculty program coordinators who facilitated the revisions. Findings disclosed that coordinators, coping with considerable ambiguity and stress, were crucially positioned to lead their faculty through submission and implementation processes. Although program coordinators tended to describe compliance-driven, rather than mission-driven, restructuring, most perceived the changes as positively impacting programming in their respective institutions. However, precipitously declining student enrollments are perceived as a serious threat and have contributed to coordinators’ decisions to engage increasingly in policy advocacy.
Institutional Barriers to Educational Participation
Authors: Tiwari Ashwini , Fu Tian
Published: January 2019

Drawing primarily from Pierre Bourdieu's work on “field” and “capital,” this article examines in detail how institutional barriers have systematically denied access to quality education to lower-class/caste students, which results in educational inequality impeding the efforts of sustainable development. China's hukou (household registration system) and India's varna vyavastha (caste system) are used as examples to illustrate how oblivious institutional barriers could manifest and exhibit in similar ways in two distinct sociopolitical nations. The article concludes with making a case for deconstructing the discourses on education for sustainable development based on the principles of social justice and equity.
Hong Kong's Postcolonial Education Reform
Authors: Spires Robert
Published: January 2019

The Hong Kong education system is at a crucial point in its trajectory, and changes to public education also reflect broader social, economic and political changes within Hong Kong and globally. Since the 1997 handover of Hong Kong from British control to China, Hong Kong has struggled to develop its own identity under the One Country, Two Systems premise. One of the compulsory courses in the Hong Kong curriculum known as liberal studies, introduced in 2009, provided a useful departure point for exploring many social tensions occurring in Hong Kong. Exploring education reform through liberal studies explains how these social tensions manifest within education, and how these educational tensions manifest within the broader society. Contemporary trends in Hong Kong's education were examined, including the public exams, the proliferation of shadow education and the expansion of self-financed tertiary education options for Hong Kong students. Tensions in Hong Kong are further explained through the notions of post-colonialism. The liberal studies debate mirror aspects of the broader economic, political, and social tensions as they relate to Hong Kong youth, and Hong Kong society at-large, and this article endeavors to explore these tensions through the lens of liberal studies as it relates to education discourse in Hong Kong. Through a combination of literature review from academic and mainstream sources, the article establishes the groundwork for further empirical work in order to gain a more in-depth understanding of the issues and tensions in Hong Kong.
The Use of Evaluation to Establish an Evidence Base, Lessons Learned, and Realistic Picture of Program and Policy Implementation and Sustainability
Authors: Dariotis Jacinda K. , Clark Vicki L. Plano
Published: January 2019

This editorial introduces a special issue containing five articles that report on an evaluation of the implementation of four education transformation models within the state of Ohio. The first article presents an overview of the cross-model results, followed by four individual articles that each present a case study analysis of one of the four transformation models. The editorial highlights how this evaluation effort as a whole demonstrates the importance of rigorous evaluation approaches for examining the strategies and challenges involved in state-wide transformation evaluation efforts.
Challenges with Implementing the Advancement via Individual Determination (AVID) Reform Model
Authors: Clark Vicki L. Plano , Stringfield Sam , Dariotis Jacinda K. , Clark Rachael S.
Published: January 2019

This case study examined the implementation of the Advancement Via Individual Determination (AVID) model in two schools funded for three years (2011–2014) through the Ohio Network of Education Transformation. Interviews, observations, and artifacts were gathered for two high schools over two years (2013–2014 and 2014–2015). At one year post-funding, one school's implementation of the AVID model was persevering and the other had completely halted. Several challenges with implementing the AVID model emerged to help explain the schools’ experiences and to suggest lessons learned.
Commemorating the 10th Anniversary of World Autism Awareness Day
Authors: Morse Tim
Published: January 2019

On December 18, 2007, the United Nations General Assembly adopted resolution 62/139 which established World Autism Awareness Day—one of only four official health-specific UN Days. The original resolution had four main components, which included celebrating World Autism Awareness Day every April 2 and encouraging member states to raise the awareness of autism at all levels in society. In accordance with this latter component of the resolution, the purpose of this article is to raise educators’ awareness about some of the most salient issues that need to be addressed as schools continue to implement necessary reforms for meeting the educational challenges posed by students with autism.
The Status of Universities in China
Authors: Rong Liying
Published: January 2019

In China, higher education administrative litigation started from mid-1990s. The case Tian Yong v. University of Science and Technology Beijing (USTB) in 1998 marked the beginning of such litigation. Since then, students have gone to the court to challenge higher education institutions for disputes over enrollment, school management, degree certificates granting, etc. This wave of lawsuits gradually gained momentum and attracted widespread social attention. When we reflect on this phenomenon, we can find the driving forces behind the emergence of higher education litigation, mainly, are institutional reforms and social structure changes. The establishment of relevant system requires the joint efforts of law practitioners and theorists to conscientiously study the objective laws in higher education and the rule of law in China, thus making a contribution to the higher education relief system.
Diploma Program Graduates’ CGPA as Predictor of Success in the Teachers’ Professional Licensing Written Exam Result with Gender Analysis
Authors: Robi Yoseph Shumi
Published: January 2019

The purpose of this study was to investigate the extent to which diploma graduates’ Cumulative Grade Point Average (CGPA) predicts their success in teachers’ professional licensing written exam result (TPLWER). A total of 588 graduating students (317 males and 271 females) were included in the study. Correlation, simple regression analyses, and independent sample t-test were employed on the data. The result revealed a statistical significant correlation between CGPA and TPLWER. CGPA appeared to be valid predictor of success of TPLWER and accounted for 33.40% of the variation in TPLWER. The results indicated statistically significant gender differences in diploma graduates’ CGPA and TPLWER.
Adoption of the Six Traits Analytic Writing Model with a Low-Income Student Population
Authors: Collopy Rachel M. B. , Arnold Jackie Marshall
Published: January 2019

Common Core State Standards (CCSS) have renewed attention on writing instruction. This study investigates the impact of teachers’ use of the Six Traits Analytic Writing model on random stratified samples of upper elementary students from a low-income population. All students, on average, made significant gains in each of the six traits during the school year. However, students in the Six Traits group made significantly greater gains in the trait of voice. The Six Traits Model showed some promise in improving the writing achievement of a low-income population, a critical concern in the current context of CCSS implementation.
Site-Based Management in a Collective Bargaining Environment: Can We Mix Oil and Water?
Authors: DeMitchell Todd A. , Fossey Richard
Published: January 2019

Don't think that, by itself, [school-based management] will produce anything.

—Albert Shanker

president of AFT, 19881

The school-based management that has been heralded in this town is bogus.

— High school headmaster

Boston Public Schools, 1991

We shall never learn to & respect our real calling & unless we have taught ourselves to consider everything as moonshine, compared with the education of the heart.

—Sir Walter Scott
An Interview with Movimento Boneco(a) from Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina—Brasil
Authors: McLaren Peter
Published: January 2019

“Our actions are & attempts to critically understand our everyday practices in a search for a new form of praxis in which & social agents & have the possibility of collectively constructing & their learning by recreating and reanimating what has historically been systematized to death.”—Movimento Boneco
Teacher Evaluation through the Looking Glass
Authors: Jenkins John M.
Published: January 2019

Some people never learn anything because they understand everything too quickly.

—Alexander Pope
MAST Academy: Navigating toward Tomorrow
Authors: Jenkins John M. , Eads Linda J.
Published: January 2019

MAST is truly a temple of learning because a person's mind can blossom. There is a spiritual and an intellectual environment supported by a flexible setting which promotes self-advancement and independence. Having lived in two communist countries, China and Cuba, I appreciate the importance of independence.

-Armando Ballart

Senior, MAST Academy
The Introduction of Agility into Albania
Authors: Smith-Stevens Eileen J. , Shkurti Drita
Published: January 2019

With all of its systems in a state of flux, Albania in 1998 is on the brink of transformational change. Agile practices introduced through the higher education system have the potential to make new and current business ventures competitive in the global market economy. This paper details a plan to introduce and achieve a national awareness of Agility through the relatively stable higher education order. Agile practices are advocated to strengthen and increase the quality and quantity of higher education first. In turn, this system would be used to train business and industry in Agile practices. Through interaction with MBA students and planned business-education partnerships, Albania's entry into the free market economy would be both guaranteed and facilitated.
Perception and hallucination: from an analytical approach to an enactive approach
Authors: Domínguez Rojas Ana Lorena
Published: January 2019

In this opinion, I examine the benefits of the enactivist approach in the study of perception and hallucination, which have traditionally been studied in the context of analytic philosophy. I consider some arguments that rescue the role of objects and the body in the perceptual experience, which allow certain clarities regarding the case of hallucination.
Adolescent Body Weight Perception: Association With Diet and Physical Activity Behaviors
Authors: Dues Kiya , Kandiah Jayanthi , Khubchandani Jagdish , Haroldson Amber
Published: January 2019

To assess the prevalence of weight misperception in American adolescents and its association with diet and physical activity behaviors, Youth Risk Behavior Survey data were utilized for this study. Based on reported and perceived weight, adolescents in the study were grouped into four categories (true negative [52.4%] = normal body mass index [BMI]/accurate weight perception; false negative [11.3%] = high BMI/weight misperception; false positive [11.6%] = normal BMI/weight misperception; and true positive [24.8%] = high BMI/accurate weight perception). Diet and physical activity of adolescents were compared in these categories. A total of 12,016 participants were included in our analysis (74.9% aged 15–17 years, 54.5% Whites, 52% females). Almost a third (31.8%) were overweight and obese, and more than a fifth (22.9%) misperceived their weight (11.6% overestimated and 11.3% underestimated their weight). In a gender-stratified analysis, the odds of avoiding a healthy diet and physical inactivity were higher among those with body weight misperception.
School Nurses and Student Academic Outcomes: An Integrative Review
Authors: Yoder Claire McKinley
Published: January 2019

The empirical evidence from previous studies has demonstrated that school nurses are effective in assisting children and families to address health concerns, reduce absenteeism, and provide children with the opportunity to reach their potential academically. Impoverished children and those with disabilities and chronic illness are at risk of school failure. An integrative review was undertaken to critique the research between 2002 and 2018 that addressed the influence of school nurses on academic outcomes such as absenteeism, missed class time, grades, and test scores. The findings of the review suggest that the presence of a school nurse is associated with reduced absenteeism and missed class time but not with academic achievement. Overall, the research in this area is weak and future research using more rigorous study designs, examining broader school nurse roles, and long-term academic outcomes is indicated to evaluate the impact of school nurses on educational outcomes.