|
on Education |
|
Issue of 2015‒06‒20
thirty-one papers chosen by João Carlos Correia Leitão Universidade da Beira Interior |
| By: | Nicola Bianchi (Stanford University) |
| Abstract: | In an effort to raise skills or promote equality, states sometimes engage in sweeping reforms that rapidly increase access to education for a significant share of their population. Such reforms are hard to evaluate because they may alter more than the outcomes of marginal students induced to enroll. They may change returns to skill, school quality, peer effects, and the educational choices of apparently inframarginal students (those who would have enrolled in the absence of the reform). I identify such general equilibrium effects by examining a dramatic 1961 Italian reform that increased university enrollment in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) fields by more than 200 percent in a few years. The peculiar features of the reform allow me to identify students who were unaffected, directly affected, and indirectly affected. They also allow me to identify key channels through which the effects ran. Using data I collected from tax returns and hand-written transcripts on more than 27,000 students, I show that the direct effects of the reform were as intended: many more students enrolled and many more obtained degrees. However, I also find that those induced to enroll earned no more than students in earlier cohorts who were denied access to university. I reconcile these surprising results by showing that the education expansion reduced returns to skill and lowered university learning through congestion and peer effects. I also demonstrate that apparently inframarginal students were significantly affected: the most able of them abandoned STEM majors rather than accept lower returns and lower human capital. |
| Keywords: | educational expansion, educational policy, higher education, human capital, quality of education, class heterogeneity. |
| JEL: | I21 I24 I28 J24 N34 |
| Date: | 2015–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sip:dpaper:15-008&r=edu |
| By: | OECD |
| Abstract: | The quantity and quality of resources available to schools improved significantly between 2003 and 2012, on average across OECD countries. Greater financial investments in education provided schools with better teaching staff, instructional materials and physical infrastructure. The learning environment in schools across OECD countries improved between 2003 and 2012, particularly when it comes to teacher-student relations and the proportion of students who arrive late for school. The degree to which students from different socio-economic backgrounds attend the same school did not change between 2003 and 2012, while students with different academic abilities and needs were less likely to attend the same school in 2012 than in 2003, on average across OECD countries. |
| Date: | 2015–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oec:eduddd:52-en&r=edu |
| By: | Bradbury, Katharine L. (Federal Reserve Bank of Boston); Burke, Mary A. (Federal Reserve Bank of Boston); Triest, Robert K. (Federal Reserve Bank of Boston) |
| Abstract: | Working with a unique dataset that matches individual student records from Boston Public Schools with real estate records that indicate whether the student lived at an address involved in foreclosure, the authors investigate the degree to which the test scores of students attending high-foreclosure schools suffer, even among students not directly experiencing foreclosure. They also explore the impact on individual test scores of inflows of new students to a school during the school year—both for cases where the inflow was associated with a foreclosure and for cases where the cause of the inflow was not foreclosure. |
| JEL: | G21 I20 I24 J24 |
| Date: | 2014–07–25 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fip:fedbwp:15-6&r=edu |
| By: | Lia Charekishvili (Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University, Invited Associated Professor) |
| Abstract: | Creation and formation of the high quality educational system, eradication of which should contribute strengthening the Political and Economic power of Georgia, growth of the prosperity of population, and creation of reliable conditions of intrepidity of the country. In spite of the problems the reforms of the systems in the country are still going. The significance of transition to the standard international educational classification is emphasized.The specifics of the Knowledge Economics in Georgia, which is considered as unifier and appraiser of scientific, educational, and technical progress, is impossible to be evaluated with just one value. One of the specifics is that there are no enough investments in the country to make educational inventions successful.It is designated that educational and economic staff in Georgia is evaluated only by qualitative indices. Realization of educational qualification system inside the population reserves of our country and stirring up the process of exchanging the knowledge between the generations is left without attention. The science is almost removed from the direct responsibility of taking care and controlling the educational system. Here are some statistics on education: 90.8% of Georgian pupils at the beginning of the school year 2013-2014 were involved in Public schools while the remaining 9.2% attended private schools. In comparison, in 2000-2001, 98.3% were enrolled in Public schools and only 1.7% were private school pupils.In Georgia there is no gender differentiation while entering a school. Out of 553,016 pupils enrolled in secondary school at the beginning 2013-2014 school year, 47.4% were female and 52.6% were male. In 2013-2014, there were 19 Public Higher Educational Institutions with 83.3 thousand students. Approximately 27% or 34.5 thousand students were enrolled in private institutions. From 2000-2001 to 2012-2013, the quantity of public institutions decreased by 27%, while the number of students decreased by 21.3%. Government expenditure of Georgia on education as percentage of GDP was about 2% in 2012 and expenditure on education as percentage of total government expenditure - about 7%. While in Argentina total government expenditure was 15% in the same year, in Armenia 14%, in Belarus and Barbados 13%, in Chile –19%.Lastly, I would like to mention that the household’s expenditures share on education in 2013 equaled 2.7% of the total amount. It is very important because private education institutions are paid. This cost is heavier for pupils/students coming from low-income families, where current earnings are crucial to their immediate well-being. |
| Keywords: | Law on Education of Georgia, view of education system of Georgia, education statistics of Georgia, analyses of education of Georgia |
| JEL: | I21 C10 C19 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sek:iacpro:2503949&r=edu |
| By: | Ramin Izadi |
| Abstract: | Over the last two decades, many municipalities in Finland have attempted to cut costs by closing small schools. In particular, rural schools with low enrolment have been the target of these savings. This continuing tendency has raised many concerns about the effect of school closures on students, and remains a controversial issue in public debate. The current study examines 600 students at rural schools, who were displaced in the last years of their primary education due to school closures in 1999-2000. Relative to previous literature looking at school closures influenced by poor performance, in the present study school closures were due to cost savings alone. Additionally, because of the rural setting, the effects of displacement include longer journeys to school and increased school size. To address the non-random displacement of students, the effect of school closures on student grades and high school graduation rates is estimated by comparing the displaced students to control students who are matched based on a number of relevant covariates. I find no adverse effects of school closures on any of the measured outcomes. This implies that negative effects on students' school performance does not have empirical support as an objection to the school closure policies. |
| Date: | 2015–06–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fer:wpaper:63&r=edu |
| By: | Julian R. Betts; Youjin Hahn; Andrew C. Zau |
| Abstract: | Unlike state-mandated achievement tests, tests from the Mathematics Diagnostic Testing Project (MDTP) offer teachers timely and detailed feedback on their students’ achievement. We identify the effects of providing feedback on student outcomes by using data from the San Diego Unified School District, a large urban school district where mandatory diagnostic tests in mathematics were implemented to some grades between 6 and 9 during 1999 and 2006. These diagnostic tests offer teachers timely and detailed feedback on their students’ achievement. We find that providing diagnostic feedback improves math test scores by 0.1 to 0.2 standard deviations. All students gain from this mandated testing, but those with higher initial achievement gain the most. The gains arise in part from students being more accurately tracked into appropriate math classes. The gains decay unless students are tested repeatedly. |
| Keywords: | Diagnostic testing; student learning; education |
| JEL: | I21 |
| Date: | 2015–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mos:moswps:2015-31&r=edu |
| By: | Martin Combrinck (North-West University); Mari Van Wyk (University of KwaZulu-Natal) |
| Abstract: | This study locates itself within the confines of qualitative research and draws on an interpretivist paradigm. The purpose of this phenomenological study was to explore the student teachers’ experiences when placed in a rural school to perform their Professional Practicum as part of their professional development. The placement of students at rural schools for their professional practicum was part of the Rural Teacher Education Project (RTEP). This project was a pilot project undertaken by a higher education institution in two schools in the rural district of Vulindlela in the KwaZulu-Natal province in South Africa. The purpose of the project was to develop a partnership between the higher education institution and the rural schools to assist students in their professional development as teachers. In order to understand their lived experiences, we used drawings, individual interviews and focus group discussions. The data was analysed using Tesch’s open coding to identify themes. The findings indicate that a myriad of lived experiences inform the student teachers’ understanding of the role of the teacher; that they draw on these to envisage their role as being a teacher in a rural school; that their experiences of teaching in a rural school. This deepened their understanding of teacher professionalism, the lives of learners, classroom realities, mentoring and the management and organisation of school and classroom; and that they learnt about their professional and personal selves.Conclusions drawn from the themes are used to generate several recommendations to be used to improve the Professional Practicum experience of student teachers. |
| Keywords: | Professional practicum; Professional development; Teaching practice; Rural education |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sek:iacpro:2503070&r=edu |
| By: | Barrera-Osorio,Felipe; Raju,Dhushyanth |
| Abstract: | This paper presents evidence from the first three years of a randomized controlled trial of a government-administered pilot teacher performance pay program in Punjab, Pakistan. The program offers yearly cash bonuses to teachers in a sample of public primary schools with the lowest mean student exam scores in the province. Bonuses are linked to three school-level indicators: the gain in student exam scores, the gain in school enrollment, and the level of student exam participation. Bonus receipt and size are also randomly assigned across schools according to whether or not the teacher is the school?s head. On average, the program increases school enrollment by 4.1 percent and student exam participation rates by 3.4 percentage points, both in the third year. The analysis does not find that the program increases student exam scores in any year. Mean impacts are similar across program variants. The positive mean impact on school enrollment is mainly seen in urban schools and the positive mean impact on student exam participation rates is only seen in rural schools. |
| Date: | 2015–06–15 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:7307&r=edu |
| By: | Michael Dinerstein (Stanford University); Troy Smith (Stanford University) |
| Abstract: | Public school policies that cause a large demand shift between public and private schooling may cause some private schools to enter or exit the market. This private school supply response further alters students’ choices and likely amplifies the policy’s effect. Thus, the policy effects under a fixed versus a changing market structure may be very different. To study this difference, we consider New York City’s Fair Student Funding reform, which changed the budgets of the city’s public schools starting in the 2007-08 school year. We find that relative to the schools that did not receive additional funding, elementary public schools that benefited from the reform saw an estimated increase in enrollment of 6.5%. We also find evidence of private school exit in response to the reform by comparing private schools located close to or far from public schools that received additional funding. A private school located next to a public school that received an average (6%) increase in its budget was an estimated 1.5 percentage points, on a base of 12%, more likely to close in the subsequent two years. We estimate a concise model of demand for and supply of private schooling and estimate that 30% of the total enrollment increase came from increased private school exit and reduced private school entry. Finally, we assess the reform’s impact on aggregate achievement. We find that while the reform improved school quality at the public schools that received additional funding, the sorting of some students from private to public schools led them to lower-quality schools. This sorting undid much of the reform’s positive achievement effect. |
| Date: | 2015–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sip:dpaper:15-019&r=edu |
| By: | livingstone Makondo (Durban university of technology) |
| Abstract: | Higher education in South Africa is always changing since 1994. This is in line with the transformation agenda spelt out by the new government to, among other things, remedy the shortcomings of the apartheid system. This means, higher education lecturers need to be assisted to design transformation - oriented curriculum. In addition due to the ever - changing students demographics, the lecturers should be able to facilitate teaching and learning in ways beneficial to all students. This is key to ensure the universities enhance their student success rates. Against this background, I discuss my role as an academic development practitioner appointed to assist lecturers on designing their curriculum and teaching activities. I argue that much is expected from my office to ensure that the majority of lecturers without educational and curriculum design training are brought to speed with these key skills. In addition, the majority of these lecturers are doing postgraduate studies and are trying to be active in scholarship of teaching, learning and research. I argue that much need to be done by university structures namely deans, Senate, academic development and quality assurance offices to encourage and support lecturers in this venture. I use data drawn from my work experience as academic developer at three South African universities. Through much efforts towards collaboration, the nurturing of a university culture that supports academic excellence, collegial support and participation in staff development activities, lecturers in South African universities can benefit much. |
| Keywords: | Staff development, lecturers, Curriculum, teaching |
| JEL: | I23 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sek:iacpro:2503313&r=edu |
| By: | Dennis Epple; Richard Romano; Ron Zimmer |
| Abstract: | The charter school movement is nearing its 25th anniversary, making this an opportune time to take stock of the movement by addressing the following questions: Where do charter schools locate? Who do they serve? Who manages them? Who teaches in them? Most importantly, what are the effects of charter schools on the academic performance of students who enroll in charters and on students who remain in traditional public schools? We review research findings that shed light on these questions. |
| JEL: | H4 I2 I21 |
| Date: | 2015–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:21256&r=edu |
| By: | Guido Schwerdt (Department of Economics, University of Konstanz, Germany); Ludger Woessmann (University of Munich, Ifo Institute, Germany) |
| Abstract: | The central vs. local nature of high-school exit exam systems can have important repercussions on the labor market. By increasing the informational content of grades, central exams may improve the sorting of students by productivity. To test this, we exploit the unique German setting where students from states with and without central exams work on the same labor market. Our difference-in-difference model estimates whether the earnings difference between individuals with high and low grades differs between central and local exams. We find that the earnings premium for a one standard-deviation increase in high-school grades is indeed 6 percent when obtained on central exams but less than 2 percent when obtained on local exams. Choices of higher-education programs and of occupations do not appear major channels of this result. |
| Keywords: | Central exit exams, labor-market sorting, earnings, measurement error, difference-in-difference, Germany |
| JEL: | I20 J24 J31 |
| Date: | 2015–06–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:knz:dpteco:1514&r=edu |
| By: | de Haan, Monique; Gautier, Pieter A; Oosterbeek, Hessel; van der Klaauw, Bas |
| Abstract: | Theory points to a potential trade-off between two main school assignment mechanisms; Boston and Deferred Acceptance (DA). While DA is strategy-proof and gives a stable matching, Boston might outperform DA in terms of ex-ante efficiency. We quantify the (dis)advantages of the mechanisms by using information about actual choices under Boston complemented with survey data eliciting students' school preferences. We find that under Boston around 8% of the students apply to another school than their most-preferred school. We compare allocations resulting from Boston with DA with single tie-breaking (one central lottery; DA-STB) and multiple tie-breaking (separate lottery per school; DA-MTB). DA-STB places more students in their top-n schools, for any n, than Boston and results in higher average welfare. We find a trade-off between DA-STB and DA-MTB. DA-STB places more students in their single most-preferred school than DA-MTB, but fewer in their top-n, for n >= 2. Finally, students from disadvantaged backgrounds benefit most from a switch from Boston to any of the DA mechanisms. |
| Keywords: | Boston mechanism; deferred acceptance mechanism; ex-ante efficiency; ex-post efficiency; school choice; strategic behavior |
| JEL: | C83 I20 |
| Date: | 2015–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:10656&r=edu |
| By: | Gastón Mullin (Universidad de la República (Uruguay). Facultad de Ciencias Económicas y de Administración.); Maren Vairo (Universidad de la República (Uruguay). Facultad de Ciencias Económicas y de Administración.) |
| Abstract: | In this paper we assess on the impact of the expansion of public preschool education supply carried out in Uruguay during 1996-2000 on subsequent educational performance. The impact of the expansion of preschool education on the probability of lag and dropout in secondary education are analyzed using an alternative to the traditional differences-in-differences methodology that allows us to exploit the heterogeneity in treatment intensity recorded for each region and cohort affected by the program. We find that the expansion of groups managed to reduce the probability of both lag and drop out in highschool, especially when we consider the expansion aimed at 4 year-olds, who faced the largest increase in coverage during the period. Moreover, we identify the circumstances that affect the opportunities available to individuals when it comes to achieving a certain educational result, while studying the program's impact on inequality of opportunity. We find that it would be necessary to redistribute 5 to 15% of the opportunities associated with drop out and lag respectively to ensure full equality of opportunity. Comparing these results with those obtained in a counterfactual situation in which the expansion of preschool groups had not existed, it is concluded that the increase in supply contributed to reducing inequality of educational opportunity in a comparable magnitude to that obtained if income of all households in the sample was equalized. |
| Keywords: | preschool education, inequality of opportunity, impact evaluation |
| JEL: | D31 I21 |
| Date: | 2015–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ulr:tpaper:die-01-15&r=edu |
| By: | Conchada, Mitzie Irene P.; Tiongco, Marites M. |
| Abstract: | For any developing country, improving the quality of higher education institutions is of paramount interest to government agencies especially the Commission on Higher Education. Several reforms have taken place and that one of the initiatives being done is rationalizing the structure of public higher education and improving the budget to ensure resource mobilization and cost efficiency. Despite these efforts, there are several issues that need to be addressed and one is the voluntary nature of the accreditation system. Another related issue is the number of multiple agencies catering to the accreditation of the various higher education institutions. This paper reviews the existing accreditation processes and roles of accrediting bodies to present a clearer perspective on the current situation of higher education institutions. Similar to other countries in the region, the accreditation process in the country is initiated by the private sector and is also voluntary, which adheres to the nature of the academe. Though it is a way of fostering academic freedom and motivating some institutions to compete, this could result in complacency in others. Policy implications include reshaping the institution in terms of keeping an accreditation mechanism built into the system, such as a quality assurance framework. |
| Keywords: | Philippines, accreditation system, higher education institutions, quality assurance |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:phd:dpaper:dp_2015-30&r=edu |
| By: | Sofia N. Andreou; Panos Pashardes; Nicoletta Pashourtidou |
| Abstract: | This paper considers the value of state schooling, as perceived by consumers, taking into account that many households supplement the minimum education provided free of charge with out-of-pocket payments through acquiring accommodation in the catchment area of a high quality state school. It suggests ways to circumvent difficulties in modelling household behaviour arising from joint housing-education consumption in the context of a two-stage demand system, where the proposed money-metric of state schooling can be estimated from data readily available in household expenditure surveys. The empirical analysis, based on UK data, estimates this money metric as the amount households with school-age children would be willing to accept in order to opt out of the state education system. The efficiency and distributional implications of the empirical findings are discussed. |
| Keywords: | Consumer demand analysis, Valuation of state education, UK data |
| Date: | 2015–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ucy:cypeua:05-2015&r=edu |
| By: | Tumino, Alberto; Taylor, Mark P. |
| Abstract: | We use data from the British Household Panel Survey and Labour Force Survey to analyse the relationship between the demand for post compulsory education and prevailing labour market conditions in Britain. We explicitly incorporate the role of family resources by allowing effects to differ between young people whose families are home owners and those whose families are tenants. We find evidence that local labour markets significantly influence school leaving decisions of 16 year olds living in tenant households, specifically in social housing. For these groups, an increase in the local youth unemployment rates positively affects school enrolment – consistent with opportunity cost arguments – while high levels of adult unemployment discourage it. Labour markets do not significantly affect school leaving decisions of students from better off families. Our results suggest that factors associated with the family socio economic status, such us parental tastes for education and social norms, outweigh economic considerations among students from higher socio economic backgrounds, who tend to enrol in higher education irrespectively of labour markets conditions. |
| Date: | 2015–06–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ese:iserwp:2015-14&r=edu |
| By: | Meurs, Dominique; Puhani, Patrick A.; Von Haaren, Friederike |
| Abstract: | We document the educational integration of immigrant children with a focus on the link between family size and educational decisions and distinguishing particularly between firstand second-generation immigrants and between source country groups. First, for immigrant adolescents, we show family-size adjusted convergence to almost native levels of higher education track attendance from the first to the second generation of immigrants. Second, we find that reduced fertility is associated with higher educational outcomes for immigrant children, possibly through a quantity-quality trade-off. Third, we show that between one third and the complete difference in family-size adjusted educational outcomes between immigrants from different source countries or immigrant generations can be explained by parental background. This latter holds true for various immigrant groups in both France and Germany, two major European economies with distinct immigration histories. |
| JEL: | J13 J15 J24 |
| Date: | 2015–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:usg:econwp:2015:15&r=edu |
| By: | Benjamin Faber; Rosa Sanchis-Guarner; Felix Weinhardt |
| Abstract: | Governments are making it a priority to upgrade information and communication technologies (ICT) with the aim to increase available internet connection speeds. This paper presents a new strategy to estimate the causal effects of these policies, and applies it to the questions of whether and how ICT upgrades affect educational attainment. We draw on a rich collection of microdata that allows us to link administrative test score records for the population of English primary and secondary school students to the available ICT at their home addresses. To base estimations on exogenous variation in ICT, we notice that the boundaries of usually invisible telephone exchange station catchment areas give rise to substantial and essentially randomly placed jumps in the available ICT across neighboring residences. Using this design across more than 20,000 boundaries in England, we find that even very large changes in available internet speeds have a precisely estimated zero effect on educ ational attainment. Guided by a simple model we then bring to bear additional microdata on student time and internet use to quantify the potentially opposing mechanisms underlying the zero reduced form effect. We find that jumps in the available ICT have no significant effect on student time spent studying online or offline, or on their productivity. Finally, while faster connections appear to increase student consumption of online content, we find that the elasticity of student demand for online content with respect to its time cost is negative but bounded by -1. |
| Keywords: | Education, information and communication technology, internet |
| JEL: | I20 D83 |
| Date: | 2015–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cep:cepdps:dp1359&r=edu |
| By: | Serdar Aydin (Ataturk University, Kazim Karabekir Faculty of Education); Refik Dilber (Ataturk University, Kazim Karabekir Faculty of Education); Ela Aydin (Ataturk University, Kazim Karabekir Faculty of Education); Umit Turgut (Ataturk University, Kazim Karabekir Faculty of Education); Riza Salar (Ataturk University, Kazim Karabekir Faculty of Education) |
| Abstract: | The purpose of this research was to determine the effectiveness of conceptual based instruction and traditionally designed physics instruction on students’ understanding of projectile motion concepts. Misconceptions relevant to projectile motion concepts were specified by related literature on this subject. Projectile Motion Concepts Test was developed according to misconceptions. The data were gained through 43 students in an experimental group taught with learning activities based on conceptual change instruction and 39 students in a control group who followed traditional classroom instruction. The results showed that conceptual change-based instruction caused significantly better acquisition of conceptual change of projectile motion concepts than the traditional instruction. |
| Keywords: | conceptual change; misconception; physics education; projectile motion |
| JEL: | I29 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sek:iacpro:2503403&r=edu |
| By: | Mehmet Yilmaz (Ataturk University, Kazim Karabekir Faculty of Education); Rabia Yilmaz (Ataturk University, Kazim Karabekir Faculty of Education); Dilara Sahin (Ataturk University, Kazim Karabekir Faculty of Education) |
| Abstract: | Augmented reality (AR) is defined as a technology that allows virtual information on real-world environment. AR has attracted attentions in education to interact with real and virtual objects. Providing and demonstrating 3D objects, AR in education makes learning effective. AR is effective for teaching events that are not possible to see with the eye, materializing abstract concepts, and presenting complex information. Because subject of “Solar System and Space” in science education cannot possible to see with the eye, have abstract concepts and complex, AR is used in this study. The aim of the study is to determine the effects of AR technology on students’ achievement. For this reason, quasi-experimental design is used. This design can be used for comparing two or more groups. In this study, total 100 elementary students in 7th grade, is divided into two groups. When 50 students in A and B class is chosen as the experimental group, 50 students in C and D class is selected as the control group. While AR is used in experimental group, it isn’t used in control group. As a data collection tool, academic performance test is used. The findings revealed that students used AR in the experimental group are more successful than control group. This result can be explained by AR potentials. It is though that AR attracts the attention of the students in experimental group and provides an effective learning environment. |
| Keywords: | Augmented Reality, Science education, Students’ achievement |
| JEL: | I29 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sek:iacpro:2503401&r=edu |
| By: | Mirjana Knezevic, Petar Veselinovic (University of Kragujevac, Faculty of Economics,) |
| Abstract: | The subject of the analysis is the importance of new education policy of Republic of Serbia, as one of the key factors for economic development, whose dynamics depends on the degree of its realization and capacity of state to implement New Strategy for development of education in Serbia until 2020 (Law on government RS, 2005). In long term, the biggest importances in the process have investments into human capital and education, and research and development. The goal of the paper is to demonstrate that New Strategy for development of education in Serbia until 2020. has responded to requests that educational system should correspond to needs of the economy, to establish active institutional system of linking between science and industry; and that policy of incentives should be focused towards innovation in entrepreneurial sector. The paper starts with hypothesis that level of development of the economy depends on the results of conducted reform in education system, as well as that education system of Republic of Serbia, whose standards lag behind the outstanding legislation standards of European Union, does not satisfy immediate needs of the current economic structure. Defined hypothesis is confirmed in the paper, by the use of comparative legislation analysis of educational policy in European countries and surrounding countries. Basic message of the paper is that establishment of economic development of Republic of Serbia in post-crisis period is closely linked to implementation of education policy whose priorities are given in the New Strategy for educational development in Serbia until 2020, because without reform of education system is impossible to implement structural reforms in the economy. |
| Keywords: | education, economic development, Strategy for development of education |
| JEL: | K22 K23 I25 I28 |
| Date: | 2015–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:esb:petprv:2015-112&r=edu |
| By: | Maria Esther Egg (KOF Swiss Economic Institute, ETH Zurich, Switzerland); Ursula Renold (KOF Swiss Economic Institute, ETH Zurich, Switzerland) |
| Abstract: | Switzerland is famous for its vocational education and training (VET) system. This article describes Switzerland’s success in integrating adolescents into the labour market, with emphasis on two aspects. First, dual-track VET, which combines learning at school and in host companies, is an attractive choice for adolescents. It prepares them for the labour market and for progression routes to higher education. Second, the firm’s decision to train could be an example of the prisoner’s dilemma, but Switzerland has managed to sidestep that issue and minimize concerns about poaching. Finally, we discuss what Spain could learn from the Swiss VET system. |
| Keywords: | Swiss vocational education and training system, apprenticeship, standard of excellence, youth labour market, prisoner’s dilemma |
| JEL: | C71 I21 |
| Date: | 2015–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:kof:wpskof:15-383&r=edu |
| By: | Susanna LAI-YEUNG (The Open University of Hong Kong) |
| Abstract: | The literature documents that a substantial percentage of university students experience considerable level of stress and psychological problems that negatively impact on their well-being. Though different student support programmes are often offered on campus, because of various reasons, such as limited number of places in the programmes, time constraint, and students' reluctance to seek-help; such programmes cannot adequately meet students' needs. To address this problem, the author has designed a general education course entitled "Stress and Well-Being" to teach students stress management skills and strategies to enhance their well-being. The course employed a holistic health framework which covers the physical, intellectual, emotional, social and spiritual dimensions of health. It lasted for 14 weeks with two 2-hour sessions each week. Perceived stress, social problem-solving orientations and depression scores were obtained from one hundred and ninety nine studentsat the end of the course. Comparison with a control group of seventy-four students taking another general education course unrelated to stress and well-being was made. It was found that students in the "treatment" group reported lower level of interpersonal stress and had lower depression scores than students in the control group, though the social problem-solving orientation scores of the two groups were similar. Implications of the present preliminary study and recommendations for future studies are discussed. |
| Keywords: | stress and well-being, stress management, general education course, university students |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sek:iacpro:2503458&r=edu |
| By: | Tequame M.; Tirivayi J.N. (UNU-MERIT) |
| Abstract: | This paper studies the effect of womens higher education on fertility outcomes in Ethiopia. We exploit an abrupt increase in the supply of tertiary education induced by a liberalisation policy. Using an age discontinuity in the exposure to higher education reform, we find that education lowers fertility by 8 and increases the likelihood of never giving birth by 25. We explore the role of potential underlying mechanisms and find that this negative effect on fertility is channelled through positive assortative mating and the postponement of marriage and motherhood. |
| Keywords: | Higher Education and Research Institutions; Education and Economic Development; Welfare and Poverty: Government Programs; Provision and Effects of Welfare Programs; Marriage; Marital Dissolution; Family Structure; Domestic Abuse; Fertility; Family Planning; Child Care; Children; Youth; Microeconomic Analyses of Economic Development; |
| JEL: | O12 I23 I25 I38 J12 J13 |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:unm:unumer:2015019&r=edu |
| By: | Tzuhua Huang (Department of Education, University of Taipei) |
| Abstract: | This study explores the influences of simulation game-based E-books toward high school minority students’ reading literacy. It is targeted in a group of 183 high school students with 115 of minority students in experimental group and 68 of Han students in control group. Simulation game-based E-books and self-design reading comprehension scale are implemented. The plot of the E-book is related to an eaglet of how it learns to fly in the sky; the little eaglet was timid and later it turned out to be a brave eagle warrior to protect its species. The purpose of using self-constructed interactive E-book is to promote higher level of reading interest. This study compares simulation and non-simulation game-based E-books; the data was analyzed according to three different levels of reading literacy and reading comprehension: access and retrieve, integrate and interpret, and reflect and evaluate. Results showed that the experimental group (simulation game-based E-books) had better reading comprehension than the control group (non-simulation game-based E-books); experimental group in the level of integrate and interpret abilities showed that female are better than male students; Minority students in the experimental group performed better in reading comprehension at all levels compared with Han students; last but not the least, experimental group of students in access and retrieve abilities showed that female performed better than male students. It is concluded that the type of simulation game-based E-books and its content have a significant influence toward Taiwan minority students. |
| Keywords: | simulation digital game-based E-books, reading literacy, reading comprehension |
| JEL: | I29 I24 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sek:iacpro:2503769&r=edu |
| By: | Guerreiro, Gertrudes Saúde; Caleiro, António Bento |
| Abstract: | Human resources are an essential element in territorial development. When these are characterized by a high level of training, they also enhance a number of effects in fundamental areas of binomial territorial-social cohesion. In this respect, the existence of higher education institutions throughout the territory allows the spread of human resources' qualification but, by itself, does not guarantee the retention of these resources in different regions. Thus, the objective of this paper is to undertake a spatial analysis of convergence of knowledge through studying the evolution of the percentage of population with higher education in the periods elapsed between the last three censuses in Portugal. Although that percentage has risen appreciably, the convergence is shown to be (very) insignificant. |
| Keywords: | Census; Convergence Analysis; Higher Education; Spatial Econometrics |
| JEL: | C23 I23 O15 R12 |
| Date: | 2015–06–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:64999&r=edu |
| By: | Youjin Hahn; Asadul Islam; Kanti Nuzhat; Russell Smyth; Hee-Seung Yang |
| Abstract: | In 1994, Bangladesh introduced the Female Secondary School Stipend Program, which made secondary education free for rural girls. This paper examines the long-term effects of the stipend program on education, marriage, fertility and labor market outcomes of women. We find that the stipend increased years of education for eligible girls by 14 to 25 percent. These girls were more likely to get married later and have fewer children. They also had more autonomy in making decisions about household purchases, health care and visiting relatives. They were more likely to work in the formal sector than the agricultural or informal sector. Eligible girls were likely to marry more educated husbands, who had better occupations and were closer in age to their own. Their children’s health outcomes also improved. These results imply that school-based stipend programs can increase female empowerment through positive effects on schooling and marriage market outcomes over the long-term. |
| Keywords: | Stipend program, female education, age of marriage, marital match, fertility, Bangladesh |
| JEL: | I25 J12 J13 O12 |
| Date: | 2015–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mos:moswps:2015-30&r=edu |
| By: | Nora Hesse (Institute of Economic and Cultural Geography, Leibniz University Hannover, Germany, hesse@wigeo.uni-hannover.de) |
| Abstract: | The aim of this paper is to find out how entrepreneurial prospective scientists are compared to prospective entrepreneurs. This study investigates the relationship between the intention of students to become scientists or entrepreneurs and their attitudes towards self-realization, recognition, independence, innovation, role models, financial success and social welfare. The study is based on quantitative data from the universities in Hannover and Göttingen which was collected in the context of the Global University Entrepreneurial Spirit Students’ Survey. The results of the multinomial and binary logistic regression analyses surprisingly show that prospective scientists in fact are well equipped with attitudes which are conducive for starting a business. Prospective scientists and prospective entrepreneurs both find the realization of their dreams, independency and role models to be more important than other individuals. At the same time, both groups evaluate financial success to be less important than other individuals. |
| Keywords: | career attitude, entrepreneurial intention, prospective entrepreneur, scientist, student survey |
| JEL: | L26 |
| Date: | 2015–06–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pum:wpaper:2015-03&r=edu |
| By: | Ahmet (, Atatürk University, Collega of Physical Education and sport, Recreation Department,) |
| Abstract: | Purpose: The purpose of this study is to search the effect of teacher-made materials used in skill lesson on students’ participation to lesson.Material and Method: 155 students studying Physical Education and Sport College took part in research.All the students are receiving education in 3rd Grade Coaching and Recreation Department.These consist of 45 female, 110 male students. In research, students were studied in 2 groups as experimental group ( 80 students, 25 female, 55 male) and control group ( 20 female, 55 male). While teacher-made materials were used in lessons of experimental group, classic course materials wre used in lessons of control group. In research, specially prepared observation and interview form was used. The observation and interview form was prepared in accordance with views of Pedagogy and Physical Education and Sport College Faculty. The observations were done by 2 volunteer research assistants in application of lessons. Interviews were done with students in sports hall after lesson.Analysis: The data acquired from research were put into tables by being analyzed in SPSS. 1700 statistics program. Also, frequency and percentage distribution of the subjects were found.Findings and Results: At the end of the research, experimental group’s participation to lesson and satisfaction in application were found significantly ( p>0.05) different from control group’s participation to lesson and motivation. While it has been determined that the students of experimental group enjoyed so much in lesson, came to lesson eagerly, their absenteeism was at minimum level, it has been come to a conclusion that control group followed the lesson compulsorily, lesson absenteeism was used at maximum level and the lessons were boring. |
| Keywords: | Educat |
| JEL: | A20 A22 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sek:iacpro:2503202&r=edu |
| By: | Lidia Panico (INED); Maxime Tô; Olivier Thévenon (INED) |
| Abstract: | The lower a mother’s educational level, the higher the risk that she will have a low birthweight baby (below 2.5kg). The risk is 50% higher for women with no qualifications than for women with a highschool diploma. Differences by educational level narrow slightly when household income and other factors such as birth order, mother’s age and parents’ height are taken into account, but they do not disappear. Smoking and alcohol consumption during pregnancy appear to play a role, partially explaining the higher proportion of low birthweight babies born to the least educated mothers. The variations in the risk of low birthweight by socioeconomic status are similar in France and the United Kingdom. |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:idg:posoce:523&r=edu |