International and Comparative Education Commons^™

Icils 2013: Australian Student Data [Sas], Australian Council For Educational Research (Acer)

ICT - Digital Literacy

This dataset (SAS zipped) is a data source for the report: International Computer and Information Literacy Study 2013: Australian students’ readiness for study, work and life in the digital age.

The International Computer and Information Literacy study (ICILS) methodology is complex. Prior to undertaking any analyses, it is recommended data users become familiar with all the information (for example, plausible values and replicate weights) required to understand and analyse the data files.

Information about the Australian ICILS 2013 data files is available here.

The ICILS 2013 User Guide, to accompany ICILS data, is available for download here. …

Community Learning In Alcála De Henares: Symbiotic Learning Blurs The Line Between Teacher And Students, Emily Dushek

International ResearchScape Journal

This article about experiential learning explores the challenges and rewards of international service-learning within a Spanish community in Alcalá de Henares. The paper describes the author’s experience as a teacher of ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages) in Comisiones Obreras (the “Workers’ Commissions”). In order to teach adult learners English, the author developed a form of “symbiotic learning.” This paper is part of the “From Praxis to Press” section of the journal.

The Southern And Eastern Africa Consortium For Monitoring Educational Quality (Superseded Version), Australian Council For Educational Research

Assessment GEMS

The Southern and Eastern Africa Consortium for Monitoring Educational Quality (SACMEQ) carries out large-scale cross-national research studies in member countries in the Southern and Eastern Africa region. It aims to assess the conditions of schooling and performance levels of learners and teachers in the areas of literacy and numeracy. SACMEQ has completed three cross-national educational research projects so far at five- to six-year intervals (SACMEQ I, 1995-1999, SACMEQ II, 1998-2004 and SACMEQ III, 2005-2010). It is currently implementing the fourth project.

Early Contexts Of Learning: Family And Community Socialization During Infancy And Toddlerhood, Carolyn P. Edwards, Lixin Ren, Jill Brown

Department of Child, Youth, and Family Studies: Faculty Publications

The contexts of early learning and socialization are diverse and complex but not without some predictability. The tension between predictability and variation fascinates researchers interested in childhood and culture and motivates careful exploration of different developmental niches to better understand socialization during infancy, toddlerhood, and early childhood. Contexts of early socialization vary in the people and activities present, and the beliefs and norms of caregivers and daily companions. The chapter utilizes anthropological constructs (household structure and composition, settlement patterns and subsistence level, mothers’ workload, gender division of labor, intimacy levels between husbands and wives, and cultural roles and norms pertaining …

Site Visitation: School Leaders' Perceptions Of A Diagnostic Tool For School Improvement, Mary Shannon C. Chiasson

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

This case study explored the use of site-visitation as a diagnostic tool for school improvement. Nine charter schools in New Orleans were selected for the study. Based on qualitative research and systems theory, a within- and cross-case analysis of nine semi-structured interviews with school leaders were conducted. The school leaders’ experiences with the state-run site-visitation model and their use of the findings for school improvement was explored. The findings led to the development of a hybrid accountability model that encompasses the components school leaders believe will lead to school improvement. This study aims to assist educators, policy makers, and researchers …

The Mentor In You:Expected And Recieved Study Abroad Preparation, Emily Miner, Hannah Meyer

ISU Ethnography of the University Initiative

When you think of studying abroad, visions of exotic locations and wild adventures come to mind. However, have you ever thought about the process before going abroad? This study examines the steps and programs offered to a student before going abroad. The research process involved examining existing literature about the study abroad process and what programs are offered at Illinois State University. Two interviews were conducted with students who have already studied abroad and one interview with a student who is about to study abroad. Further investigation included reviewing blogs and examining the data through narrative analysis. The research findings …

Promoting Citizenship Education With Structured Controversy In Indonesian Higher Education, Judith Puncochar

Other Presentations

Indonesian democracy is rich in traditions, religions, cultures, and ethnic languages. To keep the nation unified with diversity, Indonesia must prepare its citizens with skills of perspective taking, constructive debate, and evidence-based reasoning to engage in a robust democracy. Historically, a rigorous study of the Liberal Arts held promise for creating a strong democracy and a well-educated citizenry. Currently, politicization of the term “Liberal Arts” attracts unjustifiable criticism and diverts attention away from a serious comprehensive study of literature, science, the arts, history, and mathematics. Narrowness in education of students toward technical and professional degrees appears not to align with …

Some Observations On Scientific Epistemology With Applications To Conflict Resolution And Constructive Controversy, Judith Puncochar, Don Faust

Other Presentations

An overview, by Judy and Don (published in 2013 in the BULLETIN OF SYMBOLIC LOGIC):

Explorationism is a perspective wherein all of our knowledge is (so far) less than certain, and naturally would come equipped with a base logic entailing machinery for representing and processing evidential knowledge. One such base logic is Evidence Logic, which strives to deal with the phenomenon of the gradational presence of both confirmatory and refutatory evidence. From this perspective, we will address questions surrounding sociological problem areas that we see as deeply infused with substantial epistemological factors. By defining a framework as any theory, …

Understading "International": Faculty Perspectives On Study Abroad And Global Studies Education, Ethan Ingram

ISU Ethnography of the University Initiative

Little research has been devoted to critiques of study abroad programming coming from faculty perspectives. This research examines faculty critiques of study abroad arising from proposed changes in general studies education that would allow students to substitute study abroad for "global studies" coursework that specifically covers topics related to non-Western societies. While faculty are generally supportive of study abroad, opposition to this proposed policy change highlight questions of study abroad's role in higher education.

Enhancing Indonesian Citizenry Through The Liberal Arts In Higher Education, Judith Puncochar

Other Presentations

Indonesian democracy needs an informed, educated citizenry with skills of perspective taking, debate, and evidence-based reasoning. A rigorous study of the Liberal Arts holds promise for honing a strong Indonesian democracy and a well-educated citizenry. Students who study the Liberal Arts are more likely to develop skills of civic engagement, moral and ethical reasoning, critical thinking, problem solving, and lifelong learning. Educators who learn how to structure and encourage academic controversy as part of the expected university Liberal Arts classroom experience are more likely to deliver opportunities for students to practice perspective taking, deal with difficult ethical conflicts, and hone …

Creating A National Society For The Enhancement Of Indonesian Citizenry: Furthering The Liberal Arts In Higher Education, Judith Puncochar

Other Presentations

Three processes come to mind when we think about launching a national society for the enhancement of the Indonesian citizenry by furthering the study of Liberal Arts in higher education. The first is Excitement. People who work with the Liberal Arts experience a shared excitement. Students are genuinely excited to hone critical thinking, decision-making, leadership, and speaking skills engendered through classroom study of the Liberal Arts. Lecturers are genuinely interested in learning how to teach with a student-centered Liberal Arts focus. The second process is Cooperation. Humans in all occupations cooperate and learn interactively and collaboratively together. A …

International Computer And Information Literacy Study 2013: Australian Students’ Readiness For Study, Work And Life In The Digital Age, Lisa De Bortoli, Sarah Buckley, Catherine Underwood, Elizabeth O'Grady, Eveline Gebhardt

ICT - Digital Literacy

The International Computer and Information Literacy Study (ICILS) is the first international comparative study that examines students’ acquisition of computer and information literacy (CIL): ‘the ability to use computers to investigate, create and communicate in order to participate effectively at home, at school, in the workplace and in society’ (Fraillon, Schulz, & Ainley, 2013, p. 17). Information and communication technologies (ICT) are an essential part of 21st-century society. As a result, it has become increasingly important for citizens to understand and be able to use ICT in order to effectively participate in life in the digital age. Although students use …

Wmu International News Fall 2014, Haenicke Institute

WMU International News

• WMU helps grow education in the Dominican Republic
• Japanese teachers of English learn U.S. methods at WMU
• For the girls: Senegalese Fulbright Fellow seeks gender equity in homeland schools
• Senior research project helps Dominican Republic banana industry go green
• Advancing education and development goal for three Pakistani doctoral candidates in political science

The Development And Design Of The Common Core State Standards For Mathematics, Jason Zimba

New England Journal of Public Policy

As one of the lead writers of the Common Core State Standards for Mathematics, I begin by explaining what the standards are, what they are not, and how they were developed. Then I detail some ways in which the standards differ from previous state standards. Finally, I describe some of the developments I have seen in the implementation of the standards and the key developments I would like to see in the future.

Sustaining The Teaching Profession, Ronald Thorpe

New England Journal of Public Policy

Within the United States and across nations, there seems to be consensus that teacher quality is the most important school-based variable in determining how well a child learns. While such an observation hardly sounds like headline news, it is a milestone in the development of teaching as a profession. It suggests where investments should be made if people really are serious about student learning. It also explains why policymakers and the public should care about what it means to be an effective teacher and what it will take to create and sustain a teaching workforce defined by accomplished practice. Teachers, …

What Can Pisa Tell Us About U.S. Education Policy?, Linda Darling-Hammond

New England Journal of Public Policy

Despite years of attention to “reform” in the United States, overall achievement on international assessments such as PISA has not improved during the period from 2000 to 2012. Reforms focused on high-stakes testing attached to sanctions, expansions of charter schools, and a market-based approach to teaching have been unsuccessful in changing outcomes. Meanwhile, growing childhood poverty, along with increasing segregation, income inequality, and disparities in school spending, have expanded the opportunity gap. Lessons from other nations and successful states indicate that systematic government investments in high-need schools along with capacity-building that improves the knowledge and skills of educators and the …

The National Commission On Education Excellence And Equity: Hypotheses About Movement Building, Christopher Edley Jr.

New England Journal of Public Policy

In 2013, the congressionally chartered national Commission on Education Equity and Excellence issued unanimous recommendations for P–12 policy changes at the federal, state, and local levels. This remarkably broad consensus, with unusual pragmatism and concreteness, is comprehensive in its scope and predominantly research based. As a clarion call and reform strategy, the commission report, For Each and Every Child, is a successor to A Nation at Risk (1983); the commission’s grand if not grandiose intention was to provide a framework for the next decade or more of nationwide policy struggle. This article, after briefly summarizing the recommendations, focuses on …

Transforming Public Education: The Need For An Educational Justice Movement, Mark R. Warren

New England Journal of Public Policy

Nearly fifteen years after the passage of No Child Left Behind, the failures of our educational system with regard to low-income children of color remain profound. Traditional reform efforts have sought improvements solely within the confines of the school system, failing to realize how deeply educational failure is part of and linked to broader structures of poverty and racism. A social movement that creates political and cultural change is necessary to transform the racial inequities in public education itself and to connect this transformational effort to a larger movement to combat poverty and racism. The seeds of a new educational …

School Reform In Canada And Florida: A Study Of Contrast, Catherine S. Boehme

New England Journal of Public Policy

Alberta and Florida have instituted school reform initiatives over the past fifteen years in an effort to improve the quality of their schools. Alberta has focused on systemic improvement by engaging the community in educational needs assessment, raising the high standards of teacher preparation, and improving effective instructional practices through professional development. Florida’s efforts have concentrated on holding students, teachers, schools, and districts accountable for high-stakes testing results by increasing the number and rigor of required assessments and increasing the negative consequences for low achievement scores. The 2012 PISA scores reveal that Alberta’s students are maintaining their high rankings relative …

Massachusetts Schooling Matters: Good News, Contributing Factors, Challenges, Persistent Problems, Kathleen J. Skinner, Paul Toner

New England Journal of Public Policy

Massachusetts public schools have performed at the highest levels on national and international benchmarked reading, mathematics, and science assessments. The Commonwealth’s population demographics related to educational attainment, employment, and family income coupled with factors within the control of the state, districts, or schools, such as highly qualified and unionized teachers, average school-district size, defined time on learning, universal health care coverage for all children, state funding for pre-K–12 schooling, curriculum articulation through statewide standards, and high participation in college admissions exams, have contributed to academic success. Massachusetts schools, however, still face challenges in narrowing existing achievement gaps, reducing the emphasis …

Editor's Note, Padraig O'Malley

New England Journal of Public Policy

On December 3, 2013, when the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) released its Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) scores, the ranking of the United States as number 27 on the global scoreboard elicited little surprise among teachers, educational professionals, academics, and educational policymakers. The usual platitudes were trotted out—no mention that the United States’ standing was getting any worse, just which other countries were passing us by. We were stuck at a perennial average.

The results are in a sense a metaphor of the slow decline of the United State since the 1970s from a position of …

International Education Comparisons: How American Education Reform Is The New Status Quo, Randi Weingarten

New England Journal of Public Policy

The United States participates in international studies comparing school systems across the world. Reformers have largely ignored the lessons from these studies about what works best to educate children, and a strategy of test-based accountability has become the new status quo. This article analyzes the failed policy ideas reformers keep pushing on our schools that have been shown across the globe to be unsuccessful in the areas of school choice and competition, teacher quality and evaluation, an engaging curriculum, and equity. Research examines what top performing countries do to help students succeed, as well as what works in districts across …

Poverty, Educational Achievement, And The Role Of The Courts, Michael A. Rebell

New England Journal of Public Policy

The large and growing proportion of U.S. students who come from poverty backgrounds explains this country’s relatively low performance on international achievement tests. These students need a broad range of comprehensive educational services if they are to have a meaningful opportunity to succeed in school. These opportunities include not only adequate resources for basic K–12 educational services but also parent engagement, health and other services, and additional early education, after-school, and summer programs. In most states, the schools attended by students with the greatest needs tend to receive the fewest resources because of the inequitable systems most states use for …

Getting To The Core And Evolving The Education Reform Movement To A System Of Continuous Improvement, Fernando M. Reimers, Eleonora Villegas-Reimers

New England Journal of Public Policy

This article places the most recent study of PISA (Programme for International Student Assessment) in historical perspective, reviewing the role of international comparisons in efforts to build public education systems as key institutions of democratic societies. It discusses the findings for the United States, examining differences with other participating countries. It also looks at a paradox. Despite the high priority education has received in the United States in the past two decades, the country underperformed in a number of indicators in the PISA in comparison with many other countries participating in the study. The authors explain the findings as the …

Interview With Andreas Schleicher, Padraig O'Malley, Andreas Schleicher

New England Journal of Public Policy

This interview took place on March 17, 2014, in Washington, DC, with Andreas Schleicher, Director of Education and Skills, and Special Advisor on Education Policy to the Secretary-General at the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). Schleicher is responsible for the Directorate of Education and Skills’ research, analysis, and publication of the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA), the OECD Survey of Adult Skills (PIAAC), the OECD Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS), and the development and analysis of benchmarks on the performance of education systems. The OECD reports on PISA, PIAAC, and TALIS were released between December 3, …

The Rise Of The Gen Y Workforce In India, Singapore Management University

Perspectives@SMU

Technology, education, and demographics make the Indian Gen Y a force to be reckoned with

A Sociological Perspective Of The American Education System, Duskin Hobbs

Social Sciences

The intension of this research project is to provide a critical analysis of the modern American school system, the policies that created and maintain it, the extensive effects of its practices, and the future of education under such a system. I will begin by tracing the evolution of the current order and discuss the impacts of government educational initiatives such as No Child Left Behind (George W. Bush) and A Race to the Top (Barack Obama) among others. To support these examples I will use secondary statistical research data, scholarly journals, government sources, and other forms of evidence. In this …

Challenges And Opportunity Of Online Learning In Developing Countries With Specific Focus On Liberia., Andrew Paygar

Political Science Theses and Capstones

To explore online learning in developing countries with a particular focus on Liberia is 2 the focus of this paper. As it is being explored, the following questions will be addressed: How did online learning originate? What would be the advantages and disadvantages of online learning in developing countries? What are some of the unique circumstances faced by Liberia in online education?

Volunteering And Social Development Across Cultures: A Credit Bearing Course For The Alliance For Global Education's Global And Public Health Program At Manipal University (India), Katie Jo Walter

Capstone Collection

This course-linked capstone presents full details for the creation, facilitation and evaluation of a new field-based course for the Alliance for Global Education’s (Alliance) Global and Public Health program at Manipal University in India. Operating in partnership with Manipal University’s Volunteer Services Organization (VSO), the course will increase opportunities for participant interaction with people both on and off campus, actively respond to participants’ stated interest in volunteer work, and strengthen institutional ties between the Alliance and Manipal University.

The plan for the course, titled, “Volunteering across cultures: India and the United States”, incorporates best practices and theories from international service …

A Phenomenological Study On The Role Of Juche, Militarism, And Human Rights In The Educational Life Experiences Of North Korean Defectors, Andrea Lee

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This transcendental phenomenological study describes the essence of the premigration, transmigration, and postmigration educational life experiences of 15 North Korean defectors in South Korea in light of their exposure to Juche, militarism, and human rights violations. The literature review includes a theoretical framework rooted in the transformative learning theory and pertinent themes related to the educational experiences of North Korean defectors. Data was collected through a demographic survey; a timeline of primary life events; standardized, open-ended interviews; and journal entries. The central research question examined primary themes from the educational life experiences of North Korean defectors during premigration, transmigration, and …