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on Education |
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Issue of 2015‒05‒16
forty-six papers chosen by João Carlos Correia Leitão Universidade da Beira Interior |
| By: | Kundu, Amit; Dutt, Gitanjali |
| Abstract: | This paper on the basis of Quasi-experiment shows that ‘quality of education’ of the students of the government owned primary schools getting mid-day meal are not satisfactory. Lack of giving sufficient importance on education by the parents for their children mainly coming from low socio-economic back ground is the major cause behind that. |
| Keywords: | Mid day meal, Quality of education, Non-random sample, Quasi-experiment. |
| JEL: | C93 D10 I21 I28 |
| Date: | 2014–08–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:64232&r=edu |
| By: | Victor Zbar (Zbar Consulting P/L) |
| Abstract: | Vic Zbar is an Australian education consultant and former senior executive in the Victorian Government who is recognised internationally for his writing on education and range of education reports. He is co-editor of four volumes of Leading the Education Debate, published by the Centre for Strategic Education, and co-author of Better Schools, Better Teachers, Better Results published by the Australian Council for Educational Research. He also wrote the best sellers Managing the Future and Key Management Concepts published by Macmillan. In 2014 he conducted a review of middle schooling for the Minister for Education in the Northern Territory.In this short presentation Vic Zbar will outline research and school practice since 2008 that has helped specify the stages schools need to go through to generate whole school improvement and thereby achieve sustained success. He will begin with research he led into how eight under-performing socio-economically disadvantaged government schools in Melbourne, Australia became and remained high performing schools over a decade or more. Since each achieved this in the same way, the researchers were able to identify a theory of action for how whole-school improvement is initiated and maintained which has been adopted across whole regions in Australia and by a large number of schools. Central to this theory of action is the need to ensure that a set of preconditions are in place for whole-school improvement to take hold.He will then explain how the most disadvantaged region in metropolitan Melbourne, comprising 195 schools, not only took these preconditions to scale and achieved substantial improvements in literacy and numeracy outcomes for the more than 75,000 students they enrol, but transcended the performance plateau that often is reached by ensuring consistently better teaching in each school. This was achieved by using an instructional model to improve teaching practice, along with teacher planning and coaching in triads, or teams of three. Together, these helped drive better teaching practice through the school, thereby supporting more teachers to work like the best, which research has shown to be the greatest source of improvement in any school.The presentation will conclude with an outline of five specific teaching theories of action employed by this larger group of schools to enable the better planning of instruction they initiated to be translated into better, more research-driven practice in each class. |
| Keywords: | School improvement; Preconditions for improvement; Theories of action; Sustained success |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sek:iacpro:1003071&r=edu |
| By: | Marjaana Soininen (University of Turku, Department of Teacher Education in Rauma); Tuula Merisuo-Storm (University of Turku, Department of Teacher Education in Rauma) |
| Abstract: | Finland is one of the few countries where the teacher education is given at the universities. It is a five year education at the end of which the students get the Master’s degree, and at the same time the certificate for teaching. Teaching practice is done in the training schools, which are a part of the faculties of education. Since there are two parties – the university supervisors (tutors) and the training school teachers (mentors) – educating the prospective teachers a question has been raised, how well this triad works together? This question can also be understood: how well we can connect the theoretical knowledge taught by the tutors to the teaching practice supervised by the mentors to be optimal to student teachers? The prospective teachers attend four teaching practice periods during their five year preparation. At the end of every training period, the students fill an electronic evaluation questionnaire. At the department of teacher education Rauma unit in the University of Turku, we constructed a new model for the teaching practice. The first training period called Orientation to teaching took place at the fall semester of the first study year 2014. The training consisted of different training sessions. In our presentation, we focus on the session called Guided observation during which every trainee had to attend five lessons with a supervisor who represented different aspects of the theory studies. The authors created an observation sheet the trainees filled during the observation followed by the feedback discussion with the tutor and the mentor.The study focuses on how student-teachers reflect their learning, and how they evaluate practical work during a lesson. Altogether 73 self-reports were read and analyzed using the grounded theory approach. The trainees had attended the lectures addressed by the first author where they studied the basic theories and concepts of developmental and educational psychology. In this paper, the main goal is to investigate the students’ comments to five specific questions: 1) didactical issues e.g. different working habits, learning material, grouping, illustration 2) developmental age e.g. cognitive development, motor development, social development 3) interaction e.g. activity, ethos 4) equality and equity e.g. gender, and 5) the trainees’ own reflections of learning. The results show that the trainees liked this new model of observation. Many of them mentioned that the structured observation sheet helped them to concentrate on certain aspects. They also liked the feedback discussions after the observed lessons. |
| Keywords: | mentors, teacher education, teaching practice, teacher trainees, tutors |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sek:iacpro:1003524&r=edu |
| By: | Ãlvaro Choi (Department of Public Economics, Political Economy and Spanish Economy, Faculty of Economics and Business, University of Barcelona); John Jerrim (Department of Quantitative Social Science, Institute of Education, University College London) |
| Abstract: | In 2013 Spain introduced a series of educational reforms explicitly inspired by the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2012 results. These reforms were mainly implemented in secondary education – based upon the assumption that this is where Spain’s educational problems lie. This paper questions this assumption by attempting to identify the point where Spanish children fall behind young people in other developed counties in terms of their reading skills. Specifically, by drawing data from multiple international assessments, we are able to explore how cross-national differences in reading skills change as children age. Consideration is given to both the average level of achievement and the evolution of educational inequalities. Our conclusion is that policymakers have focused their efforts on the wrong part of the education system; educational achievement is low in Spain (and educational inequalities large) long before children enter secondary school. This study therefore serves as a note of caution against simplistic interpretation of the PISA rankings; policymakers must take a more nuanced approach when enacting important educational reforms. |
| Keywords: | Educational policy; academic performance; PISA; PIRLS. |
| JEL: | I2 |
| Date: | 2015–05–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:qss:dqsswp:1504&r=edu |
| By: | Jeremy Clark (University of Canterbury); Susmita Roy Das (University of Canterbury) |
| Abstract: | Much of the education finance literature is concerned with evaluating policies that seek to lessen the effect of economic disparities outside schools on the disparity of student outcomes within them. Examples include school finance reform to reduce schools’ reliance on local wealth, special education funding for students with physical or learning disabilities, and affirmative action admissions and support. A national funding programme used in New Zealand for all elementary and high schools provides a rare opportunity to evaluate the effectiveness of targeting alternative measures of socio-economic disadvantage. New Zealand targets five deprivation factors of the immediate neighbourhoods in which a school’s students live: low household income, lack of educational qualifications, employment in low skill occupations, household crowding, and the proportion receiving welfare. We use school fixed effects regressions to evaluate whether some disadvantage factors are more effective in raising achievement than others, and secondarily whether other measurable factors such as family structure, health or ethnicity retain strong negative covariance with achievement rates. We find that the marginal effectiveness of targeting “low skill occupation” is comparatively high, and of targeting “receiving welfare” is comparatively low, such that New Zealand would raise achievement rates if it raised the weight on the former and lowered it on the latter. In addition to the five disadvantage factors used, we find that single parent status, rural/urban status, and home ownership co-vary significantly with achievement rates. |
| Keywords: | education funding, socio-economic disadvantage, decile funding |
| JEL: | H52 I22 I24 I28 |
| Date: | 2015–05–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cbt:econwp:15/10&r=edu |
| By: | David J. Mayston |
| Abstract: | While Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) has many attractions as a technique for analysing the efficiency of educational organisations, such as schools and universities, its efficiency estimates are based upon the assumption that the output possibility set is convex. If this assumption does not hold, DEA may overstate the scope for improvements in technical efficiency through proportional increases in all educational outputs and understate the importance of improvements in allocative efficiency from changing the educational output mix. The paper therefore examines conditions under which such convexity may not hold, particularly when the performance and efficiency evaluation includes measures related to the assessed quality of the educational outputs, and the position of the school or university in national league tables. Under such conditions, there is a need to deploy other educational efficiency assessment tools, including an alternative non-parametric output-orientated technique and a more explicit valuation function for educational outputs. |
| Keywords: | Data envelopment analysis, quality, education, efficiency analysis, allocative efficiency |
| JEL: | C61 D61 H52 I20 I23 |
| Date: | 2015–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:yor:yorken:15/08&r=edu |
| By: | Giannelli, Gianna Claudia (University of Florence); Rapallini, Chiara (University of Florence) |
| Abstract: | The performance gap in math of immigrant students is investigated using PISA 2012. The gap with respect to non-immigrant schoolmates is first measured. The hypotheses that first (second) generation students coming from (whose parents come from) countries with a higher performance in math fare better than their immigrant peers coming from lower-ranked countries are then tested on a sample of about 13,000 immigrant students. The estimated average immigrant-native score gap in math amounts to -12 points. The results show that immigrant students coming from higher-ranked origin countries have a significantly lower score gap, and are thus relatively less disadvantaged. For example, coming from a country in the top quintile for math and having attended school there for one year improves the absolute score gap by nearly 39 points, the highest coefficient among the variables that reduce the gap, such as parental education and socio-economic status. |
| Keywords: | mathematical skills, migration, countries of origin |
| JEL: | I25 J15 O15 |
| Date: | 2015–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp9019&r=edu |
| By: | Aysit Tansel (Department of Economics, Middle East Technical University, IZA, ERF Cairo) |
| Abstract: | This study investigates inequality of opportunity in educational achievements in Turkey over time. For this purpose we use test scores of PISA in mathematics, science and reading achievement of 15-year-olds over the period 2003-2012. Since the different waves of the samples cover only a fraction of the cohorts of 15-year olds we take into account the inequality of opportunity in access to the PISA test as well as the inequality of opportunity of the academic achievement in the PISA test. This procedure enables proper over time comparisons. We estimate the effect of circumstances children are born into on their academic achievement as evidenced in their PISA test scores. The main findings are as follows. First, confirming the previous studies we find that inequality of opportunity is a large part of the inequality of educational achievement in Turkey. Second, the inequality of opportunity in educational achievement shows a slightly decreasing trend over time in Turkey. Third, the inequality of opportunity figures based on the mathematics, science and reading achievements exhibited the similar trend over time. Forth, the family background variables are the most important determinants of the inequality in educational achievement which is a consistent pattern over time. However, there is also evidence of slight weakening of these factors over time. Policies are necessary to improve equality of opportunity in education in Turkey. |
| Keywords: | Inequality of opportunity, Education, Turkey. |
| JEL: | I24 D63 |
| Date: | 2015–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:koc:wpaper:1506&r=edu |
| By: | Gianna Claudia Giannelli; Chiara Rapallini |
| Abstract: | The performance gap in math of immigrant students is investigated using PISA 2012. The gap with respect to non-immigrant schoolmates is first measured. The hypotheses that first (second) generation students coming from (whose parents come from) countries with a higher performance in math fare better than their immigrant peers coming from lower-ranked countries are then tested on a sample of about 13,000 immigrant students. The estimated average immigrant-native score gap in math amounts to -12 points. The results show that immigrant students coming from higherranked origin countries have a significantly lower score gap, and are thus relatively less disadvantaged. For example, coming from a country in the top quintile for math and having attended school there for one year improves the absolute score gap by nearly 39 points, the highest coefficient among the variables that reduce the gap, such as parental education and socio-economic status. |
| Keywords: | mathematical skills, migration, countries of origin |
| JEL: | I25 J15 O15 |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cca:wchild:36&r=edu |
| By: | Aysit Tansel (Department of Economics, Middle East Technical University, 06531 Ankara, Turkey) |
| Abstract: | This study investigates inequality of opportunity in educational achievements in Turkey over time. For this purpose we use test scores of PISA in mathematics, science and reading achievement of 15-year-olds over the period 2003-2012. Since the different waves of the PISA test cover only a fraction of the cohorts of 15-year olds we take into account the inequality of opportunity in access to the PISA test as well as the inequality of opportunity of the academic achievement in the PISA test. This procedure enables a proper over time comparison. We estimate the effect of circumstances children are born into on their academic achievement as evidenced in their PISA test scores. The main findings are as follows. First, confirming the previous studies we find that inequality of opportunity is a large part of the inequality of educational achievement in Turkey. Second, the inequality of opportunity in educational achievement shows a slightly decreasing trend over time in Turkey. Third, the inequality of opportunity figures based on the mathematics, science and reading achievements exhibited similar trend over time. Forth, the family background variables are the most important determinants of the inequality in educational achievement which is a consistent pattern over time. However, there is also evidence of slight weakening of these factors over time. Policies are necessary to improve equality of opportunity in education in Turkey. |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:tek:wpaper:2015/09&r=edu |
| By: | Ülle Säälik (University of Tartu) |
| Abstract: | Reading is considered an important skill not only for academic success, but also for active participation in society. International student literacy assessments report gender differences in reading performance in favour of girls. These reports also show that students from schools with a minority or majority language tend to perform differently: in PISA 2009 in well-performing Finland, the Swedish-speaking schools performed at a lower level compared to the Finnish-speaking schools; in Estonia, the Estonian-speaking schools outperformed the Russian-speaking schools, despite the tests having been translated into each language. How students learn is closely related to their results. In literacy, the more advanced thinking and learning skills known as metacognition enhance the results. Metacognitive awareness can be developed through instruction in the classroom, and this has also resulted in significant improvements for students with rather low learning abilities. As it is teachers’ and schools’ opportunity to help their students by teaching these skills, their awareness of useful strategies could presumably be dependent on the school. So far only the PISA 2009 study has included student awareness of different learning strategies; therefore, the data here enable us to analyse how learning strategies relate to reading, gender or school language. In the current paper, the issues of reading proficiency, learning strategies, gender and school language are considered jointly. Alongside the theoretical background, results from several analyses of PISA 2009 are discussed to show how student awareness and choice of different learning strategies could explain the variation in reading results in boys and girls at student and school levels, and predict their reading test results. The two-level modelling analysis was used as a research method, since it allows us to draw reasonable statistical inferences for regression-type analyses under a hierarchical data structure, and where the factor of individuals being influenced by the group they belong to is explicitly taken into account. |
| Keywords: | reading, learning strategies, gender, school language, multilevel modelling |
| JEL: | I29 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sek:iacpro:1003055&r=edu |
| By: | Christia Guevara (Institute of Biological Sciences, University of the Philippines Los Banos); Nerissa Torreta (Institute of Biological Sciences, University of the Philippines Los Banos) |
| Abstract: | Biodiversity reduction has been established as a one of the pressing global environmental issue of the present generation. This is further aggravated by conflicting perspectives among stakeholders of its nature as a natural phenomenon or predominantly anthropogenic. The question whether concept and issues on biodiversity is correctly understood is viewed as an important factor in education, especially in the teacher education program.This study considered biodiversity as a controversial multidimensional issue. In particular, this explored on the education students’ conception and perception regarding the issue in relation to science education. Data gathered in this study indicated that teacher education students in general have insignificant valuing perspective toward biodiversity. Employing the participatory appraisal method (Tock, 2001), teacher education students with science majors demonstrated best indicators of conceptual understanding on biodiversity . It was also shown that this group was relatively well informed, considered biodiversity as a relevant issue, and have more positive attitude on integrating it to mainstream science education. Suggestions for evaluating the indicators and outcomes of effective biodiversity education were also drawn from this study. In conclusion it was shown that while curricular programs included many of the essential components for biodiversity education, there was little attempt to ensure that students achieved a more coherent understanding of this complex issue. A more intensive exploration on biodiversity education as it is currently employed in the Philippine education system is recommended for possible merits in curricular enhancement and reforms. |
| Keywords: | Teacher education students, biodiversity education, learning outcomes |
| JEL: | I23 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sek:iacpro:1003105&r=edu |
| By: | Tuula Merisuo-Storm (University of Turku, Department of Teacher Education in Rauma); Marjaana Soininen (University of Turku, Department of Teacher Education in Rauma) |
| Abstract: | In the autumn of 2014, the first-year-students at the University of Turku at the Department of Teacher Education in Rauma started their studies according to a new curriculum. Compared with the old curriculum a significant difference could be seen in their first teaching practice period in the teacher training school. Now joint guided observations in the classes are an important part of the period. At the beginning of the period, the groups of 10–11 students observe class teachers’ and subject teachers’ lessons in grades 1–9 with the teachers from the department of teacher education. After each lesson, the students and their tutors have discussions focusing on one of the five different aspects: 1) the pupils of different ages, 2) the pupils with special needs, 3) bilingual learning, 4) individualized instruction, and 5) the goals of teaching.The aim of the study described in this paper was to investigate the students’ (n = 73) opinions on the guided observations and discussions and what they thought that they had learned from them. The students wrote their comments during the lessons and after the discussions. All the students found the guided observations much more fruitful than the observations they did alone. According to them, it was much easier to focus on one aspect at a time than to observe a lesson as a whole. In addition, they wrote that the discussions after the lessons gave them new ideas about teaching. When comparing the students’ comments during the five different observations, it is obvious that they improved during the period significantly. The comments related to the last observation were much more mature than those given earlier. The students were more skilful at analysing the teachers’ and the pupils’ behaviour and actions during the lessons. According to their comments, they had learned during the period e.g. that it is important to plan the lessons well, to have a clear goal for the lesson, to understand what is essential, to motivate and activate the pupils, to give explicit instructions of the tasks in hand, to use interesting materials, to trust the pupils and give them opportunities to be creative, and to create an encouraging atmosphere in the class. Furthermore, the students found that pupils’ work in pairs and groups is useful in number of ways. The individualising of instruction is necessary in all grades but it is often a demanding task for the teacher. |
| Keywords: | teacher education, teacher student, teaching practice, guided observations |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sek:iacpro:1003523&r=edu |
| By: | Mary Gene Saudelli (University of Calgary in Qatar) |
| Abstract: | This is an ethnnographic case study of curriculum design and implementation at Dubai Women’s College (DWC) by a team of international educators from across the globe. It explores the question of: what can be learned for 21st century education from educators who choose to traverse the globe, teaching and learning in their third spaces (Bhabha, 1994)? These educators shed light on the complex interplay of global, local, social, cultural, and religious factors affecting curriculum design and educational practices for indigenous female higher education students in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Discussions explore the role of contemporary educational curricular theories such as constructivist learning theory, transformative curriculum theory, and sociological theories and situates these theories in a global and local curricular space. Presented will be a 3-fold model to embrace the global and the local through curriculum design and implementation, international standards of English proficiency, task-based assessment, globalization and affiliation among educational institutions, teaching for relevance in higher education, and concludes with a discussion of implications for a globalized and interconnected educational future. Ultimately, this study captures a discussion from this unique group of educators who understand 21st century curriculum design and implementation as a “contextualized” construct that incorporates global and local emphases. They envision a globalized educational landscape with theory and practice understood embracing an international perceptual lens. |
| Keywords: | internationalization, interdisciplinary studies, curriculum, teaching and learning, learning theories |
| JEL: | I23 I21 I29 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sek:iacpro:1002953&r=edu |
| By: | Pavel V. Derkachev (National Research University Higher School of Economics) |
| Abstract: | This article considers the uneven positions of school teachers in different regions of the Russian Federation. There exist numerous research works on the relation of school teachers’ salaries to the characteristics of regional educational systems and regional economies. A range of indicators is used to calculate school teachers’ salaries. It is necessary to consider the ratio of the teachers’ salary to the average salary in the region, the latter serving as a target indicator in government programs, in combination with other indicators, such as the ratio of the salary to the price of a fixed set of goods and services and the ratio of the teachers’ salary fund to total regional government expenditures. Research based on cluster data analysis statistical methods allowed the author to distinguish four types of regions. We used official data provided by Russian Federal State Statistics Service and the Russian Federal Treasury. The recommendations developed for each cluster of regions seek to improve the efficiency of the steps aimed at the implementation of the educational policy tasks through differentiating the support measures by the federal government. |
| Keywords: | Economics of education, labor market, salary, schools teachers’ status, general education, regional educational policy. |
| JEL: | H52 H73 I22 J31 |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hig:wpaper:28/pa/2015&r=edu |
| By: | Adriana D. Kugler; Santosh Kumar |
| Abstract: | Using data from nationally representative household surveys, we test whether Indian parents make trade-offs between the number of children and investments in education and health of their children. To address the endogeneity due to the joint determination of quantity and quality of children by parents, we instrument family size with the gender of the first child which is plausibly random. Given a strong son-preference in India, parents tend to have more children if the first born is a girl. Our IV results show that children from larger families have lower educational attainment and are less likely to have ever been enrolled and to be currently enrolled in school, even after controlling for parents’ characteristics and birth-order of children. The effects are larger for rural, poorer and low-caste families and for families with less educated mothers. However, we find no evidence of a trade-off for health outcomes. |
| JEL: | I21 J13 N3 O10 |
| Date: | 2015–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:21138&r=edu |
| By: | Kithsiri Prasanjith Munagama (Faculty of Education,University of Colombo); Arachchillaya Ananda Jayawardana (Faculty of Education,University of Colombo) |
| Abstract: | Problem statementFor the sustainable development of a country, it is essential to maintain peace & harmony. Recent experience in this regard has not been encouraging in Sri Lanka due to the ethnic conflict and the war that ravaged the country for several decades. Against this background, policy makers introduced various measures to promote social integration through education. As part of curriculum reforms to promote social integration, Citizenship and governance(C&G) subject was introduced as an elective for grades 10&11at 2008 though no significant social cohesiveness experienced in society.Purpose of the studyIn Sri Lanka 32% of students select C&G and 71% of them obtained a pass at General certificate of Education (ordinary level) examination. However Sri lanka has no specific mastery program to enhance the quality of C&G teachers & the teaching process. This study examines how the existing curriculum intervention of C&G contributes to achieve social cohesion.MethodsQualitative data are gathered through class room observations, teacher interviews, content analysis of text books and analysis of teaching methods in teachers guides. Quantitative data are gathered by attitude test and G.C.E. (O.L) results.Findings and ResultsPresent text books do not cater to the cohesiveness, teachers showed a poor level of soft skills to transform social integration, schools do not promote the social integration and students continue to display their ethnic exclusiveness during in school activities.Conclusions and RecommendationsThe C & G text books to be revised and subject should be made compulsory. Quality teacher training programs should be commenced. |
| Keywords: | Social cohesion,Citizenship Education |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sek:iacpro:1003236&r=edu |
| By: | OECD |
| Abstract: | <ul><li>When choosing a school for their child, parents in all participating countries value academic achievement highly; but they are often even more concerned about the safety and environment of the school and the school’s reputation.</li><li> The children of parents who consider academic achievement very important score 46 points higher in mathematics than the children of parents who consider it not important.</li></ul> |
| Date: | 2015–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oec:eduddd:51-en&r=edu |
| By: | Louis-Philippe Beland; Richard Murphy |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates the impact of schools banning mobile phones on student test scores. By surveying schools in four English cities regarding their mobile phone policies and combining it with administrative data, we find that student performance in high stakes exams significantly increases post ban. We use a difference in differences (DID) strategy, exploiting variations in schools’ autonomous decisions to ban these devices, conditioning on a range of student characteristics and prior achievement. Our results indicate that these increases in performance are driven by the lowest-achieving students. This suggests that restricting mobile phone use can be a low-cost policy to reduce educational inequalities. |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:lsu:lsuwpp:2015-03&r=edu |
| By: | R.D. Nordgren (National University) |
| Abstract: | The researchers examine the beliefs of faculty members regarding education policy, teaching and learning, and curricula through the constructs of postmodern and modern ideologies. A 26-items survey based on a theoretical framework using Sahlberg’s “Finnish Way” was administered at two colleges of education; findings provided insights into these faculty members’ stances toward P–12 schooling as well as preparing teachers. The institutions were selected, in part, for their contrasting models. One is a private, non-profit university located on the west coast of the United States; the other is public, state-supported university in the Midwest. Both have a mission to meet the needs of underserved populations of college students, especially first-generation college attendees; however, over 60% of the private university’s coursework is taken online versus less than 10% at the public institution. Ninety faculty members from the public institution were surveyed, all of whom were full-time tenured or tenure-track, whereas nearly 700 faculty were surveyed at the private university, and all but 85 were adjunct faculty (70% of all classes at the private college of education are taught by adjunct faculty while less than 10% of classes at the public college are taught by part-time adjunct faculty.) Findings indicated a general agreement within all five item categories: Standards/Standardization, Curriculum, Student Assessment, Management, and Resources. However, decided differences were found in faculty members’ responses to individual items such as merit pay and collective bargaining’s “grip” on teacher contracts. In this instance, the private institution held to a neoliberal approach whereas in most other cases these faculty members embraced more constructivist/progressive practices and beliefs. One of the conclusions made by the researchers is that those holding neoliberal philosophies may be attracted to the private institution’s “business-like” operation model (although they do not seem to constitute the majority), while a more progressive faculty member is attracted to the state institution with a traditional tenure system and mode of instructional delivery. |
| Keywords: | Post-modernism, ideology, progressivism, neoliberalism, political beliefs |
| JEL: | I29 I21 I24 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sek:iacpro:1002309&r=edu |
| By: | Elona Garo (University of Tirna); Vasilika Kume (Tirana University); Suada Basho (Tirana University) |
| Abstract: | Entrepreneurship is affecting economic growth worldwide. In a time of economical crises the creation of new ventures would be an ideal solution. Understanding entrepreneurship's importance and positive contribution to the economy of a country, it is significant studies to be undertaken in order to boost the development of entrepreneurship. Thus, in focus must be factors that alter students' behavior and their career decision to become entrepreneurs. Many highlight that role model consist to be among the most important factors that alter entrepreneurial intention.This study aims to analyze the family role in the decision of students to follow entrepreneurial career path and the influence it has on the intent of the Albanian youth entrepreneurs. The purpose is to assess the role of the family in determining the preference of students to become entrepreneurs. To observe this relation we have studied the case of 434 Albanian students majored in business across the country. The findings suggest that students who have been exposed to entrepreneurial role of families show high intention to become entrepreneurs compared with those who lack this role model. A positive correlation between students exposed to entrepreneurial model within the family and their entrepreneurial intent exists. As a result many suggestions for the education system and policy makers in Albania are proposed.Suggestions drive the attention to education. They reinforce that education can expose students to entrepreneurial role models. It has a very important impact not only to provide students with the skills and knowledge needed for entrepreneurship but also to create confidence and implement new business models. The challenge of education system is that it can influence entrepreneurial intent to young students. As for in terms of role models where such a model is missing in the family, education can provide it successfully. |
| Keywords: | Entrepreneurship, young entrepreneurs, role model, family, Albanian students, education. |
| JEL: | M20 A00 I25 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sek:iacpro:1004010&r=edu |
| By: | Jonathan Smith; Michael Hurwitz; Christopher Avery |
| Abstract: | We implement a regression discontinuity design using the continuous raw Advanced Placement (AP) exam scores, which are mapped into the observed 1-5 integer scores, for over 4.5 million students. Earning higher AP integer scores positively impacts college completion and subsequent exam taking. Specifically, attaining credit-granting integer scores increases the probability that a student will receive a bachelor’s degree within four years by 1 to 2 percentage points per exam. We also find that receiving a score of 3 over a 2 on junior year AP exams causes students to take between 0.06 and 0.14 more AP exams senior year. |
| JEL: | I2 I23 J24 |
| Date: | 2015–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:21147&r=edu |
| By: | Marion Palmer (Marion Palmer) |
| Abstract: | Multidisciplinary fieldwork in the professions can benefit from learning plans that leverage what a student needs to know and what placements can offer. Building on the research of the creative potential of learning plans in fieldwork by Leitmann and Palmer (Journal of Practice Teaching and Learning, 2013) this presentation addresses the enrichment of fieldwork learning through the more effective development and use of student learning plans. Our research focused firstly on analysis of complexity in students’ learning plans. Complexity refers to the depth to which students identify and make connections between knowledge, skills and values to be developed on placement. We innovated a framework to gauge the complexity of criteria in student learning plans. In this instance they were of final fourth year Bachelor of Social Work students but can apply to most disciplines.Field education exposes students to a wide range of learning possibilities. It is central to tertiary and vocational education as it is through such supervised professional practice that classroom based learning is brought alive in the triumvirate between university, agency / supervisor and student.Learning plans focus on the professional development of the student and the evidence on which assessment of the students’ fieldwork is to be based. As Hodgson et al, (2006/07) assert, learning plans are more than merely an articulation of a list of tasks and activities undertaken on placement and need to address abstract dimensions of students’ knowledge, skills and values to be developed. More abstract dimensions require logical and conceptual clarity on the part of the learner and supervisor so as to provide overall direction for the placement (Leitmann and Palmer 2013 p.33). As academic researchers we deepen thinking and develop greater rigour around the concept of ‘complexity’ in learning plans. To do this we refer to two articles identified in our literature review (Rogers and Langevin, 2000; Hodgson and Walford, 2007) and additionally incorporated Bloom’s (1956) taxonomy of learning with literature located in the critical reflective practice tradition (Fook, 1999; Ghaye and Lillyman, 2000; Taylor and White, 2000; White, Fook and Gardiner, 2006). This paper presents the findings of our research on the creative potential of student learning plans. |
| Keywords: | Fieldwork; Learning plans; Fieldwork placements; students' learning plans; academic research; social work |
| JEL: | I00 I23 I20 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sek:iacpro:1003281&r=edu |
| By: | Tuuli Oder (Tallinn University) |
| Abstract: | During the most recent educational reform in Estonia, a new National Curriculum was introduced in 2010 providing new guidelines for education generally and foreign languages specifically. To investigate the understanding that an EFL (English as a Foreign Language) teacher has about professional teaching and whether it matches the principles of the curriculum, a research was conducted amongst EFL teachers at the lower secondary school level. There were two research questions: What perceptions do EFL teachers have regarding effective teaching and learning? What methods and techniques of teaching EFL are most effective according to EFL teachers’ beliefs?The study revealed that generally EFL teachers’ beliefs about professional teaching are in concordance with the principles of the new curriculum, however are aspects that should be addressed by teacher education. Estonian EFL teachers support constructivist learning principles, but only to a certain extent: grammar focus and teacher-centredness are two major issues of concern that should be considered while designing both pre-service and in-service education programmes. Although Estonian EFL teachers generally support communicative principles of language teaching, there may be a further need to raise the profile of pedagogical-psychological courses in teacher preparation to give teachers more confidence in dealing with puberty-age students. |
| Keywords: | educational reform, effective teaching, teachers' beliefs, |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sek:iacpro:1003399&r=edu |
| By: | Karim Hajhashemi (James Cook University); Neil Anderson (James Cook University); Cliff Jackson (James Cook University); Nerina Caltabiano (James Cook University) |
| Abstract: | Recently, many universities have encouraged academic staff to rethink the delivery method for subjects and give consideration to the development of significant online components. Lecturers at James Cook University (JCU) are encouraged to include a variety of online resources in their subjects and to explore the use of a “flipped classroom”. The ‘flipped classroom’ is an innovative pedagogical approach and is one of the latest educational trends that has garnered a lot of attention among school-based and tertiary educators. It is therefore, important to identify what determines successful implementation of ICT for augmented learning and the practicality of the flipped classroom.This paper briefly outlines the implication of the flipped classroom approach and looks at how the school of Education, JCU, in particular, is integrating this approach in their pedagogy. This paper reports on interviews conducted with the lecturers at JCU about their views, understanding, and challenges of the learning and teaching environment in a flipped classroom approach. This paper also reports the lecturers’ perception of student learning when a “flipped classroom” approach is adopted. |
| Keywords: | augmented learning, educational trends, engagement, Flipped classroom approach, ICT, perceptions |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sek:iacpro:1003509&r=edu |
| By: | Helga Maškarin Ribarić (Faculty of Tourism and Hospitality Management, Opatija, University of Rijeka, Croatia); Lorena Dadić (Faculty of Tourism and Hospitality Management, Opatija, University of Rijeka, Croatia); Martina Nađ |
| Abstract: | Purpose – A high unemployment rate of young highly-educated people as a consequence of economic crisis is one of the main problems the Croatian economy is facing today. In order to increase their future competitiveness on the labour market, students are encouraged to involve themselves in different types of volunteering activities. The purpose of this paper is to determine if there are differences in attitudes towards volunteering between male and female students. These differences should be used as a base for promotion of volunteering in a way to specifically handle the observed gender divergences. Design – In order to determine the differences this paper explores students’ attitudes and their assessments of the impact that volunteering has on their personal development, transferrable skills, academic life and future career prospects. Methodology/Approach – For this purpose, during the academic year 2012/2013, the research was performed using a questionnaire on the population of 1,000 full-time students of the Faculty of Tourism and Hospitality Management in Opatija (FTHM). To achieve the survey’s goals, descriptive statistical analysis was performed. Findings – Gender differences are observable in all explored aspects. Women view the effects of their own volunteering more in the sphere of the broader community and tend to act more out of altruistic motives, which not necessarily related to improving their own level of competitiveness. Male students assess the positive effects of volunteering on their transferrable skills and especially on employability much higher than their female colleagues Originality – The potential of volunteering, as a type of experiential learning is not sufficiently exploited for the purpose of increasing the competitiveness of students on the labour market. This paper provides insights into the attitude differences towards volunteering between female and male students. These observed differences are a solid foundation for differentiated approach to promotion of volunteering in student population. |
| Keywords: | students, volunteering, gender differences, competitiveness |
| JEL: | L83 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:tho:iscthi:section7-2&r=edu |
| By: | Linda Rosenberg; Megan Davis Christianson; Megan Hague Angus |
| Abstract: | Low-performing schools in rural settings can face challenges common to all struggling schools, such as low student motivation and maintaining a qualified teaching staff. |
| Keywords: | Rural Schools, SIG, School Improvement Grants |
| JEL: | I |
| Date: | 2015–04–30 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mpr:mprres:5dadf39d9cb04da2ac38f79bc8af1691&r=edu |
| By: | Tommaso Agasisti; Pablo Zoido |
| Abstract: | As governments around the world struggle with doing more with less, efficiency analysis climbs to the top of the policy agenda. This paper derives efficiency measures for more than 8,600 schools in 30 countries, using PISA 2012 data and a bootstrap version of Data Envelopment Analysis as a method. We estimate that given current levels of inputs it would be possible to increase achievement by as much as 27% if schools improved the way they use these resources and realised efficiency gains. We find that efficiency scores vary considerably both between and within countries. Subsequently, through a second-stage regression, a number of school-level factors are found to be correlated with efficiency scores, and indicate potential directions for improving educational results. We find that many efficiency-enhancing factors vary across countries, but our analysis suggests that targeting the proportion of students below low proficiency levels and putting attention to students’ good attitudes (for instance, lower truancy), as well as having better quality of resources (i.e. teachers and educational facilities), foster better results in most contexts.<BR>Alors que les gouvernements du monde entier tentent de faire toujours plus avec moins, l’analyse de l’efficience occupe le haut de l’agenda politique. Ce document s’appuie sur des mesures d’efficience effectuées dans plus de 8600 écoles dans 30 pays, en utilisant les données PISA de 2012 et une version bootstrap d’une méthode d’analyse par enveloppement de données. Nous estimons qu’au regard des niveaux actuels des contributions, il serait possible d’augmenter les performances de 27% si les écoles amélioraient la façon dont elles utilisent les ressources en réalisant des gains d’efficience. Nous constatons que les scores d’efficience varient de manière considérable entre les pays et au sein des pays. En conséquence, par le biais d’une régression de deuxième étape, il se trouve qu’un certain nombre de facteurs scolaires sont corrélés aux scores d’efficience et indiquent de possibles orientations visant à améliorer les résultats en matière éducative. Nous constatons que de nombreux facteurs favorisant l’efficience varient d’un pays à l’autre, mais notre analyse indique que l’on obtient de meilleurs résultats dans la plupart des domaines en se concentrant sur les étudiants dont les compétences sont faibles et en mettant l’accent sur les bonnes attitudes (réduire l’absentéisme par exemple) tout en ayant des ressources de meilleure qualité (professeurs et établissements scolaires). |
| Keywords: | efficiency, equity, international comparisons |
| JEL: | C14 I21 I24 I28 |
| Date: | 2015–05–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oec:eduaab:117-en&r=edu |
| By: | Pamela Carter Speaks (Northeastern State University); Ronald M. Cambiano (Northeastern State University); Carl Farinelli (Northeastern State University); Renee L. Cambiano (Northeastern State University) |
| Abstract: | Availability of online courses has many benefits for students who want to receive a higher education degree. According to Varonis (2013), there are two widely known student benefits of online learning: “convenient access and flexibility” (p. 304). However, with these benefits comes extensive time and commitment from the faculty in planning and preparation of delivering course content in an online environment. What universities don't discuss is the impact that teaching online can have on faculty promotion and tenure possibilities. The high demand by students and universities to continually increase online course options without a quality assurance component prevents best practice in online instruction and course development and design due to the absence of time for piloting and revising courses based on practitioner feedback to best meet student needs and maintaining the integrity of course content. The probability that instructors are reduced to being teachers of how to assist students in being successful in the online learning environment forces mastery of course content to a secondary level. Couple that with the possibility of course changes causing faculty to teach online courses with new content and untested course design, the recipe for frustration and mediocrity for the sake of keeping up with demand results in the high possibility of negative faculty evaluations by students taking courses offered in an online setting. Sullivan, Polnick, Nickson, Maniger and Butler (2013) state that there are apparent differences in student evaluations between faculty who teach online and those instructors of more traditional methods or with proven online courses. The impact of these student evaluations as well as traditional courses are used in the decision making of faculty attempting tenure and promotion. In many instances, “if all other resources of measure are equal, then administrators rate faculty for merit, tenure, and promotion exclusively on student evaluations” (p. 52). During this presentation, the potential impact teaching online has on the professoriat as well how teaching online has evolved at a regional university in the United States will be discussed. |
| Keywords: | Online Teaching, Professoriat |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sek:iacpro:1003270&r=edu |
| By: | François Rycx; Yves Saks; Ilan Tojerow |
| Abstract: | The labour market situation of low-educated people is particularly critical in most advanced economies, especially among youngsters and women. Policies aiming to increase their employability either try to foster their productivity and/or to decrease their wage cost. Yet, the evidence on the misalignment between education-induced productivity gains and corresponding wage cost differentials is surprisingly thin, inconclusive and subject to various econometric biases. We estimate the impact of education on productivity, wage costs and productivity-wage gaps (i.e. profits) using rich Belgian linked employer-employee panel data. Findings, based on the generalised method of moments (GMM) and Levinsohn and Petrin (2003) estimators, show a significant upward-sloping profile between education and wage costs, on the one hand, and education and productivity, on the other. They also systematically highlight that educational credentials have a stronger impact on productivity than on wage costs. This ‘wage compression effect’, robust across industries, is found to disappear among older cohorts of workers and to be more pronounced among women than men. Overall, findings suggest that particular attention should be devoted to the productivity to wage cost ratio of low-educated workers, especially when they are young and female, but also to policies favouring gender equality in terms of remuneration and career advancement. |
| Keywords: | Education; labour costs; productivity; linked panel data |
| JEL: | C33 I21 J24 J31 |
| Date: | 2015–05–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sol:wpaper:2013/199356&r=edu |
| By: | Olga Alonso-Villar; Coral del Río |
| Abstract: | Based on detailed occupation titles and making use of measures that do not require pairwise comparisons among demographic groups, this paper shows that the occupational segregation of Black women declined dramatically in 1940-1980, decreased slightly in 1980-2000, and remained stagnant in 2000-2010. An important contribution of this paper is the quantification of the well-being losses that these women derive from their occupational sorting. The segregation reduction was indeed accompanied by well-being improvements, especially in the 1960s and 1970s. Regarding the role that education has played, this study highlights that, only from 1990 onward, Black women with either some college or university degrees had lower segregation (as compared with their peers) than those with lower education. Nevertheless, the well-being loss that Black women with university degrees derived in 2010 for being segregated from their peers in education was not too different from that of Black women with lower education. |
| Keywords: | occupational segregation measurement, race, gender, Black women, wages, United States |
| JEL: | J15 J16 J71 |
| Date: | 2015–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:vig:wpaper:1502&r=edu |
| By: | Chin-hui Chen (National Pingtung University of Science and Technology) |
| Abstract: | As inspired by the Notion of the Third Age, it is common for people to pursue an active post-retirement later life, such as, through the engagement in later life learning activities. One purpose is to increase the sense of positive ageing. That is why this study focuses on senior education as the institutional context to examine language and communication with the elderly. The main concern is that language is the main tool in classroom interactions and how language is used by teachers to challenge or reinforce certain pre-existing (ageist) stereotypes about or cultural attitudes towards older people becomes an important question to ask. Communication Accommodation Theory (CAT) is the theoretical framework guiding the semi-structured interviews with teachers working in senior education to explore whether they modify their language styles to adapt to elderly learners’ conversational needs in class. This paper only presents one dimension of CAT, that is, the presumed relations and roles in association with language accommodation decisions. Teachers are presumed to have power over students but in the senior educational contexts, teachers are very likely younger than their students and therefore, intergenerational communication might emerge naturally in teacher-student interactions. In Taiwan, youngsters might perceive themselves less powerful than older people or those senior to them. Therefore, how power asymmetry in relation to the different facets of teacher-student relationships in senior educational contexts could also be an interesting topic to discuss. |
| Keywords: | communication accommodation theory, elderly learners, senior education, ageing stereotypes |
| JEL: | I29 I29 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sek:iacpro:1003196&r=edu |
| By: | Carolyn Chisadza (Department of Economics, University of Pretoria); Manoel Bittencourt (Department of Economics, University of Pretoria) |
| Abstract: | We study the effects of different levels of education on fertility in 48 sub-Saharan African countries between 1970 and 2010. The results, based on panel data analysis with fi?xed effects and instrumental variables, show how that lower education levels do not have a significant effect on people?s fertility decisions. However, the results from the higher education levels suggest otherwise. They are indicative of a region that is transitioning from the Malthusian epoch to a modern growth regime in which people substitute quantity for quality of children. Lower fertility implies less strain on public expenditure, higher human capital and higher productivity which can lead to sustained economic growth as witnessed in most developed regions today. |
| Keywords: | education, fertility, sub-Saharan Africa |
| JEL: | O55 J13 I25 |
| Date: | 2015–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pre:wpaper:201526&r=edu |
| By: | Dayananda Keppetigoda (National Institute of Education); Wannigamage Chandradasa (Faculty of Education, University of Colombo) |
| Abstract: | Bilingual Education (BE) was introduced to Sri Lankan education system in 2001. BE refers to an educational programme in which both native language and a second language are taught as subject matter and used as media of instruction while teaching non language subjects. The research conducted by the National Institute of Education (NIE) reveals the need of scientifically designed text books to promote BE in Sri Lanka, because they are the only resource for most of the Sri Lankan bilingual learners (74.4%) (NIE, 2007). Therefore, a scientifically designed instrument to analyze the quality of text books prepared for bilingual learners is utmost important. However, there is a paucity of knowledge in this area. The present research attempts to develop an instrument to assess the quality of the secondary level mathematics text books for bilingual learners. Do Coyle’s 4C model, (2010) (Content, Communication, Cognition and Culture) was selected as the suitable theoretical framework for this purpose. The four main components of the model were used to identify the indicators of the quality in addition to some other research findings. Draft items which were prepared as indicators were reviewed by bilingual education experts (5), mathematics educators (4) and curricular developers (5) and experienced mathematics teachers (5). Fuzzy Delphi technique was employed to establish the consensus among experts regarding these indicators. The instrument will be useful for researchers, text book writers and educational managers in the field of BE. |
| Keywords: | Bilingual Education, Mathematics, text book analysis tool, Do Coyle’s 4C model |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sek:iacpro:1003279&r=edu |
| By: | SAAD YOUSAF SULAIMANI (AGA KHAN FOUNDATION (PAKISTAN)) |
| Abstract: | The case study on Learning Resource Schools (LRS) was conducted in Gilgit-Baltistan; a challenging and remote province in Pakistan. The centerpiece is the LRS/Cluster model adopted to accommodate both the shift in understanding of effective pedagogy as well as greater administrative devolution. The study is conducted in the backdrop of new education paradigms where new modes of instruction and training are adopted. It tracks the benefits of improving teaching and learning and streamlining administration/costs in an age of ‘Education for All’ and Universal Primary Education. The study documents both of these considerations as equal important drivers of change in the systems and practices within public education institutions. The analysis of this model in an expanded setting over time, shows evidence of its true efficacy and cost reductions, improving teacher morale and ability, and generating a new type of learner. Though the particular details of each contextual implementation of the LRS model will vary and grow, the underpinning rationale has (at least partially) been justified. It emphasize on more needs based support that is relevant to the practical experience of ground practitioners especially in rural areas and disconnected villages. The study also details the approach’s usefulness in enhancing teachers’ learning in pursuit of their own teaching requirements, sharing a limited resource base, enhancing access to information, and improving students learning. In the wake of limited external support for the underprivileged areas, the study establishes the fact that cluster model is integral to a developing a self-sufficient education resource base. |
| Keywords: | Education Development Improvement |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sek:iacpro:1003683&r=edu |
| By: | Luis Eduardo Arango; Gabriela Bonilla |
| Abstract: | We provide evidence of private returns to education and externalities which jointly render social returns in the labor market of Colombia. The spillover in the cities is generated by the share of college educated workers in the working-age population. Thus, the higher is this share in the cities, the higher the wages. The size of the externality is about 0.66; that is, an increase in the share of one percentage point will increase the wage in 0.66%. For highly educated workers the externality is about 0.75 while for low educated it is not significant. The results change in an important way if Bogotá, the capital city of the country, is excluded from the sample. Resources destined by the Colombian Institute for Educational Credit and Technical Studies Abroad (ICETEX) to fund undergraduate and postgraduate studies in provinces affect the outcomes if Bogotá is within the sample. A positive correlation between the size of cities and human capital agglomeration is also observed in such a way that if the former is substituted for the latter, we can still find the spillover. |
| Keywords: | social returns, private returns, externalities. |
| JEL: | J2 J3 |
| Date: | 2015–05–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:col:000094:012788&r=edu |
| By: | Elisa Failache (Universidad de la República (Uruguay). Facultad de Ciencias Económicas y de Administración. Instituto de Economía); Gonzalo Salas (Universidad de la República (Uruguay). Facultad de Ciencias Económicas y de Administración. Instituto de Economía); Andrea Vigorito (Universidad de la República (Uruguay). Facultad de Ciencias Económicas y de Administración. Instituto de Economía) |
| Abstract: | Uruguay exhibits high and persistent repetition and drop-out rates in middle and high school. The aim of this study is to assess the determinants of these problematic outcomes, particularly assessing the role of teenage nutritional history and socio-emotional development (and the related concept of non cognitive abilities). Although the theoretical and international literature pinpoints these aspects as key factors, they have been scarcely assessed in developing countries due to the lack of longitudinal and psychometric data. In this study we use a three waves panel survey, Encuesta de Situacion Nutricional de los Niños, that followed 3200 children in 2004 when they were first graders at public primary schools. Children were revisited in 2006, when they were approximately 8-9 years old and then back in 2011-12 at the age 13-14. The data base includes anthropometric information in the three waves and socio-emotional development outcomes based on the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) created by Goodman (1997). SDQ is divided in 5 scales: emotional symptoms, conduct problems, hyperactivity/inattention, peer relationship problems and prosocial behavior. Our main results show that household income, maternal education and body mass index deficits are strong predictors of repetition in primary and secondary school. At the same time, a low performance in SDQ is highly associated with repetition. Middle school-drop-out is strongly associated to SDQ performance, while no effect of the nutritional trajectory is found. Repetition strongly predicts school drop-out. When considering the five SDQ scales, substantial differences by gender are found: whereas in the case of boys conduct problems are the ones more associated to drop-out episodes, in the case of girls, hyperactivity and socio-emotional aspects are the more relevant elements. These results suggest that repetition and drop-out have strong roots in early childhood outcomes and interventions need to cover a wide range of areas since early stages and not only attacking the problem when it is observed. |
| Keywords: | school attendance, non cognitive abilities, panel data, nutrition, teenagers, SDQ repetition, Uruguay |
| JEL: | I21 I31 J13 |
| Date: | 2015–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ulr:wpaper:dt-06-15&r=edu |
| By: | Ramón García Fernández (UFABC); Carlos Eduardo Suprinyak (Cedeplar-UFMG) |
| Abstract: | The 1960s saw the beginning of an effort to improve professional standards in Brazilian academia through cooperation with a few North American institutions, in the context of an important and controversial set of agreements between the Brazilian Ministry of Education (MEC) and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). In the case of economics, the Ford Foundation was especially relevant, providing substantial funding for the creation of the first graduate programs in the field in Brazil. An important moment in this process took place in 1973 with the creation of ANPEC, an association of graduate programs in economics whose purpose was to organize and stimulate institutional interaction among its members. ANPEC is still today the most important association for academic economics in Brazil, exercising leadership through both its annual meetings and a national unified exam for admission in graduate programs in the field. The paper explores archival material from the period 1964-74 held at the Ford Foundation, which illuminates both the interaction between representatives of the Foundation and of different Brazilian academic institutions, and the strategy pursued by the former in order to develop the economics profession in the country. We thus seek to contribute to a better understanding of the conflicting motivations that lay behind the creation of ANPEC, and of the effects that the association would have on the emerging graduate programs in Brazil. |
| Keywords: | ANPEC, Ford Foundation, USAID, FGV, IPE/USP |
| JEL: | B20 A14 A23 |
| Date: | 2015–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cdp:texdis:td514&r=edu |
| By: | Teresa Bago d'Uva (Erasmus University Rotterdam, the Netherlands); Esen Erdogan Ciftci (Novartis, Turkey); Owen O'Donnell (Erasmus University Rotterdam, the Netherlands, University of Macedonia, Greece); Eddy van Doorslaer (Erasmus University Rotterdam, the Netherlands) |
| Abstract: | Biased longevity expectations will lead to suboptimal decisions regarding saving, retirement, annuitization and health, with consequences for wellbeing in old age. Systematic differences in the accuracy of longevity expectations may partly explain heterogeneity in economic behaviour by education and cognitive functioning. Analysis of eight waves of the US Health and Retirement Study reveals that individuals with lower levels of education and cognitive functioning report survival probabilities that are less accurate in predicting their in-sample mortality. There is little evidence that the gradients in the veracity of expectations are due to the less educated and cognitively able responding less to changes in objective mortality risks. However, high school dropouts and the least cognitively able report survival probabilities that are less stable and display greater un explained variability. These disadvantaged groups appear to be less confident in their longevity beliefs, which is justified given that their expectations are less accurate. |
| Keywords: | Expectations; Mortality; Health; Cognition; Education |
| JEL: | D83 D84 I12 J14 |
| Date: | 2015–05–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:tin:wpaper:20150052&r=edu |
| By: | Paralee Maneerat (Chulalongkorn University); Kanchit Malaivongs (Chulalongkorn University); Jintavee Khlaisang (Chulalongkorn University) |
| Abstract: | The purpose of this paper is to show the similarity between Thai Qualifications Framework for Higher Education (TQF: HEd) and maturity level of Capability Maturity Model Integration (CMMI) at Carnegie Mellon university. TQF is to put all universities to have standard curriculum in each field. At the same time, TQF emphasis necessary skill as well as long terms the improvement curriculum. In 2009, the Office of the Higher Education Commission announced that TQF is required for higher education in Thailand as guidelines for the education system in order to act like a framework for curriculum standard in Thailand. Universities are set to follow TQF 1 to TQF 7: TQF 1 is the standard curriculum for each field as defined by the Higher Education Commission, TQF 2 is used for the curriculum development, TQF 3 is used for the course syllabus, TQF 4 is used for the field experience syllabus, TQF 5 is used for the course report, TQF 6 is the field experience report, and TQF 7 is use for the improvement curriculum.On the other hand, CMMI (Capability Maturity Model Integration) is the process model improvement. It is divided into three categories: CMMI for Development (CMMI-DEV), CMMI for Acquisition (CMMI-ACQ), and CMMI for Service (CMMI-SVC). CMMI has five maturity levels and 22 process areas. Each process area can be classified into specific goals and generic goals.In summary, TQF has been developed along the concepts of process improvement which is the core principles of CMMI. The comparison of the TQF and the process of CMMI in the development curriculum, teaching and learning, and improve curriculum. It provides more insight to instructors and curriculum development committees to better manage and improve the program report. |
| Keywords: | Thailand Qualification Framework, TQF, Maturity Level, CMMI |
| JEL: | I29 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sek:iacpro:1002548&r=edu |
| By: | ilimdar Yalcin (Firat University); Atalay Gacar (Firat University); Emine Bagci (Kutahya University) |
| Abstract: | Decision making is the act of choosing consciously one of the present alternatives in order to obtain the intended result or achieve the determined goals. On the basis of these considerations, we aim to examine the decision making levels of the physical education and sports and sociology department students' in terms of certain variables in our study.Our study has been conducted on 42 final year undergraduate students of Elazig Firat University, Faculty of Sport Sciences, Department of Physical Education and Sports Teaching and 37 final year undergraduate students of Kutahya Dumlupinar University, Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Sociology Department.It was used a personal information form and the "Melbourne Decision Making Scale" developed by Mann and et.al. (1998) in order to determine the research participant's demographic information such as "age, gender and department of study". The acquired data were evaluated by the SPSS programme and the level of significance is considered as p<0.05.Consequently, in the examination of the participant students' level of self-respect and decision making styles with regard to their demographic information "age, gender and department of study", it has been found out that any difference has not been observed in terms of gender and department of study variables. However, pursuant to the age variable, it has been observed that the difference between the point average of the decision making styles subscales has shown a significant differentiation between the age of 21-23 and 27 and above at the subscale of careful decision making style. |
| Keywords: | Decision making, Sports, Physical Education and Sports, Sociology |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sek:iacpro:1003802&r=edu |
| By: | Noura Alamri (University of Exeter) |
| Abstract: | Little research into teacher voice in the area of curriculum development in Saudi Arabia has been carried out to date, and none in the area of Saudi native English Language teachers; therefore, this study contributed to this under-researched area and raised awareness of the issue in this context. This study aimed to find out more about how English as a Foreign Language (EFL) teachers working in the public school system in Saudi Arabia perceive ‘voice’ and whether they use their ‘voice’ to contribute to curriculum development. The study presented the findings of a small, exploratory, critical study into teacher voice and curriculum development. The participants were six English as a Foreign Language teachers working in Saudi public schools, three male and three female. All the participants were Saudi nationals who work within agirls’ and a boys’ intermediate school in Saudi Arabia. Data were collected using semi-structured interviews. Data analysis was carried out using thematic analysis procedures and the three themes emerged from the interview data were: (a) lack of response to teacher voice, (b) top-down approach to curriculum design, (c) desire to be heard. This study has underpinned by a critical agenda with a focus on raising awareness of the lack of teacher voice in curriculum development and empowering teachers to make their voice be heard. The findings indicated that teachers had a clear idea of how and why they should contribute their voice to curriculum development, but that the current system marginalized their voice in favour of ‘experts’ at a higher level in the hierarchical education system. The study concluded with some Implications for empowering teachers to contribute to how curriculum is developed and teachers’ right to be involved in the decision-making process at all levels. Recommendations for future research are made. |
| Keywords: | Critical ideology; teacher voice;emancipation; power; culture; oppression; leadership, empowerment, English Language Teaching, Saudi Arabia |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sek:iacpro:1003493&r=edu |
| By: | Arnaud Chevalier (IZA; Royal Holloway, University of London; UCD Geary Institute for Public Policy, University College Dublin; ROA, Maastricht University; SFI, Copenhagen); Olivier Marie (ROA, Maastricht University; CEP, London School of Economics, IZA; CESIfo, Munich) |
| Abstract: | After the fall of the Berlin Wall, East Germany experienced an unprecedented temporary drop in fertility driven by economic uncertainty. Using various educational measures, we show that the children born during this nativity slump perform worse from an early age onwards. Consistent with negative selection, mothers who gave birth in that period had worse observed personal characteristics. These children are also less likely to have grown up within stable family environment. Investigating underlying mechanisms reveals that parental educational input and emotional attachment were also lower for these children. Finally, sibling analysis enable us to reject time of birth effects. |
| Keywords: | Parental selection; fertility; economic uncertainty; education |
| Date: | 2015–04–24 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ucd:wpaper:201506&r=edu |
| By: | Fatemehsadat Kashi (Herzen State Pedagogical University, St. Petersburg, Russia); Natalya Andreeva (Herzen State Pedagogical University, St. Petersburg, Russia); Abbas Naeimi (St. Petersburg Polytechnic University) |
| Abstract: | Textbook is the most important and available teaching tool which plays valuable role in the education system and it can provide better learning in students. One of the research methods used for investigation of textbooks is content analysis. It would be proposed strengths and weaknesses of biology textbooks for eventual modification of the content, according to the scientific principles and determined targets, and provide practices designed for managers, planners and authors of textbooks. In this study is used library research method to achieve a content analysis of biology textbooks. In this paper, have been evaluated the importance of content analysis of the textbook, definition and their concepts, use and their dimensions, and also have been proposed principles and theories in the design biology textbooks from the viewpoint text, image and shape in various sources in Iran. In the end, have been provided the role of content analysis in order to design better and more effective biology textbooks in Iran in the form of recommendations. Including the insertion of images is one of the most effective tools in the process of teaching and design of textbooks. |
| Keywords: | Biology textbook, Analysis, Library research method, Teaching, Iran |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sek:iacpro:1003626&r=edu |
| By: | François Rycx (Université libre de Bruxelles, SBS-EM (CEB and DULBEA), and IZA); Yves Saks (National Bank of Belgium, Research Department); Ilan Tojerow (Université libre de Bruxelles, SBS-EM (CEB and DULBEA), and IZA) |
| Abstract: | The labour market situation of low-educated people is particularly critical in most advanced economies, especially among youngsters and women. Policies aiming to increase their employability either try to foster their productivity and/or to decrease their wage cost. Yet, the evidence on the misalignment between education-induced productivity gains and corresponding wage cost differentials is surprisingly thin, inconclusive and subject to various econometric biases. We investigate this issue using rich Belgian linked employer-employee panel data for the period 1999-2010. Moreover, we provide first evidence on the moderating roles of age, gender and industry in the relationship between education, productivity and wage costs. Controlling for simultaneity issues, time-invariant workplace characteristics and dynamics in the adjustment process of dependent variables, findings support the existence of a ‘wage-compression effect’, i.e. a situation in which the distribution of wage costs is more compressed than the education-productivity profile. This effect, robust across industries, is found to disappear among older cohorts of workers and to be more pronounced among women than men. Overall, findings suggest that particular attention should be devoted to the productivity to wage cost ratio of low-educated workers, especially when they are young and female, but also to policies favouring gender equality in terms of remuneration and career advancement. |
| Keywords: | Education, labour costs, productivity, linked panel data |
| JEL: | C33 I21 J24 J31 |
| Date: | 2015–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbb:reswpp:201504-281&r=edu |
| By: | Nausheen Pasha-Zaidi (The Petroleum Institute); Andrea Dallas (The Petroleum Institute); Jaby Mohammed (The Petroleum Institute); Wael El-Sokkary (The Petroleum Institute); Ameera Shoukry (The Petroleum Institute); Samira Fahmi (The Petroleum Institute) |
| Abstract: | Teamwork is an essential component of the engineering design process. Engineers in today’s globalized economy must be able to work in multidisciplinary teams. As such, graduates of engineering programs must be able to apply their technical knowledge in team-based environments where flexibility, communication, and cooperation are needed to solve problems that do not necessarily have well-defined technical boundaries. The current study is part of an ongoing project addressing teamwork skills at the Petroleum Institute (PI), an engineering university in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Although a variety of soft skills, such as teamwork, communication, and project management are incorporated into the current curriculum at the PI, teamwork can be a particularly challenging soft skill to acquire and to teach. The quality of team experiences is dependent on team members’ perceptions of their group dynamics and the contributions that individuals make to the team. As students at the PI are segregated by gender (a common practice in government universities within the Gulf Arab region), the socio-cultural context provides a unique environment for the study of team dynamics. A number of tools are being used to investigate teamwork at the PI, including peer evaluations, student interviews, surveys, and teacher observations. However, in order to ascertain whether student teams are actually functioning in an effective manner (as compared to students’ perceptions of this phenomenon), it is important to specify the teamwork behaviors that are expected of effective teams. This is particularly relevant for student teams as the one of the goals should be to provide specific and measurable feedback to help students improve their performance. The present study provides insight into the development of an observational tool for identifying team behaviors among students at the PI. Although the project revolves around engineering students, the observation tool can be used to evaluate teamwork behaviors in any discipline. The tool adapts the competencies and behaviors of a computer-based peer feedback system known as Team Developer. The presentation will discuss the process involved in the development of the observational tool, its alignment to industry benchmarks, as well as the development of protocols and options for administering the behavioral instrument. The advantages and challenges of incorporating a behavioral assessment for teamwork will also be discussed. |
| Keywords: | teamwork behaviors, behavioral instrument development, student teams |
| JEL: | I23 I20 I29 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sek:iacpro:1003663&r=edu |