bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Social Networking Postings: Views from School Principals
Authors: Griffin Marlynn M. , Lake Robert L.
Published: March 2015

Numerous recent media accounts indicate that teachers are being fired, put on probation, or otherwise censured because of information found on their social networking sites (SNS). While the literature in business, psychology, and pharmacy shows initial investigations of the impact of SNS information on hiring decisions, this area has not been investigated in the field of education. Data from pre-service teachers’ SNS were compiled into a 51-item questionnaire and K-12 school principals rated each statement on its likelihood to influence a hiring decision if it were found on the SNS of a teacher applying for a position at his or her school. The statements included on the questionnaire included sexual talk, swearing, violent language, references to drugs and/or alcohol use, and language that could be considered pejorative to individuals with disabilities, persons of color and/or homosexual individuals. The findings of this preliminary study indicate that of the 51 statements, 28 had average ratings in the moderate-to-significant impact on hiring decision range and 22 had average ratings in the minor-to-moderate impact on hiring decision range. Only one item of the 51 fell in the no impact-to-minor impact on hiring decision range. Findings are discussed in relation to professional dispositions, categories of information that may influence hiring decisions, and internet use policies. Implications based on the data from this study include the need to develop state and university policies for SNS use. Finally, the results of this study indicate that further research into hiring administrators’ use of data from SNS in hiring decisions is warranted.
In Search of Leading Indicators in Education
Authors: Supovitz Jonathan , Foley Ellen , Mishook Jacob
Published: March 2015

Data have long been considered a key factor in organizational decision-making (Simon, 1955; Lindblom & Cohen, 1979). Data offer perspective, guidance, and insights that inform policy and practice (Newell & Simon, 1972; Kennedy, 1984). Recently, education policymakers have invested in the use of data for organizational improvement in states and districts with such initiatives as Race to The Top (United States Department of Education, 2010) and the development of statewide longitudinal data systems (Institute for Education Sciences, 2010). These and other initiatives focus attention on how data can be used to foster learning and improvement. In other fields, including economics and business, much work has been done to identify leading indicators that predict organizational outcomes. In this paper, we conceptualize how leading indicators might be used in education, using examples from a small sample of school districts with reputations as strong users of data. We define leading indicators as systematically collected data on an activity or condition that is related to a subsequent and valued outcome, as well as the processes surrounding the investigation of those data and the associated responses. Identifying leading indicators often prompts improvements in a district’s system of supports. To develop this concept, we describe four examples of how districts identified and used key indicators to anticipate learning problems and improve student outcomes. We also describe the infrastructure and other supports that districts need to sustain this ambitious form of data use. We conclude by discussing how leading indicators can bring about more intelligent use of data in education.
The Relationship between Policy Design, Context, and Implementation in Integration Plans
Authors: Diem Sarah
Published: March 2015

The decision handed down by the U.S. Supreme Court in Parents Involved in Community Schools v. Seattle School District No. 1 (2007) has forced school districts to begin thinking of new ways to integrate their schools without relying on race as the single factor in their assignment plans. While some school districts already have begun to implement race-neutral student assignments, others are just beginning the process and are looking to plans that have been able to maintain diversity despite the new limitations being placed on them. In an effort to understand factors critical in shaping racial and socioeconomic diversity in school districts given the new requisite limitations, this study examined the relationship between the design, context, and implementation of three different integration plans that rely on voluntary choice and socioeconomic status (SES). The findings suggest that geographic and political contexts matter in the shaping and adoption of integration plans based on voluntary choice and SES. Suggestions are offered to help maintain integration given the local sociopolitical context of the school districts.
La exclusión social en el discurso educativo: un análisis basado en un programa de investigación
Authors: González Faraco Juan Carlos , Luzón Trujillo Antonio , Torres Sánchez Mónica
Published: March 2015

El objetivo de este artículo es mostrar los fundamentos teóricos y metodológicos y las etapas de un programa de investigación, que ha cubierto ya más de una década. Este programa pone el acento en las complejas relaciones entre exclusión social y educación, y más específicamente entre la inclusión-exclusión social y el gobierno de la educación, en el marco de las políticas generales y también de las prácticas institucionales. Este programa combina dos enfoques analíticos: el enfoque de la equidad y el enfoque del conocimiento, siempre desde una perspectiva político-comparada y cultural. Ambos tienen raíces epistemológicas e incluso ideológicas diferenciadas, aunque no contradictorias: ambos, en una u otra medida, están presentes en los tres proyectos sucesivos de este programa de investigación: 1. Gobierno de la Educación, Inclusión y Exclusión Social en Europa; 2. Estudiantes en riesgo de exclusión educativa en la Educación Secundaria Obligatoria; 3. Exclusión social y educativa de Niños y Jóvenes con SIDA. En conjunto, este programa sostiene la idea de que ciertos cambios en el gobierno de la educación se pueden volver mecanismos de inclusión/exclusión, en términos de diferenciación y estratificación social y cultural. Esto quiere decir que ciertos cambios en las políticas educativas pueden afectar severamente la capacidad de la educación para combatir la exclusión social. Hablamos de aquellos cambios concernientes  a la manera de construir la solidaridad social y las racionalidades políticas, según la cual se establecen las formas de comprender  a los individuos. Tratamos de estudiar, a partir de varios conceptos y categorías, como los de transición y narración, cómo se producen los cambios o se modifican los principios que ordenan la política, la pedagogía, el éxito escolar o incluso las estadísticas. En otras palabras, cómo se introducen ciertos sistemas de razón que juegan su papel en un medio desigual, así como ciertas reglas de acción que premian o castigan, califican o descalifican, integran o marginan a los individuos o a los grupos.
When Science Counts as Much as Reading and Mathematics: An Examination of Differing State Accountability Policies
Authors: Judson Eugene
Published: March 2015

Although only results from mathematics and reading assessments are required to be used when Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) of schools is calculated, some states have elected to include science achievement results either in their AYP calculations or as part of a separate dual accountability system. This study examined 2009 National Assessment for Educational Progress (NAEP) results based on how states use, or do not use, science in their accountability programs. Consideration was given to the idea that including science achievement might detract from efforts, and consequently results, in mathematics and reading. Results from both fourth- and eighth-grade data indicated that states choosing to use science in their accountability calculations did not lose ground in those other subjects. Fourth-grade data indicates that the states using science in their accountability programs additionally had significantly higher science achievement than the other states.
Re-Examining Exit Exams: New Findings from the Education Longitudinal Study of 2002
Authors: Shuster Catherine
Published: March 2015

Using the nationally representative, cohort-based data of the Education Longitudinal Study of 2002 (ELS:02), this study employs multiple regression to examine the effects of exit exams on student achievement and school completion. This study finds that exit exams as a whole do not have substantial effects on student achievement in mathematics, twelfth grade GPA, or school completion. Standards-based exams are a positive predictor of dropping out of school but lose their predictive power once GED recipients are coded as completing school. Exit exams do not affect GED seeking and acquisition. When exit exams are disaggregated by type and students are sorted by ninth grade GPA quartiles, end-of-course exams have some negative effects on mathematics test score gains. Students in the bottom two quartiles see reduced test score gains of 28% and 29% of a grade level equivalency (GLE). These effects disappear when students in North Carolina are coded as taking a different type of exam. Standards-based exams had a small positive effect, about 37% of a GLE, on the top quartile of students. Overall, the findings showed no results for school completion and mixed results for test score gains. The article concludes that policymakers looking to boost high school achievement would be better served by working to boost student accomplishments before high school.
Is Administration Leaner in Charter Schools? Resource Allocation in Charter and Traditional Public Schools
Authors: Arsen David D. , Ni Yongmei
Published: March 2015

There is widespread concern that administration consumes too much of the educational dollar in traditional public schools, diverting needed resources from classroom instruction and hampering efforts to improve student outcomes.  By contrast, charter schools are predicted to have leaner administration and allocate resources more intensively to instruction. This study analyzes resource allocation in charter and district schools in Michigan, where charter and tradition public schools receive approximately the same operational funding.  Controlling for factors that could affect resource allocation patterns between school types, we find that charter schools on average spend $774 more per pupil per year on administration and $1141 less on instruction than traditional public schools.
La introducción en España de la política educativa basada en la gestión empresarial de la escuela: el caso de Andalucía
Authors: Merchán F. Javier
Published: March 2015

Desde los años del gobierno de Margaret Thatcher en Gran Bretaña, se han impuesto a nivel mundial las políticas educativas basadas en la gestión empresarial de la educación. Por una parte, este artículo hace ciertas consideraciones sobre los fundamentos en los que se apoyan estas políticas, así como sobre los efectos que están teniendo en el funcionamiento del sistema educativo, por otra parte, se ocupa del modo en que dichas políticas se han ido introduciendo en España, estudiando de modo particular el caso de Andalucía, pionera en muchos aspectos en la aplicación de estas nuevas fórmulas.
Trends in mathematics and science performance in 18 countries: Multiple regression analysis of the cohort effects of TIMSS 1995-2007
Authors: Hong Hee Kyung
Published: March 2015

The purpose of this study was to simultaneously examine relationships between teacher quality and instructional time and mathematics and science achievement of 8th grade cohorts in 18 advanced and developing economies. In addition, the study examined changes in mathematics and science performance across the two groups of economies over time using data from the TIMSS 1995-2007 assessments. While economy did not account for variation in mathematics and science achievement, findings from regression analyses indicated significant relationships between school inputs and achievement in both groups of countries across the years. Teaching experience was a strong indicator of mathematics performance in developing countries, while instructional time was mildly related to achievement in both subjects in advanced economies.
Factor Structure of Opportunity to Learn for Students with and without Disabilities
Authors: Cawthon Stephanie Washbourn , Lockhart Leland , Kaye Alyssa , Beretvas Tasha
Published: March 2015

Opportunity to Learn (OTL) stems from the basic premise that there is an important relationship between the quality and intensity of classroom instruction and students’ levels of academic success. For many students with disabilities, an emphasis on OTL has become national priority, yet measuring its impact is a complex challenge. The first purpose of this study was to explore the factorial validity of OTL using indicators found in the 2005 4th grade National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). The study entailed confirmatory factor analyses for potential OTL factors including teacher preparation, professional development, classroom activities, and access to technology. Separate factor analyses were conducted using the reading and mathematics datasets. The authors then looked at the degree to which OTL factors influenced NAEP estimates of ability for both students with disabilities and their non-disabled peers. The following three OTL factors differentially predicted student scores: classroom activities (reading), student constructed projects (reading), and using calculators for instruction (mathematics). For the remaining three reading factors and seven mathematics factors, there were no differences in the relationship between the factors and scores for students with and without disabilities.
“Lição de Coisas” No Museu: O Método Intuitivo e o Museu do Estado do Rio Grande do Sul, Brasil, nas Primeiras Décadas do Século XX
Authors: Possamai Zita Rosane
Published: March 2015

O regime republicano no Brasil fora instaurado em contexto de profundas transformações, que colocavam na ordem do dia a necessidade de modernização da sociedade. Nesse quadro, a educação e a escola foram consideradas relevantes por possibilitar a formação dos cidadãos afinados com as novas ideias no sentido de alcançar uma sociedade científica. Para isso, era necessário buscar novos métodos de ensino no escopo dos preceitos de uma modernidade pedagógica. Nesse contexto insere-se a valorização do método intuitivo ou Lição de Coisas, calcado sobre a observação e a experiência (o concreto), criticando-se o ensino tradicional assentado na memorização, na repetição e na abstração. No Brasil, especialmente na província do Rio Grande do Sul, esse método foi adotado pelo Governo do Estado e implantado no sistema de ensino. No mesmo contexto republicano, foi criado o Museu do Estado do Rio Grande do Sul, que deu especial atenção à formação de coleções de ciências naturais. No período estudado, a escola encontrou nesse museu um laboratório profícuo para o exercício do método intuitivo, assim como o museu forneceu à escola os materiais necessários ao ensino de Lição de Coisas.
The Impact of State-Wide Exit Exams in Germany: A Descriptive Case Study
Authors: Van Ackeren Isabell , Block Rainer , Klein Esther Dominique , Kühn Svenja Mareike
Published: March 2015

This study analyzes the possible intended and unintended impact of statewide exit exams as a governance tool used by education authorities. In a descriptive case study based on quantitative empirical research, three German states (Baden-Württemberg, Rhineland-Palatinate, North Rhine-Westphalia) with differing exit exam traditions (statewide versus school-based) are compared. Consistent with other recent research findings, the potential influences of statewide exit exams on teaching and learning processes can be detected for mathematics, but not for German or biology. In particular, these influences show in the fact that teachers whose students have to take a statewide exit exam are less responsive to students’ interests regarding the choice of topics in the classroom, perceive a tendency to narrow the delivered curriculum and increase cooperation with other teachers. In addition, both teachers and students feel a higher pressure to perform and perceive their roles to be different −they see themselves as allies preparing for an externally set exam. Teachers also tend to feel “de-professionalized”. In those areas where statewide exams do seem to affect schooling, most of the results are consistent with what was intended by the authorities when they introduced the exams, and there are only few unintended side-effects. From a governance perspective, however, a general capacity of statewide exit exams to move schooling in a desired direction remains rather doubtful, particularly considering the fact that the exam procedures that have recently been implemented in the German states are very heterogeneous and only partly standardized.
Payment by Results
Authors: Rapple Brendan A.
Published: March 2015

Today the public is demanding that it exercise more control over how tax dollars are spent in the educational sphere, with multitudes also canvassing that education become closely aligned to the marketplace's economic forces. In this paper I examine an historical precedent for such demands, i.e. the comprehensive 19th century system of accountability, "Payment by Results," which endured in English and Welsh elementary schools from 1862 until 1897. Particular emphasis is focused on the economic market-driven aspect of the system whereby every pupil was examined annually by an Inspector, the amount of the governmental grant being largely dependent on the answering. I argue that this was a narrow, restrictive system of educational accountability though one totally in keeping with the age's pervasive utilitarian belief in laissez-faire. I conclude by observing that this Victorian system might be suggestive to us today when calls for analogous schemes of educational accountability are shrill.
Two Book Reviews
Authors: Howley Craig B. , Howley Aimee , Scribner Kent P.
Published: March 2015

This issue of the Education Policy Analysis Archives comprises two book reviews: An essay review of R. G. Brown Schools of Thought by Craig Howley and Aimee Howley, and a review of Ernest R. House, Professional Evaluation by Kent P. Scribner.
Choosing Higher Education: Educationally Ambitious Chicanos and the Path to Social Mobility
Authors: Gandara Patricia
Published: March 2015

This is a study of high academic achievement found in the most unlikely places: among low-income Mexican Americans from homes with little formal education. It examines the backgrounds of 50 persons, male and female from one age cohort, who met most of the predictors for school failure or "dropping out." All came from families in which neither parent completed high school or held a job higher than skilled labor; the average father finished grade four and most were sons and daughters of farmworkers and other unskilled laborers. Most began school with Spanish as their primary language, yet all completed doctoral-level educations from the country's most prestigious institutions. This study investigates the forces that conspire to create such anomalies. Its aim is to suggest how such outcomes might be the product of design rather than accident.
Inflated Grades, Enrollments & Budgets
Authors: Stone J. E.
Published: March 2015

Reports of the past 13 years that call attention to deficient academic standards in American higher education are enumerated. Particular attention is given the Wingspread Group's recent An American Imperative: Higher Expectations for Higher Education. Low academic standards, grade inflation, and budgetary incentives for increased enrollment are analyzed and a call is made for research at the state level. Reported trends in achievement and GPAs are extrapolated to Tennessee and combined with local data to support the inference that 15% of the state's present day college graduates would not have earned a diploma by mid 1960s standards. A conspicuous lack of interest by public oversight bodies is noted despite a growing public awareness of low academic expectations and lenient grading and an implicit budgetary impact of over $100 million. Various academic policies and the dynamics of bureaucratic control are discussed in relationship to the maintenance of academic standards. The disincentives for challenging course requirements and responsible grading are examined, and the growing movement to address academic quality issues through better training and supervision of faculty are critiqued. Recommendations that would encourage renewed academic integrity and make learning outcomes visible to students, parents, employers, and the taxpaying public are offered and briefly discussed.
Educational Change in Alberta, Canada
Authors: Webber Charles F.
Published: March 2015

Alberta, Canada, is the site of large-scale educational change initiatives legislated by the provincial government. The mandates have sparked heated public debate over the appropriateness, wisdom, and utility of the reforms. This article summarizes the views of representatives of several educational interest groups and offers suggestions for making change more meaningful and successful.
Review of Hanushek "Making Schools Work"
Authors: Gintis Herbert
Published: March 2015

Making Schools Work is about the economics of educational policy. The Brookings Institution, publisher of the volume, is among the most respected institutions of economic policy research in the United States. The analysis and recommendations offered by Eric Hanushek, Professor of Economics at the University of Rochester, are based on original research financed by the Pew Charitable Trusts, and carried out by a distinguished group of economists.
Review of Berliner & Biddle "The Manufactured Crisis"
Authors: Stedman Lawrence C.
Published: March 2015

In a provocative new book, The Manufactured Crisis, David Berliner and Bruce Biddle make four sweeping claims about U.S. achievement: there never was a test score decline, today's students are "out-achieving their parents substantially" (p. 33), U.S. students "stack up very well" in international assessments (p. 63), and the general education crisis is a right-wing fabrication. As a progressive, I'm sympathetic to their concerns, but as a scholar who specializes in this material, I find their analysis deeply flawed and misleading. They mischaracterize the test score decline data, mishandle the international findings, and fail to acknowledge students' continuing low levels of academic achievement.
Goals 2000: Disastrous Unintended Consequences
Authors: Seidman Robert H.
Published: March 2015

"Goals 2000: Educate America Act" aims to, among other things, increase the high school graduation rate to at least 90% and eliminate the graduation rate gap between minority and non-minority students. However well intentioned, this goal is doomed to failure. Powerful systemic forces converge to stabilize the high school graduation rate at about 75% where it has been since 1965 and where no traditional national policy will be able to advance it very much. Even if education policy could succeed in increasing the rate to 90% or beyond, undesirable consequences of potentially great magnitude, especially for the targeted minority groups, would result.
Reframing Assessment Concepts
Authors: Taylor Catherine S. , Nolen Susan Bobbitt
Published: March 2015

We question the utility of traditional conceptualizations of validity and reliability, developed in the context of large scale, external testing, and the psychology of individual differences, for the context of the classroom. We compare traditional views of validity and reliability to alternate frameworks that situate these constructs in teachers' work in classrooms. We describe how we used these frameworks to design an assessment course for preservice teachers, and present data that suggest students in the redesigned course not only saw the course as more valuable in their work as teachers, but developed deeper understandings of validity and reliability than did their counterparts in a traditional tests and measurement course. We close by discussing the implications of these data for the teaching of assessment, and for the use and interpretation of classroom assessment data for purposes of local and state accountability.
Review of Apple's "Cultural Politics & Education"
Authors: Misgeld Dieter
Published: March 2015

A review of Michael W. Apple's Cultural Politics and Education. New York, 1996. Teachers College Press. Columbia University.
The Bell Curve: Corrected for Skew
Authors: Kupermintz Haggai
Published: March 2015

This commentary documents serious pitfalls in the statistical analyses and the interpretation of empirical evidence presented in The Bell Curve. Most importantly, the role of education is re-evaluated and it is shown how, by neglecting it, The Bell Curve grossly overstates the case for IQ as a dominant determinant of social success. The commentary calls attention to important features of logistic regression coefficients, discusses sampling and measurement uncertainties of estimates based on observational sample data, and points to substantial limitations in interpreting regression coefficients of correlated variables.
Respecting the Evidence
Authors: Stedman Lawrence C.
Published: March 2015

Wherein Stedman answers Berliner and Biddle's reply to his review of The Manufactured Crisis.
Markets Versus Monopolies in Education
Authors: Coulson Andrew J.
Published: March 2015

A common point of contention among educators and economists is the likely effect a free market would have on modern education. Most supporters of public schooling maintain that the field would either be adversely affected by competition and choice, or that the effects would be insubstantial. Conversely, a significant number of critics argue that education, like all other human exchanges, would respond to market incentives with improved performance, increased attention to the needs of families, and greater innovation. Historical evidence is presented indicating that teachers and schools are indeed affected by the financial incentives of the systems in which they operate. In particular, the data show that economic pressures have forced schools in competitive markets to meet the needs of families, through methodological advancements and diversity in curriculum, while centralized bureaucratic systems have generally been coercive and pedagogically stagnant.
Markets & Myths: Autonomy in Public & Private Schools
Authors: Glass Sandra Rubin
Published: March 2015

School choice is the most controversial education policy issue of the 1990s. John Chubb and Terry Moe's Politics, Markets and America's Schools stimulated this investigation. They concluded that teacher and administrator autonomy was the most important influence on student achievement. They assumed that the organization of private schools offered greater autonomy resulting in higher student achievement and that the bureaucracy of public schools stifles autonomy limiting student achievement. The research undertaken here elaborates, elucidates, and fills in the framework of teacher and principal autonomy in public and private secondary schools. Interviews of more than thirty teachers and administrators in six high schools, observations, field notes, and analysis of documents collected in the field form the empirical base of this work. The sites included three private, independent, nondenominational secondary schools which are college preparatory and three public secondary schools noted for high graduation rates and offering numerous advanced placement courses.The feelings expressed by both public and private school participants in this study testify to equally high degrees of autonomy. Issues that emerged from data analysis in this study which mitigate and shape autonomy include the following: conflicting and contradictory demands, shared beliefs, layers of protection, a system of laws, funding constraints and matters of size of the institution. These issues challenge oversimplified assertions that differences of any importance exist between the autonomy experienced by professionals in public and private high schools. This study reveals the complexity of the concept of autonomy and challenges the myth that teachers and principals in private schools enjoy autonomy and freedom from democratic bureaucracy that their public school counterparts do not.
Cultural Differences and the Construction of Meaning
Authors: Peña Robert A.
Published: March 2015

The relationships between student achievement, student culture and practitioners' attitudes and expectations were investigated. Student achievement was defined as academic performance but also included perceptions, rationales and explanations for student behaviors and conduct. Student culture described student's Mexican American origins, customs and beliefs. Practitioners' attitudes described how middle school personnel perceived Mexican American high and underachieving students generally, and practitioners' expectations described how personnel interacted and behaved toward Mexican American students. Results indicated that Mexican American students perceived themselves and school personnel perceived these students as different from Anglo students. Mexican American cultural traditions were also perceived as inferior and disadvantageous by high achieving Mexican American students and by personnel. Underachieving Mexican American students generally valued their cultural traditions more positively than high achieving students becoming resistant to learning when these traditions were marginalized in school. Student achievement was also related to student compliance, student appearance, styles in written and verbal communication and practitioners' perceptions about the willingness of Mexican American students to practice and support Anglo norms. These findings are congruent with theories that discuss relationships between student achievement, student culture and practitioners' attitudes and expectations. Theories about school failure occurring less frequently in minority groups that are positively oriented toward their own and the dominant culture were contradicted and not supported in this research.
Qualitative Research Methods: An essay review
Authors: McLean Les , Myers Margaret , Smillie Carol , Vaillancourt Dale
Published: March 2015

Miller, Steven I. & Fredericks, Marcel (1994) Qualitative Research Methods: Social Epistemology and Practical Inquiry. New York: Peter Lang. 159 pages.
Factors Impacting Perceived Quality in School Organizations
Authors: Poston William K.
Published: March 2015

This paper presents the findings of studies conducted at Iowa State University of public schools in Iowa in the area of perceived quality assessment. Demographic characteristics of the respondents on the Perceived Quality Assessment Instrument from forty-four school districts were described by position, home annual income, gender, age, level of education, and years experience in current or a similar job. The research project undertaken incorporated several studies of quality improvement characteristics of public schools. The project resulted in a compendium of coordinated research aimed at learning more about the relationships and effects of quality improvement efforts with other factors of school district operations.
Where Have All the Teachers Gone?
Authors: Fetler Mark
Published: March 2015

A rising need for teachers is projected for California and the nation during the next decade. Sound policy for teacher preparation should not only foster a capable workforce, it should also assure that the supply of qualified teachers balances with employment demand. A conceptual model is proposed to describe the flow of individuals through teacher preparation programs and the workplace. In California the workforce is projected to grow by thirty percent over the next ten years, stimulating the demand for teachers. At present the number of newly credentialed teachers exceeds the number hired. However, the apparent abundance masks an oversupply of teachers in some curricular and geographic areas and shortages elsewhere. Evidence for a lack of balance between supply and demand is found in an upward trend of emergency hiring of teachers who do not meet all requirements for a credential and low employment rates for first-time college and university prepared teachers. The asymmetry between supply and demand could be redressed partly through better retention of working teachers and closer coordination of preparation programs with the needs of schools in their service areas.
Off-loading Responsibility in Alberta's Post-Secondary System
Authors: Barnetson Robert J.
Published: March 2015

The introduction of a performance-based funding mechanism by Alberta's provincial  government alters the public definition of "educational quality" and fully shifts the  responsibility for declining educational quality from the provincial government onto institutions. This article outlines the process by which the provincial government has  compelled institutions to accept this redefinition and transfer despite the substantial  loss of institutional autonomy it entails. The implications of this change are explored  and possible reasons are suggested.
The Circle of Learning: Individual and Group Processes
Authors: Chang Ernest , Simpson Don
Published: March 2015

We present a paradigm for modeling the processes found in individual and group learning. Using combinations of two dimensions, the first being whether the learner's activities are By-Oneself or With-Peers, and the second whether the process orientation is toward the Person as the focus of the learning or toward the Group as the focus, we derive four quadrants in Activity-Orientation learning space. These four quadrants represent: lectures, individual learning, concurrent learning, and collaborative learning. From these combinations of Activities versus Orientation, we can describe many characteristics of these different learning categories.
Response to Haskell's "Academic Freedom ... & Student Evaluation"
Authors: Stake Jeffrey E.
Published: March 2015

Haskell (1997) argued that the administrative practice of student evaluation of faculty is a threat to academic freedom. However, before that claim can be substantiated, several prior questions must be addressed: To whom does academic freedom belong? Individual faculty? The academy? Whose actions can violate the right? Can any lines be drawn based on whether the substance or form of classroom behavior is influenced? And still another crucial point is whether a body can violate academic freedom without any intent to interfere with or control the substance of what is said to students.
Distance Learning in Higher Education
Authors: Berg Gary A.
Published: March 2015

The Western Governors University (WGU) and the California Virtual University (CVU) are revealing examples of the complex issues involved in implementing distance learning on the public policy level. Although technology is certainly important, it has masked the fact that the WGU and CVU initiatives mark the rise of learner-centered higher education and the increased role of business in the academy. In comparing and contrasting WGU and CVU, it is clear that the WGU is a more radical proposition because of competency-based credit and the connection with private industry. Two important issues driving public policy are raised in these two efforts: First, are the California and Western Governors Association initiatives the product of the commercialization of education or the result of a reform of higher education that may lead to an increased learner-centered orientation? Second, what is the appropriate role of private industry in higher education?
Some Comments on Assessment in U.S. Education
Authors: Stake Robert
Published: March 2015

We do not know much about what assessment has accomplished but we know it has not brought about the reform of American Education. The costs and benefits of large scale mandated achievement testing are too complex to be persuasively reported. Therefore, educational policy needs to be based more on deliberated interpretations of assessment, experience, and ideology. Evaluation of assessment consequences, however inconclusive, has an important role to play in the deliberations.
Transformation of Taiwan's Upper Secondary Education System
Authors: Laih Hueih-Lirng , Westbury Ian
Published: March 2015

This paper explores the policy issues circling around the structural "transition" in upper secondary education implicit in the twenty-year increase in secondary and third-level school enrollment rates in Taiwan. This expansion has taken place within a secondary school system which is rigidly divided into both general, i.e., academic, and vocational tracks and into public and private sectors: the majority of students are enrolled in the private vocational sector which is only loosely articulated with the university sector. These features of the school system are analysed against the background of social and economic developments in Taiwan as well as public opinion. The analysis suggests that the present structures of school must be "reformed" in ways that will result in a more unified secondary system with both greater public funding and better articulation of all school types with the third level. The policy options that circle around the possibility of such reforms in the areas of curriculum, examination structures and second level-third level articulation are discussed and a policy framework for the reform of the Taiwan secondary education sector is outlined.
The Internet and the Truth about Science
Authors: Meadows George , Howley Aimee
Published: March 2015

Even though sophisticated discussion of the nature of scientific claims is taking place in the academy, public school teachers of science and mathematics may harbor naive assumptions about the way that scientific processes function to construct the "truth." Reluctant to change their prior assumptions about science, such teachers may become vulnerable to information technologies (including "low-tech" media such as textbooks and films) that construe science as a collection of facts. An on-line lesson about constructivism provided a forum in which a group of teachers revealed well-established epistemologies seemingly inimical to the principles of conceptual change teaching. Further, the strategies used by the teachers to quell a potentially interesting debate provided preliminary evidence of differences in the motives for communication in virtual, in contrast to real, communities.
Boundary Breaking: An Emergent Model for Leadership Development
Authors: Webber Charles , Robertson Jan
Published: March 2015

We summarize the results of a cross-cultural on-line project for graduate students in educational leadership at the University of Calgary in Canada and the University of Waikato in New Zealand. A conceptual framework for the collaborative Internet project is presented in conjunction with a summary of relevant literature and participant views of the project. Finally, the authors propose a model for on-line graduate learning in educational leadership with the following components: construction of meaning, provision of a forum for discussion, validation of personal knowledge, generative learning, formal and informal leadership, sense of community, and international perspectives.
Selection in Europe--the Case of Greece
Authors: Gouvias Dionysios
Published: March 2015

This article deals with inequality of access to higher education in Greece, and especially, the case of the Metropolitan Area of Athens. Specifically, I deal with a general overview of the debates about "selection" in the educational systems of Europe, with special reference to the case of Greece. It is argued here that in those levels of the educational "ladder" where the degree of specialisation and the need for individual selection is insignificant, inequalities exist, but are not profound. On the contrary, in the upper levels, and especially as the time to enter (or to be trained to enter) the labour market comes closer, students' success depends much more on externally assessed examination performance and, therefore, a more rigorous selection process emerges--a process that is decisively influenced by the labour- market requirements and limitations. Finally, an extended examination of the evolution of the Greek school-system and the changes in examination practices, and the relationship between the structure of the school system and the job-market, will be attempted.
Restructuring Chinese Higher Education
Authors: Zhao Fang
Published: March 2015

In this article, the current remarkable trend of institutional amalgamation and the establishment of cross-institutional consortiums in China are examined. The principal purpose of this study is to explore policy options on issues connected with the trend and the significant implications of the trend for the future development of higher education in China. I discuss the outstanding issues raised in the restructuring, the main factors behind them and proposes policy options to redress the adversities of the trend at the end. The article draws on national data as well as a case study. The research reported here is constructive for comparative and empirical research of similar issues in international perspectives.
School Improvement Policy--Site-Based Management
Authors: Tanner C. Kenneth , Stone Cheryl D.
Published: March 2015

Have administrative functions of principals changed in schools practicing site-based management (SBM) with shared governance? To deal with this issue we employed the Delphi technique and a panel of 24 experts from 14 states. The experts, which included educational specialists, researchers, writers, and elementary school principals, agreed that the implementation of SBM dramatically influences the roles of the principal in management/administration and leadership. Data revealed that the elementary principal's leadership role requires specialized skills to support shared governance, making it necessary to form professional development programs that adapt to innovations evolving from the implementation of SBM.
The Research Assessment Exercise
Authors: Broadhead Lee-Anne , Howard Sean
Published: March 2015

In this article it is argued that the recent Research Assessment Exercise (RAE)--undertaken by the United Kingdom's Higher Education Funding Councils (HEFC)--is part of a much larger process of assessment in education generally. By taking the RAE as its focus, this article uses a Foucaultian analysis to amplify the nature and practice of disciplinary power in the setting of Higher Education. Foucault's notion of an "integrated system" of control and production, with its routine operation of surveillance and assessment--and its dependence on coercion and consent--is directly applied to the RAE. The impact on research and teaching is discussed. The critical response of academics to the exercise has failed to challenge the process in any fundamental way. it is argued here that this failure is a reflection of the degree to which disciplinary logic is embedded in the academic system.
SOCRATES Invades Central Europe
Authors: Slowinski Joseph
Published: March 2015

The objective of this article is to explore the current reality faced by higher education students in Central and Eastern Europe and to draw out the implications of this current reality for policy makers in the future. In the article, I explore the influence of transnational corporations' training programs on education as it currently pertains to Central and Eastern European higher education and employment. In addition, multinational corporate entities exercise influence on European Union policy through the role of lobby organizations and activities. I explore the influence of these practices on education with an emphasis on the emerging importance of Western language skills. In addition, I focus on the European Union and its efforts to expand into Central and Eastern Europe in order to provide a focal point for analysis.
Ethnic Segregation in Arizona Charter Schools
Authors: Cobb Casey D. , Glass Gene V
Published: March 2015

Among the criticisms of charter schools is their potential to further stratify schools along ethnic and class lines. This study addressed whether Arizona charter schools are more ethnically segregated than traditional public schools. In 1996-97, Arizona had nearly one in four of all charter schools in the United States. The analysis involved a series of comparisons between the ethnic compositions of adjacent charter and public schools in Arizona's most populated region and its rural towns. This methodology differed from the approach of many evaluations of charter schools and ethnic stratification in that it incorporated the use of geographic maps to compare schools' ethnic make-ups. The ethnic compositions of 55 urban and 57 rural charter schools were inspected relative to their traditional public school neighbors.
School to Work Opportunities Act Policy--An Effort at Backward Mapping
Authors: Recesso Arthur M.
Published: March 2015

This study examined the intent of federal policy and the actual implementation within local school districts. Specifically, the focus is on the Federal School to Work Opportunities Act of 1994 and its implementation in 47 school districts in upstate New York as part of a consortium during the 1995-96 school year. The purpose of the study was to determine 1) the extent to which an agreement to participate in a consortium arrangement designed to facilitate the implementation of a specific Federal or state policy resulted in the active implementation efforts by individual consortium members, and 2) how a high school setting where School to Work activities were perceived by local stakeholders as having great specific and important effects differed from a high school setting where School to Work activities were perceived by local stakeholders as having some or no effect. A bottom-up backward mapping policy analysis model was used for the purposes of this study. Local level data was used to create performance, environment, technology implementation, and School to Work implementation profiles of local high schools. Regression and correlation analyses were used to determine the relationship between stakeholder perceptions and local high school characteristics. Results of the study were reported and interpreted with the aim of furthering research and knowledge of policy analysis and the use of local level data to determine the success of policy implementation. This study found that variation between federal intent and local adaptation is explained by characteristics of the high school and perceptions of stakeholders. School to Work policy implementation, perceived by the high school administrator as a stakeholder, varied significantly by high school student performance, environment in which the high school operates, and level of technology implementation in the high school. Results indicated that the backward mapping policy analysis model is effective in determining the actual levels of policy implementation. Backward mapping results in a definitive explanation of the role of the local actor and the use of discretion in decision making. The final analysis as a result of backward mapping goes beyond the measurement of policy objectives being met and explains the meaning of local level participation.
Hiring Policy in United States Spanish Departments
Authors: Hoeg Jerry , Cohen Eric , Fullen Christine
Published: March 2015

The present study focuses on two inter-related factors specific to United States college and university Spanish Departments: the unique demographic profile of the entry-level faculty in terms of gender, ethnicity, national origin, and social class; the relation between these factors and hiring practices, especially regarding field of specialization, pay scale, and tenure-track opportunities. We believe these issues are important in that they underscore the value of considering questions of social class as well as ethnicity and gender when analyzing academic job segmentation.