Education Commons^™

Using Large-Scale Assessments Of Students' Learning To Inform Education Policy: Insights From The Asia-Pacific Region, Mollie Tobin, Petra Lietz, Dita Nugroho, Ramya Vivekanandan, Tserennadmid Nyamkhuu

Dr Petra Lietz

Not much is known about the ways in which assessment data have actually been used in education policy to date. Understanding the role of assessments in informing system-level decision-making is a first step towards helping stakeholders improve the design and usefulness of assessments. Moreover, this understanding can help to further discussions about how assessment data can best be used to inform policy and practice and to evaluate the effectiveness of policy reforms. This paper presents results from a systematic review of 68 studies that examined the link between participation in large-scale assessment programs of students’ learning and education policy in …

Student Loans And The Dynamics Of Debt, Brad Hershbein, Kevin Hollenbeck

Brad J. Hershbein

Student Loans And The Dynamics Of Debt, Brad Hershbein, Kevin Hollenbeck

Kevin Hollenbeck

The papers included in this volume represent the most current research and knowledge available about student loans and repayment. It serves as a valuable reference for researchers and policymakers who seek a deeper understanding of how, why, and which students borrow for their postsecondary education; how this borrowing may affect later decisions; and what measures can help borrowers repay their loans successfully.

Swimming Upstream: A Study Of Black Males And The Academic Pipeline, Rhonda Wilkins

Rhonda D Wilkins PhD

ABSTRACT SWIMMING UPSTREAM: A STUDY OF BLACK MALES AND THE ACADEMIC PIPELINE Rhonda D. Wilkins Post secondary participation and graduation rates of Black males are declining rapidly. Black women, however, are realizing substantial growth in both of these areas and account for the majority of the increase in Black student college enrollment. This qualitative case study addresses the decline in Black male participation in higher education by focusing on six Black men who completed college programs and the academic pipeline that brought them to their degree. The purpose of the research inquiry was to determine various factors that either helped …

Continuing To Exercise Choice After School Selection In Nepal, Priyadarshani Joshi

Priyadarshani Joshi

Growing Australian Higher Education: Achieving Targets And Rethinking Provision, Daniel Edwards

Dr Daniel Edwards

Higher education in Australia has been following a growth trajectory unmatched for the past 20 years. This paper shows that while the recent growth in university enrolments over the past few years has been facilitated by the federal government’s demand-driven funding policy, private providers have also been expanding and contributing to the overall national aims of increasing attainment. With the 2013 initial university offer figures showing a slowing of growth in universities for the first time since demand driven funding was announced, the role of non-universities in maintaining the growth trajectory for higher education, as well as helping to achieve …

Using Aptitude Testing To Diversify Higher Education Intake – An Australian Case Study, Daniel Edwards, Hamish Coates, Tim Friedman

Dr Tim Friedman

Australian higher education is currently entering a new phase of growth. Within the remit of this expansion is an express commitment to widen participation in higher education among under-represented groups – in particular those from low socioeconomic backgrounds. This paper argues that one key mechanism for achieving this goal should be the re-evaluation of university selection processes. The paper explores outcomes of an aptitude test pilot study, focusing on issues of access and equity in selection to university. The results show that, in general, those who gain access to university on the basis of results in the aptitude test have …

Industry, Employment, And Population Profile: Supporting Analysis: Gippsland Tertiary Education Plan, Daniel Edwards, Paul Weldon, Tim Friedman

Dr Tim Friedman

There is considerable interest in the provision and access to tertiary education within the Victoria by the State Government. In 2010, a Tertiary Education Plan was released by the Government, detailing various targets and policy objectives in this sector. Despite a change of Government, the broad objectives in the plan continue to be pursued. As such, a number of more specific plans, based on geographic locations within Victoria are being constructed. One such plan is being constructed for Gippsland. An Expert Panel has been formed to create the plan for Gippsland, chaired by Professor Kwong Lee Dow. This document provides …

The Relationship Between Child Care Subsidies And Children’S Cognitive, Laura Hawkinson, Andrew Griffen, Nianbo Dong, Rebecca Maynard

REBECCA A MAYNARD

Child care subsidies help low-income families pay for child care while parents work or study. Few studies have examined the effects of child care subsidy use on child development, and no studies have done so controlling for prior cognitive skills. We use rich, longitudinal data from the ECLS-B data set to estimate the relationship between child care subsidy use and school readiness, using value-added regression models as well as parametric and non-parametric models with propensity score matching. Compared to a diverse group of subsidy non-recipients in various types of non-parental care as well as parental care only, we find that …

Can Health Insurance Reduce School Absenteeism?, Ryan Yeung

Ryan Yeung

Enacted in 1997, the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) represented the largest expansion of U.S. public health care coverage since the passage of Medicare and Medicaid 32 years earlier. Although the program has recently been reauthorized, there remains a considerable lack of thorough and well-designed evaluations of the program. In this study, we use school attendance as a measure of the program’s impact. Utilizing state-level data and the use of fixed-effects regression techniques, we conclude that SCHIP has had a positive and significant effect on state average daily attendance rates, as measured by both SCHIP participation and eligibility rates. …

Monitoring The Pathways And Outcomes Of People From Disadvantaged Backgrounds And Graduate Groups, Daniel Edwards, Hamish Coates

Dr Daniel Edwards

The development of a strong and vibrant knowledge economy is linked directly to successful learning outcomes among university graduates. Building evidence-based insights on graduate outcomes plays a particularly important role in shaping planning and practice. To this end, this paper analyses some key findings from the Graduate Pathways Survey, the first national study in Australia of bachelor degree graduates' outcomes five years after course completion. It focuses on the outcomes of graduates from disadvantaged groups, people of particular significance in an expanding and increasingly important higher education system. After advancing the rational for this analysis, the paper sketches the overall …

Private Interests Or Public Goods?: Dewey, Rugg, And Their Contemporary Allies On Corporate Involvement In Educational Reform Initiatives, Deron Boyles, Kathleen Abowitz

Deron R. Boyles

In some ways, John Dewey lived through a time similar to what we now experience: the rise of corporate power in a historical moment of unsurpassed national wealth and consumer materialism, and the accompanying substantial influence of business interests in the structure, politics, and agendas of public school systems. Dewey’s writings in the first three decades of this century mark a kind of “wisdom of the elders,” offered by a public intellectual who experienced, at least in some form, the kind of tumultuous relationships we are currently witnessing between the economy and education.

Intellectualism, Infiltration, And The Imaginary: The Challenge Of Conservative Think Tanks In Developing Coherent Democratic Community, Deron Boyles, Philip Kovacs

Deron R. Boyles

This paper extends the question “What should we be doing and what kinds of activities would we be engaged in during the time we take off to craft and assert ourselves as public intellectuals?” Kathleen Kesson and Jim Henderson provided us with historical background (and a delightful song parody) while Kent den Heyer challenges us to take two years off from the academy and engage in research that would better enable us to communicate with and influence those in positions of power. For the purpose of this paper, we wish to join with Kesson, Henderson, and den Heyer, if only …

Dewey's Epistemology: An Argument For Warranted Assertions, Knowing, And Meaningful Classroom Practice, Deron Boyles

Deron R. Boyles

In an effort to navigate the treacherous path between professionalism and social relevancy, this essay takes up an area of professional philosophy - epistemology - with the intention of reclaiming the integrative role John Dewey held for philosophy and classroom practice. Deron Boyles asserts that epistemology can and should represent an area of inquiry that is relevant and useful for philosophy of education, especially as it develops classroom practices that foster inquiry. He specifically seeks to revive Dewey’s conception of warranted assertibility in an effort to show the value of fallibilist epistemology in practical and social teaching and learning contexts. …

Institutes, Foundations, And Think Tanks: Conservative Influences On U.S. Public Schools, Deron Boyles

Deron R. Boyles

While a complete analysis of the effects of conservative think tanks is beyond the scope of this article, we include the above passage as evidence of what, on a broad scale, the “idea brokers” have been working towards. While education is only one area where neoconservative think tanks seek to influence public policy, it has become the issue for many neoconservatives. In this article, we focus on four think tanks—The Manhattan Institute, The American Enterprise Institute, The Heritage Foundation, and The Thomas B. Fordham Foundation—and what they are doing to reshape public schools in ways more suitable to neoconservative and …

Politics Or Principles?: Joseph Kinmont Hart And The University Of Washington, 1910-1915, Deron Boyles

Deron R. Boyles

Joseph Kinmont Hart was a young professor of education during this time and played a role in the unrest at the university. Hart was a popular teacher, a sought-after speaker in the community, and an agitator for social change. His politics were in contrast to most of the Board of Regents and the state legislature and the battles he fought with his own colleagues ultimately led to his being fired with the rest of the department in 1915. Hart was among a number of people who questioned Suzzallo’s candidacy for the UW presidency. It was widely believed that Hart wrote …

Joseph Kinmont Hart And Vanderbilt University: The Rise And Fall Of A Department Of Education, 1930-1934, Deron Boyles

Deron R. Boyles

More cautionary positions are represented in the editorial comments of L.L. Thurstone and W.W. Charters. In 1930, Thurstone wrote in the Journal of Higher Education that academic freedom needed to be guarded. He broadly referred to cases when he argued for a defense of academic freedom by involving the “Association of University Professors” and having the organization effectively censure colleges and universities that encroached on academic freedom. Within his article, however, he noted that his “plan involves no violence in speech or action, and it does not challenge the legal right of the trustees of a university to decide matters …

The Gig Is Up: Combating The Meanings Of Education Proffered By Science, Technology, And Global Capitalism, Deron Boyles

Deron R. Boyles

Colleagues in the academy seem to have a fascination with conceptual analysis and the term “education.” Debates are held, papers are written, and symposia take place within which definitions are articulated and modulated. Whether the point is to provide narrative, stipulative, or programmatic definitions matters little to the larger point: the quest for the meaning of “education” continues. In their turns, schooling and training are contrasted with education in order to help clarify the differences in scope, purpose, and meaning of the various terms. The concepts are often qualified in discussions of literacy, socialization, and democracy, but why? Why are …

Reconsidering Learning Communities: Expanding The Discourse By Challenging The Discourse, Deron Boyles, Susan Talburt

Deron R. Boyles

This article draws on historical and philosophical lenses and interviews with students to question some fundamental tenets underlying the practice of freshman learning communities (FLCs): that they develop community and improve students' learning experiences. The article brings to the discourse of FLCs some critical questions regarding their value and practice.

Would You Like Values With That?: The Role Of Chik-Fil-A In Character Education, Deron Boyles

Deron R. Boyles

I explore three main lines of inquiry: (1) the specifics of “Core Essentials” as a strategy for teaching character; (2) the role (and ironies) of private businesses influencing public school curricula; and (3) the assumptions inherent in the kind of teaching of character outlined by “Core Essentials.” Girding this inquiry is a concern about the problematic enterprise of teaching character, itself, as if it were an unquestionable domain. Further, the oddly-but-related contexts of childhood obesity findings and Christian influences (both general symbolism and fundamentalist indoctrination) on and in public spheres will be considered via Theodore Brameld’s Ends and Means in …

The Case For Early Targeted Interventions To Prevent Academic Failure, Irma Perez-Johnson, Rebecca Maynard

REBECCA A MAYNARD

The persistent achievement gaps among children of different race/ethnicity and socioeconomic status in the United States represent an issue that has commanded public, policy, and research attention on and off for about 100 years now, and it is once again in the forefront of policy-making agendas. Debates nevertheless abound on the most promising and cost-effective strategies to address the problem. We examine critically the available evidence on the benefits and costs of early childhood education and conclude that early, vigorous interventions targeted at disadvantaged children offer the best chance to substantially reduce gaps in school readiness and increase the productivity …