Showing papers on "Compulsory education published in 2011"

Inclusive education in Sweden? : A critical analysis

Abstract: When it comes to pupils in need of special support and pupils with disabilities, Sweden's compulsory school system is sometimes considered a one-track system. This article analyses and critically d ...

Actual Age at School Entry, Educational Outcomes, and Earnings

Abstract: This paper reports on the effect of actual age measured by month at school entry on test scores, eventual educational attainment, and labor market outcomes, using school test score data and a labor force survey of Japan. Japan is an ideal country for examining the pure effect of actual age at school entry on eventual years of education because the length of compulsory education does not vary by birth month and legal administrations assure that almost all children follow a fixed schedule of grade progress. Older children of both sexes in a school cohort obtain higher test scores and more education years than their younger counterparts. This better academic performance translates into higher annual earnings among males.

Individualisation and social exclusion: the case of young people not in education, employment or training

Abstract: The characteristics, experiences and long-term prospects of young people outside the labour market and education have attracted widespread international attention in recent decades, and the specific category of young people not in education, employment or training (NEET) has been a policy concern for the UK Government since 1997. This paper examines the analytical and empirical basis of our knowledge of NEET young people, in the light of more general conceptualisations of social exclusion and the individualisation of social risk. It relates the NEET category to a conception of social exclusion in which the central policy focus is on moving young people across a boundary between participation and non-participation, and inequalities within education and employment receive less attention. This focus, allied with discourses of individualisation, obscures the structural basis of inequality in education and training. However, the paper argues that the research evidence shows that individualised approaches based...

Reaching for the Unreachable: Identifying Factors Predicting Early School Leaving and Non-Completion in Norwegian Upper Secondary Education

Abstract: This contribution asks which factors predict early school leaving, non-completion, and completion in upper secondary education in Norway? The data comprises survey and public register data for 9,749 students. The analyses identified three major groups of variables predicting early school leaving, non-completion, and completion: social background, earlier school performance, and academic and social identification, and engagement with the school and its content. The far most predictive variable was earlier school performance, as measured by grades from last year of compulsory education. On this basis the study suggests that measures to prevent early school leaving and non-completion must build upon the fact that the students enter upper secondary education with very different prerequisites to master the demands that meet them.

Mass Secondary Schooling and the State: The Role of State Compulsion in the High School Movement

Abstract: In the three decades from 1910 to 1940, the fraction of U.S. youths enrolled in public and private secondary schools increased from 18 to 71 percent and the fraction graduating soared from 9 to 51 percent. At the same time, state compulsory education and child labor legislation became more stringent and potentially constrained secondary-school aged youths. It might appear from the timing and the specifics of this history that the laws caused the increase in education rates. We evaluate the possibility that state compulsory schooling and child labor laws caused the increase in education rates by using contemporaneous evidence on enrollments. We also use micro-data from the 1960 census to examine the effect of the laws on overall educational attainment. Our estimation approach exploits cross-state differences in the timing of changes in state laws. We find that the expansion of state compulsory schooling and child labor laws from 1910 to 1939 can, at best, account for 5 percent of the increase in high school enrollments and can account for about the same portion of the increase in the eventual educational attainment for the affected cohorts over the period.

Barriers to Inclusion: Special Education in the United States and Germany

Abstract: Foreword by Karl Ulrich Mayer 1. Disability and Special Education over the Twentieth Century Part One: The Construction of Special Education Organizations and Disability 2. Comparing (Federal) Education Systems: Ideologies, Institutions, and Interests 3. Compulsory Schooling for All Children: Structured Learning Opportunities in Special Schools (Germany) and Special Classes (United States) 4. Classifying "Special Educational Needs": Categorical Boundaries of Student Disability and Disadvantage Part Two: The Development of Special Education Systems: Isomorphism, Expansion, Inertia 5. Germany's Special Schools since 1900 6. Special Classes in the United States since 1900 7. Comparing German and American Special Education Systems Part Three: Barriers to Inclusive Education 8. Institutional Barriers to Inclusion 9 Inclusive Education for the Twenty-first Century?

Grade Retention during Compulsory Education in Europe: Regulations and Statistics.

Abstract: The contents of this publication may be reproduced in part, except for commercial purposes, provided the extract is preceded by a reference to 'Eurydice network', followed by the date of publication of the document. 3 PREFACE ? I am very pleased to present this study by Eurydice on the critical subject of grade retention. This issue is part of the wider struggle against school failure and early school leaving; problems which have long been priorities of national education policies and now have a high priority in the European policy agenda. The Europe 2020 strategy to exit the economic crisis and to build smart and inclusive growth includes the commitment to reducing early school leaving from the current rate of 14.4 % to below 10 % by 2020. Strategies for combating school failure are, therefore, at the centre of discussions at European level. This has led to a renewed focus on practices for grade retention and their impact on children having difficulties at school and has been the subject of research. Cooperation on Schools' (European Commission, 2008a) commented as follows on the practice of repeating a year as a strategy to combat difficulties: 'in some education systems up to 25 % of pupils repeat a year whilst in others this rarely happens. This measure is very costly. Whilst some pupils who repeat a year catch up, the vast majority do not. The repetition rate is clearly higher for children from disadvantaged groups and, in the long term, the results of children who repeat a year are often worse than those weaker pupils who were not held back.' In order to reach the targets set at European level, effective education policies, based on evidence, are essential. Similarly, by learning from each other and exchanging good practices, countries can critically examine and improve their policies. In order to better understand national practices regarding grade retention, the European Commission has engaged the Eurydice Network to carry out a comparative analysis of the policies in place in European countries. 4 I am convinced that this study has produced a valuable inventory of the legislation and practices in place regarding pupils' repetition of a school year and that it will be of great interest to policy-makers, practitioners as well as to the wider public.

The Effect of Education on Religion: Evidence from Compulsory Schooling Laws. NBER Working Paper No. 16973.

Abstract: For over a century, social scientists have debated how educational attainment impacts religious belief. In this paper, I use Canadian compulsory schooling laws to identify the relationship between completed schooling and later religiosity. I find that higher levels of education lead to lower levels of religious affiliation later in life. An additional year of education leads to a 4-percentage-point decline in the likelihood that an individual identifies with any religious tradition. This is a reasonably large effect: extrapolating the results to the broader population would suggest that increases in schooling could explain most of the large rise in non-affiliation in Canada in recent decades.

Students' views on their transition from school to college mathematics: rethinking ‘‘transition’’ as an issue of identity

Abstract: We examine the transition from school (compulsory education) to college (post-compulsory/pre-university) of students who are continuing their mathematical education. Previous work on transition between institutions suggests that transitional problems can be critical, and students often regard mathematics as ‘difficult’ during transitional periods. However, our analysis of students' interviews showed a more positive discourse, one of reported challenge, growth and achievement; transition was not seen as an obstacle but as an opportunity to develop a new identity. Particularly in relation to mathematics, this was reflected in a need for a better understanding of the subject, and for being more responsible for their learning. Thus, we propose to re-think transition as a question of identity in which persons see themselves developing due to the distinct social and academic demands that the new institution poses. Conceptualising transition in this way could have important practical implications for the way tha...

Implementing Key Competences in Basic Education: reflections on curriculum design and development in Spain

Abstract: The concept of competence is a recent introduction into the curricula of the Spanish education system, and applies to vocational training and university, but also to basic education. In both cases, the meaning and use of the term have differed, sometimes giving rise to confusion. There can be no doubt, however, that this incorporation has been of significant impact. On the one hand, it has generated considerable debate between those who consider the concept to respond to economistic arguments, removed from educational realities, and those who believe it to have a transformation potential that cannot be ignored. On the other, incorporation of the concept is leading to a series of modifications in school practices and in teaching and learning with whose consequences we are not yet acquainted. This article analyses the situation created by the introduction of key competences in Spanish compulsory education and seeks to gauge the potential this offers for improving opportunities for success at school. The authors believe that key competences are a reformulation of educational intentions, whose consequences for schools and teaching practices largely depend on the new interpretation of learning in the light of different approaches and research traditions.

Luces y sombras de las medidas de atención a la diversidad en el camino de la inclusión educativa

Abstract: Given the deep changes fostered by the globalization process and the society of knowledge, one of the main challenges for the educational system is to understand and support inclusive policies and actions ensuring that all students reach the basic learning outcomes of compulsory education. This article analyses school failure as a way of exclusion from the right to get an education, and it highlights that the extreme attention to diversity measures which have been developed in the Spanish Compulsory Secondary School System (E.S.o .) promote parallel, but devalued schooling. It also offers some data, reflections, and suggestions for improvement which are key to achieve a truly inclusive school system.

An Examination of Compulsory School Attendance Ages and High School Dropout and Completion

Abstract: An increasingly popular, but underresearched, initiative aimed at reducing high school dropout is raising the compulsory school attendance age. This study used a national data set from academic years 2001-02 to 2005-06 to examine the grade level at which students drop out, rates of dropout over time, and high school completion by state, region of the country, and compulsory school attendance ages of 16, 17, and 18. Results indicated that the compulsory school attendance age had a small relationship with the timing of dropout but no meaningful relationship with high school graduation. Also, no discernible pattern of reductions in drop-out rates was evident for states that raised their attendance ages. Implications and the effective prevention strategies are discussed.

Sustainable leadership and the implication for the general further education college sector

Abstract: The purpose of this article is to review the models of sustainable leadership which are currently available in the compulsory sector to establish whether the models are appropriate for post‐compulsory education, and in particular for general further education colleges. Due to the complexities of the environment in which further education colleges operate, models of sustainable leadership have not been applied to this sector. In order to achieve this, leadership challenges for further education will be explored and the sector's responses to these will be considered. Many of these challenges are based on government pressure for efficiency and effectiveness savings, and so will be contextualised in a new managerial framework. The article then goes on to examine current models of sustainable leadership, looking at whether they are applicable for general further education colleges. Should they not be appropriate, then a suggested model will be put forward which draws on the transferable components for existing...

Dropout in a Small Society: Is the Icelandic Case Somehow Different?

Abstract: Early in the 20th century, the Icelandic education system was poorly developed, with no compulsory education and no legal framework for primary education. During the next 100 years, however, the system became mature, flexible and fairly advanced – largely on par with systems in the other Nordic countries (Guttormsson, 2008). While the total Icelandic population did not reach 300,000 until the 21st century, numerous studies have shown that Icelandic education developed in ways similar to much larger systems, both in qualitative and quantitative terms, and apparently dealt with many of the same problems (e.g., Johannsdottir, 2006; Jonasson, 1999, 2003; Jonasson & Tuijnman, 2001). Such studies draw attention to important similarities between different systems and warn against over-emphasising their differences, though they of course exist. The conclusion is that much can be learned about various aspects of many major problems in Iceland simply by analysing studies from its neighbours. Moreover, these neighbours may also benefit from Iceland’s experience, as information about a number of issues is relatively easy to come by in the quite well-documented Icelandic setting.

Dropping Out of School in Southern Ghana: The Push-Out and Pull-Out Factors. CREATE Pathways to Access. Research Monograph No. 55.

Abstract: The Consortium for Educational Access, Transitions and Equity (CREATE) is a Research Programme Consortium supported by the UK Department for International Development (DFID). Its purpose is to undertake research designed to improve access to basic education in developing countries. It seeks to achieve this through generating new knowledge and encouraging its application through effective communication and dissemination to national and international development agencies, national governments, education and development professionals, non-government organisations and other interested stakeholders. Access to basic education lies at the heart of development. Lack of educational access, and securely acquired knowledge and skill, is both a part of the definition of poverty, and a means for its diminution. Sustained access to meaningful learning that has value is critical to long term improvements in productivity, the reduction of inter-generational cycles of poverty, demographic transition, preventive health care, the empowerment of women, and reductions in inequality.

Improving Access and Quality in the Indian Education System

Abstract: Education has been given high priority by India’s central and state governments and continues to grow fast. School access has been expanded by investment in school infrastructure and recruitment of teachers. In higher education too, the number of providers continues to rise rapidly. A new law enshrining the rights of all children to free and compulsory education will further lift enrolment, bringing closer the government’s goal of universal elementary education, which comprises eight years of schooling. Nevertheless, high drop-out rates and low attendance continues to be a challenge at lower levels and enrolment at higher levels remains modest by international standards. Private sector involvement is on the rise. While it helps expand education infrastructure, particularly in higher education, access has not always been assured and the availability of student loans for higher education needs to improve. Poor learning outcomes amongst school students and mediocre higher education provision call for more effective government regulation and funding arrangements. Expanding resources will help but they need to be deployed more effectively, while incentives and professional development systems for teachers need to be strengthened. In higher education the government has proposed reforms which have the potential to bring about much-needed improvements in regulatory effectiveness. Efforts should focus on reducing micro-regulation and improving institutional autonomy, in order to stimulate innovation and diversity. Increasing the number of institutions subjected to quality assessments will be important for lifting standards across the higher education system, while reform of recruitment and promotion mechanisms could help attract and retain talent in academia.

Early Leaving, Non-Completion and Completion in Upper Secondary Education in Norway

Abstract: In one way, the Norwegian system of education can be understood as part of the Nordic model – an egalitarian, redistributive system. Upper secondary education is by and large public, as are other types of education. From an international perspective, the Norwegian Parliament was from very early on, as early as 1920, ready to adopt the principle of a common school for all (Dokka, 1988). The right to freely ­available public education was extended from 7 years at the end of the Second World War to 13 years from 1997; 10 of these years are compulsory.

Infancia de la inmigración y educación: la visión de las familias

Abstract: This paper is aimed at studying the importance that immigrant families place on the education of their children. After analysing the main problems that affect the education of immigrant children, we present the results of a research carried out on a sample of 111 immigrant families whose children are enrolled in compulsory education schools. Our purpose was to determine whether the family’s ethnic and cultural background have an influence on the importance given to certain aspects of education. To this end, we conducted a comparative study on families from Morocco (n = 22) and Latin America (n = 73). The results confirm that the ethnic and cultural background do not play a very important role in the importance that parents place on education. It is stressed that there is a need to look for other factors which may have an influence on the importance that immigrant parents place on their children’s education.

Evaluation – the (not so) softlysoftly approach to governance and its consequences for compulsory education in the Nordic countries

Abstract: Public sector reform involving decentralisation and marketisation has led to “soft” indirect forms of governance aimed at steering more fragmented systems. Although based on information and guidance rather than hierarchy and legislation, these new methods of regulating through evaluation and quality control may be as powerful as more direct control methods. Frequently embodying practices building on values concerning consumer choice and competition, they may challenge values of equality and social justice associated with the Nordic model of education. Drawing on a qualitative analysis using documentary data concerning evaluation structures and techniques, the development of an evaluative culture and consequences for compulsory education in the Nordic countries are examined. Although soft governance techniques of evaluation and control have impacted on compulsory education in all five countries, there are differences concerning the extent to which the Nordic model’s values have been challenged. Further, there are signs of resistance and reluctance to abandon the model’s basic tenets. Keywords: evaluation, soft governance, self-regulation, calculative practices, Nordic model of education (Published: 1 December 2011) Citation: Education Inquiry Vol. 2, No. 4, December 2011, pp.671–687

Effects of School Characteristics on Grades in Compulsory School

Abstract: The purpose of the study was to investigate effects of different school and teacher characteristics, such as municipal and independently-operated schools and teacher certification on grades in compulsory school, and the extent to which parental education confounds the relations between such characteristics and grades. Multilevel, multivariate, techniques were used. The results showed that both school and teacher characteristics accounted for considerable amounts of variance in grades. However, when parental education was taken into account, the relations decreased considerably and, in most cases, became non-significant, thus indicating a confounding effect of parental education on the relations between school and teacher characteristics and grades.

The Influence of State Motivation, Content Relevance and Affective Learning on High School Students' Intentions to Use Class Content Following Completion of Compulsory Physical Education

Abstract: Little research has examined mechanisms leading to the utilization of compulsory physical education content in future contexts. This study tested a model in which motivation to be in physical education class functions as a predisposition in! uencing perceptions of teacher communication of content relevance, perceptions of course relevance to one’s personal life, affect for physical education and intentions to apply class content in the future. High school students (N = 636) enrolled in compulsory physical education classes completed questionnaires assessing each of these variables. Exploratory and con" rmatory factor analyses indicated the questionnaire items were adequate indicators of the " ve constructs. Structural equation modeling with diagonally weighted least squares estimation supported the hypothesized model. The results suggest that continued use of knowledge and skills learned in physical education might hinge on teachers making physical education appealing to students and communicating how class content connects with students’ personal interests.

Translating Key Competences into the School Curriculum: lessons from the Polish experience

Abstract: Over the last 20 years, Poland has gone through a major transition process in which the challenges for education in terms of new approaches to learning and teaching have been compounded by broader changes such as the democratisation of structures and processes and the major economic and social changes. This article is a case study that examines the early stages of significant shifts in the learning and teaching process, the stepped approach that was taken and the different international influences. It was decided to focus on the top-down, policy level actions in order to trace how influences have shaped current policy on outcomes-based approaches and key competences, which are increasingly implemented in schools today. The Polish education and training system has been through a complex series of reforms, many simultaneously. The introduction of outcome-based approaches and key competences is part of much broader reforms that have affected mindsets and attitudes by having addressed the structure of the system (e.g. the length of compulsory education), school governance, the roles of principals and teachers, teacher training, etc. Parents' expectations have evolved and students are growing up in a much more connected environment with Internet and social networks and an exponential development of access to ICT and the need for digital competences and a range of key competences for lifelong learning and work (Gordon et al., 2009). Although change has taken place at all levels and in all sub-sectors of the system, this article focuses on general education in primary and secondary schools.

Dropout and Completion in Upper Secondary Education in Finland

Abstract: The basic structure of the Finnish education system is rather simple (see Fig. 10.1). Compulsory education starts from the year in which children turn 7 and ends when they are 16 years old. In addition, all 6-year-olds are entitled to pre-school ­education for 1 year before starting comprehensive school.

Family and Parent Correlates of Educational Achievement: Migrant Children in China

Abstract: Analyzing data drawn from the Beijing Migrant Children Compulsory Education Survey (BMCCES), this study examines the impact of child, family and parent factors on migrant Chinese children’s performance in math. The central questions address the differences between the performance of migrant and non-migrant children in Beijing, the family and parent correlates of education achievement, such as household income and parent education, the impact of social capital based on family relations, norms and interactions, such as educational expectation and parental involvement, and how the results compare to findings in the US literature. The results show some similarities and differences between the family-related factors that impact achievement in the US and China.

Student reflections on choosing to study science post-16

Abstract: The research recounted in this paper was designed primarily to attempt to understand the reasons for the low uptake of the natural sciences beyond compulsory education in England. This has caused widespread concern within governmental quarters, university science departments and the scientific community as a whole. This research explored the problem from the position of the students who recently made their choices. The student voices were heard through a series of interviews which highlighted the complexities of the process of post-16 choice. Social theories of pedagogy and identity, such as those of Basil Bernstein, were used in an analysis of the interview texts. Dominant themes used by the students in rationalising their post-16 subject choice related to their past pedagogical experiences, school discourses of differentiation and the students? notions of their future educational and occupational pathways. This study provides no simple solutions but highlights the importance of student voice to our understandings of what influences subject choice at this critical post-16 stage.

Shaping Socialist Ideology through Language Education Policy for Primary Schools in the PRC.

Abstract: This paper, drawing on the theoretical framework of critical discourse analysis, examines the general goals and objectives of the national curriculum reform launched by the Ministry of Education in 2001 for Chinese primary schools. Four policy documents relevant to the curriculum reform are analyzed, including Chinese curriculum and English curriculum for compulsory education, with a focus on education policy for English language instruction in Chinese primary schools. The analysis explores how language works in policy texts in helping to shape and control the ideology of the readers at various levels – an ideology that, in turn, could be transmitted to primary school students. The power relations and equity implications reflected in the policy texts are also explored.

The scholarisation of the French école maternelle: institutional transformations since the 1970s

Abstract: The transformations that have taken place in the French ecole maternelle (nursery school) over the last 30 years may be characterised by a dual dynamic, internal and external, of scholarisation. Firstly, the analysis of its changing position with regard to primary school and within early childhood education and care shows a relative erasure of its specific nature and an increased dependency with regard to compulsory education. Secondly, an examination of the changes of its institutional curriculum and of the development of knowledge on school learning shows a growing focus on the mastering of language as it relates to the issues of educational success. This question of the influence of the ecole maternelle on children's future school career also contributes to its definition as part of the first cycle of formal education. International comparisons of pre-primary education serve to underline this process of scholarisation and also the continued diversity of social functions performed by the ecole maternelle.

Policies in special education support issues in Swedish compulsory school: a nationally representative study of head teachers' judgements

Abstract: The general aim of the present study was to explore how head teachers (N = 683) for older students and head teachers (N = 250) for younger students in Swedish compulsory schools describe handling procedures of special education issues in their schools. Two questionnaire surveys on such issues were conducted during the spring term of 2008 among head teachers in a nationally representative sample of schools. Questionnaire answers from the head teachers show that even though the most common type of special support measure is that students are supported by special education teachers in regular classes/groups, the overall picture that emerges is that the 'old traditional ways' in special education support giving are still the most common. Social background and context as well as schoolwork content and teaching habits are judged as key factors behind the students' difficulties and need for special education support. In general, however, school problems and students' difficulties seem still to mainly be seen as caused by student characteristics and disabilities rather than as shortcomings of school and teaching. Differences in head teacher answer profiles could be identified. Such school profiles are also discussed as part of further study planned, where they will be compared to individual data on school experience, and learning data, which are available from the same schools as the head teachers approached.