Showing papers in "Comparative Education Review in 2016"
TL;DR: The PISA-based Test for Schools (PISA for Schools) as mentioned in this paper was introduced by the OECD to enable comparisons between school-to-schooling system comparisons and create commensurate spaces of comparison and governance, enabling the organization to reach into school-level spaces and directly influence local educational practices.
Abstract: This article examines the OECD’s new PISA-based Test for Schools (“PISA for Schools”) program. PISA for Schools is part of the expanding education work of the OECD, building upon main PISA to enable school-to-schooling system comparisons. We examine the development of PISA for Schools, the nature of the instrument, and some initial effects of its introduction. Our theoretical framework focuses on new spatialities associated with globalization and the emergence of topological rationalities and heterarchical modes of governance. We analyze 33 interviews with personnel at the OECD and relevant edu-businesses, not-for-profit organizations, and philanthropic foundations. Pertinent documents and web-based media are also analyzed. We suggest that PISA for Schools provides an exemplary demonstration of heterarchical governance, in which vertical policy mechanisms open up horizontal spaces for new policy actors. It also creates commensurate spaces of comparison and governance, enabling the OECD to “reach into” school-level spaces and directly influence local educational practices.
91 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors raise fundamental questions about the internal logic of the human capital theory and rate of return methodology and examine the problems with its two strands of empirical work dealing with the impact of education on income and economic growth, as well as with its conceptual base.
Abstract: Human capital theory and rate of return methodology have long been a dominant framework in comparative and international education and other fields. While there have been criticisms since its inception, it has been ubiquitous and widely accepted as an important mechanism for educational planning, evaluation, and policy making. In this article, I raise fundamental questions about the internal logic of this framework. In particular, I examine the problems with its two strands of empirical work, dealing with the impact of education on income and economic growth, as well as with its conceptual base. In conclusion, I briefly examine some alternatives to using a human capital framework for educational planning, evaluation, and policy making.
78 citations
TL;DR: A randomized controlled trial of MT literacy instruction was implemented in 2013 and 2014 as part of the Primary Math and Reading (PRIMR) Initiative in Kenya as mentioned in this paper, where two treatment groups were compared.
Abstract: Research in sub-Saharan Africa investigating the effect of mother tongue (MT) literacy instruction at medium scale is limited. A randomized controlled trial of MT literacy instruction was implemented in 2013 and 2014 as part of the Primary Math and Reading (PRIMR) Initiative in Kenya. We compare the effect of two treatment groups—the base PRIMR program teaching literacy in English and Kiswahili and the PRIMR-MT program, which taught literacy in English, Kiswahili, and mother tongue—in two different language environments. Implementation of the MT program faced challenges because many educators were not speakers of the languages, some communities resisted mother tongue instruction, and some areas were more language heterogeneous. Effect sizes on MT literacy averaged between 0.3 and 0.6 standard deviations. The base PRIMR program also increased MT learning outcomes in some measures but had smaller effects than the PRIMR-MT program in oral reading fluency and comprehension.
59 citations
TL;DR: This paper explored how the meaning of the child and parent-child relationships have changed in urban China undergoing rapid modernization, drawing on life history interviews with Beijing post-1990s (jiulinghou) youth in their last secondary school year, their parents, and their grandparents.
Abstract: This article explores how the meaning of the child and parent-child relationships have changed in urban China undergoing rapid modernization. It draws on life history interviews with Beijing post-1990s (jiulinghou) youth in their last secondary school year, their parents, and their grandparents. Chinese urban children have become extremely “precious” to parents. There is much continuity between the two older generations’ parent-child relationships. However, with the birth of the only-child generation and other socioeconomic changes in post-Mao China, the rise of the Chinese “priceless child” occurred. This generational change supports previous theorizing about modernization of parent-child relationships based on Western countries. But both the rise, and the preciousness, of the priceless child in China have been intensified by the dramatic post-Mao social transformation, including the only-child policy. Understanding what it means to be the Chinese “priceless child” adds local contextual nuance to analysi...
49 citations
TL;DR: This article applied a transitional justice approach to analyzing curricular reform, as intended, enacted, and experienced in the aftermath of Guatemala's civil war, examining how particular depictions of war are positioned as civic narratives for different identity groups, while set against the backdrop of particular ways of understanding the postwar period.
Abstract: This vertical case study applies a transitional justice approach to analyzing curricular reform, as intended, enacted, and experienced in the aftermath of Guatemala’s civil war. Drawing on ethnographic data, I juxtapose the teaching and learning of historical injustice in one urban and one rural classroom, examining how particular depictions of war are positioned as civic narratives for different identity groups, while set against the backdrop of particular ways of understanding the “postwar” period. This study illustrates how young people construct the role and relevance of a history of violence and authoritarianism in relation to their civic identity in a postauthoritarian democracy. It also illuminates how the educational sector addressed legacies of war and how these legacies have been reproduced and challenged through an unequal education system.
42 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors examined how few of the taken-for-granted benefits of market-oriented education provision either have been or can be fulfilled, due to the nature of the supply structure and to the effects of agents' expectations and behaviors.
Abstract: The superiority of market mechanisms in educational provision is a premise that has received renewed emphasis under the regime of public-private partnerships (PPPs). The central idea of PPPs—enthusiastically embraced by a range of international organizations, development agencies and scholars—is grounded in the assumption that competition between public and private schools is an effective means of promoting education quality and efficiency. PPP policy frameworks are expected to establish genuine market dynamics in which suppliers innovate and boost the quality of their education services as a way to attract families, who are portrayed as benefit maximizers and well-informed consumers. The application of these market ideas to education, however, has suffered from a series of modifications and failures under real world conditions. This study is based on the case of Chile—the most market-oriented education system in the world—and examines how few of the taken-for-granted benefits of market-oriented provision either have been or can be fulfilled, due to the nature of the supply structure and to the effects of agents’ expectations and behaviors.
41 citations
33 citations
TL;DR: This paper explored how graduates of a junior high school in Dalian City, Liaoning Province, China, chose their high school and college major subject of study and the extent to which their majors fit with their work trajectories.
Abstract: This article explores how graduates of a junior high school in Dalian City, Liaoning Province, China, chose their high school and college major subject of study and the extent to which their majors fit with their work trajectories. We found that most interviewees considered the likelihood of a major and degree leading to better job opportunities more important than how the major fit with their personal interests. However, the unpredictability of the market economy in China made it difficult to anticipate which majors would lead to more lucrative jobs, and many eventually found work that did not match their majors.
32 citations
TL;DR: This paper examined whether and how mentions of women and women's rights have expanded and changed in textbooks cross-nationally and over time and to what extent these outcomes are driven by national factors of individual countries, such as economic, political, and social development, or global or transnational dynamics.
Abstract: The invisibility of women in educational curricula and the effect this has on perpetuating women’s marginal status in society has been well documented. This article examines (1) whether and how mentions of women and women’s rights have expanded and changed in textbooks cross-nationally and over time and (2) to what extent these outcomes are driven by (a) national factors of individual countries, such as economic, political, and social development, or (b) global or transnational dynamics. We employ a quantitative analysis of the representations of women in textbooks by examining over 500 secondary school social science textbooks from 74 countries published between 1970 and 2008. Descriptive analyses reveal a steady increase in mentions of women and women’s rights in textbooks around the world. Results from multilevel models indicate the explanatory power of nation-states’ linkages to global norms of human and women’s rights in additional to national characteristics.
28 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors analyze longitudinal data from youth ages 14-20 who attend two schools in Tanzania that are implementing a skills development and entrepreneurship education program and identify that a lack of social relations in the community and discourses of youth as "at risk" constrain youths' educational opportunities and future well-being.
Abstract: This article argues that, if a global development aim is to address educational inequalities, the post-2015 agenda needs to conceptually and practically broaden the focus of learning to include social relations as important processes and outcomes for achieving educational equity. We draw on Sen’s capability approach and Bourdieu’s forms of capital to analytically examine longitudinal data from youth ages 14–20 who attend two schools in Tanzania that are implementing a skills development and entrepreneurship education program. Also drawing on interviews with NGO staff and community members, we identify that a lack of social relations in the community and discourses of youth as “at risk” constrain youths’ educational opportunities and future well-being. We found that affiliation, care, and imagined alternative futures are forms of social relations that play a critical role in their educational success and future livelihood opportunities.
25 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors take a critical comparative approach to examining autonomous schooling in the United States and Australia and illustrate the significance of embedding these values within school autonomy policy in order to preserve the integrity of public education.
Abstract: This article takes a critical comparative approach to examining autonomous schooling in the United States and Australia. Amid the market imperatives currently driving education priorities, its focus is on how autonomy can be mobilized in ways that preserve the integrity of public education. Through reference to key debates and research about school autonomy in the United States and Australia, integrity is defined with reference to three values: (1) public ownership (i.e., governance that is responsive to the people it serves), (2) equity and access (i.e., adequate funding and inclusive student admission practices), and (3) public purpose (i.e., prioritizing the moral and social purposes of education; Darling-Hammond and Montgomery 2008). The analysis is mindful of the resonances and differences between the education systems in the United States and Australia and the fluidity and complexity of the notion of autonomous schooling. Against this backdrop, the article illustrates the significance of embedding these values within school autonomy policy in order to preserve the integrity of public education.
TL;DR: This article collected primary survey data from two districts in Nepal and used descriptive and logistic regression methods to analyze the following questions: How do public schools experience private competition, and how do they respond to it?
Abstract: Despite substantial growth in private schooling in developing countries, there has been little attention paid to the question of how public schools are experiencing and responding to competition in these contexts. To address this research gap, I collected primary survey data from two districts in Nepal and used descriptive and logistic regression methods to analyze the following questions: How do public schools experience private competition, and how do they respond to it? There are two central findings: (i) measuring competition subjectively may better capture public schools’ proclivity to respond to private competition with policy changes than using measures that capture private sector growth alone; and (ii) public schools are adopting a variety of strategies, especially transitioning from Nepali to English medium of instruction, which may be attributable to private competition and government facilitation. The article’s analytical strategy may provide a feasible road map for related analysis in other de...
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors explored whether private provision improves the quality of higher education, as measured by pedagogy, accountability, and student perceptions of quality, in Egypt and Jordan.
Abstract: A number of reasons have been proposed for the poor quality of higher education in the Arab world, including the poor incentive structures of public higher education institutions. The expansion of private higher education has been hailed as an important part of enhancing incentives and thus improving education quality. However, it is not clear whether the practices of private higher education institutions differ from those of public institutions. This article explores whether private provision improves the quality of higher education, as measured by pedagogy, accountability, and student perceptions of quality. The analysis focuses on commerce and information technology programs in Egypt and Jordan. The results indicate that pedagogy, accountability, and student perceptions of quality do not vary systematically by type of higher education institution in these countries and that expanding the role of private institutions in higher education is therefore unlikely to automatically improve educational processe...
TL;DR: A follow-up to the 1997 assessment found that Colombia's rural school advantage had vanished by 2006 as mentioned in this paper, but rural schools retained their advantage in a limited way: all else equal, rural schools in Colombia outperformed marginally urban schools in mathematics, when comparing each type of school to urban schools.
Abstract: In 1997, a cross-national assessment of educational achievement in Latin America and the Caribbean found that rural schools in Colombia outperformed urban schools in tests of reading and mathematics, except in very large cities. Given a long history of urban/rural inequality in the region, Colombia’s rural school advantage attracted substantial attention. Yet by 2006, a follow-up to the 1997 assessment found that Colombia’s rural school advantage had vanished. This study’s objective is to determine whether, after adjusting for relevant background factors, Colombia’s rural school advantage persisted in 2006. We find that rural schools in Colombia retained their advantage in a limited way: all else equal, rural schools in Colombia outperformed marginally urban schools in mathematics, when comparing each type of school to urban schools. Analysis of the 2006 data finds that rural schools in several countries outperformed urban schools in tests of math and reading, after adjusting for student background.
TL;DR: In this paper, a case study of student learning at three of Rwanda's most prestigious public universities has suggested that Rwandan students are not improving in their critical thinking ability during their time at university.
Abstract: A recent study of student learning at three of Rwanda’s most prestigious public universities has suggested that Rwandan students are not improving in their critical thinking ability during their time at university. This article reports on a series of faculty-level case studies, which were conducted at two of the participating institutions in order to investigate some of the reasons behind these results. Although educational practices likely to foster critical thinking skills are required elements of the undergraduate curriculum at both institutions, the case study analysis suggests that these practices are being fundamentally altered during implementation, because of a limited understanding of the rationale for pedagogical change and low levels of faculty motivation to implement more labor-intensive teaching methods. The findings suggest that teaching and learning policies are only likely to be effective if accompanied by pedagogical training and support for ongoing faculty development.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors employ a student fixed-effects model to identify whether teacher enterprise experience, direct occupational experience, and not just program training increases students' technical skills, especially for students who began the program as high performers.
Abstract: Although a large number of students around the world attend vocational schools, there is little evidence about what factors matter for learning in these schools. Using data on approximately 1,400 vocational students in one eastern province in China, we employ a student fixed-effects model to identify whether teacher enterprise experience, direct occupational experience, and not just program training increases students’ technical skills. We find this to be the case, especially for students who began the program as high performers. In contrast, “professional certification” that is given to teachers who participate in short-term training programs has no positive impact.
TL;DR: In this paper, an ethnographic study examines how paradigms of education and empowerment are approached, translated, and contested in the day-to-day lives of the subjects of these paradigmologies, and highlights how the development and empowerment discourse can become a site for dissenting voices and opinions.
Abstract: The contemporary paradigm of international development invests in individuals and communities as the main agents of development. In this paradigm, education is presented as the central avenue for individuals and communities to generate resources and networks to empower themselves. Some development and feminist scholars have critiqued this intense preoccupation with empowerment for being a tool of neoliberal global governance, which produces self-governing actors oriented toward the market. Instead of approaching development and empowerment paradigms as solely “good” or “bad,” this ethnographic study examines how paradigms of education and empowerment are approached, translated, and contested in the day-to-day lives of the subjects of these paradigms. This analysis reveals a nonlinear and uneven impact of self-governing empowerment discourse in a women’s education project in Pakistan and highlights how the development and empowerment discourse can become a site for dissenting voices and opinions.
TL;DR: In this article, the impact of political socialization in the home on adolescents' expectations of university participation was examined in socioculturally diverse countries, using comparative data collected in 2009 by IEA.
Abstract: This study uses comparative data to examine the impact of political socialization in the home on adolescents’ expectations of university participation. The first part of the study is an international partial replication of design and findings of an earlier Norwegian study published in 2011. It examines, in socioculturally diverse countries, the association between political socialization at home and adolescents’ expectation of higher education, before and after control for educational achievement, gender, and family socioeconomic status (SES). The study uses publicly available data collected in 2009 by IEA (International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement) from large nationally representative samples of eighth-grade students in 35 countries. The second part of the study examines differences among countries with regard to the strength of net association with strong home-based political socialization, using country-level indicators to explore macro conditions associated with the relat...
TL;DR: The authors provides a critical look at the history of the Education for All movement and the global aid architecture that has evolved to support it, and also reflects on the contributions of the field of comparative education to the EAF movement.
Abstract: Building on the reflexive tradition within the social sciences, this article takes up one of the longest-standing concerns in our field—the right to education. The article provides a critical look at the history of the Education for All movement and the global aid architecture that has evolved to support it. It also reflects on the contributions of the field of comparative education to the Education for All movement. The term “leaning in” is used throughout the article as a trope to weave together these institutional histories with the author’s own career journey, which has included both academic and practitioner roles in international educational development—including as the chief technical officer at the Global Partnership for Education, an organization created to deliver on global commitments to the right to education.
TL;DR: Sudan has implemented affirmative action at universities since the 1970s for students coming from war zones and remote areas as mentioned in this paper, but those measures have proved inefficient for several reasons: first, the lack of consistency of the policy; second, lack of political will; third, and lack of monitoring.
Abstract: Although characterized by repeated ethnic conflicts, Sudan has implemented affirmative action at universities since the 1970s for students coming from war zones and remote areas. The implementation of compensatory measures has been promoted—somehow imposed—by the several peace treaties and by the massive expansion of higher education during the 1990s. The former have led to the creation of “special admission,” mainly for students coming from conflict zones; the latter has led to the creation of “state admissions,” which favor local recruitment for the newly created universities. However, those measures have proved inefficient for several reasons: first, the lack of consistency of the policy; second, the lack of political will; third, the lack of monitoring. The wider context—the liberalization of higher education and the independence of South Sudan— has also contributed to diminishing the scope of the policy.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors explored how the Holocaust is represented in history textbooks for Palestinian pupils in the Palestinian and Arab-Israeli curricula from a pedagogical perspective and found that no mention of the Holocaust was found in Palestinian Authority textbooks.
Abstract: The article explores how the Holocaust is represented in history textbooks for Palestinian pupils in the Palestinian and Arab-Israeli curricula from a pedagogical perspective. Since no mention of the Holocaust was found in Palestinian Authority textbooks, the study seeks to explain why this is so, while examining representations of the Holocaust in the Arab (Palestinian) Israeli textbooks. It pursues four principal objectives: (1) to investigate the extent to which Israeli and Palestinian history textbooks discuss the Holocaust, (2) to examine how it is portrayed, (3) to contextualize these portrayals in relation to collective memories of other events (e.g., the Nakba), and (4) to consult with Israeli and Palestinian curriculum policy makers regarding the inclusion or omission of the Holocaust from the curriculum.
TL;DR: There has been a lot of hype over the past few years with respect to the emergence (or rather, reemergence) of virtual reality (VR) technology as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: There has been a lot of hype over the past few years with respect to the emergence (or rather, reemergence) of virtual reality (VR) technology. In reality (pun intended), various forms of VR technology have existed for decades: the first analog VR experiments began in the 1960s, and the now-digital medium reemerged in the 1990s for a brief, though some would say untimely, appearance. The VR technology of the ’90s was too expensive, cumbersome, and not quite impressive enough to break into themainstreamor stick around long enough for CPU processing power to catch up to it. By the time the Internet took over as the then-new dominant form of technology in the mid1990s, VR had already become the butt of a national joke. The futuristic headgear, multimillion-dollar supercomputers, and virtual worlds they rendered simply faded into obscurity. Quite recently, due in part to Facebook’s acquisition of a VR headset startup called Oculus Rift for $2 billion (that’s not a typo, folks), people have been understandably interested in a potential resurgence in VR. Mark Zuckerberg, the founder of Facebook, justified the acquisition by saying that: “Virtual reality was once the dream of science fiction. But the Internet was also once a dream, and so were computers and smartphones. The future is coming.” Likewise, futurist, inventor, and author Ray Kurzweil, another “thoughtleader” in this new visual space, also postulated that: “By the 2030s, virtual reality will be totally realistic and compelling and we will spend most of our time in virtual environments.” Elon Musk (of Tesla/Solar City fame) even went so
TL;DR: The authors examines how local law enforcers in India respond to NGO efforts to disseminate world culture through human rights education, revealing how local state agents can resist world culture by using its script to argue against its principles.
Abstract: This article examines how local law enforcers in India respond to NGO efforts to disseminate world culture through human rights education. Law enforcement officers do not merely decouple from human rights discourse by superficially endorsing it. They also go further than infusing rights with local meaning. Officers use the language and logic of human rights to explicitly contest the validity of core rights protections. This reveals how local state agents can resist world culture by using its script to argue against its principles.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors analyzed whether school social segregation, derived from policies and practices of both between-school student allocation and within-school streaming, is related to the effectiveness of the Italian education system.
Abstract: This article analyzes whether school social segregation, derived from policies and practices of both between-school student allocation and within-school streaming, is related to the effectiveness of the Italian education system. Hierarchical regression models are used to set out territorially aggregated factors of social sorting influencing learning opportunities beyond the traditional north-south economic divide. The findings show that practices that foster or consent to uneven distribution of students between classrooms are likely to adversely affect the overall level of educational effectiveness, especially in those areas with the lowest levels of socioeconomic development. As regards the uneven between-school allocation, the findings show that what matters when it comes to assessing the negative effect of between-school segregation on educational outcomes is not the region of residence but whether pupils live in a metropolitan area. The results are discussed in light of the students’ heterogeneity man...
Abstract: This article presents a comparative analysis of educational inequality by family background and gender in Taiwan and the Czech Republic, which have both experienced substantial educational expansion in the last half-century under different educational systems. We highlight the specific institutional histories of both countries and examine the role of dead-end tracks in mediating educational inequality by family background. Pooling the most recent data available, we use probit analyses of inequality in secondary and tertiary educational attainment across 5-year birth cohorts from 1956 to 1985. In terms of secondary educational attainment, we find that the gap in inequalities by family background between the countries is large, with a decline in inequality in Taiwan but persistent inequality in the Czech case. We attribute these findings to differences in educational expansion and characteristics of the secondary school system. However, in tertiary educational attainment, we find similarities in educational...
TL;DR: This paper found that effective integrated schools are elusive, although they can be found in the context of large schools, large class sizes, and some degree of within-school tracking, while the academic benefits of integration on advantaged students are, by contrast, less evident.
Abstract: Socioeconomic integration in schools has been shown to bring positive academic and nonacademic outcomes to disadvantaged students attending them. The academic benefits of integration on advantaged students are, by contrast, less evident. Effective integrated schools are those that promote disadvantaged students’ outcomes yet advantaged students do not experience a loss in their outcomes. This article draws on data from more than 70 countries to find organizational and national contexts where integrated schools promote the achievement of disadvantaged students while also promoting the achievement of advantaged students. Using propensity score matching techniques and PISA 2009 data, results show that effective integrated schools are elusive, although they can be found in the context of large schools, large class sizes, and some degree of within-school tracking. Effective integrated schools exist in a handful of countries.
TL;DR: This paper analyzed the effect of domestic and global institutions, specifically democracy, global economic integration, and the receipt of foreign aid on the expansion of educational attainment for 128 countries from 1960 to 2010.
Abstract: This study provides a multidisciplinary approach to understanding the challenge of achieving international educational goals by examining the political, economic, and cultural forces working to expand education globally. I analyze the effect of domestic and global institutions, specifically democracy, global economic integration, and receipt of foreign aid on the expansion of educational attainment for 128 countries from 1960 to 2010. I use random coefficient growth models to find that past levels of education attainment, country wealth, and a growing rural population have significant within-country effects on education attainment expansion. Democratic institutions, integration in the world economy, and country wealth have positive between-country effects on attainment, while population growth and larger rural populations have negative effects. Foreign aid does not have any significant effect on education attainment in developing countries. By synthesizing theoretical frameworks across disciplines, this s...
TL;DR: A review of the current approaches to child labor presented in recent publications, and in a mobile application can be found in this paper, where the authors bring international education researchers up to date with a range of views on the problem of child labor and possible solutions.
Abstract: Imagine a world where 168 million children are learning instead of working in low-wage or no-wage jobs. Imagine them on a clearer pathway to decent, safe, nonexploitative, and stable vocations. In this essay, we review the current approaches to child labor presented in recent publications, and in a mobile application. Our aim is to bring international education researchers up to date with a range of views on the problem of child labor and possible solutions. Schools are gaining recognition within the labor movement for their importance in leading to decent adult work, not just as an alternative to child labor, and this change in perspective makes child labor research relevant for education researchers. In this review, we discuss Nobel Laureate Kailash Satyarthi’s grassroots activism against child labor. We also discuss implications of the goal of decent work, now made explicit in the International La-
TL;DR: The relationship between schooling achievement, measured by enrollment and enrollment in the age-appropriate grade, and household economic conditions in rural Zimbabwe for 2001 and 2007 was investigated in this article. But the impact of the economic crisis on indicators of school attendance is surprisingly modest.
Abstract: Zimbabwe suffered severe economic crisis in the decade before 2009, and anecdotal evidence indicates that public education suffered due to uncertainty about salary payments and inflation. As the country recovers, it is important to understand how this crisis affected schooling participation before and during the crisis. This study focuses on the relationship between schooling achievement, measured by enrollment and enrollment in the age-appropriate grade, and household economic conditions in rural Zimbabwe for 2001 and 2007. A wealth index is used to reflect household economic conditions. Results indicate that children in the bottom 20 percent of the economic status distribution were less likely than others to be enrolled or attend the age-appropriate grade in both periods, but the impact of the crisis on indicators of school attendance are surprisingly modest. Findings indicate that the economy may be poised to rebound as macro-economic conditions stabilize since schooling attainment did not slip substan...