Education Commons^™

“It's The Commonwealth's Attempt To Censor . . . What We Teach”: Anti-Lgbtqia2s+ Educational Policy Influences On Rural Secondary Ela Teacher Practices, Josh Thompson, Clint Whitten, Karin Kaerwer

Virginia English Journal

The shift in political landscape in Virginia from former Democratic Governor Ralph Northam to current Republican Governor Glen Youngkin influenced educational policies in the commonwealth. Waving the banner of parental rights, the Youngkin administration began targeting LGBTQIA2S+ students and educators through legislation and policies such as SB 656 and Model Policies on Ensuring Privacy, Dignity, and Respect for All Students and Parents in Virginia’s Public Schools. To understand the influence on rural school districts, this study asked how rural secondary English Language Arts educators understand and respond to these anti-LGBTQIA2S+ policies as well as the ways in which those educators …

The Experiences Of Formerly Incarcerated Black Male Students At A Northeast Community College, Ashtian C. Holmes

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this phenomenological inquiry is to understand the experiences of formerly incarcerated Black male students who attend a Northeast urban community college and the unique barriers they encounter while navigating the institution. The United States imprisons more people than any country in the world, and Black men are disproportionately overrepresented in the United States criminal legal system. At the same time, Black men, are severely underrepresented in higher education and lag behind their White and female counterparts in nearly all indicators of collegiate success, including enrollment, retention, and graduation rates. Formerly incarcerated individuals face unique and substantial barriers …

Education Out Loud Case Study: School For Life, Alexander Towne, Sladana Krstic, Jolanda Butler

International Education Research

Children living in remote rural parts of Ghana experience inequality in basic education, in terms of both access and outcomes. This issue is particularly acute in the north of the country and for girls. For example, 30 percent of children in the north have no school nearby and 20 percent will never enroll. Furthermore, transparency and accountability within Ghana’s education system is weak. Generally, information is not disseminated in a way that is accessible to most citizens (for example it is not produced in a local language), which means they are denied the opportunity to understand and engage with the …

The Scottish Government International Development Fund: Designing A New International Development Inclusive Education Programme, Alexander Towne, Desmond Bermingham

International Education Research

This document was commissioned by the Scottish Government following a review of Scotland’s approach to international development in the wake of Covid-19, and incorporates a needs analysis and evidence, review, a detailed description of the global and national policy contexts relevant to partner country education systems and inputs from partner country governments, civil society and development partners on their priorities for investment in Inclusive Education. Drawing on these inputs, the report proposes a focus for the Scottish Government’s inclusive education programme on learners with disabilities and girls and young women, which is due to begin implementation in 2024. It also …

Education Out Loud Case Study: Iid, Alexander Towne, Sladana Krstic, Miriam Linder

International Education Research

The education system in Bangladesh has undergone significant change since the country’s independence from Pakistan in 1971. In 1973 the community-sponsored school system, in which communities felt a moral obligation to take an active role in schools, was transformed into a centralised national system. This caused a shift in the sense of ownership of the education system and a disconnect between community and school. This in turn led to the development of a system, which lacks accountability and community monitoring, and has left the system vulnerable to shocks that disproportionately affect already disadvantaged students. Nevertheless, there have been some notable …

Education Out Loud Case Study: The Gear Alliance, Alexander Towne, Sladana Krstic, Sam Boering

International Education Research

This case study is part of a larger body of work funded by the Global Partnership for Education’s (GPE) Education Out Loud (EOL) programme. It explores the advocacy and policy influencing (API) activities of the GEAR Alliance, a transnational alliance of four East African civil society organisations (CSO) receiving funding from EOL, and the process, results and impact of action research project they conducted in partnership with MDF/ Australian Council for Education Research (ACER), an EOL ‘Global Learning Partner’ (GLP). EOL is the GPEs fund for advocacy and social accountability. The fund aims to support CSOs to be active and …

Technology In Education: A Case Study On Lao People's Democratic Republic, Yung Nietschke, Anna Dabrowski

International Education Research

This paper was commissioned by the Global Education Monitoring Report as background information for the development of the 2023 Global Education Monitoring (GEM) Report: technology and education, Southeast Asia. Digital technology has the potential to transform learning and offer a solution to persistent challenges in equity of access and quality of learning for all students. COVID-19 has accelerated the adoption of technology to deliver alternative modes of education. It has also put the spotlight on the digital divide that technology creates. This Case Study explores the progress of technology integration in the education sector in Lao PDR in line with …

Policy Brief: Investigating School-Based Programs That Support Student Mental Health And Psychosocial Wellbeing In Low- And Middle-Income Countries, Syeda Kashfee Ahmed, Anna Dabrowski, Katherine Dix

Global education monitoring

School closures and disruptions to mental health services linked to the COVID-19 pandemic have significantly impacted the lives of children, young people and their families. Now, more than ever, schools are expected to provide emotional and psychosocial support and stability to students, educators and other school staff. Education systems are therefore investing more resources into school-based mental health programs to ensure they can provide the required level of support, in addition to acknowledging the need for social-emotional skill development. The ever-growing number of school-based mental health and wellbeing programs make it challenging to identify programs that are effective. It is …

Halt Certification: Reducing The Workload, Increasing The Rigour And Cutting The Cost, Lawrence Ingvarson, Hilary Hollingsworth

Teacher workforce and careers

In December 2022, federal, state and territory education ministers released a National Teacher Workforce Action Plan to improve teacher supply and retention in the profession. While recognising the important role that Highly Accomplished and Lead Teacher (HALT) certification could play, the plan also recognised that the current approach to certification was cumbersome for teachers and called for it to be ‘streamlined’. At the request of the education ministers, the Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership (AITSL) has produced a revised Framework for the Certification of HALT Teachers. Guided by the Framework, certifying authorities across state and territory school systems …

Policy Brief: Monitoring And Evaluating Global Citizenship Education In The Asia-Pacific Region, Payal Goundar, Rachel Parker

Global education monitoring

Global citizenship education is now an important element of curricula, policy, and practice in many diverse nations around the world. Almost a decade ago, education for global citizenship was described as a target under United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 4.7 – to ‘ensure all learners acquire knowledge and skills needed to promote sustainable development.’ Despite efforts to define and frame global citizenship education (GCED), systems continue to grapple with understanding, enacting, and assessing GCED in ways that reflect changing local and global conditions for students, teachers, and schools. This new study responds to the need for tools and resources to …

Summary Report. Being And Becoming Global Citizens: Measuring Progress Toward Sdg 4.7. Phase I: Monitoring Teacher And School Readiness To Enact Global Citizenship In The Asia-Pacific Region, Rachel Parker, Jennie Chainey, Payal Goundar, Sarah Richardson, Anna Dabrowski, Amy Berry, Claire Scoular

Global education monitoring

The relationship between global citizenship and education quality was established almost a decade ago, when it was described as a target under United Nations Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 4.7 – to ‘ensure all learners acquire knowledge and skills needed to promote sustainable development.’ Despite efforts to define and frame global citizenship education (GCED), systems continue to grapple with understanding, enacting, and measuring it in ways that reflect changing local and global conditions for students, teachers and schools. This study responds to an identified need for tools and resources for systems to enact, monitor and evaluate GCED, particularly in primary school …

Exploring Translanguaging And Identity Among Jordanian Graduate Students In Ontario, Mohamad Almashour

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

This study investigated the use of translanguaging strategies by Jordanian graduate students in Ontario, Canada, as a means of adjusting to the local language and culture. It further scrutinizes the influence of these practices on their identities. The study also probes into the potential opportunities and impediments that these students may encounter in higher educational establishments in Ontario.

Data collection was accomplished through semi-structured online interviews, which were subject to qualitative analysis to respond to the research queries. The analytical process was grounded in a theoretical framework combining sociocultural theory, critical literacy, and language ecology, thereby offering a profound understanding …

A Phenomenological Study Of Middle School Teachers’ Experiences Of Implementing Social Promotion Policies In A Public School District, Kelley L. Duffy

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this transcendental phenomenological study was to describe middle school teachers’ experiences of implementing social promotion policies at a public school district in the southern United States. The study advanced understanding about teachers’ perceptions implementing social promotion policies and how those perceptions impacted their professional behaviors and identity. Weick’s sensemaking theory guided this study as it explains how individuals define and give meaning to their reality when ambiguities and uncertainties exist. The study was designed to explore the central research question, what are middle school teachers’ shared experiences with social promotion policies at a public school district in …

Analysis Of Early Childhood Education And Learning Outcomes In The Pacific, Dan Cloney, Yung Nietschke, Jeffery Marshall

Early Childhood Education

There is strong evidence supporting early childhood education (ECE) programmes as an effective way to support children to have the best start in life, especially for the most disadvantaged children. When high‐quality programmes are established – where quality is assured, and barriers to participation eliminated – large positive effects are observed that are sustained into adulthood. Indeed, substantial positive returns on public investment in ECE programmes are reported. When low‐quality programmes are taken to scale in the market, however, smaller effects or no effects are observed. This is attributed to failure to get quality right. And when quality is too …

Educator Perceptions Of Giftedness In Florida, Casey Leone

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Educators, including teachers and administrators, have a responsibility to increase knowledge and achievement for all students. Gifted students who demonstrate increased abilities and proficiencies are often given less attention as schools continue to increase their focus on the lower quartile of students. To address this need, gifted programs are implemented to foster excellence in identified students. However, educational policies pertaining to identification and qualifications for gifted programs can serve as gatekeepers denying students that could potentially benefit from rigorous and enriching programs. In this quantitative study, the perceptions of educators in Florida towards gifted policy were explored through a series …

Incorporation Of Community Resources In Teaching Social Studies In Junior High Schools: A Case In The Adentan District Of The Greater Accra Region Of Ghana, Ronald Osei Mensah, Enock Swanzy-Impraim, Da-Costa Marfo, Pearl Adiza Babah

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Social studies education constitutes a diverse aspect of the human ecosystem that needs external resources to enable effective tuition and learning in the classroom. Using external resources has been a significant challenge for Ghana’s junior high school teachers. Given this, the study explored the integration of community resources in teaching social studies in a selected junior high school in the Adentan District in the Greater Accra Region of Ghana. It investigated the factors that militate against using community resources and assessed how these problems could be resolved. The study made use of the random sampling technique, with a sample size …

Beyond Educational Reforms: A Review Of Teacher Preparation In Tanzania, Nipael Mrutu, Peter Kajoro, Fredrick Mtenzi, Hamis Nkota, Jamila Kova, Aladini Hoka

Institute for Educational Development, East Africa

Changes in the educational sector are essential, particularly for improving the quality of teaching and learning. This study, therefore, intends to explore the teacher preparation practices and how they are shaped by educational reforms. Hence, both empirical and theoretical studies were reviewed. Furthermore, this research study employed a systematic review approach on 42 articles published in a range of 15 years from 2007-2022, in order to explore teacher-preparation practices and how they are shaped by educational reforms. The paper highlights educational reforms and it illustrates those factors that shape educationreform outcomes. It portrays educators, not as individuals with the mandate …

System-Level Leaders’ Local Control Of Teacher Supervision And Evaluation Under Every Student Succeeds Act, Douglas Wieczorek, Israel Aguilar, Ian M. Mette

Organization and School Leadership Faculty Publications and Presentations

This article investigates school system leaders’ influence and control over local teacher supervision and evaluation systems (TSES) guided by the United States’ (U.S.) Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA). Using qualitative, textual document analysis methods, we analyzed 50 states’ ESSA policies to determine the extent to which local education agencies have flexible TSES authority granted by state and federal guidelines. The study findings indicate that a majority of U.S. state-level policies mandate standardized TSES tools and processes at the local district level. In order to optimally meet students’ and teachers’ needs, we recommend that systems-level leaders prioritize community driven visions for …

Media Ideologies And The Politics Of Digital Literacy: Discourses On Technology And Media In A Small School District In The U.S. Heartland, Chris Borntrager

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation uses a discourse studies approach to investigate key communicative processes by which digital technology is given situated meanings within the institution of public education, including at the level of official discourse, administrative texts, and the spoken discourse of professional educators. The discursive processes under analysis, referred to here as “institutional media ideologies,” arguably function as discursive frameworks which, akin to tactics of management in organizations, constrain the further production of discourse in a particular professional domain, including through the codification of contextualization practices, participant roles, and the social meanings of practices implicating the use of digital technology. Furthermore, …

Shaping Educator Sensemaking In Complex Systems? Policy-Directed Teacher Evaluation Models As Boundary Objects, Kelley M. King, Noelle A. Paufler, Rachel L. Biritz, Ryan M. Smits

Journal of Educational Supervision

This study examined a state-wide, policy-directed teacher evaluation model implemented across public schools and educator preparation programs. Such models are grounded in a theory of action that situates teacher learning within social relationships, yet does not account for the complexity of systems. Results challenge policy’s implicit theory that an evaluation model can function as a boundary object to create a common understanding of good teaching and positively impact teacher professional practice. We found contradictory evidence that the model served as a boundary object that facilitated shared sensemaking as mediated understandings of good teaching collided with expectations in classroom contexts.

Teacher Professional Development In Hong Kong: Describing The Current Infrastructure, Alfredo Bautista Phd, Yan Lam Ho, Thomas Fan, Jerry Yeung, Darren A. Bryant

International Journal for Research in Education

Abstract

This article describes the current teacher professional development (PD) infrastructure of Hong Kong, one of the world’s top performers in education. Drawing on contemporary policy frameworks, institutional websites, and research literature, we outline how teachers from primary and secondary local schools are supported to enhance their professional capacity. After introducing the structure of the Hong Kong education system, we describe pre-service teacher education and the Professional Ladder framework, designed by the Education Bureau (EDB) to regulate in-service PD. We then describe the work done by the leading PD providers and the PD-related obstacles, difficulties, and constraints reported in the …

Bilingual Education Teachers’ Perceptions Of The Educational Climate And Policies In The United States And Spain, Miguel Fernández Álvarez, Amanda Montes, Other Co-Authors

Teacher Education Faculty Publications

Access to high-quality bilingual education is critical and has evolved in many different ways during the last decades. Given recent efforts to enhance bilingual education, it is important to examine the perceptions of the current education workforce who serve students in bilingual education programs. A hundred and sixty-four bilingual education professionals from Spain and the U.S. participated in the research. They completed a questionnaire about the effect of educational climate and policies in their own countries. Findings show that teachers from Spain rate bilingual education higher than teachers from the U.S. There are significant differences in their general perceptions and …

Making It To The Next Grade: How Elementary School Principals Make Sense Of Grade Retention Policies For English Learners, Lynmara Colón

Educational Foundations & Leadership Theses & Dissertations

Critical approaches to policy suggest that policy, even in the most apparently democratic polity or institution, codifies and extends the interests of those who disproportionately wield power (Levinson et al., 2009). While many people are involved in conversations and decisionmaking processes related to the implementation of grade retention or promotion policies, the final decision is made at the school level. Critics of grade retention, meanwhile, also warn that retained students may be harmed by stigmatization, reduced expectations for their academic performance on the part of teachers and parents, and the challenges of adjusting to a new peer group (Schwerdt et …

Teachers Report Card 2021: Teachers’ Perceptions Of Education And Their Profession, Australian College Of Educators

Australian College of Educators - National

Teachers play a central role in the development of Australia’s young people. It is essential that their voices are heard by those who make and decide policy, and by others who influence their learning and development. The NEiTA-ACE Teachers Report Card 2021is based on a survey of amplifying the voices of teachers on the state of education and on their profession.

Advancing Research Methodology And Educational Policy: An Application Of Mixture Modeling Using School Climate, Kathleen V. Mcgrath

Theses and Dissertations

School climate is a well-studied issue in educational research. However, surveys of school climate tend to be analyzed using item-centered as opposed to person-centered methods. The current study evaluated the 2018 South Carolina School Climate Survey using advanced applications of mixture modeling in an attempt to identify latent profiles at the student and school levels. The relatively new manual BCH 3-Step approach was applied given its usefulness in analyzing multilevel data with covariates and distal outcomes. However, its application to multilevel mixture models leaves room for advancement and prompted the adoption of an alternative analysis plan that included separate analyses …

Building Resilient Education Systems: A Rapid Review Of The Education In Emergencies Literature, Pina Tarricone, Kemran Mestan, Ian Teo

International Education Research

The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the vulnerabilities and inequalities of national education systems and hindered the education of millions of children globally. In response, the Global Education Monitoring (GEM) Centre, which is a long-term, strategic partnership between the Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER) and the Australian Government’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT), undertook a rapid review of literature to support policymakers. The research has six evidence-based outcomes that can help policymakers to build resilient education systems and thereby enhance education quality and equity during emergencies. The COVID-19 emergency provided the impetus for this research, with much of …

Faculty Attitudes Toward Technology-Driven Instruction In Developmental Mathematics, Jenna W. Kramer, Stephany Cuevas, Angela Boatman

Education Faculty Articles and Research

Innovation in instructional technology has contributed to the rapid implementation of technology-driven instructional platforms, particularly in developmental math coursework (Bickerstaff et al., 2016). In this phenomenological study, we investigate how faculty perceive and respond to a mandated, technology-driven instructional model for developmental math coursework at public colleges in Tennessee. Through interviews with faculty members across four colleges, we find that many faculty agreed that technology helped them to better track student performance, provide more targeted assistance, and communicate directly with students. Faculty also expressed concerns that technology provides the opportunity or temptation to game the system, interfering with true learning, …

Making A Tough Choice: Teacher Target-Setting And Student Achievement In A Teacher Performance System Using Student Learning Objectives, Allison Atteberry, Sarah E. Lacour

Educational Policy Studies and Evaluation Faculty Publications

The use of student learning objectives (SLOs) as part of teacher performance systems has gained traction quickly in the United States, yet little is known about how teachers select specific students’ learning goals. When teachers are evaluated—and sometimes compensated—based on whether their students meet the very objectives the teachers set at the start of the year, there may be an incentive to set low targets. SLO systems rely on teachers’ willingness and ability to set appropriately ambitious SLOs. We describe teachers’ SLO target-setting behavior in one school-district. We document the accuracy/ambitiousness of targets and find that teachers regularly set targets …

Marginalisation: Practitioner Level, Australian Council For Educational Research (Acer)

Education Analytics Service

This Practitioner level module is designed to ensure staff members who engage with and lead policy dialogue with international and domestic partners understand the patterns of marginalisation in education and the policies, strategies and structures that can be put in place at the national, school and community level to reduce marginalisation. It is recommended that staff complete the Marginalisation: Foundation level module as background information to this Practitioner level module.

Australia: Pisa Australia—Excellence And Equity?, Sue Thomson

OECD Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) Australia

Australia’s education system reflects its history of federalism. State and territory governments are responsible for administering education within their jurisdiction and across the sector comprising government (public), Catholic systemic and other independent schooling systems. They collaborate on education policy with the federal government. Over the past two decades the federal government has taken a greater role in funding across the education sector, and as a result of this involvement and the priorities of federal governments of the day, Australia now has one of the highest rates of non-government schooling in the OECD. Funding equity across the sectors has become a …