This report provides a systematic review of the collection, availability and quality of metadata as well as data regarding education, at the system level, for countries participating in the PISA for Development (PISA-D) project: Cambodia, Ecuador, Guatemala, Paraguay, Senegal and Zambia.
"By nearly every measure, Americans are less engaged in their communities and political activity than generations past." So write the editors of this volume, who survey the current practices and history of citizenship education in the United States. They argue that the current period of "creative destruction"--when schools are closing and opening in response to reform mandates--is an ideal time to take an in-depth look at how successful strategies and programs promote civic education and good citizenship. Making Civics Count offers research-based insights into what diverse students and teachers know and do as civic actors, and proposes a blueprint for civic education for a new generation that is both practical and visionary. "This collection of state-of-the-art essays advances the discussion of civics from noble aspiration to empirical evidence and pedagogical practice. The authors, all noted scholars, have shown us how to improve civic education and--in the process--how to strengthen our democracy. It's time for policymakers to pay attention." -- William A. Galston, Ezra Zilkha Chair in Governance Studies, The Brookings Institution "Making Civics Count models a brilliant alternative to the ideological polarization and paralysis that dominates civic education discourse. Campbell, Levinson, Hess, and the other contributors to this volume hail from across the political spectrum but share a critical commitment to reinvigorate dialogue around civic education. They seek not consensus but spirited engagement--with ideas, with solid empirical data, and with visions for a more robust democracy. This is an important book for scholars, policymakers, and anyone interested in civic education's future." -- Joel Westheimer, university research chair, sociology of education, University of Ottawa "This compelling and persuasive book shows that an open climate for discussion of current issues, teachers' preparation across subject areas, and the new digital media can help foster a vision of democracy and counter prevailing inequality." -- Judith Torney-Purta, professor of human development, University of Maryland David E. Campbell is professor of political science at the University of Notre Dame and founding director of the Rooney Center for the Study of American Democracy. Meira Levinson is an associate professor at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. Frederick M. Hess is resident scholar and director of education policy studies at the American Enterprise Institute.
This book addresses the high cost of mental illness, the organisation of care, changes and future directions for the mental health workforce, indicators for mental health care and quality, and tools for better governance of the system.
The Development of Early Childhood Mathematics Education, Volume 53 in the Advances in Child Development and Behavior series, includes chapters that highlight some of the most recent research in the field of developmental psychology. Users will find updated chapters on a variety of topics, including sections on The DREME Network: Research and Interventions in Early Childhood Mathematics, The Use of Concrete Experiences in Early Childhood Mathematics Instruction, Interventions in Early Mathematics: Avoiding Pollution and Dilution, Coaching in Early Mathematics, and Designing Studies to Test Causal Questions About Early Math: The Development of Making Pre-K Count. Each chapter provides in-depth discussions, with this volume serving as an invaluable resource for developmental or educational psychology researchers, scholars and students. - Contains chapters that highlight some of the most recent research in the area of child development and behavior - Presents a wide array of topics that are discussed in detail
This volume brings together educational effectiveness research and international large-scale assessments, demonstrating how the two fields can be applied to inspire and improve each other, and providing readers direct links to instruments that cover a broad range of topics and have been shown to work in more than 70 countries. The book’s initial chapters introduce and summarize recent discussions and developments in the conceptualization, implementation, and evaluation of international large-scale context assessments and provide an outlook on possible future developments. Subsequently, three thematic sections – “Student Background”, “Outcomes of Education Beyond Achievement”, and “Learning in Schools” – each present a series of chapters that provide the conceptual background for a wide range of important topics in education research, policy, and practice. Each chapter defines a conceptual framework that relates recent findings in the educational effectiveness research literature to current issues in education policy and practice. These frameworks were used to develop interesting and relevant indicators that may be used for meaningful reporting from international assessments, other cross-cultural research, or national studies. Using the example of one particular survey (the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA 2015)), this volume links all theoretical considerations to fully developed questionnaire material that was field trailed and evaluated in questionnaires for students and their parents as well as teachers and principals in their schools. The primary purposes of this book are to inform readers about how education effectiveness research and international large-scale assessments are already interacting to inform research and policymaking; to identify areas where a closer collaboration of both fields or input from other areas could further improve this work; to provide sound theoretical frameworks for future work in both fields; and finally to relate these theoretical debates to currently available and evaluated material for future context assessments.
China is experiencing an unprecedented phenomenon: breakneck industrialization on a scale and at a pace not seen before. It is trying to achieve in just a few decades what Western nations took more than a century to do. The arrival in the country’s cities of tens of millions of rural dwellers, at most semi-skilled, has put huge strain on the country’s system of vocational education, known as TVET. How have the Chinese authorities and their education administrators responded? Is China’s TVET system adapting to the rapidly evolving needs of its industry? Using the province of Yunnan as a subject, this detailed case study is a closely argued and sanguine analysis of the operation of TVET in China. The authors deployed a set of internationally comparable criteria to offer a searching assessment of current performance, at the same time documenting areas of strength and weakness. The question the authors’ methodology answers is how well China’s TVET system is performing compared to technical and vocational education structures in other countries. In fact, they discover that in Yunnan, a province representative of the challenges faced nationwide, much has indeed been done, from a wholesale overhaul of programs to make them relevant to industry requirements, to major investment in infrastructure. Teacher training has been reformed, and take-up of professional master’s and doctoral courses has been encouraged. Joint initiatives with bodies such as UNESCO have improved training and vocational education at high school level. While there is a strong international history of such comparative evaluations, which are essential for policy makers to benchmark their administration, few studies have included China despite the enormous amount of value that can be learned from that country’s experience. This work will provide vital material for researchers, governments and development agencies alike.
The World Education Research Association (WERA) is an association of major national, regional, and international specialty research associations dedicated to advancing education research as a scientific and scholarly field. WERA undertakes initiatives that are global in nature and thus transcend what any one association can accomplish in its own country, region, or area of specialization. ______ Reflective of the latest trends in education research, this inaugural volume of the World Education Research Yearbook captures the diverse concepts and various arenas of inquiry that are engaging education researchers across the globe. Comprised of nine chapters, the 2015 Yearbook brings together some of the most accomplished and emerging scholars in the field, from a breadth of universities and research institutions in the United States, Europe, Australia, Asia, and South America. The Yearbook opens with the Presidential Address given at the 4th WERA Focal Meeting by Yin Cheong Cheng, who proposes a new paradigm of educational reform to address the challenges impressed upon educators by the increased globalization of the modern world. Subsequent chapters make vivid the strengths of research with a broader work view. Chapter contributions shift the discourse through a global lens, addressing such topics as how international children’s TV can be used to further global health education and awareness, strategies for remedying low academic achievement among marginalized social and culture groups, and a new global model designed to aid countries in developing more effective indicators of quality education. The 2015 World Education Research Yearbook is a crucial and long-awaited contribution to the field of education research. Its relevance extends beyond the borders of any single country or continent to encompass a worldwide perspective on educational developments which are of great value to researchers, educators, and students alike.
Now in its second edition, Teaching and Learning through Reflective Practice is a practical guide to enable all those involved in educational activities to learn through the practices of reflection. The book highlights the power that those responsible for teaching and learning have to appraise, understand and positively transform their teaching. Seeing the teacher as a reflective learner, the book emphasises a strengths-based approach in which positivity, resilience, optimism and high performance can help invigorate teaching, enhance learning and allow the teacher to reach their full potential. This approach busts the myth that reflection on problems and deficits is the only way to better performance. The approach of this new edition is an ‘appreciative’ one. At its heart is the exploration and illustration of four reflective questions: What’s working well? What needs changing? What are we learning? Where do we go from here? With examples drawn from UK primary teacher education, the book reveals how appreciative reflective conversations can be initiated and sustained. It also sets out a range of practical processes for amplifying success. This book will be a must have for undergraduate and PGCE students on initial teacher training programmes. It will also interest practising teachers, teacher educators and those on continuing professional development courses.
In recent years, education systems in more than 50 countries have shown an interest in obtaining information on what their students have learned as a result of their educational experiences. It seems likely that the number of countries interested in this sort of information will increase in the future. This book is intended to provide an introduction to individuals with an interest in assessing the learning outcomes of educational systems. In Chapter 1, "Nature and Uses of Educational Indicators," it considers the role of indicators in this process. A number of approaches to assessing learning outcomes in developed and developing countries are described, and systems of comparative international assessment are reviewed in chapter 2, "National and International Assessments." The question of whether existing information from public examination results can be used to provide information on learning outcomes for an education system is answered in the negative in chapter 3, "National Assessment and Public Examinations." chapter 4, "Components of a National Assessment," reviews the stages of a national assessment, and chapter 5, "Pitfalls of National Assessment: A Case Study," presents a case study of examples of poor practice in the conduct of national assessments. An appendix presents a national assessment checklist. (Contains 4 boxes, 6 tables, and 139 references.) (SLD)
