WorldWideScience

Sample records for education reforms elementary-secondary

  1. Reform in Turkish Elementary Mathematics Curriculum

    OpenAIRE

    BABADOĞAN, Cem; OLKUN, Sinan

    2006-01-01

    Disappointed from such major international studies as TIMSS, PISA, PIRLS andsome internal indicators such as national university entrance examination, the Turkish Ministry ofNational Education initiated a massive reform movement in education. These reforms includedeveloping new curricula for both elementary and secondary education and developing teachercompetencies. The purpose of this paper is to present an evaluation of the elementary schoolmathematics curriculum, which is a part of the ref...

  2. Reform in Secondary Education: The Continuing Efforts to Reform Secondary Education, and a Modest Proposal. Curriculum Bulletin Vol. XXXII, No. 340.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Saylor, Galen

    The author begins by examining the functions of the school and the basic principles governing the provision of education in the American democracy as a way of providing a framework for analyzing proposals for the reform of secondary education. He then examines proposals for reform. His major focus is on ten proposals made by agencies,…

  3. 49 CFR 37.27 - Transportation for elementary and secondary education systems.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-10-01

    ... 49 Transportation 1 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Transportation for elementary and secondary education systems. 37.27 Section 37.27 Transportation Office of the Secretary of Transportation... elementary and secondary education systems. (a) The requirements of this part do not apply to public school...

  4. 75 FR 16446 - Office of Elementary and Secondary Education

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-04-01

    ... scientifically based research) to strengthen the involvement of migratory parents in the education of migratory... DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION Office of Elementary and Secondary Education Overview Information; Migrant Education Program (MEP) Consortium Incentive Grants Program; Notice inviting applications for new awards for...

  5. Moral education and values education in curriculum reform In China

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    Zhu Xiaoman

    2006-01-01

    In the new curriculum reform in China,moral education and values education have been defined from the angles of the integrity and conformity of curriculum functions.Accordingly, a new education concept based on complete/integral curriculum functions is established.By discussing the essences of the curriculum,the basis of moral and values education,integrated curriculum setting in instruction structure,the presence of emotional and attitudinal goals in the subject standards,and teaching methods,this text points out that this curriculum reform looks to moral and values education in schools.The reform also emphasizes and will guarantee moral and values education in schools.Finally,the article recommends to elementary and secondary schools the studies on moral education in class conducted by the Research Institute of Moral Education of Nanjing Normal University,one of the Key Bases for Humanities and Social Sciences Research for the Ministry of Education.

  6. Understanding Learning and Teaching in Papua New Guinea: Elementary Teacher Trainers Engaged in Cultural Authorship in the Context of National Educational Reforms

    Science.gov (United States)

    Brownlee, Joanne M.; Farrell, Ann; Davis, Julie

    2012-01-01

    Over the last decade, Papua New Guinea (PNG) has pursued educational reform in elementary teacher education. Because elementary teachers and teacher education are central to the reform agenda, there is a need to gain empirical evidence about how PNG teacher trainers' understandings about learning and teaching impact on their practice. The study…

  7. 43 CFR 17.220 - Preschool, elementary, and secondary education.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-10-01

    ... 43 Public Lands: Interior 1 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Preschool, elementary, and secondary education. 17.220 Section 17.220 Public Lands: Interior Office of the Secretary of the Interior NONDISCRIMINATION IN FEDERALLY ASSISTED PROGRAMS OF THE DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR Nondiscrimination on the Basis of Handicap § 17.220 Preschool, elementary,...

  8. Elementary school teachers perspective about educative reform in Zacatecas, México

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Elizabeth Cristina Bañuelos Sánchez

    2017-04-01

    Full Text Available The results of a research carried out in the state of Zacatecas, México, aiming at probing teachers perceptions about the Educative Reform (RE to elementary school education approved in 2013 in the country are presented. Structural reforms served as the research theoretical frame and are the starting point to analyze changes that reorganized educative institutions in general. The information gathering was conducted by an interview with open answers, focusing on the aspects which have direct effects on teachers: evaluation, entry requirements and the job continuity. The results show that most teachers do not oppose the evaluation, provided that it is used as a tool for improving their teaching practice. Yet they do mistrust the transparency of the system, since they consider that the RE is a hidden mechanism to fire teachers, instead of a mechanism to improve the quality of education.

  9. 77 FR 24187 - Notice of Submission for OMB Review; Office of Elementary and Secondary Education; State...

    Science.gov (United States)

    2012-04-23

    ... DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION Notice of Submission for OMB Review; Office of Elementary and Secondary Education; State Educational Agency Local Educational Agency, and School Data Collection and Reporting Under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA), Title I, Part A SUMMARY: Title I, Part A of...

  10. 75 FR 8930 - Office of Elementary and Secondary Education Overview Information; Native Hawaiian Education...

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-02-26

    ... DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION Office of Elementary and Secondary Education Overview Information; Native Hawaiian Education Program--Competition for Novice Applicants Notice inviting applications for new awards... Hawaiian Education program is to support innovative projects that enhance the educational services provided...

  11. Recipients, Agents, or Partners?: The Contradictions of Teacher Participation in Mexican Secondary Education Reform

    Science.gov (United States)

    Levinson, Bradley A.; Blackwood, Janet; Cross, Valerie

    2013-01-01

    The countries of Latin America have been no exception to global calls for educational transformation and teacher professionalization at the secondary level. One of the newest of these reforms is Mexico's Reforma de la Educacion Secundaria (RS) (Reform of Secondary Education), launched in 2006. This article examines portrayals by various actors of…

  12. Listing of Issues in American Elementary and Secondary Education, 1979. Interim Report.

    Science.gov (United States)

    McBain, Susan; And Others

    This document lists issues in elementary and secondary education which were identified by a review of education journals and newspapers, including: Congressional Quarterly, Education Daily, Education U.S.A., Harvard Educational Review, National Journal, Newsweek, New York Times, Phi Delta Kappan, School Review, Time, Wall Street Journal, and…

  13. 75 FR 3212 - Office of Elementary and Secondary Education; College Assistance Migrant Program (CAMP)

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-01-20

    ... DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION Office of Elementary and Secondary Education; College Assistance Migrant... INFORMATION CONTACT: David De Soto, U.S. Department of Education, Office of Migrant Education, 400 [email protected] , or Tara Ramsey, U.S. Department of Education, Office of Migrant Education, 400 Maryland...

  14. Reconceptualised life skills in secondary education in the African context: Lessons learnt from reforms in Ghana

    Science.gov (United States)

    Akyeampong, Kwame

    2014-04-01

    Early notions of life skills in Africa did not take into account the importance of a flexible and portable set of skills that would enable youth to adapt to changes in the world of work and lay the foundations for productive well-being and behaviour. Rather, life skills education in many secondary education curricula in Africa started with an emphasis on developing specific technical vocational skills considered essential for employability or self-employment. Using Ghana as an example, this paper shows how secondary education curriculum reformers recommended shifts that embraced a new interpretation of life skills focused on 21st-century skills. This gradual move also reflected the difficulty that secondary education in general has had in networking with the world of work to provide work experience that would lead to the development of work-related skills and enhance employability. The author's main argument is that although the reconceptualisation of life skills in secondary education to reflect 21st-century skills is a welcome shift in the African context, this needs to be accompanied by reforms in teacher education. Classroom teaching and learning need to be adapted in a fundamental way in order to ensure that youth fully benefit from the inclusion of 21st-century life skills in secondary education curricula. Such reforms must include pedagogical practices which nurture communication, collaboration, creativity and critical thinking skills.

  15. An Analysis of Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education Vocational Technical Education Framework for Culinary Arts and Its Effectiveness on Students Enrolled in Post-Secondary Culinary Programs

    Science.gov (United States)

    D'Addario, Albert S.

    2011-01-01

    This field-based action research practicum investigated how students who have completed culinary training programs in Massachusetts public secondary schools perform in post-secondary coursework. The Department of Elementary and Secondary Education has developed the Vocational Technical Education (VTE) Framework for Culinary Arts that outlines…

  16. 75 FR 7459 - Office of Elementary and Secondary Education; Overview Information; Improving Literacy Through...

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-02-19

    ... information literacy, information retrieval, and critical-thinking skills of students; facilitating Internet... DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION Office of Elementary and Secondary Education; Overview Information; Improving Literacy Through School Libraries Program Notice Inviting Applications for New Awards for Fiscal...

  17. A Snapshot of State Regulatory Framework Development in Elementary and Secondary Online Education

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stedrak, Luke J.; Rose, Amanda L.

    2015-01-01

    With the advent and growth of elementary and secondary online education in the United States, teaching and learning has undergone radical change with unimagined alternatives to traditional brick-and-mortar classrooms, and online education is here to stay. Law and policy in some states has lagged behind the emergence of online K-12 education. The…

  18. Facing the Knowledge Society: Reforming Secondary Education in Hong Kong and Shanghai. Education Working Paper Series. Number 5

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cheng, Kai Ming; Yip, Hak Kwong

    2006-01-01

    This paper attempts to describe and analyze the development and reforms of secondary education in Hong Kong and Shanghai over the past 25 years. Comparing the two cities is useful in constructing a spectrum of possibilities on the one hand, and identifying some common themes in the development of secondary education on the other. The…

  19. Mathematics Teacher Identity in the Context of Mathematics Reform: Elementary Teacher Experiences

    OpenAIRE

    Sun, Jennifer

    2017-01-01

    ABSTRACT OF THE DISSERTATIONMathematics Teacher Identity in the Context of Mathematics Reform:Elementary Teacher Experiences ByJennifer SunDoctor of Philosophy in EducationUniversity of California, Irvine, 2017Associate Professor Elizabeth A. van Es, ChairReform efforts and changes in mathematics education have brought on a shift towards a new vision of mathematics teaching in the United States. In light of recent accountability standards, the focus on teacher learning within the context of m...

  20. 75 FR 37779 - Office of Elementary and Secondary Education; Smaller Learning Communities Program; Notice...

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-06-30

    ... DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION [CFDA No. 84.215L] Office of Elementary and Secondary Education; Smaller...-Marshall, U.S. Department of Education, 400 Maryland Avenue, SW., room 3E308, Washington, DC 20202-6200..., in text or Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF) on the Internet at the following site: http://www.ed...

  1. Franco-Ontarian Elementary and Secondary Education [L'Education Franco-Ontarienne aux Niveaux Elementaire et Secondaire].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dixon, R. T.; Lecuyer, Andre

    The Franco-Ontarian curriculum was greatly strengthened in Ontario's elementary and secondary schools in the 1960s. However, these gains are now threatened by declining enrollment, assimilation in the home, economic pressures, population displacement, lack of accessible French institutions of higher education, and exogamy. Responses to a…

  2. Adopting reform-based pedagogy in post-secondary microbiology education

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bonner, Jeffery W.

    Current emphasis on improving student learning and retention in post-secondary science education can potentially motivate veteran faculty to reconsider what is often a traditional, instructor-centered instructional model. Alternative models that foster a student-centered classroom environment are more aligned with research on how students learn. These models often incorporate active-learning opportunities that engage students in ways that passively taking notes in an instructor-centered classroom cannot. Although evidence is mounting that active-learning is an effective strategy for improving student learning and attitude, university professors, without formal pedagogical knowledge and training, can face uncertainty about where to start and how to implement these strategies. The research presented here was conducted in two parts under the same context during one semester of a post-secondary microbiology course. First, a quantitative study was conducted to compare collaborative and individual completion of a reform-based instructional strategy that utilized a student-centered, active-learning component. Students were evaluated on learning, critical thinking, and epistemological beliefs about biology. Results indicated no significant differences between treatment groups. Interestingly, the impact of active-learning implementations had positive effects on students' epistemological beliefs. This was a finding contradicting previous research in which epistemological beliefs became more novice-like in science majors enrolled in courses without an active-learning component. Study two represents one case in which a professor with a traditional instructional model became motivated to pursue instructional change in his introductory microbiology course. A single-case qualitative study was conducted to document the professor's initial effort at instructional reform. Results indicated that his utilization and understanding of reform-based instructional strategies improved over

  3. Linking Reform-Oriented Experiences to Teacher Identity: The Case of an Elementary Mathematics Teacher

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jong, Cindy

    2016-01-01

    Novice teachers often have difficulty transferring what they learn in teacher education programs to classroom practice. This is especially true for elementary school teachers who are expected to teach mathematics with reform-oriented methods. The purpose of this longitudinal case study was to examine the experience of one novice elementary school…

  4. In Pursuit of Social Democracy: Shena Simon and the Reform of Secondary Education in England, 1938-1948

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ku, Hsiao-Yuh

    2018-01-01

    Shena Simon (1883-1972), a leading English socialist and educationist, actively called for the reform of secondary education in the 1930s and 1940s in order to bring the ideal of 'equality of opportunity' into the English educational system. This paper explores the continuity and changes in Simon's proposed reforms in relation to her ideals of…

  5. Selected Statistics from the Public Elementary and Secondary Education Universe: School Year 2012-13. First Look. NCES 2014-098

    Science.gov (United States)

    Keaton, Patrick

    2014-01-01

    This National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) First Look report introduces new data for the universe of public elementary and secondary schools and agencies in the United States in school year (SY) 2012-13. Specifically, this report includes statistics that describe: (1) the numbers and types of public elementary and secondary schools and…

  6. Selected Statistics from the Public Elementary and Secondary Education Universe: School Year 2013-14. First Look. NCES 2015-151

    Science.gov (United States)

    Glander, Mark

    2015-01-01

    This National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) First Look report introduces new data for the universe of public elementary and secondary schools and agencies in the United States in school year (SY) 2013-14. Specifically, this report includes statistics that describe: (1) the numbers and types of public elementary and secondary schools and…

  7. Policy Perspectives on State Elementary and Secondary Public Education Finance Systems in the United States

    Science.gov (United States)

    Verstegen, Deborah A.

    2016-01-01

    The purpose of this article is to describe and compare individual state funding systems for public elementary and secondary education in the United States. States' major education funding systems are described as well as funding mechanisms for students with disabilities; English language learners (ELL); gifted and talented students; and low income…

  8. Changes in educational inequalities in Poland. Comments on Zbigniew Sawiński’s article “Education reform and inequality: fifteen years of new lower secondary schools in Poland”

    OpenAIRE

    MICHAŁ SITEK

    2017-01-01

    In his text published in Edukacja, 141(2), 2017 („Education reform and inequality: fifteen years of new lower secondary schools in Poland”), Zbigniew Sawiński analyses data from the 2000 to 2012 editions of the OECD PISA study and argues that lower secondary school reform has not reduced educational inequalities in Poland. The importance of students’ social origin remained at the same level as before the reform, the impact of social origin on the choice of type of secondary school remained th...

  9. School District Revenues for Elementary and Secondary Education: 1997-98. Statistical Analysis Report.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sherman, Joel D.; Gregory, Barbra; Poirier, Jeffrey M.

    This report is an annual collection of school district financial data. Specifically, this report presents analyses of school district revenues from the 1997-98 school year. The report is designed to address the following questions about the financing of public elementary and secondary education at the state and district levels: How much money per…

  10. Cultural Astronomy in Elementary and Secondary School

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jafelice, Luiz Carlos

    2015-07-01

    This work is addressed to educators and geography, science, biology and physics teachers who deal with elementary, middle and high school education. It discusses the importance of adopting the anthropological perspective regarding issues that are considered within the astronomy area. It also presents practical proposals for those who intend to introduce cultural astronomy in elementary, middle and high school education - from the beginning of the 1st grade in Elementary school to the end of the 3rd grade in Secondary school, in formal as well as in informal education. This work is proposed within the context of the holistic and transdisciplinary environmental education. Our approach values above all the experience and aims at a humanistic education that includes epistemological and cultural diversities. The suggested practical proposals can be also beneficially used to address works that include contents related to Brazilian indigenous and Afro-descent cultures in the school curriculum, as the new law requires. The guidelines presented here were tested in real school situations.

  11. EIA: Educational Reform or Repression?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Monteith, Dianne S.

    A recent study (Cook, 1989) involving 58 randomly selected South Carolina elementary schools indicated that none of these schools could be characterized as having an "open climate." This paper suggests that this situation may have its origins in the educational reform movement of the 1980s, first ignited by the publication of "A…

  12. Learning from the best: Overcoming barriers to reforms-based elementary science teaching

    Science.gov (United States)

    Banchi, Heather May

    This study explored the characteristics of elementary science teachers who employ reforms-based practices. Particular attention was paid to the consistency of teachers' practices and their beliefs, the impact of professional development experiences on practices, and how teachers mitigated barriers to reforms-based instruction. Understanding how successful elementary science teachers develop fills a gap in the science reforms literature. Participants included 7 upper elementary science teachers from six different schools. All schools were located within two suburban school districts in the south-Atlantic United States and data was collected during the spring of 2008. Data collection included use of the Reformed Teaching Observation Protocol (RTOP) to evaluate the level of reforms-based instruction, as well as 35 hours of classroom observation field notes and 21 hours of audio-taped teacher interviews. The variety of data sources allowed for triangulation of evidence. The RTOP was analyzed using descriptive statistics and classroom observations and interview data were analyzed using Erickson's (1986) guidelines for analytic induction. Findings indicated (a) reforms-based elementary science teaching was attainable, (b) beliefs and practices were consistent and both reflected reforms-based philosophies and practices, (c) formal professional development experiences were limited and did not foster reforms-based practices, (d) informal professional development pursued by teachers had a positive impact on practices, (e) barriers to reforms-based instruction were present but mitigated by strong beliefs and practical strategies like curriculum integration. These findings suggest that there are common, salient characteristics of reforms-based teachers' beliefs, practices, and professional development experiences. These commonalities contribute to an understanding of how reforms-based teachers develop, and inform efforts to move all elementary teachers in the direction of

  13. Changes in educational inequalities in Poland. Comments on Zbigniew Sawiński’s article “Education reform and inequality: fifteen years of new lower secondary schools in Poland”

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    MICHAŁ SITEK

    2017-06-01

    Full Text Available In his text published in Edukacja, 141(2, 2017 („Education reform and inequality: fifteen years of new lower secondary schools in Poland”, Zbigniew Sawiński analyses data from the 2000 to 2012 editions of the OECD PISA study and argues that lower secondary school reform has not reduced educational inequalities in Poland. The importance of students’ social origin remained at the same level as before the reform, the impact of social origin on the choice of type of secondary school remained the same, and an increasing differentiation of lower secondary schools did not lead to an increase in educational inequalities. I present methodological arguments and the results of a re-analysis of PISA data, indicating changes in wider educational inequalities. Between 2000 and 2012: (a the strength of association in the performance of 15-year-olds with the socio-economic status of students’ families did not change, but (b the variation of results decreased, which was mainly due to the improved performance of the lowest performing students, (c the differences between students of high and low socio-economic status decreased, (d the influence of social origin on the choice of the type of upper secondary school decreased. The effects of socio-economic status on upper secondary school choice is largely direct: it is not mediated by the educational achievements of students. The commentary also highlights the complexity of lower secondary school reform, which was not limited to the introduction of such schools. I indicate the role of factors that make it difficult to interpret the results of the reform in causal terms – particularly the role of unobserved variables related to the changes in the learning environments of subsequent cohorts of students.

  14. Selected Statistics from the Public Elementary and Secondary Education Universe: School Year 2014-15. First Look. NCES 2016-076

    Science.gov (United States)

    Glander, Mark

    2016-01-01

    This National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) "First Look" report introduces new data for the universe of public elementary and secondary schools and agencies in the United States in school year (SY) 2014-15. Specifically, this report includes statistics that describe: (1) the numbers and types of public elementary and secondary…

  15. Reform of Medium Education and Physical education: an abyss for the future

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Robson dos Santos Bastos

    2017-09-01

    Full Text Available It develops analyzes on the reform of secondary education proposed by Provisional Measure . 746, now Law 13.415/17, and its implications in the future of Physical Education. Part of the following scientific question: What are the perspectives for the future of Physical Education in the face of the reform of secondary education proposed by the new educational policy? As methodological strategy a documentary study was developed, having as a source of analysis the texts of the MP and the law that ratifies it, besides the notes published by different entities related to education and Physical Education. The study indicates that the reform of high school will imply significantly in Physical Education in three fields: in its teaching in basic education, in teacher training and in teaching work.

  16. The Distribution of Federal Elementary-Secondary Education Grants among the States. Final Report on the Study Mandated by Congress in P.L. 100-297, Section 6207.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Barro, Stephen M.

    In the Hawkins-Stafford Elementary and Secondary School Improvement Amendments of 1988, Congress directed the U.S. Department of Education (ED) to conduct a study of methods used to allocate federal elementary and secondary education grants among the states. This document, the final report on that study, assesses grant distribution funding…

  17. Current status and future directions of nuclear education in elementary and secondary education. Several measures for revitalization

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hirose, Masami; Tsuruta, Takao; Shibata, Toshikazu

    1999-01-01

    It has been a long time since a necessity to deepen education concerning energy, in particular, nuclear-related education in the elementary and secondary education curriculums in Japan was pointed out. To attain this objective, the nuclear industry and the education industry should work in close cooperation. As the Ministry of Education's Course of Study substantially regulates the direction of school education in Japan, nuclear energy experts should be involved in its development from an early stage in an appropriate manner. At least, training for the teaching profession for science teachers should include experiments related to nuclear energy and radiation. It is considered quite effective to provide incumbent teachers with various training opportunities by nuclear organizations in order to solve the problem in question. (author)

  18. Changes in Children's Autonomous Motivation toward Physical Education during Transition from Elementary to Secondary School: A Self-Determination Perspective

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rutten, Cindy; Boen, Filip; Vissers, Nathalie; Seghers, Jan

    2015-01-01

    Based on Self-Determination Theory (Deci & Ryan, 2000), this study tested whether changes in autonomous motivation toward physical education (AMPE) during the transition from elementary to secondary school can be predicted by changes in perceived need support from the physical education (PE) teacher and perceived physical school environment.…

  19. Barreda, Vasconcelos, and Mexican Educational Reforms.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Skirius, John

    1983-01-01

    Reviews the contributions to Mexican education of Gabino Barredas' positivism between 1867-1898 and the contributions of Jose Vasconcelos during the 1920s. Discusses the secondary curriculum reforms of Barreda's era and the vocational education and the education for women and adults during the Vasconcelos era. (SB)

  20. Rural Districts Left Behind? Rural Districts and the Challenges of Administering the Elementary and Secondary Education Act

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yettick, Holly; Baker, Robin; Wickersham, Mary; Hupfeld, Kelly

    2014-01-01

    The purpose of this study was to inform the upcoming and overdue reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) by exploring whether rural school districts face disadvantages as they attempt to follow the law's provisions and, if so, if the law's rural-specific section ameliorates these disadvantages. The research drew upon…

  1. Revenues and Expenditures for Public Elementary and Secondary Education: School Year 2009-10 (Fiscal Year 2010). First Look. NCES 2013-305

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cornman, Stephen Q.; Young, Jumaane; Herrell, Kenneth C.

    2012-01-01

    The Common Core of Data (CCD) is an annual collection of public elementary and secondary education data by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) in the Institute of Education Sciences of the U.S. Department of Education. The U.S. Census Bureau conducts the data collection for the finance surveys on behalf of NCES. State education…

  2. CSRQ Center Report on Education Service Providers: Educator's Summary

    Science.gov (United States)

    Center for Data-Driven Reform in Education (NJ3), 2008

    2008-01-01

    Education service providers (ESPs), or education management organizations, are for-profit or non-profit organizations that contract with new or existing public, charter, or private schools to help them implement comprehensive reforms. Which of these ESPs have evidence that they help children in elementary and secondary school of positive effects…

  3. Secondary Education in Argentina during the 1990s

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jorge M. Gorostiaga

    2003-05-01

    Full Text Available The reform of secondary education has been a fundamental part of national educational policy in Argentina since the beginning of the 1990s. Along with the decentralization of responsibilities to provinces and a new structure of primary and secondary education, changes have affected the areas of curriculum design, teaching methods, teacher training, school management, and information and evaluation systems. This study describes the main policies on secondary education implemented during the last decade, including their objectives and rationales. Focusing on how the reform can be seen to relate to issues of access, quality and equity, the study presents an analysis of its implementation, and discusses some of its effects. We argue that political, economic and technical factors as well as the strategies chosen by the national government resulted in a limited implementation, and we highlight the need for considering more focused reform strategies, alternative models of teacher training, and a more active involvement of teachers.

  4. Factors Influencing Elementary Mathematics Teachers' Beliefs in Reform-Based Teaching

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sawyer, Amanda Gantt

    2017-01-01

    I investigated a reform based teachers' beliefs about the nature of mathematics, teaching mathematics, and learning mathematics, and the factors leading to their formation. I interviewed and observed a reform-based elementary mathematics teacher with 13 years' experience teaching first grade. She held a Platonist/problem solver view of…

  5. Balancing the Readiness Equation in Early Childhood Education Reform

    Science.gov (United States)

    Brown, Christopher P.

    2010-01-01

    As policy-makers continue to implement early childhood education reforms that frame the field as a mechanism that is to ready children for elementary school success, questions arise as to how the multiple variables in the readiness equation, such as the child, family, and program, are affected by these policies. The instrumental case study…

  6. Interacting with a Suite of Educative Features: Elementary Science Teachers' Use of Educative Curriculum Materials

    Science.gov (United States)

    Arias, Anna Maria; Bismack, Amber Schultz; Davis, Elizabeth A.; Palincsar, Annemarie Sullivan

    2016-01-01

    New reform documents underscore the importance of learning both the practices and content of science. This integration of practices and content requires sophisticated teaching that does not often happen in elementary classrooms. Educative curriculum materials--materials explicitly designed to support teacher and student learning--have been posited…

  7. Elementary Teacher Education in Papua New Guinea: Towards a Culturally Connected Perspective of Teaching

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hahambu, Casper; Brownlee, Joanne M.; Petriwskyj, E. Anne

    2012-01-01

    Global and national agendas for quality education have led to reforms in Papua New Guinea's (PNG) elementary education, but criticism of the learner-centred Western pedagogies has emerged. One key influence on quality teacher education relates to perspectives of teaching. Existing research shows teachers' beliefs and perceptions of teaching…

  8. Access to Elementary Education in India: Politics, Policies and Progress. CREATE Pathways to Access. Research Monograph No. 44

    Science.gov (United States)

    Little, Angela W.

    2010-01-01

    This monograph examines progress in, and policies for, access to elementary education over the past 60 years, the role played by political factors in the process of policy formulation and implementation and the drivers and inhibitors of the implementation of reforms in elementary education in recent years in India. Drawing on interviews and…

  9. School Library Resources, Textbooks, and Other Instructional Materials. Annual Report, Fiscal Year 1972. Title II Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Office of Education (DHEW), Washington, DC.

    Narrative reports submitted by individual State Departments of Education relating to the operation of their respective Title II Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) programs are synthesized in this document. Information is provided about six aspects of the programs: 1) state management of ESEA Title II programs; 2) program development; 3)…

  10. Urban School Leadership for Elementary Science Education: Meeting the Needs of English Language Learners

    Science.gov (United States)

    Alarcon, Maricela H.

    2012-01-01

    Science education reform and state testing accountability call upon principals to become instructional leaders in science. Specifically, elementary school principals must take an active role in science instruction to effectively improve science education for all students including English Language Learners. As such, the research questioned posed…

  11. Transformation of Taiwan's Upper Secondary Education System

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hueih-Lirng Laih

    1998-09-01

    Full Text Available This paper explores the policy issues circling around the structural "transition" in upper secondary education implicit in the twenty-year increase in secondary and third-level school enrollment rates in Taiwan. This expansion has taken place within a secondary school system which is rigidly divided into both general, i.e., academic, and vocational tracks and into public and private sectors: the majority of students are enrolled in the private vocational sector which is only loosely articulated with the university sector. These features of the school system are analysed against the background of social and economic developments in Taiwan as well as public opinion. The analysis suggests that the present structures of school must be "reformed" in ways that will result in a more unified secondary system with both greater public funding and better articulation of all school types with the third level. The policy options that circle around the possibility of such reforms in the areas of curriculum, examination structures and second level-third level articulation are discussed and a policy framework for the reform of the Taiwan secondary education sector is outlined.

  12. The Business-Higher Education Link: Consider the Possibilities.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hindle, Winston R., Jr.

    1993-01-01

    The Business Higher Education Forum, a group of corporate executives and college presidents, has been active in reform of elementary and secondary education by supporting collaborative efforts between business, higher education institutions, other sectors, and the schools. The guiding principle identified is that broad based alliances are…

  13. Anti-Clericalism and Educational Reform in the French Third Republic: A Retrospective Evaluation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Keylor, William R.

    1981-01-01

    Reviews the educational reform movement in France during the late nineteenth century which produced one of the most tightly organized, centrally controlled, and pedagogically effective models of elementary education in the world, with emphasis on the role of the Catholic clergy and attempts of the republican regime to uproot clerical influence in…

  14. Revenues and Expenditures for Public Elementary and Secondary Education: School Year 2013-14 (Fiscal Year 2014). First Look. NCES 2016-301

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cornman, Stephen Q.; Zhou, Lei

    2016-01-01

    This "First Look" contains national and state totals of revenues and expenditures for public elementary and secondary education for school year 2013-14. This "First Look" includes revenues by source and expenditures by function and object, including current expenditures per pupil and instructional expenditures per pupil. This…

  15. Guidance on Constitutionally Protected Prayer in Public Elementary and Secondary Schools, February 7, 2003.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Paige, Rod

    A letter from Rod Paige, United States Secretary of Education, introduces a booklet which provides guidance to state educational agencies (SEAs), local educational agencies (LEAs), and the public on constitutionally protected prayer in U.S. public elementary and secondary schools. The guidance also sets forth and explains the responsibilities of…

  16. A case study of systemic curricular reform: A forty-year history

    Science.gov (United States)

    Laubach, Timothy Alan

    What follows is a description of the development of a particular inquiry-based elementary school science curriculum program and how its theoretical underpinnings positively influenced a school district's (K-12) science program and also impacted district- and state-wide curriculum reform initiatives. The district's science program has evolved since the inception of the inquiry-based elementary school science curriculum reform forty years ago. Therefore, a historical case study, which incorporated grounded theory methodology, was used to convey the forty-year development of a science curriculum reform effort and its systemic influences. Data for this study were collected primarily through artifacts, such as technical and non-technical documents, and supported and augmented with interviews. Fifteen people comprised the interview consortium with professional responsibilities including (a) administrative roles, such as superintendents, assistant superintendents, principals, and curriculum consultants/coordinators; (b) classroom roles, such as elementary and secondary school teachers who taught science; (c) partnership roles, such as university faculty who collaborated with those in administrative and classroom positions within the district; and (d) the co-director of SCIS who worked with the SCIS trial center director. Data were analyzed and coded using the constant comparative method. The analysis of data uncovered five categories or levels in which the curriculum reform evolved throughout its duration. These themes are Initiation, Education, Implementation, Confirmation, and Continuation. These five categories lead to several working hypotheses that supported the sustaining and continuing of a K-12 science curriculum reform effort. These components are a committed visionary; a theory base of education; forums promoting the education of the theory base components; shared-decision making; a university-school partnership; a core group of committed educators and teachers

  17. An Investigation of Burn-Out Levels of Teachers Working in Elementary and Secondary Educational Institutions and Their Attitudes to Classroom Management

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yavuz, Mustafa

    2009-01-01

    In the present study, the burn-out levels of teachers working in elementary and secondary educational institutions and their attitudes and beliefs regarding classroom management are investigated with respect to gender, job seniority, class size and the types of schools they have been working in. This is a survey method research and quantitative…

  18. Finding Meaningful Roles for Scientists in science Education Reform

    Science.gov (United States)

    Evans, Brenda

    Successful efforts to achieve reform in science education require the active and purposeful engagement of professional scientists. Working as partners with teachers, school administrators, science educators, parents, and other stakeholders, scientists can make important contributions to the improvement of science teaching and learning in pre-college classrooms. The world of a practicing university, corporate, or government scientist may seem far removed from that of students in an elementary classroom. However, the science knowledge and understanding of all future scientists and scientifically literate citizens begin with their introduction to scientific concepts and phenomena in childhood and the early grades. Science education is the responsibility of the entire scientific community and is not solely the responsibility of teachers and other professional educators. Scientists can serve many roles in science education reform including the following: (1) Science Content Resource, (2) Career Role Model, (3) Interpreter of Science (4) Validator for the Importance of Learning Science and Mathematics, (5) Champion of Real World Connections and Value of Science, (6) Experience and Access to Funding Sources, (7) Link for Community and Business Support, (8) Political Supporter. Special programs have been developed to assist scientists and engineers to be effective partners and advocates of science education reform. We will discuss the rationale, organization, and results of some of these partnership development programs.

  19. The Challenges of Educational Reform in Modern-Day Peru

    Science.gov (United States)

    McDonald, Jane; Lammert, Jill

    2006-01-01

    The purpose of this article is to examine a nationwide effort of educational reform in Peru. Specifically, the authors take a close look at the nation's efforts to change secondary education through the implementation of a 2-year postsecondary learning opportunity called the "bachillerato." First, the authors briefly present the…

  20. Elementary Social Studies: Trite, Disjointed, and in Need of Reform?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Duplass, James A.

    2007-01-01

    Elementary social studies has used the same scope and sequence for more than a half century despite significant changes in society. Efforts to reform the curriculum are adversely impacted by inertia, tradition, the culture wars, traditional state autonomy in setting curriculum, publishers, and competition between disciplines for space within the…

  1. Liberal Studies Reform in Hong Kong Secondary Education: Contrasting Desirability with Feasibility

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fok, Ping Kwan

    2016-01-01

    In major curriculum reforms, there are inevitably gaps between design and implementation issues, taking the introduction of liberal studies (LS) into the senior secondary curriculum in Hong Kong as a classic example. The current paper illustrates how the implementation of LS as a compulsory core subject has impacted noticeably on Hong Kong senior…

  2. Student memories: Insights for science reform

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chaillie, Jane Hall

    The purpose of this study was to examine the recollections pre-service teachers majoring in elementary education have of their science experiences during their elementary years and to explore the recollections in the context of science education reform efforts. At the beginning of science methods course work, pre-service elementary teachers reflected on their memories of their own elementary education experiences. Themes from 102 reflective essays collected in two settings and time periods were identified and compared. The themes remained consistent over both settings and time frames studied and fall into three general categories: curriculum and instruction, teacher traits, and student traits. The pre-service teachers expressed difficulty in recalling elementary science experiences and attributed their limited memories to what they perceived as a low priority of science content in the elementary curriculum. Teaching strategies played a prominent role in the memories reported. Hands-on and active learning strategies produced positive memories, while lectures, reading textbooks, and completing worksheets resulted in more negative memories. Furthermore, pre-service teacher essays often failed to connect the learning activities with concept development or understanding. Pre-service teachers were split nearly equally between those who liked and those who disliked elementary science. The attributes of elementary teachers received the least attention in the categories and focused primarily on passion for teaching science. Implications for science reform leaders, teacher education preparation programs, and school administrators and curriculum directors are identified.

  3. Holocaust Studies in Austrian Elementary and Secondary Schools

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Philipp Mittnik

    2016-09-01

    Full Text Available This article presents arguments in support of teaching about the Holocaust and Nazism in Austria at an early age. To accomplish this, Austrian and German elementary school textbooks were analyzed for the amount of content dealing with the Holocaust and Jews; the results showed that since 1980 the amount of content on the Holocaust increased in Germany, and to a lesser extent in Austria. The article reviews some of the criticism in Europe of the term Holocaust Education and explores some of arguments about why that is. The author argues that moral education and teaching of Human Rights are important components of, but ought not be the main goal of teaching about the Holocaust. The role of Austria after World War II, and exploration of the so called victim myth, prevalent until the 1990s are important to understanding history and to how history textbooks were created. After a discussion of how the Holocaust can be taught to elementary and early secondary school aged children, some suggestions are made about approaches to teaching the Holocaust to students in these age groups.

  4. A Collaborative Diagonal Learning Network: The role of formal and informal professional development in elementary science reform

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cooke-Nieves, Natasha Anika

    professional development in elementary science reform are offered. It is suggested that researchers investigate collaborative coaching through the lenses of organizational learning network theory, and develop professional learning communities with formal and informal educators; and that professional developers in city school systems and informal science institutions work in concert to produce more effective elementary teachers who not only love science but love teaching it.

  5. 41 CFR 101-6.205-3 - Elementary and secondary schools.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-07-01

    ... schools. 101-6.205-3 Section 101-6.205-3 Public Contracts and Property Management Federal Property...-Nondiscrimination in Programs Receiving Federal Financial Assistance § 101-6.205-3 Elementary and secondary schools. The requirements of §§ 101-6.205-1 and 101-6.205-2 with respect to any elementary or secondary school...

  6. Reform of teacher education and teacher educator competences

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Rasmussen, Jens

    Despite it is well known known and recognized that teacher educators’ competences play a decisive role for the education of new teachers and also for the quality of the profession as such very little research is conducted on the competences of teacher educators and their training. It is also...... an established fact that the implementation of teacher education reforms to a large extent stands and falls with the competences of the teacher educators. Not least it is of importance that teacher educators possess the kind of competences that are needed to meet the intentions of a reform. Failing teacher...... educator competences might just as well be an explanation for frequent reforms in teacher education as it can be failure of the reforms themselves. Danish teacher education was in 2012 reformed for the third time in only fifteen years, but teacher educator competences were not mapped at all during...

  7. What Is Hip-Hop-Based Education Doing in "Nice" Fields Such as Early Childhood and Elementary Education?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Love, Bettina L.

    2015-01-01

    Hip-Hop-Based Education (HHBE) has resulted in many positive educational outcomes, ranging from teaching academic skills to teaching critical reflection at secondary levels. Given what HHBE initiatives have accomplished, it is troubling that there is an absence of attention to these methods in education programs for elementary and early childhood…

  8. Dispositions Supporting Elementary Interns in the Teaching of Reform-Based Science Materials

    Science.gov (United States)

    Eick, Charles J.; Stewart, Bethany

    2010-01-01

    Dispositions supporting the teaching of science as structured inquiry by four elementary candidates are presented. Candidates were studied during student teaching based on their positive attitudes toward teaching science with reform-based materials in their methods course. Personal learning histories informed their attitudes, values, and beliefs…

  9. Education Reform: Ten Years after the Massachusetts Education Reform Act of 1993

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Linda Driscoll, Joseph B. Berger, Ronald K. Hambleton, Lisa A. Keller, Robert W. Maloy, David Hart, Paul Oh, Victoria Getis, Susan Bowles, Francis L. Gougeon, Kathryn A. McDermott, Andrew Churchill

    2005-02-01

    Full Text Available In June 1993, Governor William Weld signed into law the Massachusetts Education Reform Act (MERA. MERA greatly increased the state role both in funding public education and in guiding the local educational process. The state’s role changed to incorporate setting curriculum frameworks and holding schools accountable for student performance. Because MERA was designed to be a systemic reform of education, all of the various state activities and policies needed to fit together into a coherent whole based on state educational standards.

  10. Reflection on the Education Policy Orientation in Post-May 31 Reform in Korea

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lee, Chong Jae; Kim, Yong

    2016-01-01

    For the last 70 years, since the establishment of the Republic of Korea, Korean education has achieved universal expansion of educational opportunity from elementary to secondary to higher education. Planning, centralized policy making, top-down implementation, and administrative control had been the standards of the first few decades of Korean…

  11. Requirements for Certification: Teachers, Counselors, Librarians, Administrators for Elementary Schools, Secondary Schools, Junior Colleges. 45th Edition, 1980/81.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Woellner, Elizabeth H.

    This book presents up to date information on the state and regional certification differences and changes in the various educational fields. Certification standards for early childhood, elementary, and secondary teachers, pupil personnel services, administrators, special educators, special school service personnel, counselors, school librarians,…

  12. Comprehensive School Reform and Standardized Test Scores in Illinois Elementary and Middle Schools

    Science.gov (United States)

    McEnroe, James D.

    2010-01-01

    The study examined the effects of the federally funded Comprehensive School Reform (CSR) program on student performance on mandated standardized tests. The study focused on the mathematics and reading scores of Illinois public elementary and middle and junior high school students. The federal CSR program provided Illinois schools with an annual…

  13. Crowdfunding for Elementary Science Educators

    Science.gov (United States)

    Reese, Jessica; Miller, Kurtz

    2017-01-01

    The inadequate funding of science education in many school districts, particularly in underserved areas, is preventing elementary science educators from realizing the full potential of the "Next Generation Science Standards" ("NGSS"). Yet many elementary science teachers may be unaware that millions of dollars per year are…

  14. Developing a Reform-Minded Science Teaching Identity: The Role of Informal Science Environments

    Science.gov (United States)

    Avraamidou, Lucy

    2014-01-01

    Recommendations for reform in science education around the world set high goals for beginning elementary teachers. Concurrently, existing literature indicates a number of challenges that beginning elementary teachers face. In this paper an argument is put forward about the integration of informal science environments in elementary teacher…

  15. Cutting the Gordian Knot: A Proposal for Full State Funding of Elementary Education in Illinois. MacArthur/Spencer Series Number 13.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Arnold, Robert

    Property tax relief for the Illinois taxpayer, predicated on full state funding of elementary education, is advocated in this paper. A consequence of full state funding is the reduction of property taxes for education and creation of an educational income tax. Effects at the elementary level are equity and adequacy; at the secondary level, school…

  16. Analyses of science education reform in Florida: Emerging from the eclipse or trapped in the darkness?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Muire, Willis Christian, Jr.

    This research is focused on the changes that have occurred across the complex web of systems and subsystems of education in Florida and to examine the relative impact these changes have exacted upon science education. The primary purpose of this research is to describe and interpret the practices of reform efforts in Florida as a way to inform educational stakeholders such that new visions of school improvement can be discussed and planned for improving the teaching and learning of science. This study begins with the questions of "what is happening in science education in an extremely large and diverse state and why is it happening?" The solutions to these questions required a blend of investigatory techniques to answer. The needs of elementary school teachers for improving science education were initially used to provide the organizational foci of this research. As trends emerged from analyzing these needs, a wide variety of qualitative and quantitative data sources were acquired and analyzed in a longitudinal, multi-level design to obtain rich insights into the factors associated with achievement and equity in the teaching and learning of science in Florida. Relevant statistical indicators obtained from state, district and school data in combination with interviews of teachers, principals, parents, state and district level leaders were used for interpreting qualitative evidence. As credible data were acquired, I also examined the evidence in terms of educational policy formulation and the "filter down process" associated with the impact of national, state, and district policies on schools. Moreover, I investigated issues of policy and governance and their interrelations with student achievement science. I am interested in identifying the most robust indicators of science education reform in authentic ways with the goal of ascertaining if and where reform is occurring, and in terms of grounded theory, why these changes are occurring. Though the focus of this study

  17. Exploring Secondary Science Teachers' Perceptions on the Goals of Earth Science Education in Taiwan

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chang, Chun-Yen; Chang, Yueh-Hsia; Yang, Fang-Ying

    2009-01-01

    The educational reform movement since the 1990s has led the secondary earth science curriculum in Taiwan into a stage of reshaping. The present study investigated secondary earth science teachers' perceptions on the Goals of Earth Science Education (GESE). The GESE should express the statements of philosophy and purpose toward which educators…

  18. Considerations for Education Reform in British Columbia

    Science.gov (United States)

    Santos, Ana

    2012-01-01

    Countries around the world refer to twenty-first century education as essential to maintaining personal and national economic advantage and draw on this discourse to advocate for and embark on educational reform. This paper examines issues around education reform, particularly in British Columbia. It argues that reformers should give careful…

  19. Education Reform in Hong Kong

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Chris Dowson

    2000-05-01

    Full Text Available Since the early 1990s, the pace of educational reform in Hong Kong has accelerated and broadened to incorporate almost all areas of schooling. The reforms introduced during this period can be subsumed under what has generally been labelled the quality movement. In this paper, we review and comment on a number of policy reform initiatives in the four areas of "Quality Education," English Language Benchmarking, Initial Teacher Training and the Integration of Pupils with Special Needs into Ordinary Classrooms. Following a brief description of each policy initiative, the reforms are discussed in terms of their consistency, coherence and cultural fit.

  20. Reforming Technical and Technological Education.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wilson, David N.

    1993-01-01

    Review of technical and technological educational reform in Brazil, Canada, Germany, Great Britain, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, and Sweden shows that reform takes time to complete effectively, long-term approaches are needed, and reform is linked to industrial development, regional cooperation, and decentralized decision making. (SK)

  1. Examining the Effectiveness of the Smoking Prevention Program "I Do Not Smoke, I Exercise" in Elementary and Secondary School Settings.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kolovelonis, Athanasios; Goudas, Marios; Theodorakis, Yannis

    2016-11-01

    The aim of the study was to examine the effectiveness of the smoking prevention program "I do not smoke, I exercise" implemented with elementary and secondary school students. "I do not smoke, I exercise" is a theory-based smoking prevention program that promotes exercise as an alternative of smoking. The program consists of eight sessions implemented weekly. Participants were 338 Greek students (135 elementary and 203 secondary students) who were pre- and posttested in smoking, program, and exercise-related measures. The results showed that the program had significant effects on elementary students' attitudes toward smoking, intention to smoke, subjective norms, attitudes toward the application of the program, and knowledge about the health consequences of smoking. For secondary students, significant effects were found on students' perceived behavioral control and knowledge about the health consequences of smoking, while very few students reported a smoking experience before and after the intervention. Therefore the program "I do not smoke, I exercise" may have positive effects on variables related with smoking behavior. Differences in the program's impact on elementary and secondary students were identified. All these are discussed with reference to the need of implementing smoking prevention programs in schools contexts. © 2016 Society for Public Health Education.

  2. Education Reform and Career Education--Deja Vu.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stock, Barbara

    1984-01-01

    The current outcry for educational reform raises issues that have already long concerned career education. This situation gives career educators the opportunity to provide leadership in attaining common educational goals. (JB)

  3. Requirements for Certification of Teachers, Counselors, Librarians, Administrators for Elementary and Secondary Schools. Seventy-Sixth Edition, 2011-2012

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kaye, Elizabeth A., Ed.

    2011-01-01

    This annual volume offers the most complete and current listings of the requirements for certification of a wide range of educational professionals at the elementary and secondary levels. "Requirements for Certification" is a valuable resource, making much-needed knowledge available in one straightforward volume. [For "Requirements…

  4. Requirements for Certification of Teachers, Counselors, Librarians, Administrators for Elementary and Secondary Schools. Seventy-Seventh Edition, 2012-2013

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kaye, Elizabeth A., Ed.

    2012-01-01

    This annual volume offers the most complete and current listings of the requirements for certification of a wide range of educational professionals at the elementary and secondary levels. "Requirements for Certification" is a valuable resource, making much-needed knowledge available in one straightforward volume. [For "Requirements for…

  5. Strategies for Astronomers in the Preparation of Pre-Service Elementary and Secondary Teachers

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schultz, G. R.

    2004-12-01

    Making an impact on pre-service teacher preparation is challenging and requires a multi-faceted approach. To begin with, it's advisable to be informed by the education research and consensus policy statements published by the teacher education community, and to make meaningful connections with educators in this field. Two significant books to consult in this area come from the National Academy Press: "How People Learn: Brain, Mind, Experience, and School" (NRC, 2000; see in particular chapter 8 on 'Teacher Learning') and "Educating Teachers of Science, Mathematics, and Technology: New Practices for the New Millennium" (NRC, 2001). Much can also be learned from joining the Association for the Education Teachers of Science (AETS; www.TheAETS.org) and/or attending its annual conferences, which attract various science teacher educators. It goes without saying that most teachers tend to teach science the way they learned it themselves, at least as a "default" pedagogical approach. Thus, initiatives in pre-service teacher preparation should include efforts to involve constructivist, inquiry-based teaching and learning in the undergraduate science lecture and laboratory courses that future teachers are enrolling in. Another important area in teacher education is the "science methods" course that a pre-service teacher enrolls in, through a college or school of education. Science methods courses are usually offered in both elementary and secondary education, and the approaches in each are of course different. Pre-service teachers in methods courses are often most concerned with classroom management strategies, and there is usually not much time in these courses for guidance on astronomy-specific (or any discipline-specific) curriculum and instruction. But experiences with short "interventions" in both elementary and secondary science methods courses have demonstrated that talking about and working hands-on with a well-designed space science curriculum resource (e.g. "The

  6. The Relationship between Subsidized Free Day Secondary Education and Retention in Secondary Schools in Kenya

    Science.gov (United States)

    James, Asena Muganda; Simiyu, Aggrey Mukasa; Riechi, Andrew

    2016-01-01

    A workforce that can adapt to the fast changing global dynamics is critical for sustainable growth and development. Secondary level segment in the education cycle of a Kenyan plays a key role in the development of this workforce and is important since it de-links one from elementary (primary) learning, provides a chance for one to complete the…

  7. Requirements for Certification of Teachers, Counselors, Librarians, Administrators for Elementary and Secondary Schools. Seventy-Fifth Edition, 2010-2011

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kaye, Elizabeth A., Ed.; Makos, Jeffrey J., Ed.

    2010-01-01

    This annual volume offers the most complete and current listings of the requirements for certification of a wide range of educational professionals at the elementary and secondary levels. "Requirements for Certification" is a valuable resource, making much-needed knowledge available in one straightforward volume. Appended are: (1) How to…

  8. Developing a Reform-Minded Science Teaching Identity: The Role of Informal Science Environments

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Avraamidou, Lucy

    2014-01-01

    Recommendations for reform in science education around the world set high goals for beginning elementary teachers. Concurrently, existing literature indicates a number of challenges that beginning elementary teachers face. In this paper an argument is put forward about the integration of informal

  9. Science Education Reform in Confucian Learning Cultures: Teachers' Perspectives on Policy and Practice in Taiwan

    Science.gov (United States)

    Huang, Ying-Syuan; Asghar, Anila

    2018-01-01

    This empirical study investigates secondary science teachers' perspectives on science education reform in Taiwan and reflects how these teachers have been negotiating constructivist and learner-centered pedagogical approaches in contemporary science education. It also explores the challenges that teachers encounter while shifting their pedagogical…

  10. Medical Education and Curriculum Reform: Putting Reform Proposals in Context

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Daniel Kam Yin Chan, MD, MB.BS, MHA

    2004-01-01

    Full Text Available The purpose of this paper is to elaborate criteria by which the principles of curriculum reform can be judged. To this end, the paper presents an overview of standard critiques of medical education and examines the ways medical curriculum reforms have responded to these critiques. The paper then sets out our assessment of these curriculum reforms along three parameters: pedagogy, educational context, and knowledge status. Following on from this evaluation of recent curriculum reforms, the paper puts forward four criteria with which to gauge the adequacy medical curriculum reform. These criteria enable us to question the extent to which new curricula incorporate methods and approaches for ensuring that its substance: overcomes the traditional opposition between clinical and resource dimensions of care; emphasizes that the clinical work needs to be systematized in so far as that it feasible; promotes multi-disciplinary team work, and balances clinical autonomy with accountability to non-clinical stakeholders.

  11. Survey of Occupational Stress of Secondary and Elementary School Teachers and the Lessons Learned

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pei, Wang; Guoli, Zhang

    2007-01-01

    Based on the measuring instruments used by scholars in China and abroad, we devised a questionnaire to study occupational stress of 500 secondary and elementary school teachers in Tacheng municipality in Xinjiang and examined its negative effects on teachers. They found that the occupational stress of secondary and elementary school teachers are…

  12. Teacher Perspectives on Specialisation in the Elementary Classroom: Implications for Science Instruction

    Science.gov (United States)

    Poland, Susan; Colburn, Amanda; Long, David E.

    2017-01-01

    In the current educational climate of testing and accountability, many elementary teachers find they lack adequate time and confidence to enact reform-based science teaching due to pressure to perform in reading and mathematics. With this tension in mind, we explore the phenomenon of elementary teacher specialisation in comparison to the…

  13. Pre elementary design of primary reformer for hydrogen plant coupled with HTGR type NPP

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Dedy Priambodo; Erlan Dewita; Sudi Ariyanto

    2012-01-01

    Hydrogen has a high potent for new energy, because of it availability. Steam reforming is a fully developed commercial technology and is the most economical method for production of hydrogen. Steam reforming uses an external source of hot gas to heat tubes in which a catalytic reaction takes place that converts steam and lighter hydrocarbons such as natural gas (methane) or refinery feedstock into hydrogen and carbon monoxide (syngas) at high temperature on primary reformer (800-900°C). Utilization of helium from HTGR as heating medium for primary reformer has consequence to type and shape of its reactor. The main goal of this paper is to determine type/shape and pre elementary design of chemical reactor for the cogeneration system of Hydrogen Plant and HTGR The primary reformer for this system is Fixed Bed Multitube reactor with specification tube: NPS 3,5 Sch 40 ST 40S, 0.281 in thickness, number of tube 849 pieces and ASTM HH 30 for tube material. Tube arrangement is 'triangular pitch' on shell Split-Ring Floating Head from Steel Alloy SA 301 Grade B equipted with 8 baffles. (author)

  14. Education and the Community in the Peruvian Educational Reform.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Malpica, Carlos

    1980-01-01

    A structural and philosophical reform of Peruvian education was instituted in March 1972, using as its basis a local community education nucleus model. This article presents the reform experience, relates it to its historical antecedents, gives some information on evaluation studies in progress, and traces some projections for educational…

  15. A practical report of “Studies in School Mental Health” at graduate school coursework toward the development of mental health literacy education in elementary and secondary school

    OpenAIRE

    今田, 雄三

    2018-01-01

    According to changes in social environment, practicing regional psychological assistance should be extended to nationwide contribution for people’s mental health enhancement. In response to the changes, the author reports the details of the 2017 coursework "Studies School Mental Health" at graduate school. As the unique practice of this university, graduate students training for psychological experts at elementary and secondary school education cultivate practical skills for mental health lit...

  16. Reforma Educativa: Proyecto de Reforma Educativa para Francia (Educational Reform: French Educational Reform Proposals).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Langevin, Paul

    This document is a Spanish translation of French educational reform proposals and general educational philosophy. Initial remarks in the document concern educational objectives and general aims of the particular educational levels. Different, possible, educational progressions are considered, and the university system is discussed. Teacher…

  17. Secondary School under Educational Space Transformation in Modern Ukraine

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    A. Makhinko

    2017-12-01

    Full Text Available The article is dedicated to the reforms in secondary education of Ukraine during the period from establishment of the independent country in early 1990s till the beginning of the 21st Cent. The legislative and normative base, as well as practice of mplementing its key points, were analyzed. The author concludes that this period is characterized by an intensive reform and adjustment to global standards. A particular attention is paid to problems of high schools in the countryside. Conclusions focus mainly on the results of the high school development and prospects for subsequent modernization of this sphere.

  18. Single-Sex versus Secondary Schooling: A Systematic Review

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mael, Fred; Alonso, Alex; Gibson, Doug; Rogers, Kelly; Smith, Mark

    2005-01-01

    Single-sex education refers most generally to education at the elementary, secondary, or postsecondary level in which males or females attend school exclusively with members of their own sex. This report deals primarily with single-sex education at the elementary and secondary levels. Research in the United States on the question of whether public…

  19. Integrating Inquiry-Based Science and Education Methods Courses in a "Science Semester" for Future Elementary Teachers

    Science.gov (United States)

    Madsen, J.; Fifield, S.; Allen, D.; Brickhouse, N.; Dagher, Z.; Ford, D.; Shipman, H.

    2001-05-01

    In this NSF-funded project we will adapt problem-based learning (PBL) and other inquiry-based approaches to create an integrated science and education methods curriculum ("science semester") for elementary teacher education majors. Our goal is to foster integrated understandings of science and pedagogy that future elementary teachers need to effectively use inquiry-based approaches in their classrooms. This project responds to calls to improve science education for all students by making preservice teachers' experiences in undergraduate science courses more consistent with reforms at the K-12 level. The involved faculty teach three science courses (biology, earth science, physical science) and an elementary science education methods course that are degree requirements for elementary teacher education majors. Presently, students take the courses in variable sequences and at widely scattered times. Too many students fail to appreciate the value of science courses to their future careers as teachers, and when they reach the methods course in the junior year they often retain little of the science content studied earlier. These episodic encounters with science make it difficult for students to learn the content, and to translate their understandings of science into effective, inquiry-based teaching strategies. To encourage integrated understandings of science concepts and pedagogy we will coordinate the science and methods courses in a junior-year science semester. Traditional subject matter boundaries will be crossed to stress shared themes that teachers must understand to teach standards-based elementary science. We will adapt exemplary approaches that support both learning science and learning how to teach science. Students will work collaboratively on multidisciplinary PBL activities that place science concepts in authentic contexts and build learning skills. "Lecture" meetings will be large group active learning sessions that help students understand difficult

  20. Leadership, Responsibility, and Reform in Science Education.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bybee, Rodger W.

    1993-01-01

    Regards leadership as central to the success of the reform movement in science education. Defines leadership and introduces a model of leadership modified from the one developed by Edwin Locke and his associates. Provides an overview of the essential qualities of leadership occurring in science education. Discusses reforming science education and…

  1. Revenues and Expenditures for Public Elementary and Secondary School Districts: School Year 2011-12 (Fiscal Year 2012). First Look. NCES 2014-303

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cornman, Stephen Q.

    2015-01-01

    This First Look report presents data on public elementary and secondary education revenues and expenditures at the local education agency (LEA) or school district level for fiscal year (FY) 2012.1. Specifically, this report includes findings from the following types of school finance data: (1) Revenue and expenditure totals by state and the 100…

  2. Revenues and Expenditures for Public Elementary and Secondary School Districts: School Year 2012-13 (Fiscal Year 2013). First Look. NCES 2015-303

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cornman, Stephen Q.

    2016-01-01

    This First Look report presents data on public elementary and secondary education revenues and expenditures at the local education agency (LEA) or school district level for fiscal year (FY) 2013. Specifically, this report includes findings from the following types of school finance data: (1) revenue and expenditure totals by state and the 100…

  3. Urban school leadership for elementary science education: Meeting the needs of English Language Learners

    Science.gov (United States)

    Alarcon, Maricela H.

    Science education reform and state testing accountability call upon principals to become instructional leaders in science. Specifically, elementary school principals must take an active role in science instruction to effectively improve science education for all students including English Language Learners. As such, the research questioned posed in this study centered on How are elementary school principals addressing the academic needs of Latino Spanish-speaking English language learners within science education? This study employed a qualitative research design to identify the factors contributing to the exemplary performance in science, as measured by the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (TAKS), for English Language Learner students in three high poverty bilingual elementary schools based on a multiple case study. As part of the data collection process, interviews were conducted with three school principals, three science academic support teachers, and two 5th grade bilingual teachers. Additionally, observations were acquired through school principal shadowing. The findings revealed four attributes necessary for effective instructional leadership in science education. First, Positive School Culture was defined as the core that linked the other three instructional leadership attributes and thus increased their effectiveness. Second, Clear Goals and Expectations were set by making science a priority and ensuring that English language learners were transitioning from Spanish to English instruction by the fifth grade. Third, Critical Resourcing involved hiring a science academic support teacher, securing a science classroom on campus, and purchasing bilingual instructional materials. Fourth, principal led and supported Collaboration in which teachers met to discuss student performance based data in addition to curriculum and instruction. These research findings are vital because by implementing these best practices of elementary school principals, educators

  4. Learning Critical Thinking in Saudi Arabia: Student Perceptions of Secondary Pre-Service Teacher Education Programs

    Science.gov (United States)

    Allamnakhrah, Alhasan

    2013-01-01

    Saudi scholars have been agitating for education reforms to incorporate critical thinking in education programs. This paper is a qualitative case study undertaken at King Abdul Aziz University and Arab Open University and examines students' perception of learning critical thinking in secondary pre-service teacher education programs in Saudi…

  5. A well-started beginning elementary teacher's beliefs and practices in relation to reform recommendations about inquiry-based science

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Avraamidou, Lucy

    2017-01-01

    Given reform recommendations emphasizing scientific inquiry and empirical evidence pointing to the difficulties beginning teachers face in enacting inquiry-based science, this study explores a well-started beginning elementary teacher's (Sofia) beliefs about inquiry-based science and related

  6. Investigating the Alignment of Bhutanese Mathematics Teachers' Planned Approaches within the Context of a Reformed Curriculum

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dolma, Phuntsho; Nutchey, David; Watters, James J.; Chandra, Vinesh

    2018-01-01

    Reform of mathematics education has been in focus in many countries including those in major economic transition. This paper reports a segment of a study which was conducted in Bhutan, where a reformed elementary mathematics curriculum has been recently introduced. The reformed curriculum is based on social constructivism and its design has been…

  7. Effects of Welfare Reform on Vocational Education and Training

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dave, Dhaval M.; Reichman, Nancy E.; Corman, Hope; Das, Dhiman

    2011-01-01

    Exploiting variation in welfare reform across states and over time and using relevant comparison groups, this study estimates the effects of welfare reform on an important source of human capital acquisition among women at risk for relying on welfare: vocational education and training. The results suggest that welfare reform reduced enrollment in full-time vocational education and had no significant effects on part-time vocational education or participation in other types of work-related courses, though there appears to be considerable heterogeneity across states with respect to the strictness of educational policy and the strength of work incentives under welfare reform. In addition, we find evidence of heterogeneous effects by prior educational attainment. We find no evidence that the previously-observed negative effects of welfare reform on formal education (including college enrollment), which we replicated in this study, have been offset by increases in vocational education and training. PMID:22125356

  8. Education for a New Era: Stakeholders’ Perception of Qatari Education Reform

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Maha Ellili-Cherif

    2013-11-01

    Full Text Available The paper reports the results of a qualitative research study that explores principal, teacher, and parent perceptions with regard to Qatar’s education reform, Education for a New Era (EFNE launched in 2004. The study focuses on the effects of the reform on each group, their perceived advantages and disadvantages of the reform, and the challenges they face in the implementation of EFNE. Data for this study was collected through an open-ended questionnaire. The results point to the positive effects of EFNE on improving instruction, principals' leadership style, and learner attitude to education. These stakeholders believe that the reform is too ambitious and sometimes unrealistic. The three groups also report challenges that revolve around the amount of extra effort and work it requires from them, the continuous reform changes, and the threats to the local culture and language. Discussion and conclusions are provided regarding EFNE.

  9. From inside the black box: Teacher perceptions of science instruction at the elementary level

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ferrini, Cynthia D.

    Science education reform projects aimed at elementary school children arose in the 1960's. The most prevalent of these reforms utilized the inquiry, or hands-on, science method. Billions of dollars have been invested in these reforms. Yet, reports indicate that science is not being taught at the level one might expect in elementary schools. This research was an analysis of the problems and concerns teachers at one school district faced as they tried to implement and sustain elementary inquiry science instruction. The district chosen was a large suburban district in the Western United States. The population was ninety percent Caucasian with a slightly more ethnically diverse school population. This district was chosen because it had an elementary science program for over twenty years and had received national acclaim for that program. The district had a stable and homogeneous staff there was a low administrator and teacher turnover rate and the elementary teaching population was ninety percent Caucasian and ninety percent female. Interviews with administrators and teachers were conducted. Data were collected from focus groups of teachers and science partners. Observations of elementary science classroom instruction and professional development sessions were made. Results of this research indicated that one important key to elementary science reform rests in the hands of teachers. Once the door to the classroom is closed, the teacher can decide to teach or not to teach science. The findings of this research illustrate that teachers hold ideas about science and science instruction that are antithetical to some tenets of inquiry science. Until these ideas are addressed it will be difficult, if not impossible, to implement a systemic elementary inquiry science program. This study demonstrates that professional development for elementary teachers in science needs to change from a focus on the mechanical usage of individual units to a focus on teacher expectations for

  10. "From the Beginning, I Felt Empowered": Incorporating an Ecological Approach to Learning in Elementary Science Teacher Education

    Science.gov (United States)

    Birmingham, Daniel; Smetana, Lara; Coleman, Elizabeth

    2017-09-01

    While a renewed national dialog promotes the importance of science education for future technological and economic viability, students must find science personally relevant to themselves and their communities if the goals set forth in recent reform movements are to be achieved. In this paper, we investigate how incorporating an ecological perspective to learning in teacher education, including opportunities to participate with science in connection to their everyday lives, influenced the ways in which elementary teacher candidates (TCs) envisioned learning and doing science and its potential role in their future classroom. We draw from data collected across three sections of a field-based elementary methods course focused on learning to teach science and social studies through inquiry. We argue that participating in an authentic interdisciplinary inquiry project impacted the ways in which TCs conceived of science, their identities as science learners and teachers and their commitments to bringing inquiry-based science instruction to their future classrooms. This paper addresses issues regarding access to quality science learning experiences in elementary classrooms through empowering TCs to build identities as science learners and teachers in order to impact conditions in their future classrooms.

  11. "Trickle-Down" Reform: Hispanics, Higher Education, and the Excellence Movement.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Halcon, John J.; de la Luz Reyes, Maria

    1991-01-01

    Recent excellence-in-education reform measures have created greater restrictions on the access of Hispanics to higher education. Suggests that reformers expect reform benefits to "trickle down" to minorities after first benefiting mainstream students. The idea of excellence must include that of educational equity. (CJS)

  12. Structural Dynamics of Education Reforms and Quality of Primary Education in Uganda

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nyenje, Aida

    2016-01-01

    This paper examines Uganda's recent undertaking to reform her Primary School education System with a focus on the effect of structural dynamics of education reforms and the quality of primary education. Structural dynamics in the context of this study is in reference to the organizational composition of the education system at the government,…

  13. Implementation of National Science Education Standards in suburban elementary schools: Teachers' perceptions and classroom practices

    Science.gov (United States)

    Khan, Rubina Samer

    2005-07-01

    This was an interpretive qualitative study that focused on how three elementary school science teachers from three different public schools perceived and implemented the National Science Education Standards based on the Reformed Teaching Observation Protocol and individual interviews with the teachers. This study provided an understanding of the standards movement and teacher change in the process. Science teachers who were experienced with the National Science Education Standards were selected as the subjects of the study. Grounded in the theory of teacher change, this study's phenomenological premise was that the extent to which a new reform has an effect on students' learning and achievement on standardized tests depends on the content a teacher teaches as well as the style of teaching. It was therefore necessary to explore how teachers understand and implement the standards in the classrooms. The surveys, interviews and observations provided rich data from teachers' intentions, reflections and actions on the lessons that were observed while also providing the broader contextual framework for the understanding of the teachers' perspectives.

  14. Investigating Burnout among Elementary and Secondary School Music Educators: A Replication

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bernhard, H. Christian II

    2016-01-01

    The primary purpose of the study was to compare perceived levels of burnout among music educators by grade level taught, state teaching certification status, and music specialization. The secondary purpose was to examine relationships among perceived burnout, and academic as well as personal variables. Participants for the study were 258…

  15. Progress in reforming chemical engineering education.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wankat, Phillip C

    2013-01-01

    Three successful historical reforms of chemical engineering education were the triumph of chemical engineering over industrial chemistry, the engineering science revolution, and Engineering Criteria 2000. Current attempts to change teaching methods have relied heavily on dissemination of the results of engineering-education research that show superior student learning with active learning methods. Although slow dissemination of education research results is probably a contributing cause to the slowness of reform, two other causes are likely much more significant. First, teaching is the primary interest of only approximately one-half of engineering faculty. Second, the vast majority of engineering faculty have no training in teaching, but trained professors are on average better teachers. Significant progress in reform will occur if organizations with leverage-National Science Foundation, through CAREER grants, and the Engineering Accreditation Commission of ABET-use that leverage to require faculty to be trained in pedagogy.

  16. Elementary Mathematics Teachers' Beliefs and Practices: Understanding the Influence of Teaching in a STEAM Setting

    Science.gov (United States)

    Negreiros, Melissa

    2017-01-01

    Many elementary mathematics teachers hold beliefs about the teaching and learning of mathematics and enact practices that are not aligned with the recommendations of reform efforts in the field of mathematics education (Stigler & Hiebert, 2009). For standards-based reform to gain any significant success, many teachers will have to alter the…

  17. Planning for Reform-Based Science: Case Studies of Two Urban Elementary Teachers

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mangiante, Elaine Silva

    2018-02-01

    The intent of national efforts to frame science education standards is to promote students' development of scientific practices and conceptual understanding for their future role as scientifically literate citizens (NRC 2012). A guiding principle of science education reform is that all students receive equitable opportunities to engage in rigorous science learning. Yet, implementation of science education reform depends on teachers' instructional decisions. In urban schools serving students primarily from poor, diverse communities, teachers typically face obstacles in providing reform-based science due to limited resources and accountability pressures, as well as a culture of teacher-directed pedagogy, and deficit views of students. The purpose of this qualitative research was to study two white, fourth grade teachers from high-poverty urban schools, who were identified as transforming their science teaching and to investigate how their beliefs, knowledge bases, and resources shaped their planning for reform-based science. Using the Shavelson and Stern's decision model for teacher planning to analyze evidence gathered from interviews, documents, planning meetings, and lesson observations, the findings indicated their planning for scientific practices was influenced by the type and extent of professional development each received, each teacher's beliefs about their students and their background, and the mission and learning environment each teacher envisioned for the reform to serve their students. The results provided specific insights into factors that impacted their planning in high-poverty urban schools and indicated considerations for those in similar contexts to promote teachers' planning for equitable science learning opportunities by all students.

  18. Beliefs and Practices of Writing Instruction in Japanese Elementary Schools

    Science.gov (United States)

    Spence, Lucy K.; Kite, Yuriko

    2018-01-01

    Focusing on writing instruction within an era of international curricular reform, this study analysed classroom observations, educator interviews, and documents related to Japanese elementary writing instruction. A deductive approach using discourses of writing framework and an inductive approach to Japanese cultural practices uncovered beliefs…

  19. Reforms in Nigerian education sector: Implications for Science and ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    This paper examines the state of Education in Nigeria, the current educational reforms and their implications for science and technology education. It reviews various score sheets for the state of the countries educational system pointing to indicators of the system being inefficient, and attendantly calling for a reformation.

  20. Science education reform in Confucian learning cultures: teachers' perspectives on policy and practice in Taiwan

    Science.gov (United States)

    Huang, Ying-Syuan; Asghar, Anila

    2018-03-01

    This empirical study investigates secondary science teachers' perspectives on science education reform in Taiwan and reflects how these teachers have been negotiating constructivist and learner-centered pedagogical approaches in contemporary science education. It also explores the challenges that teachers encounter while shifting their pedagogical focus from traditional approaches to teaching science to an active engagement in students' learning. Multiple sources of qualitative data were obtained, including individual interviews with science teachers and teachers' reflective journals about Confucianism in relation to their educational philosophies. Thematic analysis and constant comparative method were used to analyze the data. The findings revealed that Confucian traditions play a significant role in shaping educational practices in Taiwan and profoundly influence teachers' epistemological beliefs and their actual classroom practice. Indeed, science teachers' perspectives on Confucian learning traditions played a key role in supporting or obstructing their pedagogical commitments to inquiry-based and learner-centered approaches. This study draws on the literature concerning teachers' professional struggles and identity construction during educational reform. Specifically, we explore the ways in which teachers respond to educational changes and negotiate their professional identities. We employed various theories of identity construction to understand teachers' struggles and challenges while wrestling with competing traditional and reform-based pedagogical approaches. Attending to these struggles and the ways in which they inform the development of a teacher's professional identity is vital for sustaining current and future educational reform in Taiwan as well as in other Eastern cultures. These findings have important implications for teachers' professional development programs in East Asian cultures.

  1. Reforming Science and Mathematics Education

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lagowski, J. J.

    1995-09-01

    Since 1991, the National Science Foundation has signed cooperative agreements with 26 states to undertake ambitious and comprehensive initiatives to reform science, mathematics, and technology education. Collectively, those agreements are known as the State Systemic Initiatives (SSI's). Two complimentary programs, The Urban and Rural Systemic Initiatives (USI's and RSI's), address similar reforms in the nation's largest cities and poorest rural areas. The SSI Program departs significantly from past NSF practice in several ways. The funding is for a longer term and is larger in amount, and the NSF is taking a more activist role, seeking to leverage state and private funds and promote the coordination of programs within states. The Initiatives also have a stronger policy orientation than previous NSF programs have had. The NSF strategy is a reflection of the growing and widely held view that meaningful reforms in schools are most likely to be achieved through state initiatives that set clear and ambitious learning goals and standards; align all of the available policy levers in support of reform; stimulate school-level initiatives; and mobilize human and financial resources to support these changes. Two premises underlie systemic reform: (1) all children can meet significantly higher standards if they are asked to do so and given adequate opportunities to master the content, and (2) state and local policy changes can create opportunities by giving schools strong and consistent signals about the changes in practice and performance that are expected. Because this is an enormous investment of Federal resources that is intended to bring about deep, systemic improvement in the nation's ability to teach science and mathematics effectively, the NSF has contracted with a consortium of independent evaluators to conduct a review of the program. The first of the SSI's were funded in 1991, sufficiently long ago to begin to formulate some initial impressions of their impact. Take

  2. Neo-Liberal Educational Reform in Latin America

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Susana López Guerra

    2006-05-01

    Full Text Available Using the argument that educational systems in Latin American are inefficient, political organizations and international financial institutions promoted reforms based on free market principles to modernize education in the region. Chile was used as a laboratory for these reforms, which were then applied to other Latin American countries. This paper analyzes the argument that educational quality is improved through competition—used as a strategy to privatize the educational system—by transferring its financing from public to private sources, to the detriment of the national system of education. Finally, this paper examines the modernization process and the failure of the free market model of the Mexican system of education.

  3. Safety Education in the Elementary School. Fastback 170.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wayne, Joseph E.

    This pamphlet deals with incorporating effective safety education programs into the elementary school curriculum. Covered in a discussion of the scope and nature of the safety problem are classes of accidents (motor vehicle, home, work, and public accidents) and causes of accidents. Various functions of safety education in elementary schools are…

  4. Elementary Teachers' Perception of Professional Capital within Their Community of Practice

    Science.gov (United States)

    Walker, Allison Edwards

    2017-01-01

    Many teachers, after having worked in isolation for so long and a business capital model of education reform, do not understand the concept of professional capital and its impact for transforming education. The purpose of this study was to examine elementary teachers' perception of professional capital within their community of practice. The data…

  5. Osnovi polojenia na reformata v obrasovatelnata sistema na Narodna republika Bulgaria (Basic Provisions of the Reform of the Public Education System in the People's Republic of Bulgaria).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bulgarian Communist Party, Sofia.

    This document is an English language abstract (approximately 1,500 words) of the reform provisions of the Bulgarian education system as formulated by the Bulgarian Communist Party in 1969. These reforms include the following items: access to compulsory secondary education for all; enrollment of all six-year olds; teachers to be specialized from…

  6. Teaching evolution in Chile. History of a conflict documented in textbooks of secondary education

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Manuel Tamayo Hurtado

    2010-10-01

    Full Text Available In this paper we analyzed the presence of the evolution in secondary education textbooks used en Chile since 1902 to 2003. Textbooks analysis of secondary education shows the disputes between evolutionisms and their opponents. Members of the clergy participated actively as antievolutionisms and several of the most outstanding evolutionisms were liberal and francmasones. The text of Bernardino Quijada marked a landmark and polarized to those in favor and detractors during half century. The evolutionary subject was reduced in second half of century XX, partly by the development of other biological fields, but also by ideological pressures of preservative religious sectors. During the last reforms, evolutionary theory oscillates between the compulsory and the optative contents of the programs of Chilean secondary education.

  7. Global Isomorphism and Governance Reform in Chinese Higher Education

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cai, Yuzhuo

    2010-01-01

    In the past three decades, higher education reforms have taken place almost everywhere in the world, and governance or the way that higher education is or should be coordinated has become a global topic. The governance reform in Chinese higher education emerged against such a background. The current studies on Chinese higher education reforms…

  8. Sources of Funding for Education Reform.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Odden, Allan

    1986-01-01

    Outlines the trends in educational funding patterns needed to enact educational reform. Local property taxes, state revenues, and federal aid continue to provide the bulk of financing. Includes two tables. (MD)

  9. Cooperation in Japan. Grades Kindergarten-Third. Elementary Literature Series, Part 1.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mukai, Gary

    The Stanford Program on International and Cross-Cultural Education (SPICE) represents a long-term effort by Stanford University to improve international and cross-cultural education in elementary and secondary schools. This volume of the elementary literature series focuses on the primary grades; utilizes primary source literature from Japan;…

  10. Applying Concepts of Critical Pedagogy to Qatar's Educational Reform

    Science.gov (United States)

    Romanowski, Michael H.; Amatullah, Tasneem

    2016-01-01

    Qatar is in the midst of a systemic education reform, Education For a New Era, steered by RAND's (a nonprofit research organization) analysis and report of Qatar's Educational system. Driven by a neoliberal agenda, the reform includes international curricula, curriculum standards, teacher licensure, and professional standards for school leaders…

  11. John Stuart Mill on Freedom, Education, and Social Reform.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Carbone, Peter F.

    1983-01-01

    Examines the social philosophy of John Stuart Mill, emphasizing his views on freedom, education, and social reform. Considers Mill's individualism and reformism, the conflict between freedom and control that characterizes his work, and the importance of freedom and education. Suggests caution in drawing educational implications from his work. (DAB)

  12. Sustainable School Improvement: Suburban Elementary Principals' Capacity Building

    Science.gov (United States)

    Clark, Alison J.

    2017-01-01

    The increase of intense pressures to ensure long-term education reforms have created a challenge for school leaders as they direct and nurture the abilities of others. The purpose of this research was to understand and describe suburban elementary principals' practices and perceptions as change leaders related to capacity building through the…

  13. Coding as a Trojan Horse for Mathematics Education Reform

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gadanidis, George

    2015-01-01

    The history of mathematics educational reform is replete with innovations taken up enthusiastically by early adopters without significant transfer to other classrooms. This paper explores the coupling of coding and mathematics education to create the possibility that coding may serve as a Trojan Horse for mathematics education reform. That is,…

  14. Philanthropy and Educational Reform during the Great Depression

    Science.gov (United States)

    Watras, Joseph

    2005-01-01

    The author discusses philanthropy and educational reform from the Great Depression to the present, contrasting the views of that time to "Making It Count" (Chester E. Finn, Jr. and Kelly Amis, 2001.) Although Finn and Amis presented their suggestions as advancing democracy, they thought that educational reform took place best when elite groups…

  15. Czeslaw Wycech as the Creator of Educational Policy [Czesław Wycech jako kreator polityki oświatowo-wychowawczej

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Witold CHMIELEWSKI

    2017-11-01

    Full Text Available Czeslaw Wycech as education minister in the Interim Government of National Unity had taken a number of initiatives aimed at improving the functioning of the oganization of education in post-war Poland. He devoted much attention to shaping the territorial division of the school administration. He set himself a target of fully implementing compulsory education. He improved the structure of elementary education, abolished the three-level organization of these schools and established one-year classes. He introduced into elementary schools transitory curricula with partially revised content. He joined the efforts to increase the number of secondary and vocational schools and to popularize pre-school education. He attempted to organise educational management at the level of districts and counties. He came up with some important legislative initiatives, aimed at a comprehensive reform of the Polish system of education. He aspired to open under favourable conditions, the eighth grade of elementary school. He kept improving the teachers` training system in Poland. He wanted to educate the young generation of Poles according to contemporary needs.

  16. Fast Capitalism, School Reform, and Second Language Literacy Practices

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gebhard, Meg

    2004-01-01

    This 2-year qualitative study explores the ironies of educational reform in the United States as experienced by three second language learners attending a school attempting to transform itself into a high-performance elementary school in California's Silicon Valley. Drawing on the concept of fast capitalism in a globalized economic work order…

  17. Une ecole elementaire nouvelle pour une societe nouvelle (New Elementary Schools for a New Society).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pare, Andre; Pelletier, Louise

    1971-01-01

    This article, translated into Spanish from the French, discusses changes and increasing complications in society which call for educational reform and improvement. Elementary education, traditionally based on memory skills, should become the setting for the development of mental processes and intellectual skills through the activity of problem…

  18. La reforma educativa y las reformas a la administracion (Educational Reform and Reforms in Educational Administration).

    Science.gov (United States)

    El Maestro, Mexico, 1971

    1971-01-01

    This document is an English-language abstract (approximately 1500 words) summarizing a report presented to the Eighth National Plenary Assembly of the National Technical Council for Education by the Mexican Academy of Education, a private association of teachers. It recommended the adoption of four basic educational administrative reforms by the…

  19. The "Hollywoodization" of Education Reform in "Won't Back Down"

    Science.gov (United States)

    Goering, Christian Z.; Witte, Shelbie; Jennings Davis, Jennifer; Ward, Peggy; Flammang, Brandon; Gerhardson, Ashley

    2015-01-01

    What happens when forces attempting to privatize education create and produce a Hollywood film with an education reform plot line? This essay explores "Won't Back Down" through cultural studies and progressive education lenses in an effort to unveil misrepresentations of education and education reform. Drawing on scholarship in these…

  20. Investigating the Self-Perceived Science Teaching Needs of Local Elementary Educators

    Science.gov (United States)

    Carver, Cynthia G.

    Elementary teachers in one school system have expressed low self-efficacy teaching science and desire more support teaching science. However, little research has been conducted on how best to meet these teachers' needs. The theories of perceived self-efficacy, social cognition, and behaviorism make up the conceptual framework of this study. The focus of this qualitative project study was on the needs of local elementary educators. These teachers were asked what they felt they needed most to be more effective science educators. The methodology of phenomenology was used in this study in which local elementary teachers were questioned in focus groups regarding their own science teaching efficacy and perceived needs. Using inductive analysis, data were coded for links to discussion questions as well as any additional patterns that emerged. Findings indicated that local elementary teachers desire improved communication among administrators and teachers as well as better science content support and training. Focus group participants agreed that teacher self-efficacy affects the time spent, effort toward, and quality of elementary science education. Using the results of the study, a science mentor program was developed to support the needs of elementary teachers and increase teacher self-efficacy, thus improving local elementary science education. Implications for positive social change include the development and support of elementary science programs in other school systems with the goal of improving science education for elementary students.

  1. Understanding Educational Reform in Global Context: Economy, Ideology, and the State.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ginsburg, Mark B., Ed.

    This book presents a set of national case studies on educational reform of higher education that views reform as processes of ideological and social struggles. The titles and authors are as follows: "Educational Reform: Social Struggles, the State and the World Economic System" (Mark B. Ginsburg, et al.); "Restructuring Education…

  2. Teaching Computer Ergonomic Techniques: Practices and Perceptions of Secondary and Postsecondary Business Educators.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Alexander, Melody W.; Arp, Larry W.

    1997-01-01

    A survey of 260 secondary and 251 postsecondary business educators found the former more likely to think computer ergonomic techniques should taught in elementary school and to address the hazards of improper use. Both groups stated that over half of students they observe do not use good techniques and agreed that students need continual…

  3. Basic Education Curriculum Reform in Rural China: Achievements, Problems, and Solutions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Jiayi; Zhao, Zhichun

    2011-01-01

    The latest wave of basic education curriculum reform, carried out over the past ten years, has achieved significant results and promoted the development of rural education. There are still some problems in the reform of basic education in rural areas, however, such as a serious shortage of funds for rural school curriculum reform, the continuing…

  4. Reform-based science teaching: A mixed-methods approach to explaining variation in secondary science teacher practice

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jetty, Lauren E.

    The purpose of this two-phase, sequential explanatory mixed-methods study was to understand and explain the variation seen in secondary science teachers' enactment of reform-based instructional practices. Utilizing teacher socialization theory, this mixed-methods analysis was conducted to determine the relative influence of secondary science teachers' characteristics, backgrounds and experiences across their teacher development to explain the range of teaching practices exhibited by graduates from three reform-oriented teacher preparation programs. Data for this study were obtained from the Investigating the Meaningfulness of Preservice Programs Across the Continuum of Teaching (IMPPACT) Project, a multi-university, longitudinal study funded by NSF. In the first quantitative phase of the study, data for the sample (N=120) were collected from three surveys from the IMPPACT Project database. Hierarchical multiple regression analysis was used to examine the separate as well as the combined influence of factors such as teachers' personal and professional background characteristics, beliefs about reform-based science teaching, feelings of preparedness to teach science, school context, school culture and climate of professional learning, and influences of the policy environment on the teachers' use of reform-based instructional practices. Findings indicate three blocks of variables, professional background, beliefs/efficacy, and local school context added significant contribution to explaining nearly 38% of the variation in secondary science teachers' use of reform-based instructional practices. The five variables that significantly contributed to explaining variation in teachers' use of reform-based instructional practices in the full model were, university of teacher preparation, sense of preparation for teaching science, the quality of professional development, science content focused professional, and the perceived level of professional autonomy. Using the results

  5. The Implementation Of Character Education Values In Integrated Physical Education Subject In Elementary School

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Suherman Ayi

    2018-01-01

    Full Text Available The issue of this research emphasizes on the implementation of character building values through physical education learning in elementary school. The effort in developing this character building practice is essential to be done in order to tackle moral and character crises, which already occur in both individual and collective levels reflected in educational institution from elementary school to higher education. Hence, to form culture and national character, educational program and process are inseparable from environmental factor including the values of society, culture, and humanity. Physical education subject that is based on 2013 Curriculum has significant difference compared to the previous physical education subject. This is due to the fact that integrated physical education has its own uniqueness in terms of planning, systematic implementation, and instructional medium. This research aims at producing guidance in implementing character values integrated in physical education in elementary school. The method used in this research is research and development (R&D method, which includes preliminary research, model designing, limited trial, and extensive trial, as well as validation and dissemination. The findings of the research show that character values can be implemented in physical education in elementary schools in Sumedang Regency.

  6. Elementary particle physics in early physics education

    CERN Document Server

    Wiener, Gerfried

    2017-01-01

    Current physics education research is faced with the important question of how best to introduce elementary particle physics in the classroom early on. Therefore, a learning unit on the subatomic structure of matter was developed, which aims to introduce 12-year-olds to elementary particles and fundamental interactions. This unit was iteratively evaluated and developed by means of a design-based research project with grade-6 students. In addition, dedicated professional development programmes were set up to instruct high school teachers about the learning unit and enable them to investigate its didactical feasibility. Overall, the doctoral research project led to successful results and showed the topic of elementary particle physics to be a viable candidate for introducing modern physics in the classroom. Furthermore, thanks to the design-based research methodology, the respective findings have implications for both physics education and physics education research, which will be presented during the PhD defen...

  7. Introducing Technology Education at the Elementary Level

    Science.gov (United States)

    McKnight, Sean

    2012-01-01

    Many school districts are seeing a need to introduce technology education to students at the elementary level. Pennsylvania's Penn Manor School District is one of them. Pennsylvania has updated science and technology standards for grades 3-8, and after several conversations the author had with elementary principals and the assistant superintendent…

  8. Enhancing Elementary Teacher Practice Through Technological/Engineering Design Based Learning

    OpenAIRE

    Deck, Anita Sue

    2016-01-01

    As widespread as Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) initiatives and reforms are today in education, a rudimentary problem with these endeavors is being overlooked. In general, education programs and school districts are failing to ensure that elementary teachers who provide children's early academic experiences have the appropriate knowledge of and proclivity toward STEM subjects. This issue is further compounded by the focus centered on mathematics due to accountability requir...

  9. Planning for Reform-Based Science: Case Studies of Two Urban Elementary Teachers

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mangiante, Elaine Silva

    2018-01-01

    The intent of national efforts to frame science education standards is to promote students' development of scientific practices and conceptual understanding for their future role as scientifically literate citizens (NRC 2012). A guiding principle of science education reform is that all students receive equitable opportunities to engage in rigorous…

  10. A Study of Health Education and Its Needs for Elementary School Students

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hussain, Irshad; Alamgir, Muhammad Ahmad; Shahzad, Muhammad

    2015-01-01

    Health Education, particularly in elementary schools, appears to be a neglected area in Pakistan. This study investigated the health education needs of elementary school students. The purpose of the present study is to assess health education needs of elementary school students. The study adopted mix approach of (qualitative and quantitative)…

  11. Music Education Curriculum and Social Change: A Study of Popular Music in Secondary Schools in Beijing, China

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ho, Wai-Chung

    2014-01-01

    In Chinese society over the last two decades, modernisation and globalisation, together with the transition to a market economy, have created new imperatives and challenges for the school music curriculum. As a result, the 2011 reform of the Curriculum Standards for Primary Education and Junior Secondary Education marks the first time that the…

  12. Structural higher education reform - design and evaluation: synthesis report

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    File, Jonathan M.; Huisman, Jeroen; de Boer, Harry F.; Seeber, Marco; Vukasovic, Martina; Westerheijden, Donald F.

    2016-01-01

    This study analyses how different types of system-level (or ‘landscape’) structural reforms in higher education have been designed and implemented in selected higher education systems. In the 12 case studies that form the core of the project, the researchers examine reforms aimed at: - Increasing

  13. The new reform educational in the Ecuador and its application in education special

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Rocio Ernestina García Liscano

    2017-03-01

    Full Text Available The Ecuador over the years, the government of the citizen revolution has made drastic changes in the education system,with the aim of improving the quality of learning of Ecuadorians. This article is aimed at analyzing the educational reform in Ecuador from the new institutions of the country, which constitutes the government of Econ. Rafael Correa Delgado with the new educational model that began in January 2010, from this restructuring conducted an analysis of special education in our country, if considered in the reforms and if taken due importance concerning the preparation of disabled people. This analysis also helps to demonstrate what are the benefits generated by the educational reform within specialized educational units, based on the perspective of before and after, and as by their application has been made to strengthen the processes of quality improvement, relevance, equity and efficiency of special education in Ecuador.

  14. The Use (and Misuse) of PISA in Guiding Policy Reform: The Case of Spain

    Science.gov (United States)

    Choi, Álvaro; Jerrim, John

    2016-01-01

    In 2013 Spain introduced a series of educational reforms explicitly inspired by the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2012 results. These reforms were mainly implemented in secondary education--based upon the assumption that this is where Spain's educational problems lie. This paper questions this assumption by attempting to…

  15. Merging Educational Finance Reform and Desegregation Goals

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Deborah M. Kazal-Thresher

    1993-06-01

    Full Text Available Educational finance reforms and desegregation have both sought to address inequities in educational opportunities for minorities and low income families. The recent methods of addressing desegregation issues have tended to focus on attaining racial balance rather than educational quality, however. This paper explores how desegregation goals can be merged with educational finance reform to more systematically address educational quality in schools serving low income and minority populations. By moving toward centralized control over school financing, the inequity of school outcomes that are based on unequal school resources can be reduced. In addition, state determined expenditures when combined with desegregation monies, would meet the original intention of desegregation funds by clearly providing add-on monies for additional services for minority children, while at the same time, creating a better monitoring mechanism.

  16. Revenues and Expenditures for Public Elementary and Secondary Education: School Year 2011-12 (Fiscal Year 2012). First Look. NCES 2014-301

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cornman, Stephen Q.

    2015-01-01

    This First Look report introduces new data for national and state-level public elementary and secondary revenues and expenditures for fiscal year (FY) 2012. Specifically, this report includes findings from the following types of school finance data: (1) Revenue and expenditure totals; (2) Revenues by source; (3) Expenditures by function and…

  17. Revenues and Expenditures for Public Elementary and Secondary Education: School Year 2014-15 (Fiscal Year 2015). First Look. NCES 2018-301

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cornman, Stephen Q.; Zhou, Lei; Howell, Malia R.; Young, Jumaane

    2018-01-01

    This First Look report introduces new data for national and state-level public elementary and secondary revenues and expenditures for fiscal year (FY) 2015. Specifically, this report includes the following school finance data: (1) revenue and expenditure totals; (2) revenues by source; (3) expenditures by function and object; (4) current…

  18. 45 CFR 605.39 - Private education.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-10-01

    ... 45 Public Welfare 3 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Private education. 605.39 Section 605.39 Public..., Elementary, and Secondary Education § 605.39 Private education. (a) A recipient that provides private elementary or secondary education may not, on the basis of handicap, exclude a qualified handicapped person...

  19. Moche CAPE Formula: Cost Analysis of Public Education.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Moche, Joanne Spiers

    The Moche Cost Analysis of Public Education (CAPE) formula was developed to identify total and per pupil costs of regular elementary education, regular secondary education, elementary special education, and secondary special education. Costs are analyzed across five components: (1) comprehensive costs (including transportation and supplemental…

  20. Global Education in Elementary Schools: An Overview

    Science.gov (United States)

    Anderson, Charlotte J.; Anderson, Lee F.

    1977-01-01

    Discussion of elementary global education covers (1) the definition and meaning of global education and (2) its objectives to achieve student competence in perceiving individual involvement, making decisions, making judgments, and exercising influence. (ND)

  1. The Public Understanding of Assessment in Educational Reform in the United States

    Science.gov (United States)

    Brookhart, Susan M.

    2013-01-01

    The United States education system depends on legislation and funding at the federal, state and local levels. Public understanding of assessment therefore is important to educational reform in the USA. Educational reformers often invoke assessment information as a reason for reform, typically by citing unacceptable achievement on some measure or…

  2. Recommended Capacities for Educational Leadership: Pre-Reform Era Scholars versus Reform-Era Scholars versus National Standards

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gordon, Stephen P.; Taylor-Backor, Karen; Croteau, Susan

    2017-01-01

    We reviewed the scholarship on capacities for educational leadership for the past decade of the pre-reform era (1976-1985), as well as a recent decade of the reform era (2005-2015), and compared scholarship from both decades with the current Professional Standards for Educational Leaders. We found that scholars in the past decade of the pre-reform…

  3. Revenues and Expenditures for Public Elementary and Secondary Education: School Year 2012-13 (Fiscal Year 2013). First Look. NCES 2015-301

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cornman, Stephen Q.

    2016-01-01

    This First Look report introduces new data for national and state-level public elementary and secondary revenues and expenditures for fiscal year 2013 (FY 13). Specifically, this report includes findings from the following types of school finance data: (1) revenue and expenditure totals; (2) revenues by source; (3) expenditures by function and…

  4. "It's What We Use as a Community": Exploring Students' STEM Characterizations In Two Montessori Elementary Classrooms

    Science.gov (United States)

    Szostkowski, Alaina Hopkins

    Integrated science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education promises to enhance elementary students' engagement in science and related fields and to cultivate their problem-solving abilities. While STEM has become an increasingly popular reform initiative, it is still developing within the Montessori education community. There is limited research on STEM teaching and learning in Montessori classrooms, particularly from student perspectives. Previous studies suggest productive connections between reform-based pedagogies in mainstream science education and the Montessori method. Greater knowledge of this complementarity, and student perspectives on STEM, may benefit both Montessori and non-Montessori educators. This instrumental case study of two elementary classrooms documented student characterizations of aspects of STEM in the context of integrated STEM instruction over three months in the 2016-2017 school year. Findings show that the Montessori environment played an important role, and that students characterized STEM in inclusive, agentive, connected, helpful, creative, and increasingly critical ways. Implications for teaching and future research offer avenues to envision STEM education more holistically by leveraging the moral and humanistic aspects of Montessori philosophy.

  5. The Failure of Progressive Classroom Reform: Lessons from the Curriculum Reform Implementation Project in Papua New Guinea

    Science.gov (United States)

    Guthrie, Gerard

    2012-01-01

    Progressive education has been an article of educational faith in Papua New Guinea during the last 50 years but the best available evidence indicates that major reforms to formalistic curriculum and teaching in primary and secondary classrooms have failed during this period despite large-scale professional, administrative and financial support. In…

  6. Teaching for Conceptual Change in Elementary and Secondary Science Methods Courses.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Marion, Robin; Hewson, Peter W.; Tabachnick, B. Robert; Blomker, Kathryn B.

    1999-01-01

    Describes and analyzes two science methods courses at the elementary and secondary levels for how they addressed four ideas: (1) how students learn science; (2) how teachers teach science to students; (3) how prospective science teachers learn about the first two ideas; and (4) how methods instructors teach prospective science teachers about the…

  7. Institutos Superiores de Formacion Docente: Profesorado de Nivel Elemental (Higher Institutes for Teacher Training: Elementary School Teachers).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ministerio de Cultura y Educacion, Buenos Aires (Argentina). Centro National de Documentacion e Informacion Educativa.

    This booklet describes and explains the Argentine educational reform, instituted in March 1971, concerning the training of elementary school teachers in institutions of higher learning. The legislation cited here establishes areas of study and qualifications. The document also contains a discussion of previous teacher education and the bases and…

  8. Can We Pay for Current Education Reform?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Odden, Allan

    2012-01-01

    For more than 30 years, the United States has been engaged in education reform efforts designed to dramatically boost student performance and close achievement gaps linked to poverty and ethnicity. Can schools afford those education ambitions? Most educators have their doubts. The author believes educators can improve student learning even when…

  9. Student Teacher Thinking: A Comparative Study of Elementary and Secondary Student Teachers.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Galluzzo, Gary L.; Minix, Nancy A.

    1992-01-01

    Using videotaped simulated recall interviews, researchers assessed elementary and secondary student teachers' thoughts and concerns. Both groups considered pupil learning the greatest concern. There were consistent differences in how the groups perceived classroom interactions. Both groups addressed a narrower range of concerns regarding teaching…

  10. Experimental teaching reforms of optical fiber communication based on general education

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lan, L.; Liu, S.; Zhou, J. H.; Peng, Z. M.

    2017-08-01

    It's necessary that higher education experimental teaching reforms on the basis of general education. This paper put forward the experimental teaching reform mode of optical fiber communication in the context of general education. With some reform measures such as improving the experimental content, enriching the experimental style, modifying the experimental teaching method, and adjusting the evaluation method of experimental teaching, the concept of general education is put throughout the experimental teaching of optical fiber communication. In this way, it facilitates the development of students and improvement of experimental teaching quality.

  11. A Known Group Analysis Validity Study of the Vanderbilt Assessment of Leadership in Education in US Elementary and Secondary Schools

    Science.gov (United States)

    Covay Minor, Elizabeth; Porter, Andrew C.; Murphy, Joseph; Goldring, Ellen B.; Cravens, Xiu; Elloitt, Stephen N.

    2014-01-01

    The Vanderbilt Assessment of Leadership in Education (VAL-ED) provides educators with a tool for principal evaluation based on principal, teacher, and supervisor reports of principals' learning-centered leadership. In this study, we conduct a known group analysis as part of a larger argument for the validity of the VAL-ED in US elementary and…

  12. American Elementary Education Pre-Service Teachers' Attitudes towards Biotechnology Processes

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chabalengula, Vivien Mweene; Mumba, Frackson; Chitiyo, Jonathan

    2011-01-01

    This study examined elementary education pre-service teachers' attitudes towards biotechnology processes. A sample comprised 88 elementary education pre-service teachers at a mid-sized university in the Midwest of the USA. Sixty and 28 of these pre-service teachers were enrolled in Introductory Science Methods course and Advance Science Methods…

  13. A study of sexuality education performance and associated factors among elementary school nurses in Taipei.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jou, Ming-Huey; Chen, Ping-Ling; Lee, Sheuan; Yin, Teresa J C

    2003-03-01

    The purpose of this study was to investigate the performance and associated factors of sexuality education by elementary school nurses in Taipei. A structured questionnaire was utilized to collect data from a convenience sample of 145 elementary school nurses. The Kuder-Richarson reliability for sex knowledge scale was.73, and Cronbach's agr; for sex attitude scale was.93. The findings of the study were as followed: (1) Sex knowledge was high among study samples. The average scores for sex knowledge regarding " masturbation ", " sexual harassment and sexual abuse " were among the highest; those regarding " secondary sexual characteristics ", " ovulation ", " menstruation health care ", and " sexually transmitted diseases " were among the lowest. (2) Sex attitude was positive. Eighty percent of the study subjects agreed that school nurses were responsible for the promotion of sexual health in schools. More than 90% of the study subjects were willing to participate actively in sexuality education program in school, providing health consultation and guidance. (3) Twenty percent of the study subjects were not involved in sex education because they were not invited or due to busy working schedule.(4) Marital status, highest level of education, job title, job seniority, continuing education or training experience were the factors associated with the implementation of sexuality education among school nurses.

  14. Elementary School Parents' Opinions toward Educational Technology and Its Role in Their Children's Education

    Science.gov (United States)

    Biddle, Kevin J.

    2013-01-01

    This study surveyed parents of elementary students in the small Midwestern community of Montpelier, Indiana to elicit their opinions toward the educational technology in their children's school and the role it plays in their education. Montpelier Elementary School (MES) has 223 students from 161 families. A phone survey was done to which about 42%…

  15. 45 CFR 84.33 - Free appropriate public education.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-10-01

    ... 45 Public Welfare 1 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Free appropriate public education. 84.33 Section..., Elementary, and Secondary Education § 84.33 Free appropriate public education. (a) General. A recipient that operates a public elementary or secondary education program or activity shall provide a free appropriate...

  16. 45 CFR 605.33 - Free appropriate public education.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-10-01

    ... 45 Public Welfare 3 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Free appropriate public education. 605.33 Section... Preschool, Elementary, and Secondary Education § 605.33 Free appropriate public education. (a) General. A recipient that operates a public elementary or secondary education program shall provide a free appropriate...

  17. CONSULT-I Reading. South Avondale Elementary School, Cincinnati Project. Final Report.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Newman, Anabel; And Others

    A study examined the effectiveness of the second year of implementation of the CONSULT-I program, which uses artificial intelligence with statistical pattern recognition in constructing a diagnosis and recommending treatment of reading difficulties. Five elementary classroom teachers, two ESEA (Elementary and Secondary Education Act) teachers, and…

  18. Elementary and Secondary Educational Services of Public Television Grantees: Highlights from the 1998 Station Activities Survey. CPB Research Notes, No. 116.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Corporation for Public Broadcasting, Washington, DC.

    This report is a summary of a variety of educational services offered by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) supported television stations as reported in CPB's annual Station Activities Survey (1998). Highlights from the data include: 141 stations (80% of all CPB supported stations) provide educational services to elementary or secondary…

  19. Modernising Education: New Public Management Reform in the Norwegian Education System

    Science.gov (United States)

    Møller, Jorunn; Skedsmo, Guri

    2013-01-01

    Since the end of the 1980s, the Norwegian education system has gone through major reform, influenced largely by new managerialist ideas. Strategies to renew the public sector were promoted as the new public management (NPM). This paper investigates the way ideas connected to NPM reforms have been introduced and interpreted in the Norwegian…

  20. Education Reform: A Managerial Agenda.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bacharach, Samuel B.; Conley, Sharon C.

    1986-01-01

    Education reform has wrongly focused on teacher motivation and rewards, when the organizational system itself is at fault. Research shows that effective school management hinges on increased individual discretion and decision-making opportunities for teachers and less controlling behavior by administrators. Ten characteristics of effective…

  1. Geography teachers' interpretation of a curriculum reform initiative ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    This article addresses how teachers in a specific developing world context interpreted a curriculum reform initiative. It is located within a broader interpretive study that investigated the integration of Environmental Education into the formal education system of Lesotho with particular reference to secondary school geography.

  2. Preservice elementary teachers learning of astronomy

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fidler, Chuck Gary

    The dissertation presents a new approach for the study of preservice elementary teacher astronomy education. The approach suggests that learning astronomical concepts are facilitated by greater sophistication in scale perception and spatial-aptitude. This dissertation is underscored by the national call for elementary science education reform efforts and suggests certain strategies shown more effective for the development of accurate astronomical comprehension. The present research study describes how preservice elementary teachers conceptualize and communicate ideas about Space. Instead of assuming a universal mental conception of cosmic orientations and relationships, the dissertation claims that the perception of Space related dimensions vary among preservice elementary teachers. Furthermore, the dissertation suggests individual perceptions of the scale sizes and orientations of celestial systems have direct influences on mental models used to organize and communicate astronomical information. The development of inaccurate mental models of the scaled dimensions of Space may perpetuate the teacher-student cycle of misconception and naive-theory generation among children in elementary education settings. The ability to conceptualize the vast cosmos is facilitated by the minds ability to think about vast scales and orientations of celestial objects. The Earth-based perspective of astronomy education compels the learner to think about astronomical principles within imaginary frames of reference and across unfamiliar scaled dimensions. Therefore, mental astronomical model building is underscored by the perception of scale and cosmic spatiality. This study suggests these cognitive skill sets are interconnected and facilitate the learning of accurate astronomy principles; as well as play an important role when designing an astronomy education program for preservice elementary teachers. This research study is comprised of three separate standalone articles designed and

  3. Education System Reform in China after 1978: Some Practical Implications

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sun, Miantao

    2010-01-01

    Purpose: This paper aims to provide an overview of education system reform in China since 1978, and its practical implications. Design/methodology/approach: Data were collected from literature review and interview. An overview of education system reform and its practical implications was found through data analysis. Findings: There has been two…

  4. Testing and school reform in Danish education

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Kousholt, Kristine; Hamre, Bjørn

    2016-01-01

    This chapter will focus on shared characteristics of the Danish national standardized testing in public school and the ideals of being a student according to the Danish School Reform of 2014. In the chapter we argue that both kinds of materials (documents regarding the newly implemented national ...... and that this intermingles with the explicated intentions of the Danish school reform as a more profound educational intervention....

  5. Recent State Education Reform in the United States: Looking Backward and Forward.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kirst, Michael W.

    1988-01-01

    Reviews the past progress and outcomes of the educational reform movement at the state level and outlines strategies for the second wave of reform. Contends that the future of education reform depends primarily on the growth of the American economy and how this growth is distributed among the states. (TE)

  6. The use of deliberative method in educational reform

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ivan Buljan

    2016-12-01

    Full Text Available The project named Higher Education Reform was established in 2004 as one of the implementation elements of the European higher education policy. The core activities of the project were executed throughout the formation of National Teams of Bologna Experts who had the task and duty to contribute to the general and real awareness-rising on the topic of the higher education reform among different stakeholders in participating countries of the Bologna Process. The Croatian National Team of Bologna Expert (Hrvatska stručna skupina za Bolonjski proces was established in 2011. Among the diversity of activities executed by the student representatives in the Team, the important place is reserved for the deliberative workshops held during 2013. The target groups of the deliberative workshops were students and other stakeholders in the higher education. This paper presents the process of including the stakeholders in educational reform through the deliberative workshops. During the workshops, the organizers found out how the stakeholders are rethinking on some of the aspects of the Bologna Process, how they perceive and value the work of student representative and volunteering activities, and what they think about the extra-curricular activities of the student and how they value such activities. The form of deliberative workshops encouraged participants to freely and in constructive way express their thoughts and expectances in order to exchange ideas and knowledge about the matter, and to make a decision on common suggestions to solve a particular problem in the context of higher education (introduction of a new practice, modifications and alternations of existing practices, etc. This type of the application of deliberation method is extremely useful, which is the reason for the suggestion of the method’s use in preparing, implementing and evaluating the educational reforms.

  7. Documentation to the NCES Common Core of Data Public Elementary/Secondary School Universe Survey: School Year 2011-12. Provisional Version 1a. NCES 2014-100

    Science.gov (United States)

    Keaton, Patrick

    2013-01-01

    The documentation for this provisional version 1a file of the National Center for Education Statistics' (NCES) Common Core of Data (CCD) Public Elementary/Secondary School Universe Survey for SY 2011-12, contains a brief description of the data collection, along with information required to understand and access the data file. The SY 2011-12…

  8. Cultural Narcissism and Education Reform

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pajak, Edward F.

    2011-01-01

    Background/Context: Scholars have described American culture in recent decades as narcissistic, manifested by displays of self-absorption tantamount to a pathological syndrome that has reached epidemic proportions. An education reform movement that is highly critical of public schools, teachers, and students has simultaneously emerged, espousing a…

  9. Excavating silences and tensions of agency|passivity in science education reform

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rivera Maulucci, Maria S.

    2010-12-01

    I reflect on studies by Rodriguez and Carlone, Haun-Frank, and Kimmel to emphasize the ways in which they excavate silences in the science education literature related to linguistic and cultural diversity and situating the problem of reform in teachers rather than contextual factors, such as traditional schooling discourses and forces that serve to marginalize science. I propose that the current push for top-down reform and accountability diminishes opportunities for receptivity, learning with and from students in order to transform teachers' practices and promote equity in science education. I discuss tensions of agency and passivity in science education reform and argue that attention to authentic caring constitutes another silence in the science education literature. I conclude that the current policy context positions teachers and science education researchers as tempered radicals struggling against opp(reg)ressive reforms and that there is a need for more studies to excavate these and other silences.

  10. Improving Finance for Qatari Education Reform. Research Brief

    Science.gov (United States)

    Guarino, Cassandra M.; Galama, Titus; Constant, Louay; Gonzalez, Gabriella; Tanner, Jeffery C.; Goldman, Charles A.

    2009-01-01

    Qatar's education reform, which included implementation of a new finance system, appears to be providing schools with adequate funding but is still struggling with issues of transparency and swift policy shifts that have been difficult to accommodate. [For full report, "Developing a School Finance System for K-12 Reform in Qatar", see…

  11. Curriculum Reform in Higher Education: A Contested Space

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shay, Suellen

    2015-01-01

    Drawing on the theoretical and analytical tools from the sociology of education, in particular the work of Basil Bernstein and Karl Maton, the paper explores the tensions within curriculum reform discourses and how these tensions play out in different global contexts. The analysis focuses on two curriculum reform policies--Hong Kong and South…

  12. A Decade of Education Reform in Thailand: Broken Promise or Impossible Dream?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hallinger, Philip; Lee, Moosung

    2011-01-01

    This study addresses the perceived gap between the vision of education reform in Thailand embodied in its Education Reform Law of 1999 and the results of implementation a decade later. Drawing upon opportunistic data obtained from a sample of 162 Thai school principals, we analyze trends in reform implementation across schools in all regions and…

  13. Teacher Education Reform and Subaltern Voices: From Politica to Practica in Bolivia

    Science.gov (United States)

    Delany-Barmann, Gloria

    2010-01-01

    In 1994, the National Educational Reform in Bolivia instituted reforms that called for a model of education that held at its center the knowledge and languages of Indigenous people. The types of change called for by the reforms in Bolivia signify major transformations in teacher preparation practices and a concerted emphasis on training in…

  14. The New Technology and Educational Reform: Guidelines for School Administrators.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Matthews, Mark; Karr-Kidwell, PJ

    This paper presents the results of a literature review on educational methodology reforms. The first section discusses five factors in broad-based school reforms: change theory; organizational theory; state/national politics; local politics/governance; and leadership theory. Five types of reforms for school-wide success are described in the second…

  15. Reform in Literacy Education in China. Literacy Lessons.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yianwei, Wang; Jiyuan, Li

    Literacy in China is mainly concerned with illiteracy in rural areas. Therefore, reforming literacy education is largely a problem of how to eliminate rural literacy within the general framework of reform in contemporary China. From 1949 to 1988, the illiteracy rate among the population decreased from 80 percent to 20 percent. There are still…

  16. Realities and Challenges of Educational Reform in the Province of Quebec: Exploratory Research on Teaching Science and Technology/Realites Et Defis De La Reforme Scolaire Quebecoise: Une Etude Exploratoire De L'Enseignement De La Science...

    Science.gov (United States)

    Potvin, Patrice; Dionne, Eric

    2007-01-01

    Exploratory and descriptive research was conducted in a secondary school to reveal the realities and difficulties of the implementation process that awaits teachers under Quebec's Educational Reform. A team of teachers agreed to be observed while simulating implementation one year ahead of other schools. Results underscore the importance of…

  17. Mathematics training for the teaching of basic knowledge in times of teaching school reform of Parana (Year 1920

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Iara da Silva França

    2016-06-01

    Full Text Available Abstract The article discusses the mathematical training of primary teachers in Paraná and aims to understand how elementary mathematical knowledge was included in the reform carried out by Lysimaco Ferreira da Costa, in the 1920’s and directed by Prieto Martinez for the modernization of the state’s primary education. Supported by theoretical and methodological framework of cultural history, this study is guided by the question: Considering the Reform of teaching school and thinking about the mathematics education of Paraná teachers, what has changed, why has it changed and what for? With the reform subjects more focused on practical teaching in primary school were introduced, and that favored the renewal of teaching methods and teaching resources, curriculum reorganization which reflected in the quality of Math education of future teachers in the state’s primary education. Keywords: Mathematics Teaching. Primary Education Teacher. History of Education.

  18. Learning Autonomy: Higher Education Reform in Kazakhstan

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hartley, Matthew; Gopaul, Bryan; Sagintayeva, Aida; Apergenova, Renata

    2016-01-01

    Higher education is a key economic and social priority in the global arena. Many countries have sought to advance reforms aimed at increasing access, promoting greater educational quality, and ensuring financial responsibility and sustainability. Often, strategies for achieving these aims are informed by experiences elsewhere. However,…

  19. Education management process implementation of reforms

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    A. V. Kondratyeva

    2013-12-01

    In the dissertation research looks at the problem of the study. This article contains material research and evaluate different points of view on the issue of a systematic approach using educational management in the implementation of reforms.

  20. Education as Recovery: Neoliberalism, School Reform, and the Politics of Crisis

    Science.gov (United States)

    Slater, Graham B.

    2015-01-01

    Building upon critical education policy studies of crisis, disaster, and reform, this essay develops a theory of "recovery" that further elaborates the nature and operation of "crisis politics" in neoliberal education reform. Recovery is an integral process in capital accumulation, exploiting material, and subjective…

  1. The Evaluation of Higher Education Expenditure Performance and Investment Mechanism Reform

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, De; Fu, Meiying

    2009-01-01

    Along with the reform of Chinese Government public finance, higher education belongs to the public product, gradually changes from "fund investment management" to the "expenditure performance management". The evaluation of expenditure performance system becomes the key point of higher education investment mechanism reform. This…

  2. Reforming Higher Education in "Transition": Between National and International Reform Initiatives--The Case of Slovenia

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zgaga, Pavel; Miklavic, Klemen

    2011-01-01

    The article analyzes the last two decades of higher education reforms in Slovenia. During the "period of transition," they were led by national as well as international initiatives. At an early stage, the national initiatives were mainly based on criticisms of the last reform made by the former regime, although the generation of new…

  3. From policy to practice: education reform in Mozambique and ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    The Mozambican government has introduced reforms of basic education, notably the introduction of interdisciplinarity, learner-centredness and new teaching pedagogies. This is a case study of how these curriculum reforms have been implemented at Marrere Teachers' Training College. We conducted interviews with ...

  4. Using Citizen Science to Engage Preservice Elementary Educators in Scientific Fieldwork

    Science.gov (United States)

    Scott, Catherine M.

    2016-01-01

    Preservice elementary teachers' lack of confidence in teaching science is an ongoing concern. Only 29% of elementary teachers in the field felt "very well prepared to teach life science," according to the National Survey of Science and Mathematics Education. Research has suggested that bridging informal and formal science education can…

  5. A well-started beginning elementary teacher's beliefs and practices in relation to reform recommendations about inquiry-based science

    Science.gov (United States)

    Avraamidou, Lucy

    2017-06-01

    Given reform recommendations emphasizing scientific inquiry and empirical evidence pointing to the difficulties beginning teachers face in enacting inquiry-based science, this study explores a well-started beginning elementary teacher's (Sofia) beliefs about inquiry-based science and related instructional practices. In order to explore Sofia's beliefs and instructional practices, several kinds of data were collected in a period of 9 months: a self-portrait and an accompanying narrative, a personal philosophy assignment, three interviews, three journal entries, ten lesson plans, and ten videotaped classroom observations. The analysis of these data showed that Sofia's beliefs and instructional practices were reform-minded. She articulated contemporary beliefs about scientific inquiry and how children learn science and was able to translate these beliefs into practice. Central to Sofia's beliefs about science teaching were scientific inquiry and engaging students in investigations with authentic data, with a prevalent emphasis on the role of evidence in the construction of scientific claims. These findings are important to research aiming at supporting teachers, especially beginning ones, to embrace reform recommendations.

  6. A Resource Guide on Indian Arts and Crafts for Elementary and Secondary Teachers.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fagot, Madeleine

    American Indian arts and crafts reference materials (published 1923-1973) are listed in this annotated resource guide for elementary and secondary school teachers. Approximately 260 listings are given for: books, films and filmstrips, maps and charts, picture sets, magazines, bibliographies and indexes, slide kits, transparencies, distributor's…

  7. Synthesis of Findings from 15?years of Educational Reform in Thailand: Lessons on Leading Educational Change in East Asia

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hallinger, Philip; Bryant, Darren A.

    2013-01-01

    The past two decades have been a period of active education reform throughout much of the world, and East Asia is no exception. This paper synthesizes findings from a series of empirical studies of educational reform in Thailand where an ambitious educational reform law was adopted in 1999. The purpose is to identify lessons learned about…

  8. Cypriot Urban Elementary Students' Attitude toward Physical Education

    Science.gov (United States)

    Constantinides, Panos; Silverman, Stephen

    2018-01-01

    Purpose: This study examined the attitudes of Cypriot elementary school students toward physical education. Fourth, fifth and sixth grade students (N = 763) from six urban Cypriot elementary schools completed an attitude instrument. Methods: Adapting the attitude instrument for Greek-speaking students an extensive two-step pilot study showed the…

  9. A comparison of higher education reforms in Egypt and Morocco

    OpenAIRE

    Kohstall, Florian

    2012-01-01

    This doctoral thesis examines the impact of international aid agencies on the reform agenda of North African countries. It analyses and compares the paths of higher education reform (1997-2007) in Egypt and Morocco, using analytical instruments pertaining to new approaches in public policy theory. For a long time, both countries appeared relatively immune against reform pressure from outside. Still, the analysis of their reform processes shows that the internationalization of higher educa...

  10. Attitudinal Variables Affecting Education Reforms and Quality of Primary Education in Uganda

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nyenje, Aida; Nkata, James

    2016-01-01

    This paper establishes the extent to which attitudinal variables affect the education reforms and subsequently the quality of primary education in Uganda. The paper is based on the views of a wide spectrum of different education stakeholders including: policy analysts, Members of Parliament (MPs), education officers, Headteachers, teaching staff,…

  11. Education reforms: consequences for the systems and the workers in education

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Heleno Araújo Filho

    2011-10-01

    Full Text Available This article approaches the consequences of the reforms in basic education, which started with the promulgation of the Federal Constitution of 1988. These reforms were elaborated without the social participation, resulting, nowadays, in high number of no literate people, big percentage of functional illiterates, the non universalization of the service school, low quality of the learning and a school with difficulties to accomplishing its paper of preparing the citizen for the life and the work. Besides, the education politics took a long time, after the Constitution, for being approved and they didn't assist to the claims and expectations of the workers’ in education. However, in the last three years, there were changes in the structure of the Brazilian education, causing some progresses; but, still, there are challenges to be overcome. The author concluded getting the attention for the importance of the participation, organization and intervention of the organized entities of the social movements so that the present challenges in the education are overcome and that the education is in the right direction.

  12. Equitable science education in urban middle schools: Do reform efforts make a difference?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hewson, Peter W.; Butler Kahle, Jane; Scantlebury, Kathryn; Davies, Darleen

    2001-12-01

    A central commitment of current reforms in science education is that all students, regardless of culture, gender, race, and/ or socioeconomic status, are capable of understanding and doing science. The study Bridging the Gap: Equity in Systemic Reform assessed equity in systemic reform using a nested research design that drew on both qualitative and quantitative methodologies. As part of the study, case studies were conducted in two urban middle schools in large Ohio cities. The purpose of the case studies was to identify factors affecting equity in urban science education reform. Data were analyzed using Kahle's (1998) equity metric. That model allowed us to assess progress toward equity using a range of research-based indicators grouped into three categories critical for equitable education: access to, retention in, and achievement in quality science education. In addition, a fourth category was defined for systemic indicators of equity. Analyses indicated that the culture and climate of the case study schools differentially affected their progress toward equitable reform in science education.

  13. Physical Education and Health Education for Wyoming Elementary Schools, Grades Kindergarten-Six.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Woods, John B., Ed.

    GRADES OR AGES: K-6. SUBJECT MATTER: Physical education and health education. ORGANIZATION AND PHYSICAL APPEARANCE: There are 10 main sections--1) the elementary school program--organization and administration; 2) movement exploration and education; 3) rhythmic activities; 4) games; 5) stunts, tumbling, trampoline, and apparatus; 6) individual,…

  14. Reforming the educated person in Bolivia

    OpenAIRE

    Uski, Juha Janne Olavi

    2011-01-01

    The Bolivian educational reform law nr. 070 was approved in 2010 and its implementation is beginning in 2012. Basing itself on a combination of Marxist and Cultural Studies -influenced theories, the thesis examines the tensions between the vision of Law 070 and the conditions and aspirations of the stakeholders. A central concept in this discussion is ”the cultural production of the educated person”, and the development of the concept of the educated person through the history of Bolivia is d...

  15. Examining The Beliefs Of Prospective Elementary And Science Teachers Regarding Reformed Science Teaching And Learning

    OpenAIRE

    KARAMAN, Ayhan; KARAMAN, Pınar

    2014-01-01

    Turkey following the footsteps of western education system is nowadays struggling to implement constructivist paradigm in its schools. The success of the integration of constructivist elements into the schools is heavily contingent upon the support of teachers. This necessitates that the ideas advocated in constructivist reform movements should be promoted adequately in the preparation of teacher candidates. Therefore, investigating the beliefs of prospective teachers regarding reformed scien...

  16. Globalization, statist political economy, and unsuccessful education reform in South Korea, 1993-2003.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ki Su Kim

    2005-02-01

    Full Text Available This article examines the relationship between globalization and national education reforms, especially those of educational systems. Instead of exploring the much debated issues of how globalization affects national educational systems and how the nations react by what kinds of systemic education reform, however, it focuses on what such a method often leaves out, viz., the internal conditions of a nation that facilitates or hampers reform efforts. Taking South Korea as an example, it explores that country's unique national context which restricts and even inhibits education reforms. Especially noted here is the established "statist" political economy in education. In the paper's analysis, although South Korea's statist political economy has made a substantial contribution to economic and educational development, it is now considered increasingly unviable as globalization progresses. Nevertheless, the internal conditions, resultant from the previous statist policies, set limits on policy makers' efforts to alter the existing educational system. The analysis suggests that a fuller assessment of globalization's impact upon national educational systems or their reforms requires a perspective which is broad enough to encompass not only the concepts and/or theories of globalization and nation states but also the power relations and ideological setup of individual nations.

  17. GLOBALIZATION, NEOLIBERALISM, EDUCATIONAL REFORMS AND CREATIVITY

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Octavio González-Vázquez

    2015-07-01

    Full Text Available Globalization and neoliberalism strongly affect education reforms in our country. Changes involving the three processes have conditions that can promote or inhibit the development of creativity. We can use one or the other with the development of our own creativity.

  18. On Quality Education Reform in International Trade Major

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ma, Jing; Xiao, Jing

    2011-01-01

    The purpose of this paper is to analyze the existing problems of quality education of specialization of international trade in current colleges and universities of China, and then propose several pieces of corresponding suggestion on educational reform. According to the characteristics of college and university education, we shall emphasize on the…

  19. Critical Literacy in Elementary Education in Cambodia

    Science.gov (United States)

    In, Vichea

    2012-01-01

    This study focuses on a quest for insights into the introduction and negotiation of critical literacy in elementary education in Cambodia, whose recent past was scarred by devastating conflicts and wars. In this study, critical education is seen as a key to avoiding the reproduction of an unwanted past and minimizing social injustice in Cambodia.…

  20. Circulation and Internationalisation of Pedagogical Concepts and Practices in the Discourse of Education: The Hamburg School Reform Experiment (1919-1933)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mayer, Christine

    2014-01-01

    In the context of the international exchange of school reform ideas and concepts, the new schools in Hamburg were recognised as exemplary instances of a revolutionary and forceful reform in the public elementary school systems. Based on studies of transfer and their premise that the transnational transfer of ideas, practices and objects does not…

  1. "I've Tried and I've Died This Year": First-Year Teachers Reflect on Literacy Reform

    Science.gov (United States)

    Broemmel, Amy D.; Swaggerty, Elizabeth A.

    2017-01-01

    This article describes the challenges associated with outcomes-based education reform as experienced by two novice elementary teachers. Interviews with the teachers provide insights into the tensions between their teaching beliefs and the practices employed in their local contexts. Specifically, pressures to both focus on standardized measures of…

  2. Perceptions of Elementary School Children's Parents Regarding Sexuality Education

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fisher, Christine M.; Telljohann, Susan K.; Price, James H.; Dake, Joseph A.; Glassman, Tavis

    2015-01-01

    This study examined the preferences of parents of elementary school-aged children regarding when sexuality topics should be discussed in school and at home. The survey was mailed to a national random sample of parents of elementary school age children. Overall, 92% of parents believed that sexuality education should be taught in schools.…

  3. The transnational grip on Scandinavian education reforms

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Krejsler, John B.; Olsson, Ulf; Petersson, Kenneth

    2014-01-01

    This article reveals how templates that emerge from opaque albeit often inclusive policy processes in transnational forums (EU, OECD & the Bologna Process) affect education reform policy in Scandinavian countries, such as Denmark and Sweden. The open method of coordination is the mother template...... of the political technologies (standards, performance indicators, scorecards, best practices) that are instrumental in fashioning reforms. This template commits countries in consensus-making ways to comparison, and normalizes the competitive incentive of mutual peer pressure. The authors draw on post...

  4. Reform of the Educational Finance System as the Foundation of Compulsory Education

    Science.gov (United States)

    Suetomi, Kaori; Murray, Nadezhda

    2014-01-01

    The conditions required for a reform of the educational finance system as the foundation of compulsory education are 1) devolution to schools and introduction of national standards in order to deal with "individual equality" while compensating for the insufficiency of "aspectual equality," and 2) dealing with educational needs…

  5. Outlook on Student Retention in Higher Education University Reforms in Morocco

    OpenAIRE

    Zoulal Mansouri; Mohamed El Amine Moumine

    2017-01-01

    High student attrition rates at university have become one of the most challenging issues in higher education worldwide in the last five decades. Moroccan universities are no exception. At-risk students drop out of studies for a plethora of reasons, and the attrition rate is increasing despite the efforts made in education reforms carried out since 1999. This article reviews the most important components of the higher education reforms that have been adopted in Moroccan higher education in th...

  6. Elementary Principals' Strategies for Managing the Educational Technology Refresh Process: A Case Study

    Science.gov (United States)

    Denton, Edward A.

    2011-01-01

    Increased uses of educational technology by students and teachers in recent years have compelled elementary principals to expand educational technology resources and replace educational technology resources at the end of it's service life. The purpose of this study was to investigate strategies and practices employed by elementary principals…

  7. Translating Globalization and Democratization into Local Policy: Educational Reform in Hong Kong and Taiwan

    Science.gov (United States)

    Law, Wing-Wah

    2004-11-01

    The past two decades have witnessed three important international trends: an increase in the number of democratic states; economic globalization; and educational reforms in light of the challenges of the new millennium. A great deal of research has addressed educational change in relation to either globalization or democratization, but little has been said about the complex interactions among all three processes. In view of recent educational reforms in Hong Kong and Taiwan, the present contribution examines the local nature of education policy in a globalized age. It challenges those globalization theories which minimize the role of the state and exaggerate the power of globalization over local factors. In particular, it explores how the governments of these two Chinese societies have employed democratization to generate and legitimate reform proposals and have used economic globalization to justify educational reforms. The study concludes by discussing the complex interrelations of these processes, including tensions between global and local concerns in educational reform.

  8. Mathematics Teacher Identity in the Context of Mathematics Reform: Elementary Teacher Experiences

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sun, Jennifer

    2017-01-01

    Reform efforts and changes in mathematics education have brought on a shift towards a new vision of mathematics teaching in the United States. In light of recent accountability standards, the focus on teacher learning within the context of mathematics professional development is even more pressing. Prior research on teacher learning in the context…

  9. Measuring Attitudes toward Inclusive Education.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wilczenski, Felicia L.

    1992-01-01

    Developed scale to measure attitudes toward inclusive education, in which disabled students are responsibility of regular teacher supported by specialists. Administered scale to 301 elementary and secondary teachers and to 144 undergraduate elementary education majors. Analysis yielded four discrete dimensions of inclusive education with…

  10. Outlook on Student Retention in Higher Education University Reforms in Morocco

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Zoulal Mansouri

    2017-04-01

    Full Text Available High student attrition rates at university have become one of the most challenging issues in higher education worldwide in the last five decades. Moroccan universities are no exception. At-risk students drop out of studies for a plethora of reasons, and the attrition rate is increasing despite the efforts made in education reforms carried out since 1999. This article reviews the most important components of the higher education reforms that have been adopted in Moroccan higher education in their endeavor to enhance student retention in university. These components are chronologically reviewed, first in the National Charter of Education and Training (NCET launched in 1999, second in the Emergency Plan conducted in 2009-2012, and finally in the latest Strategic Vision of Reform 2015-2030. It is concluded that more efforts are necessary to strike a balance between quantity and quality in terms of student retention in university education.

  11. A call for self-reflection as professors engage the issues of science education reform: An ethnographic study

    Science.gov (United States)

    Licona, Miguel M.

    Science becomes distorted and undemocratic when it is categorized into disciplines that, in turn, perpetuate borders creating conditions of inequality for the general population. Science education reform represents a starting point from which to approach notions of exclusion and inaccessibility. Students not intending to major in science often encounter environments as well as professors that serve to limit their potential and thereby exclude them from greater exposure and participation in the sciences. This qualitative study considers professional practices of professors who hold key positions for the success of science teaching and learning. Through classroom observation, in-depth interviewing and a survey questionnaire, this study sheds fight on the process of science education reform. Participants included six university professors who taught a reformed science course developed under the guidance of a National Science Foundation initiative known as the Collaborative for Excellence in Teacher Preparation. The purpose of this study is to understand the nature of faculty beliefs concerning teaching and learning science for students not intending to major in science, most of whom are elementary education majors. In this study, professors' espoused belief systems were elicited while their mental models that drive behavior were observed in the classroom setting. Incongruencies between theories in practice and theories in use were uncovered and explored. Major implications for who can and cannot learn science within the context of a system that currently serves to pre-select who will succeed are uncovered as a result of this study. The constant comparative method developed by Glaser and Strauss was used to analyze the words of each individual participant as she/he worked to consider the incongruencies in her/his theory and practice (as cited in Maykut & Morehouse, 1994). Self-reflection is identified as key in the process of praxis that will aid professors in their

  12. High School Diversification against Educational Equality: A Critical Analysis of Neoliberal Education Reform in South Korea

    Science.gov (United States)

    Oh, Jeongran

    2011-01-01

    Recent reforms of high school education in Korea have focused on transforming the uniform and standardized system into a deregulated and diversified system that has an emphasis on school choice and competition. Situating the high school diversification policy in the context of the recent controversy of the neoliberal educational reform, this study…

  13. Examining the Potential of Critical and Kaupapa Maori Approaches to Leading Education Reform in New Zealand's English-Medium Secondary Schools

    Science.gov (United States)

    Berryman, Mere; Egan, Margaret; Ford, Therese

    2017-01-01

    This paper discusses expectations, policies and practices that currently underpin education within the New Zealand context. It acknowledges the ongoing failure of this policy framework to positively influence reform for Indigenous Maori students in regular, state-funded schools and highlights the need for extensive change in the positioning and…

  14. Turning Lightning into Electricity: Organizing Parents for Education Reform

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kelly, Andrew P.

    2014-01-01

    Families are the primary clients of public schools, but they are one of many constituencies who have a say in how schools actually operate. In all the technocratic fervor around "education reform"--the broad effort to implement standards and accountability, reform teacher tenure and evaluation, and increase parental choice--it is easy to…

  15. A Study of Pre-Service Elementary Teachers' Mathematical Sophistication in a Reform-Oriented Calculus Course

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ritter, Carrie Lineberry

    2015-01-01

    Calls for better preparation of STEM teachers have been prominent in educational communities and among the public for the past several years (e.g. American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education, 2007). Some research suggests one way to improve mathematics instruction is to increase elementary pre-service teachers' "mathematical…

  16. Motherhood, Gender Education Reforms, Empowerment, MDGS ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    reforms/innovations in motherhood/gender education in enhancing attainment of the Millennium Development Goals in Africa for sustainable development. In doing this, responses of 1,672 working mothers, randomly selected from North, South, East, and West Africa were analyzed which identified top among ten others as ...

  17. Administrative Reform and the Egyptian Ministry of Education.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hanson, E. Mark

    1990-01-01

    Identifies and analyzes the organizational constraints acting upon and within the Egyptian Ministry of Education that deter its capacity for administrative reform. Despite being highly bureaucratic, the ministry's administrative structure operates with relative efficiency. However, the ministry cannot seem to change the educational system's…

  18. How Data Mining Threatens Student Privacy. Joint Hearing before the Subcommittee on Cybersecurity, Infrastructure Protection, and Security Technologies of the Committee on Homeland Security, House of Representatives Serial No. 113-76 and the Subcommittee on Early Childhood, Elementary, and Secondary Education of the Committee on Education and the Workforce, House of Representatives Serial No. 113-61, House of Representatives, One Hundred Thirteenth Congress, Second Session (June 25, 2014)

    Science.gov (United States)

    US House of Representatives, 2015

    2015-01-01

    This paper presents the first joint hearing of the Subcommittee on Cybersecurity, Infrastructure Protection, and Security Technologies of the Committee on Homeland Security and the Subcommittee on Early Childhood, Elementary, and Secondary Education of the Committee on Education and the Workforce. The subcommittees met to examine data collection…

  19. Reforms in Education: The Need for Re-Engineering Teacher Education for Sustainable Development

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ofoego, O. C.; Ebebe, I. E.

    2016-01-01

    The paper is concerned with reforms in Education and the need for re-engineering Teacher education in Nigeria for better professionalism and National Development. In the process, key concepts like Teacher Education and professionalism were explained. A brief review of the state of Teacher Education and Development in Nigeria revealed the…

  20. Politics and Culture in Croation Higher Education: A Comparative Perspective on Educational Reform.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Reichard, Max

    1992-01-01

    Offers a historical overview of a series of reforms of higher education in the former Yugoslavia republic, stressing the cultural importance of "obrazovanje" (formal education/training) and "odgoj" (moral education/personal development) in Croatia. Describes the development of "visa skola," comparable to U.S.…

  1. Educational Change by Commission: Attempting "Trickle Down" Reform.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ginsberg, Rick; Wimpelberg, Robert K.

    1987-01-01

    The processes and procedures of national commissions on education are discussed. Elements of commonality are presented with a review of competing explanations of the popularity of such commissions. A sociopolitical thesis of educational reform through commissions is advanced, based on the "trickle down" theory of economics. (SLD)

  2. Dysfunction and Educational Reform in Morocco

    OpenAIRE

    Llorent Bedmar, Vicente

    2015-01-01

    Since 1956, the year in Morocco achieved independence, until now, the school system has been the subject of many discussions and controversies in the most varied areas of the country. We provide data on the educational situation. We analyze the reforms from a critical perspective, ending with final proposals. We concluded by acknowledging the efforts made in recent years in the Moroccan education sector, although there is still a considerable number of clearly important aspects of improvement.

  3. Elementary education in the correctional institution in Valjevo

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Milak Siniša

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available Education of the residents in correctional institutions for juveniles has not a long tradition in our country. That is the reason why many questions linked to the organization and forms of their education, especially elementary education, remain open. The scope of this article is to present the process of acquiring elementary education of the residents in the correctional institution for juveniles. Since the Correctional Institute in Valjevo is the only institution for juveniles in our country at the moment, in which juvenile offenders spend their time penalties, the question of their education in the institution is worth our attention. The paper presents the results of a qualitative research conducted in this institution. The exeminees were the teachers who teach the residents in the school which is within the Correctional Institute in Valjevo. The teachers evaluated the existing organization and education of residents mainly positively, and singled out only some financial, space, and technical problems. The research pointed out the importance and value of this form of education for the residents, especially for their subsequent resocialization and integration in the society after leaving the Institute, as well as the importance of pedagogy for solving the problems of educating residents of correctional instutions for juveniles.

  4. Subjective Well-Being of Children in the Context of Educational Transitions

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Günter Krampen

    2013-11-01

    Full Text Available The objective of two empirical studies is the analysis of the development of subjective well-being in kindergarten and elementary school students in the context of the educational transitions (1 from kindergarten to elementary school and (2 from elementary to secondary schools in two different national school systems. Semi-structured interviews on self-esteem and dysthymic mood (i.e., low spirits, feelings of depressiveness and of dejection were administered in 5 cohorts (two kindergarten and the first three elementary school years. Measurements were repeated three times each a year apart. Samples refer to 312 German and 244 Luxembourg children enrolled in educational systems with optional kindergarten, 4-year comprehensive elementary school, and educational placement thereafter (Germany versus obligatory kindergarten and 6-year comprehensive elementary school (Luxembourg. Time- and age-effects point to significant discontinuities in the development of subjective well-being. There are declines of self-esteem and increases of dysthymic mood just after school enrollment (“transition shock” in the Luxembourg sample, whereas quite similar developments are observed in the last elementary school year before educational placement for secondary education in the German sample. School enrollment and educational placement for secondary education are critical life events with significant impact on children’s well-being, which varies between different school systems.

  5. Who Wants to Learn More Science? The Role of Elementary School Science Experiences and Science Self-Perceptions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Aschbacher, Pamela R.; Ing, Marsha

    2017-01-01

    Background/Context: Much science education reform has been directed at middle and high school students; however, earlier experiences in elementary school may well have an important impact on young people's future science literacy and preparation for possible STEM careers. Purpose/Objective/Research Question/Focus of Study: This study explores the…

  6. Reform Implementation and Educational Management in Vocational Colleges

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Friche, Nanna; Slottved, Mette

    In 2014, a new reform of the VET system in Denmark was decided by a broad political coalition in the Parliament. This reform implies fundamental changes in VET, for example by changing the course structure and design, by an intended boost of teaching quality, by limited access, and a separation...... and targets reflects governance principles of performance management. Performance management is an idea that is growing in popularity, in Europa and abroad. In Denmark, the VET reform represents an example of how management philosophy and ideas of performance management inform a number of current reforms...... in the policy area of education. The logic of performance management is that organizations and individuals are given objectives, measurable indicators are derived from these objectives, and features such as authority or incentives are deployed in order for organizational actors to meet or improve performance...

  7. Comparing Slovenian year 8 and year 9 elementary school pupils’ knowledge of electrolyte chemistry and their intrinsic motivation

    OpenAIRE

    Devetak, Iztok; Drofenik Lorber, Erna; Juriševič, Mojca; Glažar, Saša

    2015-01-01

    This study explored the differences between eight-year elementary school pupils (before the curriculum reform) and nine-year elementary school pupils (soon after the curriculum reform) in Slovenia, as regards specific chemistry knowledge and motivation to learn chemistry. Altogether, 191 elementary school pupils participated in the study. The results show that pupils of nine-year elementary school are not significantly better at chemistry knowledge test scores than eight-year elementary schoo...

  8. America Y2K: The Obsolescence of Educational Reforms

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sherman Dorn

    2000-01-01

    Full Text Available The passing of the deadline for fulfillment of the national education goals in the United States (the beginning of 2000 reflects the frequently hyperbolic statements of objectives and the manic pace of school reform efforts over the past two decades. The domination by schools of child and family life has combined with a longstanding reliance on schools to solve social problems to make school reform a politically opportune as well as visible issue. Thus, even if the phrasing of national education goals in the U.S. changes to reflect the passing of the nominal deadline, those pressures will remain.

  9. Local Instruction Theories as Means of Support for teachers in Reform Mathematics Education

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Gravemeijer, K.P.E.

    2004-01-01

    This article focuses on a form of instructional design that is deemed fitting for reform mathematics education. Reform mathematics education requires instruction that helps students in developing their current ways of reasoning into more sophisticated ways of mathematical reasoning. This implies

  10. Scaling up Education Reform: Addressing the Politics of Disparity

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bishop, Russell; O'Sullivan, Dominic; Berryman, Mere

    2010-01-01

    What is school reform? What makes it sustainable? Who needs to be involved? How is scaling up achieved? This book is about the need for educational reforms that have built into them, from the outset, those elements that will see them sustained in the original sites and spread to others. Using the Te Kotahitanga Project as a model the authors…

  11. Converging Paths or Ships Passing in the Night? An "English" Critique of Japanese School Reform.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Green, Andy

    2000-01-01

    Examines origins and potential effects of liberalizing reforms in Japanese secondary education in light of British experiences with policies such as local school management and school choice. Argues that Japanese reform involves necessary diversification of curriculum and pedagogic practices, but administrative shifts toward deregulation and…

  12. Educational Partnership and the Dilemmas of School Reform.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Seeley, David

    Today's educational reform proposals are undermined by four dilemmas. First, the public may demand visible results before it will provide the funding needed to achieve them. Second, higher academic standards will increase failure rates, while more attainable standards will inadequately educate students. Third, the current focus on high schools may…

  13. Education Governance Reform in Ontario: Neoliberalism in Context

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sattler, Peggy

    2012-01-01

    This paper explores the relationship between neoliberal ideology and the discourse and practice of education governance reform in Ontario over the last two decades. It focuses on changes in education governance introduced by successive Ontario governments: the NDP government from 1990 to 1995, the Progressive Conservative government from 1995 to…

  14. Down by the Riverside: A CRT Perspective on Education Reform in Two River Cities

    Science.gov (United States)

    Anderson, Celia Rousseau; Dixson, Adrienne D.

    2016-01-01

    In this article, the authors utilize core ideas from Critical Race Theory (CRT) to examine the nature of education reform in two river cities. Similar to other cases of education reform in urban districts, the reforms in the two focal cities reflect at least four characteristics in common: (1) a form of portfolio management; (2) the growth of…

  15. Equity in Elementary Science Education: A Study of Institutional and Policy Factors

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hayes, Kathryn N.

    reduced school staff's sense of agency in negotiating for science education goals, and their ability to creatively incorporate science education. Conversely, schools and districts in lower poverty contexts were able to leverage the active interest of parents and other external and internal resources to resist the pressures of accountability and create compromise strategies that supported science education. As implementation of Common Core and the Next Generation Science Standards proceeds, restructuring should take into account the results of this study and others like it, as research and national priorities have historically been focused primarily on teacher development. Although it may be the case, as Milner et al. (2012) claim, that teacher beliefs and attitudes are a key to instructional reform, or that well-targeted professional development can make a great difference in science education implementation (Murphy et al., 2007), without addressing the policy and contextual milieu such efforts may not be efficacious. Moreover, as found in other studies (Malen & Rice, 2004), strengthening school capacity in terms of leadership, teacher retention, and innovative school culture may hold more promise for enhancing the quality of elementary science education than simply increasing the pressures of accountability through high stakes tests.

  16. Bourdieu, Department Chairs and the Reform of Science Education

    Science.gov (United States)

    Melville, Wayne; Hardy, Ian; Bartley, Anthony

    2011-11-01

    Using the insights of the French sociologist, Pierre Bourdieu, this article considers the role of the science department chair in the reform of school science education. Using Bourdieu's 'thinking tools' of 'field', 'habitus' and 'capital', we case study the work of two teachers who both actively pursue the teaching and learning of science as inquiry. One teacher, Dan, has been a department chair since 2000, and has actively encouraged his department to embrace science as inquiry. The other teacher, Leslie, worked for one year in Dan's department before being transferred to another school where science teaching continues to be more traditional. Our work suggests that there are three crucial considerations for chairs seeking to lead the reform of science teaching within their department. The first of these is the development of a reform-minded habitus, as this appears to be foundational to the capital that can be expended in the leadership of reform. The second is an understanding of how to wield power and position in the promotion of reform. The third is the capacity to operate simultaneously and strategically within, and across, two fields; the departmental field and the larger science education field. This involves downplaying administrative logics, and foregrounding more inquiry-focused logics as a vehicle to challenge traditional science-teaching dispositions-the latter being typically dominated by concerns about curriculum 'coverage'.

  17. Tobephobia Experienced by Teachers in Secondary Schools: An Exploratory Study Focusing on Curriculum Reform in the Nelson Mandela Metropole

    Science.gov (United States)

    Singh, P.

    2011-01-01

    Because of its history from apartheid to democracy, the aspiration to reform schools is a recurrent theme in South African education. Efforts to reform education in schools based on the outcomes-based education (OBE) curriculum approach created major challenges for policy makers in South Africa. The purpose of this exploratory research was…

  18. At the Roots of Finnish Elementary Education – How Were Children Raised in the First Finnish Elementary Schools?

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Satu UUSIAUTTI

    2013-03-01

    Full Text Available This study dissects the history of Finnish elementary education and the way children were raised during the initial phase of Finnish education in the 18th century. The development of Finnish education was studied through contemporary decrees and laws and studies of Finnish school history. The preliminary aim was to focus on the principles and practices of raising children in Finnish schools. This study focuses on (1 describing the birth, goals, and practices of Finnish elementary education and development toward compulsory education, (2 describing the way children were raised toward the contemporary goals, and (3 dissecting the connection between teacher training and the goals of raising children in Finnish schools. All these viewpoints are discussed from the viewpoint of how the aspirations and objectives were realized and implemented in practice in raising children. As a conclusion, we discuss the influence of the past in today’s educational practices.

  19. At the Roots of Finnish Elementary Education –How Were Children Raised in the First Finnish Elementary Schools?

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Satu UUSIAUTTI

    2013-03-01

    Full Text Available This study dissects the history of Finnish elementary education and the way children were raised during the initial phase of Finnish education in the 18th century. The development of Finnish education was studied through contemporary decrees and laws and studies of Finnish school history. The preliminary aim was to focus on the principles and practices of raising children in Finnish schools. This study focuses on (1 describing the birth, goals, and practices of Finnish elementary education and development toward compulsory education, (2 describing the way children were raised toward the contemporary goals, and (3 dissecting the connection between teacher training and the goals of raising children in Finnish schools. All these viewpoints are discussed from the viewpoint of how the aspirations and objectives were realized and implemented in practice in raising children. As a conclusion, we discuss the influence of the past in today’s educational practices.

  20. The Impact of Resilience on Role Stressors and Burnout in Elementary and Secondary Teachers

    Science.gov (United States)

    Richards, K. Andrew; Levesque-Bristol, Chantal; Templin, Thomas J.; Graber, Kim C.

    2016-01-01

    The role of a teacher is becoming increasingly complex, and it is more important than ever that teachers develop resilience to overcome stress and burnout. A conceptual framework to explain the ability of resilience to decrease role stress and burnout was developed and tested. Participants included 415 teachers (174 elementary, 241 secondary) who…

  1. Social Justice and Resisting Neoliberal Education Reform in the USA

    Science.gov (United States)

    Au, Wayne

    2016-01-01

    Efforts to reform public education along free-market, corporate-styled models have swept across many nations. In the USA these reforms have included an intense focus on the use of high-stakes, standardized tests to quantify students, teachers, and schools for market comparisons, the deprofessionalization of teaching, and the establishment of…

  2. Jump-Starting Educational Reform. Implementing British Columbia's Comprehensive School Act.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Goldman, Paul

    An educational reform effort to implement a comprehensive school act in British Columbia (Canada) is analyzed with a focus on some sociotechnical and political aspects. An overview of the content, background, and implementation of the reform effort is followed by identification of seven contradictions inherent in the plan. Contradictions are as…

  3. The Current State of Arts Education in Iran: A Case Study in Two Elementary Schools Using Educational Criticism

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nouri, Ali; Farsi, Soheila

    2018-01-01

    The central aim of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of the recently revised elementary curriculum for arts education in Iran. The study employed an educational criticism method and was conducted in two elementary schools. Data were collected by observation, semi-structured interviews and curriculum documents over a four-month period.…

  4. Developing Elementary Science PCK for Teacher Education: Lessons Learned from a Second Grade Partnership

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bradbury, Leslie U.; Wilson, Rachel E.; Brookshire, Laura E.

    2017-06-01

    In this self-study, two science educators partnered with two elementary teachers to plan, implement, and reflect on a unit taught in second grade classrooms that integrated science and language arts. The researchers hoped to increase their pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) for elementary science teaching so that they might use their experiences working in an elementary context to modify their practices in their elementary science method instruction. The research question guiding the study was: What aspects of our PCK for elementary science teaching do we as science educators develop by co-planning, co-teaching, and reflecting with second grade teachers? Data include transcripts of planning meetings, oral reflections about the experience, and videos of the unit being enacted. Findings indicate that managing resources for science teaching, organizing students for science learning, and reflecting on science teaching were themes prevalent in the data. These themes were linked to the model of PCK developed by Park and Oliver (Research in Science Education, 38, 261-284, 2008) and demonstrate that we developed PCK for elementary science teaching in several areas. In our discussion, we include several proposed changes for our elementary science methods course based on the outcomes of the study.

  5. Elementary General and Special Education Teachers' Mathematics Skills and Efficacy

    Science.gov (United States)

    Flores, Margaret M.; Thornton, Jennifer; Franklin, Toni M.; Hinton, Vanessa M.; Strozier, Shaunita

    2014-01-01

    The purpose of this study was to extend the literature regarding elementary teachers' beliefs about mathematics instruction to include special education teachers by surveying special education and general education teachers' mathematics teaching efficacy. In addition, the researchers' surveyed teachers' mathematics skills. The participants (n =…

  6. India: Financing of Elementary Education in India in the 1990s. South Asia Education Sector Technical Working Paper.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sipahimalani, Vandana

    This paper studies the trends in the financing of elementary education in India over the past decade. In 1994 the Indian Supreme Court issued a directive to universalize free and compulsory elementary education, but that in a changing economic milieu where social service expenditures have often been reduced in other countries, it is important to…

  7. Artifacts as Authoritative Actors in Educational Reform

    Science.gov (United States)

    März, Virginie; Kelchtermans, Geert; Vermeir, Karen

    2017-01-01

    Educational reforms are often translated in and implemented through artifacts. Although research has frequently treated artifacts as merely functional, more recent work acknowledges the complex relationship between material artifacts and human/organizational behavior. This article aims at disentangling this relationship in order to deepen our…

  8. Instruction in Musical Education during the Transitory Stage from Kindergarten to Elementary School

    OpenAIRE

    田中, 宏明; Hiroaki, TANAKA; 藤女子大学人間生活学部保育学科非常勤講師; Department of Erarly Childhood Care and Dducation, Faculty of Human Life Sciences, Fuji Women's University

    2015-01-01

    Kindergarten curricula are designed to encourage children to naturally learn music through everyday activities centered on playing as prescribed for the field of expression in Japan's Educational Guidelines for Kindergartens. In the revised 2008 Educational Guidelines for Elementary Schools, the phase "basic ability in musical activity"was added. The term "expression,"which appears at the beginning of the objectives in the Educational Guidelines for Elementary Schools, is not an ability consi...

  9. Reaching American Indian Special/Elementary Educators through a Partnership with a Navajo Nation School District.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Heimbecker, Connie; Medina, Catherine; Peterson, Patricia; Redsteer, Denise; Prater, Greg

    2002-01-01

    This article describes the Reaching American Indian Special/Elementary Educators (RAISE) program, a community-based native teacher education program located on the Navajo reservation in Kayenta, Arizona. The preservice teacher preparation partnership program is designed for uncertified Navajo special and elementary education preservice students…

  10. Elementary Preservice Teachers' and Teacher Educators' Perceptions of Financial Literacy Education

    Science.gov (United States)

    Henning, Mary Beth; Lucey, Thomas A.

    2017-01-01

    The authors conducted an online survey of elementary teacher education programs within a large midwestern state to assess preservice teachers' and teacher educators' beliefs about and preparedness to teach financial literacy. Very few preservice teachers had meaningful experiences with personal finance in high school, college, or personal decision…

  11. Intersections between School Reform, the Arts, and Special Education: The Children Left Behind

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hourigan, Ryan M.

    2014-01-01

    Arts education and special education within public schools have faced similar challenges in the wake of school reform. Services and programming have been reduced, leaving a larger gap in resources and accessibility. Because of loopholes in policy, new reform initiatives such as vouchers and charter schools will continue to marginalize students…

  12. Teacher education policies, practices, and reform in Scotland: Implications in the Indian context

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Pradeep Kumar Misra

    2015-12-01

    Full Text Available India, a country of 1.27 billion, nowadays needs reforms, improvements, and new approaches in teacher education to cater to the demands of changing economy and society. This call to improve teacher education becomes more significant considering the fact that 50% of India’s current population is below the age of 25 and over 65% below 35. There are two ways to proceed in this direction. First, making an internal review and assessment of present scenario of teacher education and suggesting need-based measures. The second one is to learn from those countries that have recently reviewed their teacher education systems and are continuously working for the betterment of teacher education. Following second approach, present paper analyzes teacher education policies, practices, and reform in Scotland, argues that concerns and commitments to reform teacher education in India and Scotland are similar, and suggests implications of Scottish experiences in the Indian context.

  13. Major Reforms of the Swedish Education System: 1950-1975. Staff Working Paper No. 290.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Heidenheimer, Arnold J.

    To develop a mass education structure that met the goals of both equality and efficiency, Sweden carried out extensive educational reforms between 1950 and 1975, starting at lower educational levels and moving in gradual staqes to the highest levels. This report looks at the background, nature, and history of these reforms. Its chapter on the…

  14. Pushing up against the Limit-Horizon of Educational Change: A Critical Discourse Analysis of Popular Education Reform Texts

    Science.gov (United States)

    Anderson, Ashlee; Aronson, Brittany; Ellison, Scott; Fairchild-Keyes, Sherrie

    2015-01-01

    With this article, we work to identify the limit-horizon of possible ideas, practices, and ways of talking about education reform and schooling via a critical discourse analysis of selected popular political and governmental texts. To do so, we explore the popular discourse of education reform in the United States through our analyses of three…

  15. Educational Development and Reformation in Malaysia: Past, Present, and Future.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ahmad, Rahimah Haji

    1998-01-01

    Discusses educational development in Malaysia, focusing on curriculum changes, issues, and future perspectives. Discusses the development of values education, its importance in the curriculum, and the government's efforts to mold a united nation with Malaysian values. Current reforms target tertiary education. The school curriculum has not been…

  16. Education Policy Reform in Sri Lanka: The Double-Edged Sword of Political Will

    Science.gov (United States)

    Little, Angela W.

    2011-01-01

    In 1997, the Government of Sri Lanka launched a comprehensive set of education reforms designed to promote equitable access to basic education and improvements in learning outcomes. The package of reforms arose as a political response to widespread youth unrest in the late 1980s and attracted considerable "political will", a vague but…

  17. Lebanon's 2011 ICT Education Reform Strategy and Action Plan: Curriculum Success or Abeyance

    Science.gov (United States)

    Awada, Ghada; Diab, Hassan

    2016-01-01

    The purpose of the present study was to investigate the effectiveness of Lebanon's Education Reform Strategy and Action Plan (LERSAP) set in 2011 as a form of the educational reform the curriculum underwent through focusing on promoting and employing the information communication technology (ICT) tools. The LERSAP was launched to equip teachers…

  18. Reforms and innovations in Nordic vocational education:

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Jørgensen, Christian Helms

    2018-01-01

    The chapter examines policy reforms and innovations in the Nordic vocational education and training systems (VET) related to two challenges. The first is to improve the links of the VET system to the labour market and to ease the students’ transition to employment. It examines three new types...

  19. Architectural education and its role in teaching of art education in the second level of elementary schools

    OpenAIRE

    PRAŽANOVÁ, Markéta

    2011-01-01

    The goal of the work was effort to find reasons why to include the education in the field of architecture and environmental culture in teaching systems, mainly in the second level of elementary schools. I tried to apply these reasons into the topics of architecture training in the lessons of art education. The research among nearly 250 pupils of the 8.and 9.class of the elementary schools in big and small towns and last but not least also the discussion with the teachers of art education at e...

  20. Preferences Regarding School Sexuality Education among Elementary Schoolchildren's Parents

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dake, Joseph A.; Price, James H.; Baksovich, Christine M.; Wielinski, Margaret

    2014-01-01

    Background: A comprehensive review of the literature failed to find any studies to assess elementary school parents' preferred philosophical approach to teaching sexuality education and sexuality education topics discussed by parents. All previous research reported parent data for grades K-12 or grades 9-12 only. Methods: A random sample of 2400…

  1. An Assessment of Turkish Elementary Teachers in the Context of Education for Sustainable Development

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sagdic, Ali; Sahin, Elvan

    2016-01-01

    The purpose of the current study is to describe beliefs, perceived barriers and teaching strategy preference of elementary teachers with respect to education for sustainable development. The sample of research survey consisted of 211 elementary teachers who are also participant of projects on environmental education entitled Green Pack and…

  2. Jeremiad and Curriculum: The Haunting of the Secondary School.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Greene, Maxine

    1985-01-01

    Discusses the "American jeremiad"--a pervasive ideological theme portraying a national mission and our failures in achieving it--and the influence of this ideology on elementary and secondary education. (MCG)

  3. Proactive educational reforms in South Korea: Schools for Improvement and multicultural education

    OpenAIRE

    Lee, Hye-Won

    2014-01-01

    Introduction This paper discusses the educational issues and societal changes that have led to proactive reforms in the education system of South Korea. Korean pupils achieve high academic levels, but there have been some criticisms relating to sociocultural issues. In addition, Korea is being transformed into a multicultural society. Here we consider two examples of Korea’s educational interventions, introduced in response to contextual demands and societal changes: firstly, the Schools for...

  4. Practices of Elementary Principals in Influencing New Teachers to Remain in Education

    OpenAIRE

    Palermo, Thelma D.

    2002-01-01

    The grounded theory presented in this study describes practices elementary principals utilize in influencing new teachers to remain in education. Eleven teachers and three elementary principals from one school division in Virginia participated in this study. Interview data were collected, elementary principals were shadowed, and documents were analyzed. Thematic categories and sub categories were formed through data analysis. The grounded theory that resulted from this study is: principals wh...

  5. Influence of Social Reform Ideologies on Industrial/Technology Education

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ireh, Maduakolam

    2016-01-01

    The founding of industrial/technology education in Ameria represents the convergence of many influences dating back to the pre-industrial revolution era. Social reform movement, one of these influences, set out to change conditions considered to be causes of poverty and other social problems through active engagements in political, educational,…

  6. Blended Learning: enabling Higher Education Reform

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kathleen Matheos

    2018-01-01

    Full Text Available Blended learning research and practice have been areas of growth for two decades in Canada, with over 95% of Canadian higher education institutions involved in some form of blended learning. Despite strong evidence based research and practice blended learning, for the most part, has remained at sidelined in Canadian universities. The article argues the need for blended learning to situate itself within the timely and crucial Higher Education Reform (HER agenda. By aligning the affordances of blended learning with the components of HER, blended learning can clearly serve as an enabler for HER.

  7. Elementary ELA/Social Studies Integration: Challenges and Limitations

    Science.gov (United States)

    Heafner, Tina L.

    2018-01-01

    Adding instructional time and holding teachers accountable for teaching social studies are touted as practical, logical steps toward reforming the age-old tradition of marginalization. This qualitative case study of an urban elementary school, examines how nine teachers and one administrator enacted district reforms that added 45 minutes to the…

  8. Elementary Law-Related Education Program: 1981-82 Evaluation Report.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chambers, Barbara A.

    The Cleveland School District developed the Elementary Law-Related Education Program (ELRE) for students in grades three to six. The plan was designed to educate students in citizenship, the law, and the courts. It was implemented in the 1981-82 school year. The aims of the project were to develop student knowledge and attitude evaluation…

  9. Ghana's education reform 2007: A realistic proposition or a crisis of vision?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kuyini, Ahmed Bawa

    2013-07-01

    Ghana's recent "Education Reform 2007" envisions a system that strives to achieve both domestic and internationally-oriented goals emanating (1) from the Education for All (EFA) initiative, (2) from the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and (3) from global trends in education. Emboldened by the implementation of foreign-donor-funded programmes such as EFA, the restructuring of the Ghana Education Sector Project (EdSeP) and the Science Resource Centres (SRC) project, both the education reform of 2007 and recent educational policy debates have reiterated the need to emphasise the teaching of science and information and communication technology to make Ghana's students/graduates more competitive in the global labour market. However, the bulk of Ghana's economic activity actually remains domestic or unglobalised. And given a weak economy and declining social spending due to strict adherence to the prescribed structural adjustment policies of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank (WB), there is concern that a focus on international competitiveness may be a crisis of vision. On the basis of the Ghanaian government's failure to meet the stated goals of previous reforms such as that of 1974, and the education system's continuing dependence on foreign donor support, this paper argues that the goals of the new reform may be unachievable on a sustainable basis. It also argues that rather than subjugate national domestic priorities to a mirage of international credibility/competitiveness, Ghana should concentrate on capacitating her students/graduates to make maximum impact at domestic and local community levels.

  10. Regulatory Autonomy and Performance: The Reform of Higher Education Re-Visited

    Science.gov (United States)

    Enders, Jurgen; de Boer, Harry; Weyer, Elke

    2013-01-01

    The main aim of this article is to contribute to the understanding of organizational autonomy and control in higher education reform and related expectations as regards the performance of universities. Our analyses draws on principal-agent models as a normative theory of policy reform, and institutionalist approaches in public policy and…

  11. The Effectiveness of Special Education Teacher Evaluation Processes: Perspectives from Elementary Principals

    Science.gov (United States)

    Glowacki, Heather; Hackmann, Donald G.

    2016-01-01

    This study examined perceptions of Illinois public elementary school principals regarding the effectiveness of their school districts' evaluation systems for special education teachers in promoting professional development and job performance accountability. Using an online questionnaire, 330 of the state's 1,551 elementary principals responded to…

  12. Education Reform Sparks Teacher Protest in Mexico

    Science.gov (United States)

    Levinson, Bradley A.

    2014-01-01

    The current tumult in the Mexican education arena has deep roots in politics and tradition, but it is latter-day global competition and international measures of student performance that are driving reform efforts. Teacher strikes and demonstrations are not new in Mexico, but issues raised by today's protesting teachers represent a combination of…

  13. Enhancing teaching and learning in the Dutch vocational education system : Reforms enacted

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Elly de Bruijn; Stephen Billett; Jeroen Onstenk

    2017-01-01

    This book discusses how the Dutch vocational education system has undergone significant waves of reform driven by global imperatives, national concerns and governmental policy goals. Like elsewhere, the impetuses for these reforms are directed to generating a more industry-responsive,

  14. Mobile internet and technology for optical teaching reform in higher education

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhou, Muchun; Zhao, Qi; Chen, Yanru

    2017-08-01

    There are some problems in optical education such as insufficient flexibility, individuality and adaptability to students who need information and education at present. The development of mobile internet and technology provides support to solve these problems. Basic characteristics, advantages and developments of these techniques used in education are presented in this paper. Mobile internet is introduced to reform the classroom teaching of optical courses. Mobile network tool selection, teaching resources construction and reform in teaching methods are discussed. Academic record and sampling surveys are used to assess intention to adopt mobile internet and learning effect of academic major of students, the results show that high quality optical education can be offered by adopting mobile internet and technologies in traditional instruction.

  15. systemic chemical education reform [scer] in the global era

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    IICBA01

    growing the systemic way of thinking of our students that is one of the most important characteristics of Global Era. Here is the systemic education reform which means the change of our educational system from linearity to systemic in which we design the curriculum and write content systemically, which presented by SATL ...

  16. Music Education in Puerto Rican Elementary Schools: A Study from the Perspective of Music Teachers

    Science.gov (United States)

    López-León, Ricardo; Lorenzo-Quiles, Oswaldo; Addessi, Anna Rita

    2015-01-01

    This article presents, for the first time, descriptive research on the status of music education in Puerto Rican public elementary schools. General music education at elementary schools on the island has been part of the school offering for more than 50 years. As yet, music education at this level has not been recognized as an essential discipline…

  17. Developing Leadership Capacity in English Secondary Schools and Universities: Global Positioning and Local Mediation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wallace, Mike; Deem, Rosemary; O'Reilly, Dermot; Tomlinson, Michael

    2011-01-01

    Government responses to globalisation include developing educational leaders as reformers for workforce competitiveness in the knowledge economy. Qualitative research tracked interventions involving national leadership development bodies to acculturate leaders in secondary schools and universities. Acculturating leaders as reformers was mediated…

  18. A Discipline-Based Professional Development Faculty: A Case for Multiple-Site Collaborative Reform in the Disciplines.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hudson-Ross, Sally

    1998-01-01

    Describes a partnership among English-education faculty members and secondary English teachers, arguing that a multisite, discipline-based professional-development faculty provides an alternative for secondary-level Professional Development School principles-in-action. The paper discusses reform, departmentalization of high school and college…

  19. 45 CFR 84.39 - Private education.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-10-01

    ... 45 Public Welfare 1 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Private education. 84.39 Section 84.39 Public... Secondary Education § 84.39 Private education. (a) A recipient that provides private elementary or secondary education may not, on the basis of handicap, exclude a qualified handicapped person if the person can, with...

  20. 38 CFR 18.433 - Free appropriate public education.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-07-01

    ... education. 18.433 Section 18.433 Pensions, Bonuses, and Veterans' Relief DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS..., Secondary, and Adult Education § 18.433 Free appropriate public education. (a) General. A recipient that operates a public elementary or secondary education program shall provide a free appropriate public...

  1. Educational reform and the public: Two case studies of Poland and Saskatchewan (Canada)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kaproń, Danuta; Stephan, Werner

    1991-09-01

    The involvement of the public in educational reform processes in modern democratic societies primarily serves the purpose of politically legitimizing the reform agenda. This study examines the rationales implicitly or explicitly submitted to the public to explain why educational reforms in the two countries should be endorsed. Although differences in the political culture caution against a hasty comparison of the two case studies, a number of politico-economic similarities allow for a valid juxtaposition. In Poland the context of socio-political and economic renewal prompted the reformers to emphasize the human-capital model which heightened public awareness and participation in the debate surrounding the reform. Public involvement in Saskatchewan was negatively affected for mainly two reasons. First, the government evidently manipulated public input by various means and thereby appears to have predetermined the outcome. Second, the rationale for the reform, based on a free-market model, tightened the linkage between the needs of the labour market and the mandate of the schools. As a result, public interest and participation was greatly diminished.

  2. QUALIFICATIONS FRAMEWORKS LEADING TO REFORMS IN EAST EUROPEAN EDUCATION

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Arjen Vos

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available The paper examines the evolution of qualifications frameworks across Europe. Five years ago, it was not clear if the discussions on national qualification frameworks (NQF in Eastern Europe would lead to the new standards and qualifications development, or initiate the reforms in education and training. Now, there is evidence of more countries using the NQFs to promote a dialogue between the public and private sectors on the expected outcomes of educational process. In some countries, the private sector has even taken the lead in the NQF discussions, being increasingly involved in their implementation. This is a fundamentally new paradigm in education policies and a cornerstone of the demand driven education and training. Each country is following its own patterns while moving to the comparable results. However, this is just the initial stage of NQF implementation. The author regards learning by doing and the local expertise expansion as the key challenges of the coming years. Although the reforms take time, they increasingly tend to become a shared public and private responsibility.

  3. Teachers' Emotions in the Context of Education Reform: Labor Process Theory and Social Constructionism

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tsang, Kwok Kuen; Kwong, Tsun Lok

    2017-01-01

    In recent years, many teachers suffered different kinds of negative emotions in the context of education reforms. A typical explanation was that the education reforms disempowered teachers in teaching, so teachers were forced to do much non-instructional work. Teachers considered their work meaningless but were powerless to change it, and…

  4. It's Our School Too: Youth Activism as Educational Reform, 1951-1979

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ajunwa, Kelechi

    2011-01-01

    Activism has the potential for reform (Howard, 1976). Unlike previous studies on high school activism this study places a primary focus on underground newspapers and argues that underground newspapers allowed high school students to function as activists as well as educational reformers. In order to make this argument, this study examined over 150…

  5. [Exploration of the oral health education experimental teaching for oral health education reform].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jiang, Yingying; Hu, Wenting; Zhang, Juanjuan; Sun, Yan; Gao, Yuguang

    2014-04-01

    This study aimed to improve students' ability in practical and theoretical courses of oral health education and to promote students' learning interest and initiative. Fourth-year students of the oral medical profession from 2006 to 2008 at Weifang Medical University were chosen as research objects for oral health education to explore the experimental teaching reform. The students were divided into test and control groups, with the test group using the "speak out" way of teaching and the control group using the traditional teaching method. Results of after-class evaluation of the test group, as well as final examination and practice examination of the two groups, were analyzed and compared. After-class evaluation results of the test group showed that the "speak out" teaching method was recognized by the students and improved students' ability to understand oral health education. The final examination and practice examination results showed that the score of the test group was higher than that of the control group (P teaching methods can improve students' ability for oral health education, in accordance with the trend of teaching reform.

  6. EDUCATION FOR SOCIAL COHESION ATTEMPTS IN LEBANON: REFLECTIONS ON THE 1994 AND 2010 EDUCATION REFORMS

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Maha Shuayb

    2016-12-01

    Full Text Available Following the end of the Lebanese civil war, education was put forward as a major means for rebuilding Lebanon and promoting social cohesion and unity. A huge education development plan was launched in 1994 culminating in a new national curriculum in 1997 and the production of new textbooks.  Although the quality of education improved in public schools, dropout rates continued to be high, particularly amongst the most disadvantaged groups. As education inequality soared, a new education reform strategy was launched in 2010. This paper investigates how social cohesion has been tackled in the two reforms (1994 and 2010. In defining social cohesion, the study adopts Nancy Fraser’s framework of social justice which includes redistribution, recognition, and participation. In addition, Novelli, Lopes Cardozo and Smith’s (2014 fourth component of social justice ‘reconciliation’ is added to the analytical framework. Findings revealed an emphasis on distributive justice by widening access to education including during early years and tackling causes of dropout, specifically in the 2010 reform. Reconciliation, in particular nationalism and promoting one narrative of the past, is given a major priority. Conflict is reduced to religious intolerance while structured barriers to social justice, including the use of languages that are considered foreign as mediums of instruction, the marginalisation of disadvantaged groups, a lack of participation, and sectarian nepotism, were downplayed. Critical reflections on the past has been suppressed in favour of building a national memory.  

  7. Education, Culture and Indigenous Rights: The Case of Educational Reform in Bolivia.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Comboni Salinas, Sonia; Juarez Nunez, Jose Manuel

    2000-01-01

    Examines the implementation of intercultural bilingual education throughout Bolivia and its relationship to the linguistic and cultural rights of the majority indigenous population. Discusses institutional and curriculum reforms, particularly in rural schools; a new emphasis on students' learning needs; relationship to indigenous…

  8. Adequacy, accountability, autonomy and equity in a Middle Eastern school reform: The case of Qatar

    Science.gov (United States)

    Guarino, Cassandra M.; Tanner, Jeffery C.

    2012-04-01

    This study examines Qatar's recent and ambitious school reform in the early stages of its implementation against a set of four criteria for successful education systems drawn from guidelines developed by the international community: adequacy, accountability, autonomy and gender equity. We investigate both the initial structure of the reform and its sustainability in light of concerns that movements in these directions might be politically unfeasible. To some degree, these concerns are substantiated by the developments we trace. However, it is important to note that the reform has changed the landscape of primary and secondary education in Qatar and that many reform principles, though diluted, have been retained. This paper highlights lessons learned - both hopeful and cautionary - in the first few years of reform and presents a methodology for evaluating progress along key dimensions that can be applied to school systems in many nations.

  9. New Directions in Education? A Critique of Contemporary Policy Reforms

    Science.gov (United States)

    Skourdoumbis, Andrew

    2016-01-01

    This paper draws on facets of Foucault's theoretical resources to critique current education policy reform from within the Australian State of Victoria, namely the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development's (DEECD) discussion paper "New directions for school leadership and the teaching profession." Implicit in the reform…

  10. Healthy Competition and Unsound Comparison: Reforming Educational Competition in Singapore

    Science.gov (United States)

    Christensen, Søren

    2015-01-01

    It is frequently claimed that the "competition state" responds to external competition by making competition increasingly central to its internal processes as well. This article discusses education reform in Singapore as departing from the opposite position. In Singapore "excessive" competition in education is now targeted by…

  11. Outcome Standards for Secondary Marketing Education.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stone, James R., III

    1985-01-01

    Describes a study which sought to establish outcome standards very important for secondary marketing education. Business people, former students, and marketing educators were asked to judge the standards identified from the literature in terms of importance to secondary marketing education. (CT)

  12. Improved education after implementation of the Danish postgraduate medical training reform

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Kodal, Troels; Kjær, Niels Kristian; Qvesel, Dorte

    2012-01-01

    A reform of educational postgraduate medical training was launched in Denmark in 2004. The reform was based on a report by the Danish Medical Specialist Commission and consisted of a number of initiatives that were all aimed at improving the quality of medical training. Since 1998, all junior...... doctors in Denmark have been requested to rate the quality of their training on a Danish standardized questionnaire (DSQ) comprising 24 questions. In this study, we examined how junior doctors in hospitals rated their postgraduate medical training before and six years after the reform was implemented....

  13. School-Based Management: The Next Needed Education Reform.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Guthrie, James W.

    1986-01-01

    Recommends the implementation of school-based management systems as one way to meet government demands for educational reform. Describes the functions of principals, school advisory councils, school-site budgeting and accounting, and annual planning and performance reports in successful school-based management systems. Presents examples of…

  14. Applying Laban's Movement Framework in Elementary Physical Education

    Science.gov (United States)

    Langton, Terence W.

    2007-01-01

    This article recommends raising the bar in elementary physical education by using Laban's movement framework to develop curriculum content in the areas of games, gymnastics, and dance (with physical fitness concepts blended in) in order to help students achieve the NASPE content standards. The movement framework can permeate and unify an…

  15. Audio Visual Media Components in Educational Game for Elementary Students

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Meilani Hartono

    2016-12-01

    Full Text Available The purpose of this research was to review and implement interactive audio visual media used in an educational game to improve elementary students’ interest in learning mathematics. The game was developed for desktop platform. The art of the game was set as 2D cartoon art with animation and audio in order to make students more interest. There were four mini games developed based on the researches on mathematics study. Development method used was Multimedia Development Life Cycle (MDLC that consists of requirement, design, development, testing, and implementation phase. Data collection methods used are questionnaire, literature study, and interview. The conclusion is elementary students interest with educational game that has fun and active (moving objects, with fast tempo of music, and carefree color like blue. This educational game is hoped to be an alternative teaching tool combined with conventional teaching method.

  16. Education Inputs, Student Performance and School Finance Reform in Michigan

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chaudhary, Latika

    2009-01-01

    This paper estimates the impact of the Michigan school finance reform, "Proposal A," on education inputs and test scores. Using a difference-in-difference estimation strategy, I find that school districts in Michigan used the increase in educational spending generated through "Proposal A" to increase teacher salaries and reduce…

  17. Reformed Teaching and Learning in Science Education: A Comparative Study of Turkish and US Teachers

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ozfidan, Burhan; Cavlazoglu, Baki; Burlbaw, Lynn; Aydin, Hasan

    2017-01-01

    Achievements of educational reform advantage constructivist understandings of teaching and learning, and therefore highlight a shift in beliefs of teachers and apply these perceptions to the real world. Science teachers' beliefs have been crucial in understanding and reforming science education as beliefs of teachers regarding learning and…

  18. "Compensatory Legitimation" in Greek Educational Policy: An Explanation for the Abortive Educational Reforms in Greece in Comparison with Those in France.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Persianis, Panayiotis

    1998-01-01

    Examines the political dynamics of planning and implementing educational reforms in Greece, with comparisons to France. Argues that, as in France, the state's concern for "compensatory legitimation" provides a better tool than those advanced by sociologists or historians for explaining Greece's many failed educational reforms. Compares…

  19. Stakeholders' Perceptions of Physical Education at a Selected Elementary School

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gonzales, Monica

    2013-01-01

    The motivation for this study stemmed from a lack of understanding of why members of an elementary school community did not support the physical education program. The purpose of this study was to understand teachers', administrators', and parents' perceptions about the value and importance of physical education at the school. Guided by the…

  20. Collaborative Tools in Upper Secondary School - Why?

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Mathiasen, Helle; Degn, Hans-Peter; Bech, Christian Winther

    2013-01-01

    The paper will discuss potentials of digital media to support student engagement and student production in Danish upper secondary education with a specific focus on group work and collaboration. With the latest school reform, upper secondary education in Denmark has experienced an increased focus...... on the system theoretical approach will be described. Third, the findings from the qualitative, and quantitative studies will be presented. The paper concludes that the study demonstrates changes in the way group work is organised by the students using digital media, and a tendency to develop student engagement...

  1. Transforming Elementary Science Teacher Education by Bridging Formal and Informal Science Education in an Innovative Science Methods Course

    Science.gov (United States)

    Riedinger, Kelly; Marbach-Ad, Gili; McGinnis, J. Randy; Hestness, Emily; Pease, Rebecca

    2011-01-01

    We investigated curricular and pedagogical innovations in an undergraduate science methods course for elementary education majors at the University of Maryland. The goals of the innovative elementary science methods course included: improving students' attitudes toward and views of science and science teaching, to model innovative science teaching…

  2. MERCANTILSM OF KNOWLEDGE IN EDUCATION: A CASE STUDY AT MELATI SUKMA ELEMENTARY SCHOOL DENPASAR

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    I Ketut Suda

    2012-11-01

    Full Text Available This study discusses”Mercantilism of Knowledge in Education: a Case Study atMelati Sukma Elementary School Denpasar”. The matter observed is a shift ofeducational paradigm, from enlightenment paradigm into instrumental paradigm. Whenthe system of market economy influenced the Indonesian economic system in 1960s or inthe beginning of 1970s, which is now getting more materialistic-capitalistic, socialorganizations such as educational organizations (read: schools have found it difficult toavoid it. This study aims at exploring why the management of Melati Sukma ElementarySchool Denpasar has implemented “mercantilism of knowledge” in education, and whythe consumers have accepted it. This study also aims at identifying the mechanism ofhow “mercantilism of knowledge” has occurred at Melati Sukma Elementary SchoolDenpasar, and its implications on the pupils, the school, the learning-teaching process,and on the community.Qualitative method was employed for conducting the research. In this context,various types of information related to why the school management has implemented themercantilism of knowledge, the mechanism of how it has occurred, and its implicationson the pupils, the school, the process of learning and teaching process in the classrooms,and the community were obtained. Firstly, problems were identified, then theories forexamining the data were selected, later the primary and secondary data were collected,next the selected data were analyzed and interpreted. Finally, the report writing and theresults of the research were constructed. The theories employed are Comodificationtheory, Hegemony theory, and Deconstruction theory.The results are as follows: firstly, those which have been responsible for themercantilism of knowledge are the fact that the teachers have been getting marginalizedfrom the process of national development, the system of market economy and theconsumptive attitude of the community including the teachers have

  3. A Trial of PBL Education with Emphasis on Improving Practical Competence of Engineering Students-A Trial Connected with the Support for Science Education in Elementary School

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tsutsumi, Hirotaka; Nikkuni, Hiroyuki; Kitakoshi, Daisuke; Yasuda, Toshitaka; Kikuchi, Akira; Mitani, Tomoyo

    Recently Colleges of technology as well as universities have some experience-oriented classes in sciences for elementary school students. These have proved to be successful as good motivation for students in the primary education to be engineers. This research has tried the PBL education, which combined the Support of Science Education in Elementary School and the improvement of students‧ practical competence in their careers. The support of science education in elementary school was carried out by using LEGO blocks, widely utilized in the educational researches of robots, and was conducted in the practical class with the autonomous robots. Finally, the method for the class was evaluated by the elementary school students on the basis of the questionnaire.

  4. The National Physical Education Standards and Grade-Level Outcomes: The Future of Elementary Physical Education

    Science.gov (United States)

    Holt/Hale, Shirley Ann; Persse, Dan

    2015-01-01

    It is during the early educational years that skills are developed, habits are formed, and values are shaped. The skills for a lifetime of physical activity are developed through quality teaching, deliberate practice, assessment and reflection. Research supports the importance of elementary physical education experiences and the importance of…

  5. Engineering education for youth: Diverse elementary school students' experiences with engineering design

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hegedus, Theresa

    Lingering concerns over the persistent achievement gap amidst the trend of an increasingly diverse society have been compounded by calls from the Oval Office, the National Science Board, and nationwide media to also address our current creativity crisis. Now, more than ever, we have a responsibility to produce a STEM-capable (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) workforce to meet the demands of our rapidly changing local and global economic landscape. Barriers exist in our traditional educational system, which has historically limited underrepresented groups' affiliation and membership in the disciplines of science and engineering. The recent incorporation of engineering into the latest science education reform efforts presents an opportunity to expose students as early as elementary school to engineering practices and habits of mind, which have the potential to stimulate creative thinking skills through engineering design. This qualitative study was designed to examine the ways in which engineering education has the potential to promote creativity and academic competence in elementary science classrooms. As a part of my study, a diverse group of students from two fifth-grade classrooms took part in a 10-12 hour, engineering-based curriculum unit (Engineering is Elementary) during their regular science instructional time. Using a sociocultural lens, to include cultural production and identities in practice as part of my framework, I analyzed group and individual performances through classroom observations, student interviews, and teacher reflections to better understand the meaning students made of their experiences with engineering. Findings from the study included the ways in which creativity was culturally produced in the classroom to include: 1) idea generation; 2) design and innovation; 3) gumption/resourcefulness; and 4) social value. Opportunities for collaboration increased through each stage of the unit culminating with the design challenge

  6. Common Core Implementation Decisions Made by Principals in Elementary Schools

    Science.gov (United States)

    Norman, Alexis Cienfuegos

    2016-01-01

    The purpose of this study was to understand the decisions elementary principals have made during the Common Core State Standards reform. Specifically, (a) what decisions principals have made to support Common Core implementation, (b) what strategies elementary principals have employed to communicate with stakeholders about Common Core State…

  7. Children's motivation in elementary physical education: an expectancy-value model of achievement choice.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Xiang, Ping; McBride, Ron; Guan, Jianmin; Solmon, Melinda

    2003-03-01

    This study examined children's motivation in elementary physical education within an expectancy-value model developed by Eccles and her colleagues. Four hundred fourteen students in second and fourth grades completed questionnaires assessing their expectancy-related beliefs, subjective task values, and intention for future participation in physical education. Results indicated that expectancy-related beliefs and subjective task values were clearly distinguishable from one another across physical education and throwing. The two constructs were related to each other positively. Children's intention for future participation in physical education was positively associated with their subjective task values and/or expectancy-related beliefs. Younger children had higher motivation for learning in physical education than older children. Gender differences emerged and the findings provided empirical evidence supporting the validity of the expectancy-value model in elementary physical education.

  8. Religious Education and the Media in the Elementary School.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Riordan, Sister Mary

    1981-01-01

    This discussion of positive and negative aspects of media in religious education is based on Church documents, including and following the Documents of Vatican II, and on the author's own experiences as an elementary school teacher. Eleven references are listed. (Author/LLS)

  9. Assessment and Educational Reform: Doing More than Polishing Brass on the Titanic, a Call for Discussion.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jackman, Andrew

    This exploration of evaluation strategies for systemic educational reform considers whether there is a way to design an assessment and delivery system that can accomplish the goals of the total educational process. A basic question that must be addressed in systemic reform is the role of education in the socialization processes of society. Beyond…

  10. Response to science education reforms: The case of three science education doctoral programs in the United States

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gwekwerere, Yovita Netsai

    Doctoral programs play a significant role in preparing future leaders. Science Education doctoral programs play an even more significant role preparing leaders in a field that is critical to maintaining national viability in the face of global competition. The current science education reforms have the goal of achieving science literacy for all students and for this national goal to be achieved; we need strong leadership in the field of science education. This qualitative study investigated how doctoral programs are preparing their graduates for leadership in supporting teachers to achieve the national goal of science literacy for all. A case study design was used to investigate how science education faculty interpreted the national reform goal of science literacy for all and how they reformed their doctoral courses and research programs to address this goal. Faculty, graduate students and recent graduates of three science education doctoral programs participated in the study. Data collection took place through surveys, interviews and analysis of course documents. Two faculty members, three doctoral candidates and three recent graduates were interviewed from each of the programs. Data analysis involved an interpretive approach. The National Research Council Framework for Investigating Influence of the National Standards on student learning (2002) was used to analyze interview data. Findings show that the current reforms occupy a significant part of the doctoral coursework and research in these three science education doctoral programs. The extent to which the reforms are incorporated in the courses and the way they are addressed depends on how the faculty members interpret the reforms and what they consider to be important in achieving the goal of science literacy for all. Whereas some faculty members take a simplistic critical view of the reform goals as a call to achieve excellence in science teaching; others take a more complex critical view where they question

  11. Science Education Reform in Qatar: Progress and Challenges

    Science.gov (United States)

    Said, Ziad

    2016-01-01

    Science education reform in Qatar has had limited success. In the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMMS), Qatari 4th and 8th grade students have shown progress in science achievement, but they remain significantly below the international average. Also, in the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA), Qatari…

  12. Education Reform in Bolivia: Transitions towards Which Future?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Arrueta, Jose Antonio; Avery, Helen

    2012-01-01

    This article concerns the impact of educational reforms on young people in Bolivian society as they transition into adulthood, against the backdrop of globalisation and far-reaching structural changes. Ethnicity and cultural capital are linked in complex ways with social stratification in Bolivia. In a pluricultural society, the language of…

  13. The influence of secondary science teachers' pedagogical content knowledge, educational beliefs and perceptions of the curriculum on implementation and science reform

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bonner, Portia Selene

    2001-07-01

    Science education reform is one of the focal points of restructuring the educational system in the United States. However, research indicates a slow change in progression towards science literacy among secondary students. One of the factors contributing to slow change is how teachers implement the curriculum in the classroom. Three constructs are believed to be influential in curriculum implementation: educational beliefs, pedagogical knowledge and perception of the curriculum. Earlier research suggests that there is a strong correlation between teachers' educational beliefs and instructional practices. These beliefs can be predictors of preferred strategies employed in the classroom. Secondly, teachers' pedagogical knowledge, that is the ability to apply theory and appropriate strategies associated with implementing and evaluating a curriculum, contributes to implementation. Thirdly, perception or how the curriculum itself is perceived also effects implementation. Each of these constructs has been examined independently, but never the interplay of the three. The purpose of this qualitative study was to examine the interplay of teachers' educational beliefs, pedagogical content knowledge and perceptions of a science curriculum with respect to how these influence curriculum implementation. This was accomplished by investigating the emerging themes that evolved from classroom observations, transcripts from interview and supplementary data. Five high school biology teachers in an urban school system were observed for ten months for correspondence of teaching strategies to the curriculum. Teachers were interviewed formally and informally about their perceptions of science teaching, learning and the curriculum. Supplementary material such as lesson plans, course syllabus and notes from classroom observations were collected and analyzed. Data were transcribed and analyzed for recurring themes using a thematic matrix. A theoretical model was developed from the emerging

  14. Kenya's Constituency Development Fund, Free Secondary Education Policy, and Access to Secondary Education

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nzuki, Charles Kyalo

    2018-01-01

    The effects of the Constituency Development Fund (CDF) and the Free Secondary Education Policy (FSEP) on access to secondary school education in Kenya's Yatta sub-county have not been adequately explored in available public policy literature. Hence, this qualitative multiple-case study was designed to understand the effects of the 2 policies on…

  15. Reconstructing a lost tradition: the philosophy of medical education in an age of reform.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Martin, Christopher

    2013-01-01

    At the 100th anniversary of Abraham Flexner's landmark report on medical education, critical reassessment of the direction of medical education reform evinced valuable interdisciplinary contributions from biomedicine, sociology, psychology and education theory. However, to date, philosophy has been absent from the discussion despite its long standing contribution to studies on education in other professions. This discussion paper examines how the philosophical tradition can contribute to scholarship in medical education. It begins with an explanation of the scholarly tradition of philosophy of education and its role in thinking in education more generally. It then makes links between this tradition and the context of medical education in the Flexner era of education reform. The paper then argues that this tradition is necessary to the understanding of medical education reform post-Flexner and that doctors must benefit from an education derived from this tradition in order to be able to carry out their work. These foundations are characterised as a hidden, but always present, tradition in medical education. Two ways in which this 'lost tradition' can inform medical education theory and practice are identified: firstly, by the establishment of a public canon of medical education texts that express such a tradition, and, secondly, by the incorporation of a variety of 'signature pedagogies' exemplary of liberal education. © Blackwell Publishing Ltd 2013.

  16. Perspectives in medical education 9. Revisiting the blueprint for reform of medical education in Japan.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rao, R Harsha; Rao, Kanchan H

    2010-01-01

    Reform of medical education at Keio University has been underway since 2003. We measure the progress made since then in five specific categories that span fifteen recommendations presented in our "Blueprint for Reform" at the outset of the effort. These are effectiveness of leadership, curriculum reform, recognition of teaching, clinical competence, and comprehensive training in general internal medicine (GIM). First, effective leadership is being sustained through a succession of Deans, although a potentially crippling loss of leadership in the Department of Medical Education must be offset through timely appointment. Second, curriculum reform is awaiting the implementation in 2012 of an integrated, organ system-based curriculum with an emphasis on ward clerkships, but the introduction of PBL has been delayed indefinitely. Third, teaching is being recognized through the use of student feedback to reward good teachers and through funds for six full-time equivalent salaries dedicated to medical education, but promotions still depend exclusively on research, without consideration of teaching ability. Fourth, clinical skills training is still lacking, although enthusiasm for it seems to be building, thanks to the presence on the wards of a (still miniscule) cadre of dedicated teachers. Finally, exposure to GIM remains non-existent; however, visionary leadership in a newly-independent Emergency Department and the wide variety of medical problems seen there provide a remarkable opportunity to craft a uniquely Japanese solution to the problem. The changes implemented to date are impressive, and we remain enthusiastic about the future, even as we recognize the magnitude of the task that lies ahead.

  17. Achievement and Intelligence in Primary and Elementary Classes for the Educable Mentally Retarded

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sundean, David A.; Salopek, Thomas F.

    1971-01-01

    The Wide Range Achievement Test scores of educable mentally handicapped children in primary and elementary classes were correlated with their Binet or Wechsler IQ scores. It was found that the WISC was a better differential predictor of achievement in reading, spelling and arithmetic at the elementary level only. (Author)

  18. Elementary Teacher Education in the Top Performing European TIMSS Countries: A Comparative Study

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sabrin, Mohammed

    2018-01-01

    This paper analyzed elementary teacher education (hereafter 'TED') programs in the top performing European (TIMSS) countries to help inform future elementary TED policy in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Methodological emphasis revolved around how much emphasis should be placed on general content knowledge (GCK), as opposed to general pedagogical…

  19. Administrative Reform

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Plum, Maja

    Through the example of a Danish reform of educational plans in early childhood education, the paper critically addresses administrative educational reforms promoting accountability, visibility and documentation. Drawing on Foucaultian perspectives, the relation between knowledge and governing...... of administrative technology, tracing how the humanistic values of education embed and are embedded within ‘the professional nursery teacher' as an object and subject of administrative practice. Rather than undermining the humanistic potential of education, it is argued that the technology of accounting...

  20. Nursing education reform in South Africa--lessons from a policy analysis study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Blaauw, Duane; Ditlopo, Prudence; Rispel, Laetitia C

    2014-01-01

    Nursing education reform is identified as an important strategy for enhancing health workforce performance, and thereby improving the functioning of health systems. Globally, a predominant trend in such reform is towards greater professionalisation and university-based education. Related nursing education reform in South Africa culminated in a new Framework for Nursing Qualifications in 2013. We undertook a policy analysis study of the development of the new Nursing Qualifications Framework in South Africa. We used a policy analysis framework derived from Walt and Gilson that interrogated the context, content, actors, and processes of policy development and implementation. Following informed consent, in-depth interviews were conducted with 28 key informants from national and provincial government; the South African Nursing Council; the national nursing association; nursing academics, managers, and educators; and other nursing organisations. The interviews were complemented with a review of relevant legislation and policy documents. Documents and interview transcripts were coded thematically using Atlas-ti software. The revision of nursing qualifications was part of the post-apartheid transformation of nursing, but was also influenced by changes in the education sector. The policy process took more than 10 years to complete and the final Regulations were promulgated in 2013. The two most important changes are the requirement for a baccalaureate degree to qualify as a professional nurse and abolishing the enrolled nurse with 2 years training in favour of a staff nurse with a 3-year college diploma. Respondents criticised slow progress, weak governance by the Nursing Council and the Department of Health, limited planning for implementation, and the inappropriateness of the proposals for South Africa. The study found significant weaknesses in the policy capacity of the main institutions responsible for the leadership and governance of nursing in South Africa, which

  1. Place Matters: Mathematics Education Reform in Urban Schools

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rousseau Anderson, Celia

    2014-01-01

    While mathematics education research has often focused at the level of the classroom (Rousseau Anderson & Tate, 2008), there are emerging calls for attention to shift from individual classrooms to consider the process of reform at the school or district level. Investigating the role of the institution and conditions of the organization becomes…

  2. An Analysis of Merit Pay Reforms in Educational Institutions

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Andrew Brulle

    2006-05-01

    Full Text Available With roots in behaviorist philosophy, performance pay for teachers is often linked to accountability regimes in school reform. The theory girding such programs suggests that pay as an economic incentive can help cause teachers to increase student outcomes as measured by standardized test scores. What is little noticed by many educationists, but particularly by policy makers, is how programmatic effects affect the ontology of educational environment. There are several ways to approach the viability of such programs. In this study of three pay-for-performance programs, two in the U.S. and one in the UK, we provide theoretic insights in light of three variables: (i their psychological framework, (ii teacher efficacy and the teacher-student relationship, and (iii how the psychological impact of such programs coincides with larger institutional forces. Using theory to examine pay-for-performance is necessary in order to get beneath mere data and secure more thorough understandings of the phenomenological impacts of performance pay. And better understanding of these foundational features is necessary, even critical, in order to fully appreciate the economic and informational trade-offs in implementation. Our study suggests that as a small-scale reform measure and when it specifically accounts for complexities of educational production, performance pay may be a viable reform option.

  3. The Science Teaching Self-Efficacy of Prospective Elementary Education Majors Enrolled in Introductory Geology Lab Sections

    Science.gov (United States)

    Baldwin, Kathryn A.

    2014-01-01

    This study examined prospective elementary education majors' science teaching self-efficacy while they were enrolled in an introductory geology lab course for elementary education majors. The Science Teaching Efficacy Belief Instrument Form B (STEBI-B) was administered during the first and last lab class sessions. Additionally, students were…

  4. Pros and Cons: Compulsory 12 year education reform in Turkey

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    By CEYLAN

    2016-05-28

    Öztürk, 2005). ... compulsory, and education following primary school (middle school, high school and university) was ...... initially very popular in the mass media in 2012, ... in Turkey: opinions and concerns of elementary.

  5. Educational Possibilities of Keeping Goats in Elementary Schools in Japan

    Science.gov (United States)

    Koda, Naoko; Kutsumi, Shiho; Hirose, Toshiya; Watanabe, Gen

    2016-01-01

    Many Japanese elementary schools keep small animals for educational purposes, and the effects and challenges have been investigated. Although goats are medium-sized animals that are familiar to Japanese, few practical studies have been conducted on keeping goats in schools. This study investigated the effects and challenges of keeping goats in elementary schools and discussed its educational possibilities. A semi-structured interview survey was conducted with 11 personnel that were responsible for keeping goats in 6 elementary schools in urban areas. They described benefits, problems, and tips related to keeping goats. Participant observation was also conducted on daily human–goat interactions in these schools. The results indicated that children in all six grades were able to care for goats. Goats were used for various school subjects and activities. As a result of keeping goats, children developed affection for them, attitude of respect for living things, greater sense of responsibility, and enhanced interpersonal interactional skills. Stronger ties between the schools and parents and community were developed through cooperation in goat-keeping. Some anxieties existed about the risk of injury to children when interacting with goats. Other challenges included the burden of taking care of the goats on holidays and insufficient knowledge about treatment in case of their illness or injury. The results suggested similarities to the benefits and challenges associated with keeping small animals in elementary schools, although the responsibility and the burden on the schools were greater for keeping goats than small animals because of their larger size and the need for children to consider the goats’ inner state and to cooperate with others when providing care. At the same time, goats greatly stimulated interest, cooperation, and empathy in children. Goats can expand educational opportunities and bring about many positive effects on child development. PMID:28083538

  6. Critique of the „official critique” of neoliberal reforms in higher education

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Oskar Szwabowski

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available In this article I criticise theoretical structure which is employed in critiquesof higher education reforms within the domain of pedagogy. I argue thatcritique of neoliberalism in education doesn’t recognise the dynamics of change and„necessity” of transformation. Both critique and defense of neoliberal reforms donot transcend capitalist „separation” and institutionalization typical of particularorders. In practical terms, it results in reactive resistance, either in the form of defenseof privileges of „leisure class or attempt to brink back the period of „class compromise”.In this way, it is not able to develop a radical practice, transcend „ideologicalstate apparatus” and produce a radical practice as well as education based on democracyand equality.

  7. Action Research as Professional Development: Its Role in Education Reform in the United Arab Emirates

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hathorn, Conley; Dillon, Anna Marie

    2018-01-01

    This paper is concerned with exploring the microsystem of teachers' experiences with education reform within the action research (AR) model for professional development (PD). Within the macrosystem of current major education reform in the UAE, it is timely to explore teachers' experiences of AR as PD to improve pedagogy. The process of engaging in…

  8. Exploring the Effects of Concreteness Fading across Grades in Elementary School Science Education

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jaakkola, Tomi; Veermans, Koen

    2018-01-01

    The present study investigates the effects that concreteness fading has on learning and transfer across three grade levels (4-6) in elementary school science education in comparison to learning with constantly concrete representations. 127 9- to 12-years-old elementary school students studied electric circuits in a computer-based simulation…

  9. International Experience in Reforming the System of Higher Education Governance in terms of Increasing the University Autonomy

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Chmutova Iryna M.

    2017-12-01

    Full Text Available The aim of the article is to summarize the international experience of reforming the system of higher education governance and develop directions that will contribute to increasing the effectiveness of the Ukrainian model for governance of higher education and ensuring its autonomy. There identified common elements and trends in European higher education reforms: greater autonomy for higher education institutions with less direct administrative intervention; greater emphasis on private rather than public funding; emphasis on the quality and effectiveness of education. The tools for implementing reforms in the European higher education system are identified: the New Public Management (NPM model, governance through networks, and new forms of governance. The changes in the university autonomy of European countries for the period of 2010-2016 are summarized. The content of the reforms in terms of increasing the autonomy of HEIs in the countries of Asia is disclosed. Possible vectors for reforming the system of higher education governance in Ukraine are identified: introduction of a model for funding HEIs on the basis of combining a one-time full budgeting and financing by results; assigning universities ownership of their buildings and their sale in the market; strengthening the decentralization of government control of higher education; development of legislative bases for the self-sufficiency of HEIs; inclusion of external stakeholders in decision-making governing bodies of HEIs; maximum involvement of students in decision-making.

  10. Moving from Traditional Teacher Education to a Field-Based Urban Teacher Education Program: One Program's Story of Reform

    Science.gov (United States)

    Waddell, Jennifer; Vartuli, Sue

    2015-01-01

    In recent years, teacher education has been charged with reforming programs to better align curriculum, clinical practice, and accountability. The sense of urgency for reform has been heightened by competition from alternative routes to teaching that jump straight to practice, often criticized for foregoing essential knowledge and theory. This…

  11. Education Reform in Hong Kong: The ``Through-Road'' Model and its Societal Consequences

    Science.gov (United States)

    Poon, Anita Y. K.; Wong, Yiu-Chung

    2008-01-01

    Although Hong Kong's education system has long been criticized as lacking in creativity and over-emphasising rote learning, on the whole it has served Hong Kong well in the past years, breeding outstanding business, academic and political leaders who continue to maintain Hong Kong's competitive edge. The traditional elite schools have played a crucial role in the process. The education reform, which is still on-going, aims to overhaul the entire system by introducing the "through-road" model. To accomplish this, some mechanisms need to be changed. J.P. Farrell's concepts of equality and equity, C.W. Mills' concept of elitism, and P. Bourdieu and J. Coleman's concepts of cultural and social capital will be applied to analyse the consequences of the reform. The paper argues that the education reform may be well-intentioned in eliminating some elements of inequality and inequity in education, but that this comes at the expense of Hong Kong's cultural and social capital and leads to the development of new forms of inequality.

  12. Educational Reforms in Morocco: Evolution and Current Status

    Science.gov (United States)

    Llorent-Bedmar, Vicente

    2014-01-01

    Since 1956, the year in Morocco achieved independence, until now, the school system has been the subject of many discussions and controversies in the most varied areas of the country. We provide data on the educational situation. We analyze the reforms from a critical perspective, ending with final proposals. He underlined that the sector was…

  13. 34 CFR 300.13 - Elementary school.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-07-01

    ... 34 Education 2 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Elementary school. 300.13 Section 300.13 Education Regulations of the Offices of the Department of Education (Continued) OFFICE OF SPECIAL EDUCATION AND... DISABILITIES General Definitions Used in This Part § 300.13 Elementary school. Elementary school means a...

  14. Views of Elementary School Pre-Service Teachers About the Use of Educational Mathematics Games in Mathematics Teaching

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hasan Topçu

    2014-08-01

    Full Text Available The aim of this study was to reveal the opinions of elementary school pre-service teachers about the usage of educational mathematics games in elementary mathematics teaching. In this study, case study that, one of qualitative research methods, was used. Data were collected by utilizing a semi-structured interview form to these elementary school pre-service teachers and analyzed using by content analysis method. A total of 10 junior pre-service teachers enrolled in undergraduate programs of elementary teaching attended to this research. In conclusion, these pre-service teachers indicated that educational computer games would provide benefits such as making students’ learning more permanent, visualizing concepts, making students love mathematics, learning by entertaining, reinforcing what has been learnt and developing thinking skills. Nevertheless, these elementary school pre-service teachers stated the limitations about educational computer games such as causing addiction and physical damages, being time-consuming, requiring special equipment and software and making class management difficult. Besides, it was revealed that the pre-service teachers demonstrated positive attitudes towards the use of games in courses while that they did not feel themselves competent in terms of application.Key Words:    Educational computer games, mathematics teaching, elementary school pre-service teachers

  15. Factors Influencing Science Content Accuracy in Elementary Inquiry Science Lessons

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nowicki, Barbara L.; Sullivan-Watts, Barbara; Shim, Minsuk K.; Young, Betty; Pockalny, Robert

    2013-06-01

    Elementary teachers face increasing demands to engage children in authentic science process and argument while simultaneously preparing them with knowledge of science facts, vocabulary, and concepts. This reform is particularly challenging due to concerns that elementary teachers lack adequate science background to teach science accurately. This study examined 81 in-classroom inquiry science lessons for preservice education majors and their cooperating teachers to determine the accuracy of the science content delivered in elementary classrooms. Our results showed that 74 % of experienced teachers and 50 % of student teachers presented science lessons with greater than 90 % accuracy. Eleven of the 81 lessons (9 preservice, 2 cooperating teachers) failed to deliver accurate science content to the class. Science content accuracy was highly correlated with the use of kit-based resources supported with professional development, a preference for teaching science, and grade level. There was no correlation between the accuracy of science content and some common measures of teacher content knowledge (i.e., number of college science courses, science grades, or scores on a general science content test). Our study concluded that when provided with high quality curricular materials and targeted professional development, elementary teachers learn needed science content and present it accurately to their students.

  16. With hiccups and bumps: the development of a Rasch-based instrument to measure elementary students' understanding of the nature of science.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Peoples, Shelagh M; O'Dwyer, Laura M; Shields, Katherine A; Wang, Yang

    2013-01-01

    This research describes the development process, psychometric analyses and part validation study of a theoretically-grounded Rasch-based instrument, the Nature of Science Instrument-Elementary (NOSI-E). The NOSI-E was designed to measure elementary students' understanding of the Nature of Science (NOS). Evidence is provided for three of the six validity aspects (content, substantive and generalizability) needed to support the construct validity of the NOSI-E. A future article will examine the structural and external validity aspects. Rasch modeling proved especially productive in scale improvement efforts. The instrument, designed for large-scale assessment use, is conceptualized using five construct domains. Data from 741 elementary students were used to pilot the Rasch scale, with continuous improvements made over three successive administrations. The psychometric properties of the NOSI-E instrument are consistent with the basic assumptions of Rasch measurement, namely that the items are well-fitting and invariant. Items from each of the five domains (Empirical, Theory-Laden, Certainty, Inventive, and Socially and Culturally Embedded) are spread along the scale's continuum and appear to overlap well. Most importantly, the scale seems appropriately calibrated and responsive for elementary school-aged children, the target age group. As a result, the NOSI-E should prove beneficial for science education research. As the United States' science education reform efforts move toward students' learning science through engaging in authentic scientific practices (NRC, 2011), it will be important to assess whether this new approach to teaching science is effective. The NOSI-E can be used as one measure of whether this reform effort has an impact.

  17. The Supply and Demand of Elementary and Secondary School Teachers in the United States. ERIC Digest.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yasin, Said

    This Digest examines U.S. teacher supply and demand, including projections for the next 10 years. For the past 10 years, the supply of public elementary and secondary school teachers has grown. Currently, the number of teachers in the United States is 3.1 million, 2,666,034 of whom teach in public schools. The number is projected to increase by…

  18. Why the Best Isn't so Bad: Moderation and Ideals in Educational Reform

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kerdeman, Deborah

    2009-01-01

    In "Moderating the Debate: Rationality and the Promise of American Education," Michael Feuer counsels reformers to "satisfice": moderate their expectations and accept that flawed reforms can be good enough. Implicit in Feuer's view of satisficing is the assumption that moderating expectations entails eschewing ideals and replacing optimal goals…

  19. Engineering in Elementary STEM Education: Curriculum Design, Instruction, Learning, and Assessment

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cunningham, Christine M.

    2018-01-01

    Bolstered by new standards and new initiatives to promote STEM education, engineering is making its way into the school curriculum. This comprehensive introduction will help elementary educators integrate engineering into their classroom, school, or district in age-appropriate, inclusive, and engaging ways. Building on the work of a Museum of…

  20. Laying Bare Educational Crosstalk: A Study of Discursive Repertoires in the Wake of Educational Reform

    Science.gov (United States)

    McGrath, Cormac; Laksov, Klara Bolander

    2014-01-01

    In the wake of the Bologna process, many European universities are undergoing comprehensive educational reform. Our attention in this paper is focused on how a medical university came to terms with the challenges presented therein. We wished to explore how educators identify, understand and deal with opportunities for change at a medical…

  1. Science Education: The New Humanity?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Douglas, John H.

    1973-01-01

    Summarizes science education trends, problems, and controversies at the elementary, secondary, and higher education levels beginning with the Physical Science Study Committee course, and discusses the present status concerning the application of the Fourth Revolution to the education system. (CC)

  2. The education of Physics in elementary school: conceptions of the teaching staff practice

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Cleci Werner da Rosa

    2007-12-01

    Full Text Available This present study sought to investigate the Sciences education developed in the Elementary school, emphasizing the identification of the physical presence in the curricular subjects at this school level. For this reason, interviews were accomplished with thirty four teachers in order to allow a mapping about the current science education before the sample selected for the research. Besides the identification of the subjects approached in Sciences, the research made the investigation, in such a more specific way, of physics in the curricular programs of elementary classes possible, as well as the way this subject was present during the graduation process of the teachers were being investigated. The results of the investigation pointed to the following issues: the contents of the curricular subject of Sciences, for the level being investigated, include fairly exclusive Biology topics; the lack of experimental activities; an education linked to the concepts and methodologies presented in graduation courses of the teaching staff; the conscientiousness of these teaching staff that the national legislation gives them freedom in curricular planning and organizing, even so, they feel themselves stuck into programs previously established by Education Secretariats or by educational books; and moreover, that the difficulties to discuss Physics in Elementary school are related to its graduating process.

  3. Educational research in Sweden: Reform strategies and research policy

    Science.gov (United States)

    Marklund, Inger

    1981-06-01

    Educational R & D in Sweden is to a large extent policy-oriented. It has been an integrated part of the Swedish educational reform system and has brought about a dialogue between politicians, administrators and researchers. Several circumstances have contributed to the `Swedish model'. One is the system with government-appointed committees in which researchers often play an active part. Another is that the Swedish educational system is highly centralized, with the National Board of Education (NBE) as the central authority, responsible for primary, secondary and adult education. A third — and a crucial one — is that, since 1962, the NBE has had increasing funds for educational R & D at its disposal. These funds account for the main part of the economic resources for R & D, along with resources allocated to research appointments at research departments of universities. Educational R & D, conducted primarily within the NBE funds, has recently been evaluated by a government-appointed committee. In its evaluations of the impact of educational R & D, the committee distinguished between the effects of R & D and the effect correlates. It concluded that the impact of R & D is more indirect than direct, more long-term than immediate. The effects are also more easily recognized at levels above the actual school situation. This finding could be interpreted as a consequence of the policy-orientation of educational R & D, which at the same time shows the difficulties in reaching the `school level' with research and development results. There are two general trends in Sweden, which will influence both research planning and research use. First, there is a trend towards the decentralization of decision-making and responsibility for the educational system. Secondly, there is a trend towards the `sectionalization' of the R & D system as a whole. This sectionalization will mean that research will to a great extent be planned to meet needs from different parts of society — labour

  4. 75 FR 35893 - Office of Elementary and Secondary Education Overview Information; Smaller Learning Communities...

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-06-23

    ... development and coaching, including classroom observation. (3) Identifying instructional and other... will be principally responsible for managing and providing leadership for the implementation of the... assistance and professional development in implementing structural and instructional reforms and providing...

  5. Influence of a Physical Education Methods Course on Elementary Education Majors' Knowledge of Fundamental Movement Skills

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hart, Melanie A.

    2005-01-01

    With an increase concern for childhood obesity, many individuals and organizations are emphasizing the importance of quality physical education. The need for quality physical education at the elementary level is extremely important as research has shown a relationship between the performance of fundamental movement skills and children's body…

  6. The History of Education Institutions in Developed Countries has Lessons for the Reform of the System of Higher Education in Africa

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Howells, John

    2007-01-01

    Universities in African countries are widely considered to be a colonial relic that is in desperate need of reform. This article argues that useful lessons for such a reform may be drawn from the developed countries' own education institution policy debates and history, especially as those relate...... to development. In that history, innovation-oriented industrial employers that advocate adjustment and institutional change at universities often clash with the vested interests of the educated elite and its desire to buttress its privileged social position with restrictions on entry into various professions...... and continued as useful complements to the stock of the technically educated in later stages of development. It is therefore suggested that the proper basis for university reform in Africa is to ask first whether the range and quality of educational institutions is appropriate to the current state of private...

  7. Exploring the role of curriculum materials to support teachers in science education reform

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schneider, Rebecca M.

    2001-07-01

    For curriculum materials to succeed in promoting large-scale science education reform, teacher learning must be supported. Materials were designed to reflect desired reforms and to be educative by including detailed lesson descriptions that addressed necessary content, pedagogy, and pedagogical content knowledge for teachers. The goal of this research was to describe how such materials contributed to classroom practices. As part of an urban systemic reform effort, four middle school teachers' initial enactment of an inquiry-based science unit on force and motion were videotaped. Enactments focused on five lesson sequences containing experiences with phenomena, investigation, technology use, or artifact development. Each sequence spanned three to five days across the 10-week unit. For each lesson sequence, intended and actual enactment were compared using ratings of (1) accuracy and completeness of science ideas presented, (2) amount student learning opportunities, similarity of learning opportunities with those intended, and quality of adaptations , and (3) amount of instructional supports offered, appropriateness of instructional supports and source of ideas for instructional supports. Ratings indicated two teachers' enactments were consistent with intentions and two teachers' enactments were not. The first two were in school contexts supportive of the reform. They purposefully used the materials to guide enactment, which tended to be consistent with standards-based reform. They provided students opportunities to use technology tools, design investigations, and discuss ideas. However, enactment ratings were less reflective of curriculum intent when challenges were greatest, such as when teachers attempted to present challenging science ideas, respond to students' ideas, structure investigations, guide small-group discussions, or make adaptations. Moreover, enactment ratings were less consistent in parts of lessons where materials did not include lesson specific

  8. Prospective elementary teachers' conceptions of multidigit number: exemplifying a replication framework for mathematics education

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jacobson, Erik; Simpson, Amber

    2018-04-01

    Replication studies play a critical role in scientific accumulation of knowledge, yet replication studies in mathematics education are rare. In this study, the authors replicated Thanheiser's (Educational Studies in Mathematics 75:241-251, 2010) study of prospective elementary teachers' conceptions of multidigit number and examined the main claim that most elementary pre-service teachers think about digits incorrectly at least some of the time. Results indicated no statistically significant difference in the distribution of conceptions between the original and replication samples and, moreover, no statistically significant differences in the distribution of sub-conceptions among prospective teachers with the most common conception. These results suggest confidence is warranted both in the generality of the main claim and in the utility of the conceptions framework for describing prospective elementary teachers' conceptions of multidigit number. The report further contributes a framework for replication of mathematics education research adapted from the field of psychology.

  9. Prospective elementary and secondary school mathematics teachers’ statistical reasoning

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Rabia KARATOPRAK

    2015-04-01

    Full Text Available This study investigated prospective elementary (PEMTs and secondary (PSMTs school mathematics teachers’ statistical reasoning. The study began with the adaptation of the Statistical Reasoning Assessment (Garfield, 2003 test. Then, the test was administered to 82 PEMTs and 91 PSMTs in a metropolitan city of Turkey. Results showed that both groups were equally successful in understanding independence, and understanding importance of large samples. However, results from selecting appropriate measures of center together with the misconceptions assessing the same subscales showed that both groups selected mode rather than mean as an appropriate average. This suggested their lack of attention to the categorical and interval/ratio variables while examining data. Similarly, both groups were successful in interpreting and computing probability; however, they had equiprobability bias, law of small numbers and representativeness misconceptions. The results imply a change in some questions in the Statistical Reasoning Assessment test and that teacher training programs should include statistics courses focusing on studying characteristics of samples.

  10. Effectiveness of the Multidimensional Curriculum Model in Developing Higher-Order Thinking Skills in Elementary and Secondary Students

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vidergor, Hava E.

    2018-01-01

    The study aimed to assess the effectiveness of the multidimensional curriculum model (MdCM) in the development of higher-order thinking skills in a sample of 394 elementary and secondary school students in Israel. The study employed a quantitative quasi-experimental pre-post design, using a study module based on MdCM, comparing intervention group…

  11. Secondary education in the 1990s

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    H.M. Bronneman-Helmers; L.J. Herweijer; H.M.G. Vogels

    2002-01-01

    Original title: Voortgezet onderwijs in de jaren negentig. Many changes and innovations have been set in motion in Dutch secondary education in recent years: the introduction of basic secondary education, increases in scale, profiles and the 'house of study' in the second phase of senior

  12. America Y2K: The Obsolescence of Educational Reforms.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dorn, Sherman

    2000-01-01

    Notes the passing of the deadline for fulfillment of the national education goals in the United States, the beginning of the year 2000, and indicates that pressures on schools to solve social problems will continue to make school reform a politically opportune and very visible issue. (SLD)

  13. Seeing through Transparency in Education Reform: Illuminating the "Local"

    Science.gov (United States)

    Koyama, Jill; Kania, Brian

    2016-01-01

    Utilizing "assemblage," a notion associated with Actor-Network Theory (ANT), we explore what discourses of transparency can, and cannot, accomplish in a network of education reform that includes schools, government agencies, and community organizations. Drawing on data collected between July 2011 and March 2013 in an…

  14. Educational Management Organizations as High Reliability Organizations: A Study of Victory's Philadelphia High School Reform Work

    Science.gov (United States)

    Thomas, David E.

    2013-01-01

    This executive position paper proposes recommendations for designing reform models between public and private sectors dedicated to improving school reform work in low performing urban high schools. It reviews scholarly research about for-profit educational management organizations, high reliability organizations, American high school reform, and…

  15. Habituation Model of Implementing Environmental Education in Elementary School

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Zaenuri, Z.; Sudarmin, S.; Utomo, Y.

    2017-01-01

    is designed using a qualitative approach. This study is focused on the implementation of environmental education in primary schools. Data collection uses observation sheet instrument (observation), focused interview, and Focus Group Discussion (FGD). The research data were analyzed descriptively. The results......The purpose of this study is to analyze the implementation of environmental education in Elementary School. The study was conducted at SDN 1 Kota Banda Aceh. The research subjects are school residents (students, teachers, education personnel, principals, and school committees). This research...... show that the implementation of environmental education can be realized in habituation to maintain personal hygiene, class cleanliness, and worship together according to his beliefs and sports....

  16. The Implementation of Entrepreneurship Education through Curriculum Reform in Finnish Comprehensive Schools

    Science.gov (United States)

    Seikkula-Leino, Jaana

    2011-01-01

    How has entrepreneurship education been implemented in Finnish comprehensive schools. A two-part survey was undertaken in 43 municipalities with different educational and socio-economic backgrounds. The first part, in 2005, dealt with the local curriculum reform with a focus on the development of entrepreneurship education. The second part, in…

  17. Educational Reform in Japan towards Inclusion: Are We Training Teachers for Success?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Forlin, Chris; Kawai, Norimune; Higuchi, Satoshi

    2015-01-01

    Within a tradition of a dual regular and special education system in Japan, the Government is promoting education reform that encourages an inclusive approach to education. This research investigates whether teachers are being trained for successful inclusion in Japan by reviewing the perceptions of all pre-service teachers in one university…

  18. Restructuring education and its impact on medical education.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cavazos, L F

    1990-04-01

    The United States has an education deficit that in the long term may be more harmful to the country than the serious budget and trade deficits. U.S. students are far less prepared in mathematics, chemistry, and physics than are their counterparts in Western Europe and Japan. The dropout rate among high school students, and the high and increasing rate of functional illiteracy, blight lives and represent an enormous economic loss to the nation. American education must be restructured at all levels so that local and federal funds can be used flexibly to pursue revised educational goals. Students and their families should be allowed to choose their elementary and secondary schools, and school management should be decentralized and more rooted in the community. The medical profession must become involved in elementary and secondary education, and medical faculty must be involved in their communities. Further, medical faculty must encourage minority students at all educational levels, must recruit minority medical students, and must increase the number of minority faculty members.

  19. 34 CFR 104.39 - Private education.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-07-01

    ... 34 Education 1 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Private education. 104.39 Section 104.39 Education Regulations of the Offices of the Department of Education OFFICE FOR CIVIL RIGHTS, DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION... Preschool, Elementary, and Secondary Education § 104.39 Private education. (a) A recipient that provides...

  20. Prescription, Ceremony, or "Trickle Down": How Do National Commissions Try to Reform Education?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wimpelberg, Robert K.; Ginsberg, Rick

    Educational reform commissions and their reports can be traced back to the massive expansion of public schools during the 1890s. The reports of reform commissions over the years follow the same format: problems are identified, experts are selected to examine them, and improvement proposals are recommended. This report examines 14 national studies…

  1. In Flesh and Bone: Bodily Image and Educational Patterns in Early Reformation Theatre

    Science.gov (United States)

    Salvarani, Luana

    2018-01-01

    From its very beginning, the Protestant Reformation adopted the theatre as one of its educational tools. Together with choral music, visual arts, and preaching, Luther, Melanchthon, Oekolampad, and other Reformers promoted both the cultivated school theatre and the popular street theatre in order to spread the new faith, create a community ethos,…

  2. General Education Today. A Critical Analysis of Controversies, Practices, and Reforms.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gaff, Jerry G.

    The range of controversies and changes emerging from the current revival of general education are examined, and many ideas, examples, and recommendations for achieving realistic and successful curricular reform are offered. Instead of either offering an apology for general education or advocating any particular approach, the book draws on solid…

  3. Teachers' Views on an ICT Reform in Education for Social Justice

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tarman, Bülent; Baytak, Ahmet; Duman, Harun

    2015-01-01

    FATIH project (Movement of Enhancing Opportunities and Improving Technology) is an information and communication technologies (ICT) project to promote social justice for all schools in Turkey. The educational movements and reforms in Turkish Educational System (TES) are not new but this project has a purpose to integrate the newest technologies…

  4. The Influence of Secondary School Education on the Success of Informatics Education in University

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Marina Čičin-Šain

    2008-10-01

    Full Text Available The suppositions and dimensions of the influence of secondary school education on the quality and effects of informatics education in University are manifold. The influence of secondary school education can be perceived through two basic dimensions: 1 the general influence dimension of a specific secondary school, and 2 the dimension of the influence of computer and related classes, which students were exposed to during secondary school. The aforementioned dimensions of influence can be analyzed by defining key factors of general secondary school education, and the factors of informatics education in secondary school, which are significant for the quality and effects in higher computer science education. The defined basic and exactly measurable criteria of the influence of secondary school education on the students' informatics education in college are the criterion of the number of school years during which information science classes were taken, as well as the criterion of secondary school orientation (course, among which those students were selected, who graduated from economics secondary schools and gymnasium (comprehensive secondary schools.

  5. The Impact of Spain's 1863 Educational Decree on the Spread of Philippine Public Schools and Language Acquisition

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hardacker, Erin P.

    2013-01-01

    The Educational Decree of 1863 was an effort by Spain to reform the Philippine colonial education system. The Decree established a complete system of education in the archipelago--it required two elementary schools in each municipality (one for girls and one for boys), standardized the curriculum, and established normal schools, thus making…

  6. Education Reform, Indigenous Politics, and Decolonisation in the Bolivia of Evo Morales

    Science.gov (United States)

    Howard, Rosaleen

    2009-01-01

    The paper explores the relationship between education reform and Intercultural Bilingual Education (IBE) for Bolivia's majority indigenous peoples, as this has evolved since the 1990s into the era of Evo Morales, Latin America's first indigenous president, elected in 2005. In order to bring out the significance of the new Education Bill awaiting…

  7. The Impact of the 2011 Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education Duty Hour Reform on Quality and Safety in Trauma Care.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Marwaha, Jayson S; Drolet, Brian C; Maddox, Suma S; Adams, Charles A

    2016-06-01

    In 2011, the ACGME limited duty hours for residents. Although studies evaluating the 2011 policy have not shown improvements in general measures of morbidity or mortality, these outcomes might not reflect changes in specialty-specific practice patterns and secondary quality measures. All trauma admissions from July 2009 through June 2013 at an academic Level I trauma center were evaluated for 5 primary outcomes (eg, mortality and length of stay), and 10 secondary quality measures and practice patterns (eg, operating room [OR] visits). All variables were compared before and after the reform (July 1, 2011). Piecewise regression was used to study temporal trends in quality. There were 11,740 admissions studied. The reform was not strongly associated with changes in any primary outcomes except length of stay (7.98 to 7.36 days; p = 0.01). However, many secondary quality metrics changed. The total number of OR and bedside procedures per admission (6.72 to 7.34; p care might have changed after the reform. Indeed, a consistent change in resource use patterns was manifested by substantial post-reform increases in measures such as bedside procedures and OR visits. No secondary quality measures exhibited improvements strongly associated with the reform. Several factors, including attending oversight, might have insulated major outcomes from change. Our findings show that some less-commonly studied quality metrics related to costs of care changed after the 2011 reform at our institution. Copyright © 2016 American College of Surgeons. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  8. Introduction of computers in education : state of the art in eight countries

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Plomp, T.; Pelgrum, W.J.

    1991-01-01

    In 1989, the IEA Computers in Education study collected data on computer use in elementary, lower- and upper secondary education in 22 countries. This paper presents some preliminary results for lower secondary education in Belgium-Flemish, Belgium-French, France, Greece, Japan, Luxembourg, The

  9. Educational models in academic research on the teaching practices in science education in elementary school

    OpenAIRE

    Rebeca Chiacchio Azevedo Fernandes; Jorge Megid Neto

    2013-01-01

    We intended to identify the features and pedagogical trends of the school practices proposed and implemented in thesis and dissertations directed to science education at elementary school level from 1972 to 2005. Thirty studies were analysed regarding the teaching methodology, instructional resources, teacher-student relationships, evaluation, theoretical framework, and educational model (traditional, rediscovery, constructivist, technicist, STS, socio-cultural). We found that the constructiv...

  10. Education Reform and Equal Opportunity in Japan

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Akito Okada

    2012-10-01

    Full Text Available Recently, there have been concerns that equality of educational opportunity has been lost and that this is leading to the stratification of Japanese society through the widening of income differentials, in a 'gap society'. In such a disparity society, secure full- time jobs are increasingly becoming limited to those who graduate from prestigious universities, and entry into those institutions is becoming connected more clearly with family income and investments. Parental attitudes towards their children taking extra lessons after school, going to cram schools, getting into university, and getting into a relatively highly-ranked university have influenced educational costs. This article examines the historical formation of the concept of equality of opportunity, which has been applied to the educational policy in Japan, particularly from the end of World War II to the new millennium. This paper also expands on the existing literature on educational policies in contemporary Japan by examining how the current educational reform efforts have affected equality of educational opportunity among children from different family backgrounds.

  11. Student pharmacists provide tobacco use prevention education to elementary school children: A pilot experience.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ostroff, Jared L; Wolff, Marissa L; Andros, Christina; Nemec, Eric C

    2017-09-01

    The purpose of this article is to describe a service learning experience involving tobacco prevention education and to measure the education's effect on the learners' knowledge of tobacco products. Student pharmacists planned and presented a 40-min tobacco prevention education program using the Tar Wars curriculum to fourth and fifth grade students at three suburban elementary schools in Western Massachusetts. Mean scores on a five-question assessment given to school age children before and after the presentation were compared. A total of 206 elementary school students in ten classrooms participated. The average survey score increased from 1.87 on the pre-survey to 3.72 out of a maximum of five on the post-survey (Peducation to three suburban elementary schools. The children demonstrated an increase in short-term knowledge regarding tobacco use. Tobacco prevention is a unique co-curricular opportunity for student pharmacists to get involved in their community. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  12. Reforming Society through Education for Gifted Children: The Case of Kazakhstan

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yakavets, Natallia

    2014-01-01

    This paper explores the current education reform agenda in Kazakhstan, which is underpinned, in part, by the argument that investment in human capital through elite institutions for gifted children can lift up the whole system of education. The paper revisits two broad theoretical perspectives, relating to human capital and to ideas about…

  13. Implementing the Strategy for financial reform of higher education in Mozambique (EFES)

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Fonteyne, Bart; Jongbloed, B.W.A.

    2018-01-01

    This report describes the results of more than fifteen years of cooperation between the Government of Mozambique, the Government of the Netherlands, the Mozambican higher education institutions and the relevant stakeholders in designing and implementing reforms in the financing of higher education

  14. Nursing education reform in South Africa – lessons from a policy analysis study

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Duane Blaauw

    2014-12-01

    Full Text Available Background: Nursing education reform is identified as an important strategy for enhancing health workforce performance, and thereby improving the functioning of health systems. Globally, a predominant trend in such reform is towards greater professionalisation and university-based education. Related nursing education reform in South Africa culminated in a new Framework for Nursing Qualifications in 2013. Objective: We undertook a policy analysis study of the development of the new Nursing Qualifications Framework in South Africa. Design: We used a policy analysis framework derived from Walt and Gilson that interrogated the context, content, actors, and processes of policy development and implementation. Following informed consent, in-depth interviews were conducted with 28 key informants from national and provincial government; the South African Nursing Council; the national nursing association; nursing academics, managers, and educators; and other nursing organisations. The interviews were complemented with a review of relevant legislation and policy documents. Documents and interview transcripts were coded thematically using Atlas-ti software. Results: The revision of nursing qualifications was part of the post-apartheid transformation of nursing, but was also influenced by changes in the education sector. The policy process took more than 10 years to complete and the final Regulations were promulgated in 2013. The two most important changes are the requirement for a baccalaureate degree to qualify as a professional nurse and abolishing the enrolled nurse with 2 years training in favour of a staff nurse with a 3-year college diploma. Respondents criticised slow progress, weak governance by the Nursing Council and the Department of Health, limited planning for implementation, and the inappropriateness of the proposals for South Africa. Conclusions: The study found significant weaknesses in the policy capacity of the main institutions

  15. In defense of “real interest” secondary education in the educational speech of O Estado de S. Paulo (1946-1957

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Bruno Bontempi Júnior

    2012-02-01

    Full Text Available This article presents the educational speech of O Estado de S. Paulo after the Estado Novo, articulating its update to the changes of the journalism. The reforms enterprise and graphical developed from 1945, aimed to the modernization of the periodical and the increment of its sales. That had lead to the predominance of the notice and news articles in detriment of the opinion, transforming the editorials into privileged places for its manifestation. The new politics of conscription of collaborators, in turn, brought of the College of Philosophy, Sciences and Letters of the University of São Paulo (USP some of its first “bacharéis”. That allowed that the intellectuals of the USP, by means of the writings of Laerte Ramos de Carvalho, converted its ideas on secondary education into “clarified public opinion”.

  16. Education under the Heel of Caesar: Reading UK Higher Education Reform through Shakespeare's "Antony and Cleopatra"

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ward, Sophie

    2012-01-01

    UK higher education reform (BIS, ) has been presented as a common-sense movement towards efficiency. This article will argue that, in reality, the marketisation of higher education is a movement towards negative freedom, defined after Berlin (2007) as unrestricted choice. Using Shakespeare's "Antony and Cleopatra" as a means to explore…

  17. Receipt of special education services following elementary school grade retention.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Silverstein, Michael; Guppy, Nicole; Young, Robin; Augustyn, Marilyn

    2009-06-01

    To estimate the proportion of children who receive an Individualized Education Program (IEP) following grade retention in elementary school. Longitudinal cohort study. Children retained in kindergarten or first (K/1) grade and third grade, presumably for academic reasons, were followed up through fifth grade. Presence or absence of an IEP. A total of 300 children retained in K/1 and 80 retained in third grade were included in the study. Of the K/1 retainees, 68.9% never received an IEP during the subsequent 4 to 5 years; of the third-grade retainees, 72.3% never received an IEP. Kindergarten/first-grade retainees in the highest quintile for socioeconomic status and those with suburban residence were less likely to receive an IEP than retained children in all other socioeconomic status quintiles (adjusted odds ratio, 0.17; 95% confidence interval, 0.05-0.62) and in rural communities (0.16; 0.06-0.44). Among K/1 retainees with persistently low academic achievement in math and reading, as assessed by standardized testing, 38.2% and 29.7%, respectively, never received an IEP. Most children retained in K/1 or third grade for academic reasons, including many of those who demonstrated sustained academic difficulties, never received an IEP during elementary school. Further studies are important to elucidate whether retained elementary schoolchildren are being denied their rights to special education services. In the meantime, early-grade retention may provide an opportunity for pediatricians to help families advocate for appropriate special education evaluations for children experiencing school difficulties.

  18. A view to educational reforms and the formation of citizenship in Bolivia (century XX and XXI

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Weimar Iño

    2017-07-01

    Full Text Available The article takes a historical look at the educational reforms implemented in Bolivia with reference to the formation of citizenship. For this purpose historical research was used and the bibliographic review was used to collect, describe and analyze the written sources. This in order to understand the relationship between State, education and citizenship, which identifies two aspects that guide educational policies and the formation of citizenship. In this way, we can also elucidate the types of citizens who projected these educational reforms in Bolivia during the 20th century: the liberal (1899-1920, the nationalist (1954-1964 and the neoliberal (1994-2004; And in the 21st century, the sociocommunity. In each of these reforms there are common characteristics, on the one hand, there is the centralization of public education at the hands of the State; On the other hand, the role given to education for civic formation and the construction of national identity, in this case Bolivianity; For example, for the indigenous majority was their assimilation to the national culture and homogenization, through education. Likewise, each reform sought the formation of a citizenship; In the case of the liberal raised the Bolivian identity; The nationalist point towards mestizaje as a citizen, neoliberal ideal for the construction of a pluricultural and multilingual citizenship; And the sociocommunity towards an intercultural and decolonized citizenship.

  19. Student Learning through Journal Writing in a General Education Chemistry Course for Pre-Elementary Education Majors

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dianovsky, Michael T.; Wink, Donald J.

    2012-01-01

    This paper describes research on the use of journals in a general education chemistry course for elementary education majors. In the journals, students describe their understanding of a topic, the development of that understanding, and how the topic connects to their lives. In the process, they are able to engage in reflection about several…

  20. Educational reform as a dynamic system of problems and solutions: Towards an analytic instrument

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Luttenberg, J.; Carpay, T.; Veugelers, W.

    2013-01-01

    Large-scale educational reforms are difficult to realize and often fail. In the literature, the course of reform and problems associated with this are frequently discussed. The explanations and recommendations then provided are so diverse that it is difficult to gain a comprehensive overview of what

  1. Outlook on Student Retention in Higher Education University Reforms in Morocco

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mansouri, Zoulal; Moumine, Mohamed El Amine

    2017-01-01

    High student attrition rates at university have become one of the most challenging issues in higher education worldwide in the last five decades. Moroccan universities are no exception. At-risk students drop out of studies for a plethora of reasons, and the attrition rate is increasing despite the efforts made in education reforms carried out…

  2. A Phenomenological Case Study of the Elementary to Secondary Transition for One Female Student Diagnosed with Selective Mutism

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nashman-Smith, Mona

    2017-01-01

    Selective mutism (SM) is considered a communication and anxiety disorder that afflicts about 1% of students. The rarity of SM and the isolated cases of this condition has rendered the elementary to secondary school experience for a student with SM difficult to study. Utilizing a qualitative approach, this phenomenological case study examined the…

  3. Sports in elementary school: : physical education specialists vs. group teachers

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    de Groot, Wouter; Moolenaar, Ben; Mombarg, Remo

    2014-01-01

    Introduction In elementary school, children have to learn fundamental motor skills to ensure a lifetime participation in sports. An essential part of this learning process is organized in physical education lessons and other sport activities during or after school time. The quality and quantity of

  4. Parental Involvement in Elementary Children's Religious Education: A Phenomenological Inquiry

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bunnell, Peter W.; Yocum, Russell; Koyzis, Anthony; Strohmyer, Karin

    2018-01-01

    Biblical texts mandate parental involvement in children's religious education. Researchers consider it important as well. Through analysis of interviews, site documents, and a focus group this phenomenological study seeks to provide a rich description of parents' experience with involvement in the religious education of their elementary children.…

  5. France, initiatives for excellence in higher education: One of twelve case studies produced as part of the project on structural reform in higher education

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Boudard, Emmanuel; Westerheijden, Donald F.

    2016-01-01

    This study analyses how different types of system-level (or ‘landscape’) structural reforms in higher education have been designed and implemented in selected higher education systems. In the 12 case studies that form the core of the project, the researchers examine reforms aimed at:• Increasing

  6. Geography teachers' interpretation of a curriculum reform initiative: the case of the Lesotho Environmental Education Support Project (LEESP

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mohaeka Raselimo

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available This article addresses how teachers in a specific developing world context interpreted a curriculum reform initiative. It is located within a broader interpretive study that investigated the integration of Environmental Education into the formal education system of Lesotho with particular reference to secondary school geography. More specifically the focus was on a Danish donor-fundedproject, known as the Lesotho Environmental Education Support Project (LEESP. Driven by a sustainable development imperative, the project was intended to assist Lesotho with the implementation of local action for Agenda 21 by introducing environmental education into the formal education system. It is widely accepted that teachers play an important role in implementing curriculum change. Using a previous framework, we generate insights for understanding how teachers' epistemologies interact with contextual factors to impede the process ofcurriculum sense-making. Furthermore, guided by the notion ofcurriculum as a contextualised social process, we present the findings on the contextual/structural factors enabling or constraining implementation ofthe LEESP curriculum policy intentions as perceived by the teachers.

  7. Reforms, Leadership and Quality Management in Greek Higher Education

    Science.gov (United States)

    Papadimitriou, Antigoni

    2011-01-01

    This article reports on research to form an understanding of how to account whether and how quality management (QM) has been adopted in Greek higher education. Greece only recently introduced quality assurance policies. In this study, I will describe governmental reforms related to QM policies until 2010. An issue that is frequently addressed…

  8. Neoliberalism as Nihilism? A Commentary on Educational Accountability, Teacher Education, and School Reform

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tuck, Eve

    2013-01-01

    In this article, the author discusses neoliberalism as an extension of settler colonialism. The article provides commentary on five recent articles on teacher education and the neoliberal agenda. The article presents an analysis of neoliberalism as despair, and as a form of nihilism. The author discusses an indigenous model of school reform and…

  9. The New Basic Education and Whole School Reform: A Chinese Experience

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bu, Yuhua; Li, Jiacheng

    2013-01-01

    Since the 1980s, China has entered an era of transformation which has extended its reach to education and school reforms. The "New Basic Education" (NBE) was born in this era and implemented by the East China Normal University together with schools around the country. NBE aims at nurturing the active, healthy development of a new…

  10. A qualitative case study to identify possible barriers that limit effective elementary science education

    Science.gov (United States)

    Foster, Donald Carey

    The purpose of this case study was to identify barriers that limit the effectiveness of elementary teachers in the teaching of science. It is of the utmost urgency that barriers be first identified, so that possible solutions can be explored to bring about the improvement of elementary science education. This urgency has been imposed by the scheduled national testing of students in science by 2007, as mandated by the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001. Using qualitative case study methods, the researcher conducted interviews with 8 elementary teachers from two schools within one school district who taught 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade. These interviews were designed to gain insight into barriers these elementary teachers perceived as factors limiting their effectiveness in teaching science and preparing students for high-stakes testing. Barriers in the areas of teacher background, typical teaching day, curriculum, inservices, and legislative influences were explored. This study concluded that the barriers explored do have a substantial negative affect on the teaching and learning of science in the elementary grades. Specifically, the barriers revealed in this study include the limited science background of elementary teachers, inadequate class time devoted to science, non-comprehensive curriculum, ineffective or lack of inservice training, and pressures from legislated mandates. But it is also clear that these barriers are so intertwined that one cannot remove these barriers one at a time. It will take a collective effort from all involved, including legislators, administrators, teachers, parents, and students, to alleviate these barriers and discover effective solutions to improve elementary science education.

  11. Curriculum Implementation and Reform: Teachers' Views about Kuwait's New Science Curriculum

    Science.gov (United States)

    Alshammari, Ahmad

    2013-01-01

    The MoE (Ministry of Education) in the state of Kuwait is starting to reform the science curriculum in all school academic stages: primary (1-5) grades, intermediate (6-9) grades, and secondary (10-12) grades. The purpose of this study was to explore the opinions of science teachers about Kuwait's new sixth and seventh grade science curriculum,…

  12. Gender Disparity at Elementary Education Level in Jammu and Kashmir: An Exploratory Study

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gul, Showkeen Bilal Ahmad; Khan, Zebun Nisa

    2014-01-01

    This paper is based on a study to explore gender disparity at elementary education level in Jammu and Kashmir. Gender disparity in education refers to differences in outcomes observed between two sexes. Education disparities can be seen in different enrolment rates, dropout rates, and survival rates among the sexes. The central government and…

  13. MEDIA EDUCATION IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE LESSONS IN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Iryna O. Taraba

    2018-04-01

    Full Text Available The article deals with possible ways of the use of media education in the process of teaching foreign languages in elementary school, which corresponds to innovative educational trends. The task of the teacher is to build a learning process so that the children were interested. The author analyzes the concept of media education and suggests possible ways of formation of skills of using media education for primary school pupils. This will allow teachers to use self-made educational material based on the personal characteristics of the students, their level of preparation, the individual way of perception of information and work with it in order to develop their autonomy, the ability to analyze, synthesize and generalize information, to form a culture of communication with the media, creative, communicative abilities, critical thinking.

  14. Improving Technical Vocational Education and Training in the Kurdistan Region--Iraq

    Science.gov (United States)

    Constant, Louay; Culbertson, Shelly; Stasz, Cathleen; Vernez, Georges

    2014-01-01

    As Iraq's Kurdistan region develops rapidly, it is creating jobs that require a solid education and technical skills. The government has launched an ambitious reform of basic and secondary education to increase its quality and has expanded opportunities for tertiary technical and university education. But expansion of secondary vocational…

  15. Governance and Funding Reforms in Dutch Higher Education: Past, Present, and Future

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ritzen, Jozef M. M.; Marconi, Gabriele

    2012-01-01

    This article reviews the history of higher education governance and funding in The Netherlands, generalising when possible to other European countries. It finds that governance reforms and the funding of higher education appear to be driven by economic and demographic factors, including massification. Furthermore, the Bologna Process can be…

  16. Welcome to the "New Normal": The News Media and Neoliberal Reforming Education

    Science.gov (United States)

    Goldstein, Rebecca A.; Macrine, Sheila; Chesky, Nataly Z.

    2011-01-01

    This article demonstrates how media coverage employs dominant neoliberal narratives and discourses to blame public education for societal ills. The authors examine how the media's use of neoliberal narrative and discourse has hegemonically become the "new normal" of public education and school reform. Utilizing data from media coverage…

  17. Using a Multicultural Social Justice Framework to Analyze Elementary Teachers' Meanings of Multicultural Science Education

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kye, Hannah Anne

    In response to the persistent gaps in science opportunities and outcomes across lines of race, class, gender, and disability, decades of science reforms have called for "science for all." For elementary teachers, science for all demands that they not only learn to teach science but learn to teach it in ways that promote more equitable science learning opportunities and outcomes. In this qualitative case study, I use a framework of multicultural social justice education to examine three teachers' beliefs and practices of multicultural science education. The teachers, one preservice and two in-service, taught elementary science in a month-long summer program and met weekly with this researcher to discuss connections between their expressed commitments about teaching toward social justice and their work as science teachers. The data sources for this study included audio recordings of weekly meetings, science lessons, and semi-structured individual interviews. These data were transcribed, coded, and analyzed to define the most salient themes and categories among the individual teachers and across cases. I found that the teachers' beliefs and practices aligned with traditional approaches to school and science wherein science was a set of scripted right answers, diversity was only superficially acknowledged, and multiculturalizing the curriculum meant situating science in unfamiliar real world contexts. These meanings of science positioned the teacher as authority and operated outside of a structural analysis of the salience of race, culture, gender, and disability in students' science learning experiences. As they taught and reflected on their teaching in light of their social justice commitments, I found that the teachers negotiated more constructivist and student-centered approaches to science education. These meanings of science required teachers to learn about students and make their experiences more central to their learning. Yet they continued to only acknowledge

  18. Key Emerging Technologies for Elementary and Secondary Education

    Science.gov (United States)

    Johnson, Laurence F.; Levine, Alan; Smith, Rachel S.; Haywood, Keene

    2010-01-01

    The Horizon Report series is the most visible outcome of the New Media Consortium's Horizon Project, an ongoing research effort that identifies and describes emerging technologies likely to have a large impact on teaching, learning, research, or creative expression within education around the globe. The report examines emerging technologies for…

  19. Do American and Korean Education Systems Converge? Tracking School Reform Policies and Outcomes in Korea and the USA

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lee, Jaekyung; Park, Daekwon

    2014-01-01

    This study examines key school reform policies and outcomes of the USA and Korea over the past three decades from comparative perspectives. Since the two nations' unique educational problems brought divergent educational reform paths--standardization versus differentiation, high-stakes testing versus individualized assessment, and centralization…

  20. 45 CFR 605.34 - Educational setting.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-10-01

    ... needs of the handicapped person. A recipient shall place a handicapped person in the regular educational environment operated by the recipient unless it is demonstrated by the recipient that the education of the..., Elementary, and Secondary Education § 605.34 Educational setting. (a) Academic setting. A recipient to which...

  1. Assessing Participation in Secondary Education Quality Enhancement

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Assessing Participation in Secondary Education Quality Enhancement: Teachers, Parents and Communities in Cross River State. ... ailing economy, low moral values and philosophy of the end justifies the means were reasons for low parents and communities involvement in secondary education-quality improvement.

  2. Documentos de consulta para iniciar la reforma educativa (Preparatory documents on educational reform).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Consejo Nacional Tecnico de la Educacion (Mexico).

    This document is an English-language abstract (approximately 1,500 words) of two booklets on Mexican educational reform. The first booklet cites the parts of the Mexican Constitution dealing with education, the legal foundation of Mexican education, stipulating that it shall be universal, democratic, national, compulsory, free and immune from…

  3. The Archetypes and Philosophical Motivations of Urban Elementary Physical Educators

    Science.gov (United States)

    Culp, Brian

    2011-01-01

    Brookfield (1990), Brown (2002) and Weiner (2006) have advocated for the study of teachers' philosophies as integral to understanding motivation for teaching in urban settings. The purpose of this study investigates the teaching philosophies of 13 experienced urban elementary physical educators. Content analysis of the data collected from teachers…

  4. PERCEPTIONS OF THE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL COUNSELOR.

    Science.gov (United States)

    BRADEN, BILLY; AND OTHERS

    FACTORS ASSOCIATED WITH THE ROLE AND FUNCTION OF THE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL COUNSELOR AS THEY WERE PERCEIVED BY SELECTED ELEMENTARY SCHOOL COUNSELORS, ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRINCIPALS, COUNSELOR EDUCATORS, AND STATE SUPERVISORS IN THE SOUTHERN ASSOCIATION FOR COUNSELOR EDUCATION AND SUPERVISION (SACES) REGION WERE IDENTIFIED. THREE INSTRUMENTS WERE…

  5. Early Educational Provision--Emphasised in Education Policy Reforms in Norway? An Analysis of Education Policy Documents

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bjørnsrud, Halvor; Nilsen, Sven

    2014-01-01

    The article analyses how the intentions of early provision in Norwegian schools have been expressed in the education policy reforms in Norway from the 1970s to the present day. The first area deals with the intentions that most explicitly cover early provision; prevention, early detection and intervention. The second area of analysis relates to…

  6. Teacher Agency in Educational Reform: Lessons from Social Networks Research

    Science.gov (United States)

    Datnow, Amanda

    2012-01-01

    This article provides a context for understanding how social networks among teachers support or constrain school improvement in terms of instructional practice, professional development, and educational reform. It comments on the articles in this special issue, summarizing their contributions to the field. This analysis reveals several important…

  7. Academic Benefits of Transitional Bilingual Education: A Literary Review, Staff Development, and Guidebook for Elementary Administrators and Educators.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nunez, Jean Ann; Karr-Kidwell, PJ

    This paper provides a literature review, staff development information, and a guidebook for elementary administrators and educators that explains the academic benefits of Transitional Bilingual Education (TBE) for prekindergarten through fifth grade students. TBE allows limited English speaking students to learn a second language while being…

  8. Reframing conceptual physics: Improving relevance to elementary education and sonography majors

    Science.gov (United States)

    LaFazia, David Gregory

    This study outlines the steps taken to reframe the Waves and Periodicity unit within a conceptual physics course. Beyond this unit reframing process, this paper explores the activities that made up the reframed unit and how each was developed and revised. The unit was reframed to improve relevance of the activities to the Elementary Education and Diagnostic Medical Sonography majors who make up the bulk of the course roster. The unit was reframed around ten design principles that were built on best practices from the literature, survey responses, and focused interviews. These principles support the selection of a biology-integrated themed approach to teaching physics. This is done through active and highly kinesthetic learning across three realms of human experience: physical, social, and cognitive. The unit materials were designed around making connections to students' future careers while requiring students to take progressively more responsibility in activities and assessments. Several support strategies are employed across these activities and assessments, including an energy-first, guided-inquiry approach to concept scaffolding and accommodations for diverse learners. Survey responses were solicited from physics instructors experienced with this population, Elementary Education and Sonography program advisors, and curriculum design, learning strategies, and educational technology experts. The reframed unit was reviewed by doctoral-level science education experts and revised to further improve the depth and transparency with which the design principles reframe the unit activities. The reframed unit contains a full unit plan, lesson plans, and full unit materials. These include classroom and online activities, assessments, and templates for future unit and lesson planning. Additional supplemental materials are provided to support Elementary Education and Sonography students and program advisors and also further promote the reframed unit materials and design

  9. Key Aspects of Current Educational Reforms in Islamic Educational Schools

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ibrahim Hashim

    2017-06-01

    Full Text Available This paper is based on the premise that Islamic education plays a significant role in producing an integrated personality of young generation in order to fulfil the needs of present society. This study is important to address the key educational changes in pedagogy, curricular and teaching approach that relate directly to the effectiveness of the implementation of Islamic Education in Islamic schools. Questions raised in this writing is whether and how Muslim schools have transformed to meet the changes and challenges of the globalizing world and what should be done to ensure Islamic schools meet current needs. Thus, it argues that there is a need for reform in contemporary Islamic schools with particular reference to the changes in the curriculum, teaching style, role of Islamic schools and gender participation. The paper considers the possibility of integrating new perspectives across the curriculum and outlines the integrated approach to ensure the quality and excellence of their graduates.

  10. Effects of comprehensive educational reforms on academic success in a diverse student body.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lieberman, Steven A; Ainsworth, Michael A; Asimakis, Gregory K; Thomas, Lauree; Cain, Lisa D; Mancuso, Melodee G; Rabek, Jeffrey P; Zhang, Ni; Frye, Ann W

    2010-12-01

    Calls for medical curriculum reform and increased student diversity in the USA have seen mixed success: performance outcomes following curriculum revisions have been inconsistent and national matriculation of under-represented minority (URM) students has not met aspirations. Published innovations in curricula, academic support and pipeline programmes usually describe isolated interventions that fail to affect curriculum-level outcomes. United States Medical Licensing Examination (USMLE) Step 1 performance and graduation rates were analysed for three classes of medical students before (matriculated 1995-1997, n=517) and after (matriculated 2003-2005, n=597) implementing broad-based reforms in our education system. The changes in pipeline recruitment and preparation programmes, instructional methods, assessment systems, academic support and board preparation were based on sound educational principles and best practices. Post-reform classes were diverse with respect to ethnicity (25.8% URM students), gender (51.8% female), and Medical College Admissions Test (MCAT) score (range 20-40; 24.1% scored ≤ 25). Mean±standard deviation MCAT scores were minimally changed (from 27.2±4.7 to 27.8±3.6). The Step 1 failure rate decreased by 69.3% and mean score increased by 14.0 points (effect size: d=0.67) overall. Improvements were greater among women (failure rate decreased by 78.9%, mean score increased by 15.6 points; d=0.76) and URM students (failure rate decreased by 76.5%, mean score increased by 14.6 points; d=0.74), especially African-American students (failure rate decreased by 93.6%, mean score increased by 20.8 points; d=1.12). Step 1 scores increased across the entire MCAT range. Four- and 5-year graduation rates increased by 7.1% and 5.8%, respectively. The effect sizes in these performance improvements surpassed those previously reported for isolated interventions in curriculum and student support. This success is likely to have resulted from the broad

  11. CONCEPTS AND INSTITUTIONS FOR A NEW BUDDHIST EDUCATION : REFORMING THE SAṂGHA BETWEEN AND WITHIN STATE AGENCIES

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Travagnin, Stefania

    2014-01-01

    Education reforms have played a key role in the turning points of Chinese history. Slogans like jiaoyu jiuguo 教育救國 became well-known when the first Republic succeeded the Empire, at the dawn of the Mao era, and with Deng Xiaoping in the 1980s. China used to base her reinvention on education reforms,

  12. Utilizing the NASA Data-enhanced Investigations for Climate Change Education Resource for Elementary Pre-service Teachers in a Technology Integration Education Course.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Howard, E. M.; Moore, T.; Hale, S. R.; Hayden, L. B.; Johnson, D.

    2014-12-01

    The preservice teachers enrolled in the EDUC 203 Introduction to Computer Instructional Technology course, primarily for elementary-level had created climate change educational lessons based upon their use of the NASA Data-enhanced Investigations for Climate Change Education (DICCE). NASA climate education datasets and tools were introduced to faculty of Minority Serving Institutions through a grant from the NASA Innovations in Climate Education program. These lessons were developed to study various ocean processes involving phytoplankton's chlorophyll production over time for specific geographic areas using the Giovanni NASA software tool. The pre-service teachers had designed the climate change content that will assist K-4 learners to identify and predict phytoplankton sources attributed to sea surface temperatures, nutrient levels, sunlight, and atmospheric carbon dioxide associated with annual chlorophyll production. From the EDUC 203 course content, the preservice teachers applied the three phases of the technology integration planning (TIP) model in developing their lessons. The Zunal website (http://www.zunal.com) served as a hypermedia tool for online instructional delivery in presenting the climate change content, the NASA climate datasets, and the visualization tools used for the production of elementary learning units. A rubric was developed to assess students' development of their webquests to meet the overall learning objectives and specific climate education objectives. Accompanying each webquest is a rubric with a defined table of criteria, for a teacher to assess students completing each of the required tasks for each lesson. Two primary challenges of technology integration for elementary pre-service teachers were 1) motivating pre-service teachers to be interested in climate education and 2) aligning elementary learning objectives with the Next Generation science standards of climate education that are non-existent in the Common Core State

  13. Educational Statistics and School Improvement. Statistics and the Federal Role in Education.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hawley, Willis D.

    This paper focuses on how educational statistics might better serve the quest for educational improvement in elementary and secondary schools. A model for conceptualizing the sources and processes of school productivity is presented. The Learning Productivity Model suggests that school outcomes are the consequence of the interaction of five…

  14. 38 CFR 18.439 - Private education.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-07-01

    ... 38 Pensions, Bonuses, and Veterans' Relief 2 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Private education. 18.439... Adult Education § 18.439 Private education. (a) A recipient that provides private elementary or secondary education may not on the basis of handicap, exclude a qualified handicapped person if the person...

  15. Factors affecting science reform: Bridging the gap between reform initiatives and teaching practices

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pensak, Karl John

    In response to the perceived deficiencies in science education today, and to the expressed need for research into the culture of schools (due primarily to the failure of many science reforms in the past), this study used a broad based approach to study the gap between science education research and science education practice. This study identified 47 factors that may encourage or inhibit science curriculum reform. A survey was conducted to determine which factors were perceived to be important by local and national K-12 classroom teachers, science supervisors/coordinators, and college/university professors. Continual staff development (scheduled as part of teachers' work day/week/month), funding (for long-term staff development, teacher training and support, science laboratory facilities and materials), teacher motivation and "ownership" of the reform, the need for collaborative opportunities for classroom teachers, teachers' college preparation, textbook reform, community support, and reform initiatives that are "in tune" with assessment, are major factors identified as having a substantial affect on the successful adoption, implementation, and institutionalization of science reforms.

  16. Atomic Energy Society of Japan's support activities on radiation education

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kudo, K.

    2016-01-01

    Educational Committee of AESJ supports the education about nuclear energy and radiation for elementary, secondary and senior high school students. It also supports professional nuclear engineer education and international radiation education. (author)

  17. Globalization and Language and Education Reform in Colombia: A Critical Outlook

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jaime Usma

    2009-05-01

    Full Text Available This paper explores the connection between economic, political, and cultural globalization processes and recent education and language reforms in Colombia. Throughout the article, the author attempts to demonstrate that current education and language policies in Colombia are tightly connected to transnational agendas and models of reform that do not necessarily represent a real benefit for the majority of the population, but, instead, may render privileges for a few. With this analysis, the author insists on the need for an equitable plan for the improvement of language teaching and learning in Colombia in a way that considers local priorities of economic development, respects local knowledge and culture, and accounts for a systemic and fundamental improvement of the public system based on the dissimilar conditions that affect schools, teachers, and students in both the private and the public sectors in the country.

  18. National Assessment and the Opportunity to Learn in Educational Reform

    Science.gov (United States)

    Snyder, Conrad Wesley, Jr.; Mereku, Kofi D.; Amedahe, Francis K.; Etsey, Kofui; Adu, John

    2013-01-01

    Over two decades, national assessments in Ghana have revealed generally poor performances across curriculum-based tests for primary school (Grades 1-6). Various reform agendas have been applied to the education system, sometimes with isolated success, but the overall performances remained stable and low. Surveying teacher mentors in schools…

  19. A Co-Construction Perspective on Organizational Change and Educational Reform

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mehan, Hugh; Hubbard, Lea; Datnow, Amanda

    2010-01-01

    In their earlier work, the authors explained how the co-construction perspective has been heuristic in the study of organizational change and educational reform, often providing more nuanced analyses and findings than "technical-rational" models that dominated the field previously (Datnow, Hubbard, & Mehan, 2002). In framing organizational change…

  20. Professional Development in a Reform Context: Understanding the Design and Enactment of Learning Experiences Created by Teacher Leaders for Science Educators

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shafer, Laura

    2017-01-01

    Teacher in-service learning about education reforms like NGSS often begin with professional development (PD) as a foundational component (Supovitz & Turner, 2000). Teacher Leaders, who are early implementers of education reform, are positioned to play a contributing role to the design of PD. As early implementers of reforms, Teacher Leaders…

  1. Higher Education Policy Reform in Ethiopia: The Representation of the Problem of Gender Inequality

    Science.gov (United States)

    Molla, Tebeje

    2013-01-01

    The higher education (HE) subsystem in Ethiopia has passed through a series of policy reforms in the last 10 years. Key reform areas ranged from improving quality and relevance of programmes to promoting equality in access to and success in HE. Despite the effort underway, gender inequality has remained a critical challenge in the subsystem. This…

  2. Education for Sustainable Development in Malaysia's National Curriculum Reformation: A Theoretical Exploration

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Aai Sheau Yean

    2014-10-01

    Full Text Available This article aims to examine the feasibility and potential of including appropriate Education for Sustainable Development (ESD elements in the National Curriculum Reformation of Malaysia that is set to be introduced in the year 2017. This is done through the proposal of a theoretical approach for understanding ESD fit for Malaysia from an environmental epistemology. To start with, this article outlines dominant ideologies and epistemologies revolving around the concept of Sustainable Development (SD and focuses on critiquing the underlying anthropocentric tendencies found within. Drawing principally from the ideas of Schumacher (1973, Orr (2004, and Sterling (1992, the article then sets out to examine the ideologies and epistemologies needed to support education reformation that are more environmentally sensitive in nature.

  3. Teacher's voices in the context of higher education : reforms in Armenia

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Karakhanyan, S.; Veen, S.J.; Bergen, T.C.M.

    2011-01-01

    In this article, teachers' sense-making and reasoning about higher education reforms in a post Soviet country, namely Armenia, are examined using an analytical framework with six sensitising concepts: beliefs, emotions, attitudes, change knowledge, attributions and organisational culture. The

  4. A Meta-Analysis of the Relationship between Learning Outcomes and Parental Involvement during Early Childhood Education and Early Elementary Education

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ma, Xin; Shen, Jianping; Krenn, Huilan Y.; Hu, Shanshan; Yuan, Jing

    2016-01-01

    This meta-analysis examined the relationship between learning outcomes of children and educational involvement of parents during a unique period of early childhood education and early elementary education based on 100 independent effect sizes from 46 studies. Learning outcomes are academic achievement, and frameworks of parental involvement…

  5. Dogs, Cats, and Kids: Integrating Yoga into Elementary Physical Education

    Science.gov (United States)

    Toscano, Lisa; Clemente, Fran

    2008-01-01

    This article describes the benefits of integrating yoga into elementary physical education classes. Taught as warm-up exercises or as an entire class, yoga offers children of any age and physical ability the opportunity to experience success in physical activity. Children need to experience joy while participating in physical activity in order to…

  6. Promoting Science in Secondary School Education.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chiovitti, Anthony; Duncan, Jacinta C; Jabbar, Abdul

    2017-06-01

    Engaging secondary school students with science education is crucial for a society that demands a high level of scientific literacy in order to deal with the economic and social challenges of the 21st century. Here we present how parasitology could be used to engage and promote science in secondary school students under the auspice of a 'Specialist Centre' model for science education. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  7. Instructional strategies in science classrooms of specialized secondary schools for the gifted

    Science.gov (United States)

    Poland, Donna Lorraine

    This study examined the extent to which science teachers in Academic Year Governor's Schools were adhering to the national standards for suggested science instruction and providing an appropriate learning environment for gifted learners. The study asked 13 directors, 54 instructors of advanced science courses, and 1190 students of advanced science courses in 13 Academic Year Governor's Schools in Virginia to respond to researcher-developed surveys and to participate in classroom observations. The surveys and classroom observations collected demographic data as well as instructors' and students' perceptions of the use of various instructional strategies related to national science reform and gifted education recommendations. Chi-square analyses were used to ascertain significant differences between instructors' and students' perceptions. Findings indicated that instructors of advanced science classes in secondary schools for the gifted are implementing nationally recognized gifted education and science education instructional strategies with less frequency than desired. Both students and instructors concur that these strategies are being implemented in the classroom setting, and both concur as to the frequency with which the implementation occurs. There was no significant difference between instructors' and students' perceptions of the frequency of implementation of instructional strategies. Unfortunately, there was not a single strategy that students and teachers felt was being implemented on a weekly or daily basis across 90% of the sampled classrooms. Staff development in gifted education was found to be minimal as an ongoing practice. While this study offers some insights into the frequency of strategy usage, the study needs more classroom observations to support findings; an area of needed future research. While this study was conducted at the secondary level, research into instructional practices at the middle school and elementary school gifted science

  8. Transformative Education? A Philosophic-Augustinian Response to the 2010 Albertan Reform Initiatives in "Inspiring Education"

    Science.gov (United States)

    Steel, Sean

    2012-01-01

    The Alberta Government's 2010 "Inspiring Education" reform proposals claim to be "transformational" in nature. This paper examines these proposals in light of ancient philosophy and various among the world's wisdom traditions. Drawing particularly on the philosophic reflections of St. Augustine in his "Confessions",…

  9. Gender-Based Content of Educational Materials for the Study of Serbian Language in Lower-Stage Grades of Elementary Education

    Science.gov (United States)

    Trifunovic, Vesna; Petrovic, Ruzica

    2014-01-01

    This paper presents the results of analysis of educational materials for the study of Serbian language in lower-stage grades of elementary education (intended for students from 7 through 11 years old) from gender perspective. The first part of the paper presents the process of institutionalization of gender-based education in the Republic of…

  10. Perceptions of Higher Education Reforms in Russia: the Role of Institutions and Social Capital

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Volchik Vyacheslav, V.

    2016-07-01

    Full Text Available Recent reforms of higher education in Russia are aimed at boosting the quality and efficiency of the educational process. Nevertheless, in most cases, implemented institutional and organizational innovations do not work properly. Calculative technologies and various ratings, which are widespread today, opened up the opportunities for regular managerial interventions. These interventions are not neutral. In Russian higher education, the mania for measurement resulted in a deficit of trust and rampant bureaucracy. Historically, the system of higher education has been based on specific values and institutions. Academic freedom and autonomy are extremely important for the members of the academic community, and these values cannot be eliminated. Implemented reforms destroy old institutions and organizational structures. However, new institutions, being inconsistent with present working rules and practices, are not able to replace the old ones. Such inconsistency can result in inefficiency. Social capital plays a crucial role for development and growth in the field of higher education. The structure of social capital in the field embraces three components: trust, social engagement and social integration. These elements must be taken into account when implementing educational reforms. The higher the employees are motivated and experience personal growth, the more they feel embedded in their job. We have analyzed the discourses of the key actors within the universities of Rostov Region. The discourse analysis shows that bureaucracy, constant institutional and organizational changes and the reduction of academic freedom are perceived as significant factors that influence labor productivity, organizational efficiency and the quality of educational services in the field of higher education.

  11. 2005 Mississippi Curriculum Framework: Secondary Horticulture. (Program CIP: 01.0601 - Applied Horticulture/Horticultural Operations, General)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Research and Curriculum Unit, 2005

    2005-01-01

    Secondary vocational-technical education programs in Mississippi are faced with many challenges resulting from sweeping educational reforms at the national and state levels. Schools and teachers are increasingly being held accountable for providing true learning activities to every student in the classroom. This accountability is measured through…

  12. 2007 Mississippi Curriculum Framework: Secondary Computer Graphics. (Program CIP: 50.0402 - Commercial and Advertising Art)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Creel, Jo Anne; Denson, Cornelius; New, Ray

    2007-01-01

    Secondary vocational-technical education programs in Mississippi are faced with many challenges resulting from sweeping educational reforms at the national and state levels. Schools and teachers are increasingly being held accountable for providing true learning activities to every student in the classroom. This accountability is measured through…

  13. Using Practitioner Inquiry within and against Large-Scale Educational Reform

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hines, Mary Beth; Conner-Zachocki, Jennifer

    2015-01-01

    This research study examines the impact of teacher research on participants in a large-scale educational reform initiative in the United States, No Child Left Behind, and its strand for reading teachers, Reading First. Reading First supported professional development for teachers in order to increase student scores on standardized tests. The…

  14. The Anthropology of Science Education Reform: An Alabama Model for Building an Integrated Stakeholder Systems Approach

    Science.gov (United States)

    Denson, R. L.; Cox, G. N.

    2004-12-01

    Anthropologists are concerned with every aspect of the culture they are investigating. One of the five main branches of anthropology, socio-cultural anthropology, concerns itself with studying the relationship between behavior and culture. This paper explores the concept that changing the behavior of our culture - its beliefs and values - towards science is at the heart of science education reform. There are five institutions that socio-cultural anthropologists use to study the social organization of cultures: the educational system is only one of them. Its function - across all cultures - is to serve as a mechanism for implementing change in cultural beliefs and values. As leaders of science education reform, the Alabama model contends that we must stop the struggle with our purpose and get on with the business of leading culture change through an integrated stakeholder systems approach. This model stresses the need for the interaction of agencies other than education - including government, industry, the media and our health communities to operate in an integrated and systemic fashion to address the issues of living among a technically literate society. Twenty-five years of science education reform needs being voiced and programs being developed has not produced the desired results from within the educational system. This is too limited a focus to affect any real cultural change. It is when we acknowledge that students spend only an average of 12 percent of their life time in schools, that we can begin to ask ourselves what are our students learning the other 88 percent of their time - from their peers, their parents and the media - and what should we be doing to address this cultural crisis in these other arenas in addition to the educational system? The Alabama Math, Science and Technology Education Coalition (AMSTEC) is a non-profit 501c(3) organization operating in the state of Alabama to provide leadership in improving mathematics, science, and technology

  15. The practice of nature-study: What reformers imagined and what teachers did

    Science.gov (United States)

    Doris, Ellen Elizabeth

    The nature-study movement was an attempt to reform elementary education in America. It took place from about 1890 to 1930. Nature-Study, as envisioned by reformers, featured outdoor work and first-hand observation of common plants, animals and phenomenon. It stressed self expression and independent thinking. It also emphasized emotions and aesthetics, aiming to help children develop both knowledge of nature and an enduring love for it. Nature-study's advocates encouraged the expansion of school subject matter beyond the "three Rs." They also challenged the traditional pedagogy that revolved around rote memorization, recitation, and quiet classrooms. My investigation of the nature-study movement is focused on the practice of nature-study in schools. I first consider practice as it was imagined by reformers. I review the many specific suggestions they made, as well as more general statements about nature-study's aims, to learn what reformers hoped teachers would do. I then look at how nature-study was actually carried out. I use accounts written by teachers, children and observers, together with photographs, correspondence and reproductions of children's work to discover the range of ways in which nature-study materialized as teachers took up the subject with pupils. I also look closely at two particular versions of nature-study: one that developed in Chicago under the influence of Wilbur Jackman, and another that was promoted in New York State by faculty from Cornell's College of Agriculture. As a result of focusing in this way, I develop a detailed picture of what nature-study's advocates expected of teachers. I also describe what teachers, in specific instances, did. In addition, I offer some general conclusions about how nature-study was conceived of and carried out. I discuss how these conclusions relate to previous interpretations of the movement, and consider the relevance of the nature-study movement for contemporary educators, particularly those concerned

  16. Examining Secondary Special Education Teachers' Literacy Instructional Practices

    Science.gov (United States)

    Leko, Melinda M.; Handy, Tamara; Roberts, Carly A.

    2017-01-01

    This study presents findings from a survey of secondary special education teachers who teach reading. Respondents were 577 special education teachers from a large Midwestern state who completed an online or mail survey. Results based on quantitative and qualitative analyses indicate predominant foci of secondary special education teachers' reading…

  17. Elementary Physical Education Teachers' Experiences in Teaching English Language Learners

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sato, Takahiro; Hodge, Samuel R.

    2016-01-01

    The purpose of the current study was to describe and explain the views on teaching English Language Learners (ELLs) held by six elementary physical education (PE) teachers in the Midwest region of the United States. Situated in positioning theory, the research approach was descriptive-qualitative. The primary sources of data were face-to-face…

  18. "Heavy Fog in the Channel--Continent Cut Off": Reform of Upper-Secondary Education from the Perspective of English Exceptionalism

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hodgson, Ann; Spours, Ken

    2014-01-01

    Recent international studies in upper-secondary education (USE) have highlighted the importance and complexities of this phase as it becomes a more universal experience. Here the authors examine recent trends in USE to provide a context for discussion of the English system, which has been moving from a "linked" to a more…

  19. Quality Education in English class in vocational college

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    童燕黎

    2010-01-01

    Quality education in English teaching in elementary education should transit from examination-oriented education to quality education,which is an explicit requirement of CPC Central Committee and the State Council to the education in vocational colleges.Quality education in vocational colleges faces the challenges of the 21st century education and needs to be carried out in-depth reform.This paper collects different kinds of books and information about the Quality education.It tries to answer the following questions:what is the quality education in vocational college? What contents does it include? In the past years,many English teachers and educators have made a great effort in this area,and they have got great achievements in this field.Therefore,to strengthen the quality education in vocational college is the core and the key to the students.The reform and opening up to the world,the rapid economic development and the rapid expansion of foreign exchanges of China today demands the quality education in vocational college as particularly importance in English Teaching.

  20. Reforming STEM Undergraduate Education: What's a Faculty Member to Do?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fairweather, J.

    2011-12-01

    Efforts to improve undergraduate STEM education lie at the forefront of many national educational policies. The recent National Academies of Science study of discipline-based educational research (DBER)is typical of such efforts. Most of the initiatives to improve student learning in STEM focus on the the student or the instructor in the classroom (Austin, 2011). This focus is consistent with the work by Seymour & Hewitt (1997), which found that poor teaching in STEM adversely affects learning and retention in the major. Professional development efforts focus on helping the individual STEM faculty member to figure out what to do to improve student learning. Substantial research (Austin, 2011) shows that the origin of many learning problems lies beyond the control of the instructor or the individual classroom. In these circumstances what is a STEM faculty member to do? This paper explores answers to this question. The first step is to define the nature of the problem. Is it related to classroom teaching and learning such as knowledge, skills, and interest in the major? If so then what environmental factors affect strategic alternatives, including type of course, instructor characteristics, and prior teaching experience (Fairweather & Rhoads, 1995)? Does good disciplinary-based research on the learning problem exist? If so then how can the research results be translated into practice? If not then does good research from other disciplines exist? If relevant evidenced-based research does not exist at all then how can STEM instructors learn to evaluate key learning outcomes and find ways to ameliorate problems? Despite appearances not all STEM teaching and learning problems are classroom-based. Some problems derive from curricula, others from faculty work-related issues such as rewards and work load. Any classroom reform effort must reflect accurately the system in which the teaching and learning take place. Understanding these systemic interactions improves the ability

  1. Research on reform plan of civil engineering adult education graduation design

    Science.gov (United States)

    Su, Zhibin; Sun, Shengnan; Cui, Shicai

    2017-12-01

    As for civil engineering adult education graduation design, reform program is put forward combined with our school. The main points of reform include the following aspects. New pattern of graduation design which is consisted of basic training of engineering design, technical application and engineering innovation training is formed. Integration model of graduation design and employment is carried out. Multiple professional guidance graduation design pattern is put forward. Subject of graduation design is chosen based on the school actual circumstance. A “three stage” quality monitoring system is established. Performance evaluation pattern that concludes two oral examinations of the dissertation is strictly carried out.

  2. Implementation Issues in Federal Reform Efforts in Education: The United States and Australia.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Porter, Paige

    Multiple data sources are used in this study of educational change in the United States and Australia. The author considers political issues that may affect the implementation of educational reform efforts at the federal level, such as homogeneity versus heterogeneity, centralization versus decentralization, constitutional responsibility for…

  3. Pre-Service Secondary Teachers' Attitudes towards Inclusive Education

    Science.gov (United States)

    Costello, Shane; Boyle, Christopher

    2013-01-01

    The attitudes held by pre-service teachers have been shown to affect their willingness and ability to implement an inclusive approach to education. A sample consisting of 193 pre-service secondary teachers enrolled in secondary education courses at an Australian university were surveyed to determine their attitudes towards inclusive education,…

  4. Educational Assessment in Norway

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tveit, Sverre

    2014-01-01

    Norway has seen major changes in the field of educational assessment over the past decade, following the 2001 '"PISA shock" that stimulated reform of the entire primary and secondary education systems: new outcome-based curricula with cross-disciplinary basic skills were accompanied by major revision of assessment regulations,…

  5. Why Do Policy-Makers Adopt Global Education Policies? Toward a Research Framework on the Varying Role of Ideas in Education Reform

    Science.gov (United States)

    Verger, Antoni

    2014-01-01

    Globalization is profoundly altering the education policy landscape. It introduces new problems in education agendas, compresses time and space in policy processes, and revitalizes the role of a range of supra-national players in educational reform. This deterritorialization of the education policy process has important theoretical and…

  6. Qualitative Advances of China's Basic Education since Reform and Opening up: A Brief Overview

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tao, Xin; Chunhua, Kang

    2012-01-01

    Basic education is universal education, which aims to improve the basic quality of a nation's people. In the three decades since reform and opening up, earth-shaking changes have taken place in the quality of China's basic education. This article describes the path of development and changes in China's basic education over the past thirty years…

  7. A Case Study Exploring the Identity of an In-Service Elementary Science Teacher: a Language Teacher First

    Science.gov (United States)

    Marco-Bujosa, Lisa; Levy, Abigail Jurist; McNeill, Katherine

    2018-01-01

    Teachers are central to providing high-quality science learning experiences called for in recent reform efforts, as their understanding of science impacts both what they teach and how they teach it. Yet, most elementary teachers do not enter the profession with a particular interest in science or expertise in science teaching. Research also indicates elementary schools present unique barriers that may inhibit science teaching. This case study utilizes the framework of identity to explore how one elementary classroom teacher's understandings of herself as a science specialist were shaped by the bilingual elementary school context as she planned for and provided reform-based science instruction. Utilizing Gee's (2000) sociocultural framework, identity was defined as consisting of four interrelated dimensions that served as analytic frames for examining how this teacher understood her new role through social positioning within her school. Findings describe the ways in which this teacher's identity as a science teacher was influenced by the school context. The case study reveals two important implications for teacher identity. First, collaboration for science teaching is essential for elementary teachers to change their practice. It can be challenging for teachers to form an identity as a science teacher in isolation. In addition, elementary teachers new to science teaching negotiate their emerging science practice with their prior experiences and the school context. For example, in the context of a bilingual school, this teacher adapted the reform-based science curriculum to better meet the unique linguistic needs of her students.

  8. The Socialization Model of National Character Education for Students in Elementary School Through Comic

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Tri Marhaeni Puji Astuti

    2014-12-01

    Full Text Available Realizing the character building on students is a national education goal. The character education is very important for the students. Therefore, the socialization and enculturation of national character education in schools by using an effective and efficient method are needed. This study aims to understand the process of socialization of character education in elementary school, to find the effective way of socialization models of national character education for students in elementary school through comics, and to determine the impact of socialization models of national character education for students in elementary school through the comic for the character building of students. This research was conducted using qualitative methods (Research & Development. The data collection techniques used were interviews, observation and documentation. The results show that the socialization of the nation’s character education in primary schools is done in several ways; integrated with in the curriculum through the school management, and through extracurricular programs. Those ways do not seem to produce maximum results. Socialization model of the national character of education in the elementary schools through the comic is more effective to apply, because students are more interested in the visualization of interesting and familiar images.Menyadari pembangunan karakter siswa adalah tujuan pendidikan nasional. Pendidikan karakter sangat penting bagi para siswa. Oleh karena itu, sosialisasi dan enkulturasi pendidikan karakter bangsa di sekolah-sekolah dengan menggunakan metode yang efektif dan efisien diperlukan. Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk memahami proses sosialisasi pendidikan karakter di sekolah dasar, untuk menemukan cara yang efektif untuk model sosialisasi pendidikan karakter bangsa bagi siswa di sekolah dasar melalui komik, dan untuk menentukan dampak dari model sosialisasi pendidikan karakter bangsa bagi siswa di sekolah dasar melalui komik

  9. Effectiveness of MMORPG-Based Instruction in Elementary English Education in Korea

    Science.gov (United States)

    Suh, S.; Kim, S. W.; Kim, N. J.

    2010-01-01

    This study investigated the effectiveness of massive multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG)-based (massive multiplayer online role-playing game) instruction in elementary English education. The effectiveness of the MMORPG program was compared with face-to-face instruction and the independent variables (gender, prior knowledge, motivation…

  10. Increasing Positive Sportsmanship in Elementary Physical Education Using Prosocial Behavior Interventions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shulman, Marc D.

    2013-01-01

    This action research project report was conducted because students' lack of sportsmanship skills in elementary school physical education was negatively affecting the physical activity level of many students. The teacher was spending classroom time giving attention to conflicts dealing with negative sportsmanship issues and therefore losing…

  11. A Survey Study to Find out the Relationship between Leadership Styles and Demographic Characteristics of Elementary and Secondary School Teachers

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tatlah, Ijaz Ahmed; Quraishi, Uzma; Hussain, Ishtiaq

    2010-01-01

    This article reports a study aiming to investigate the leadership styles of elementary and secondary school teachers' in Public Sector schools in Lahore, Pakistan. The study also explored if there was any correlation between demographic characteristics of teachers and their leadership styles. A survey was conducted using Task-oriented and…

  12. The compatibility of reform initiatives in inclusion and science education: Perceptions of science teachers

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chung, Su-Hsiang

    The purposes of this investigation were to examine science teachers' instructional adaptations, testing and grading policies, as well as their perceptions toward inclusion. In addition, whether the perceptions and adaptations differ among three disability areas (learning disabilities, emotional handicaps, and mental handicaps), school level (elementary, middle, and high school), course content (life and physical science), instructional approach (textbook-oriented or activity-oriented), and other related variables was examined. Especially, the intention was to determine whether the two educational reform efforts (inclusion and excellence in science education) are compatible. In this study, 900 questionnaires were mailed to teachers in Indiana and 424 (47%) were returned. Due to incomplete or blank data, 38 (4%) responses were excluded. The final results were derived from a total of 386 respondents contributing to this investigation. The descriptive data indicated that teachers adapted their instruction moderately to accommodate students' special needs. In particular, these adaptations were made more frequently for students with mental handicaps (MH) or learning disabilities (LD), but less for students with emotional handicaps (EH). With respect to testing policies, less than half of the teachers (44.5%) used "same testing standards as regular students" for integrated LD students, while a majority of the teachers (57%) used such a policy for EH students. Unfortunately, considerably fewer teachers modified their grading policies for these two groups of students. In contrast, approximately two thirds of the teachers indicated that they used different testing or grading policies for MH students who were in the regular settings. Moreover, the results also showed that changes in classroom procedure did not occur much in the science teachers' classrooms. Perceptions of science teachers toward inclusion practices were somewhat mixed. Overall, teachers had neutral attitudes

  13. Past/Forward Policy-Making: Transforming Chinese Engineering Education since the Reform and Opening-Up

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhu, Qin; Jesiek, Brent K.; Gong, Yu

    2015-01-01

    Although engineering education has played important roles in China's growing power and influence on the world stage, engineering education policy since the Reform and Opening-up in the late 1970s has not been well documented in current English-language scholarship. Informed by historical and sociological studies of education, engineering and…

  14. Reforming Lao Teacher Education to Include Females and Ethnic Minorities--Exploring Possibilities and Constraints

    Science.gov (United States)

    Berge, Britt-Marie; Chounlamany, Kongsy; Khounphilaphanh, Bounchanh; Silfver, Ann-Louise

    2017-01-01

    This article explores possibilities and constraints for the inclusion of female and ethnic minority students in Lao education in order to provide education for all. Females and ethnic minorities have traditionally been disadvantaged in Lao education and reforms for the inclusion of these groups are therefore welcome. The article provides rich…

  15. The Reform Process of Portuguese Higher Education Institutions: From Collegial to Managerial Governance

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bruckmann, Sofia; Carvalho, Teresa

    2014-01-01

    Portuguese public higher education institutions have been undergoing a major reform process since 2007. The most noticeable changes were introduced by Law 62/2007, which gave higher education institutions the option to choose between two different institutional models (foundational and public institute), and allowed the implementation of new…

  16. The discussion about classical and Real education in Russia: the debate on D. Tolstoy`s «Educational reform» in State Council (1871-1872

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Всеволод Евгеньевич Воронин

    2010-06-01

    Full Text Available This article is devoted to the important event in the Russian political history of the Great reforms epoch. It's the discussion about the role of classical and real education led in Governmental circles in the beginning of 1870s. Special attention is paid to the consideration of reform projects of gymnasium education occurred in State Council, the highest legislative institution of Empire, and to the positions elaboration of supporters and opponents of Public Education Minister D. Tolstoy.

  17. Incorporating the Tuning Approach in Higher Education curricular reforms and course design in Tanzania for enhancing graduates’ competencies: stakeholders’ views

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Johnson Muchunguzi Ishengoma

    2017-11-01

    Full Text Available Available documentary and research evidences reveal that the majority of Tanzania universities’ graduates (public and private universities lack competencies or technical skills (employability skills required for the job market and by potential employers, despite massive curricular reforms implemented in the public higher education sector since the early 1990s. Lack of employability skills which consequently leads to graduate unemployment or un-employability is attributable to the fact that curricular reforms and design in Tanzania public universities undertaken by lecturers and professors do not incorporate basic Tuning principles of competence-based teaching and learning which puts emphasis on competencies and skills by identifying generic and specific competencies during course design or curriculum reform. This study using the University of Dar es Salaam (UDSM’s School of Education sought to: (1 explore faculty and students’ views on the application of the Tuning approach in curricular reforms and degree/course design as a mitigation of university graduates’ unemployment and un-employability, (2 solicit stakeholders’(academic staff and students perceptions of Tuning approach and its relevance in higher education curriculum reforms and design to make higher education more competence-based, and (3 find out students perceived causes of graduate unemployment and un-employability and whether the application of Tuning approach in curriculum reforms and design in universities can be a solution to graduate unemployment. Findings from the study reveal that both faculty and students concur that application of Tuning approach in higher education reforms and curricular design could enhance graduates competences and skills and reduce graduate unemployment.First published online: 30 November 2017

  18. Pre-Service Teachers' Perceptions of Teaching STSE-Based High School Physics: Implications for Post-Secondary Studies

    Science.gov (United States)

    MacLeod, Katarin

    2014-01-01

    Science, Technology, Society and Environment (STSE) education has received attention in educational research, policy, and science curricula development, yet less advancement has been made in moving theory into practice. There are many examples of STSE-based teaching in science at the elementary and secondary levels, yet little has focused…

  19. EDUCATIONAL REFORMS AND TEACHERS’ WORKING CONDITIONS: EMOTIONS EXPERIENCED BY AN IN-SERVICE ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHER

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Neide Nunes RODRIGUES

    2014-12-01

    Full Text Available In this article, we analyze the relation among educational reforms and teachers’ work, and emotions. This study was conducted with a public school English teacher, in Minas Gerais. The aim was to verify the role that contextual factors play in the production of emotions, and detect the emotions that influence her practice with students, colleagues, and school managers. The theoretical framework was based on studies about educational reforms and teachers’ work (AUGUSTO, 2005; HYPOLITO; VIEIRA; PIZZI, 2009; DUARTE; AUGUSTO, [s.d.], the relationship between emotions and the process of teaching and learning languages (HARGREAVES, 2000; ZEMBYLAS, 2002, 2003; ARAGÃO, 2008; DAY; QING, 2009; SHUTZ; ZEMBYLAS, 2009; COWIE, 2011; RIBEIRO, 2012. We used a semistructured questionnaire and a narrative interview as data collection instruments. The analysis has pointed out poor work condition, crowded classrooms, poor physical and technological structures, strict school curriculum, students’ indiscipline, and the institution pessimistic atmosphere as frustrating, stressful, and de-motivating factors. These results indicate the need to create alternative ways of school workplaces organization, and to modify the way people interact in schools. They also suggest the need of educators to participate in the design and implementation of educational reforms.

  20. Is Reform in Accounting Education Needed in China and Russia: A Literature Review

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Theodore T. Y. Chen

    2015-09-01

    Full Text Available The purpose of this study is to examine, through literature review, whether China and Russia are in need of accounting education reforms when they are not English-speaking, do not have developed accounting systems as major English-speaking countries do, have a different political orientation from the selected Englishspeaking countries and are at a transition stage from a state-planned economy to a market-driven economy. The paper is based entirely on literature review of global forces at play on accounting education reform, accounting education change in selected English-speaking countries and developments in accounting education in Russia and China. The review indicates that the two countries have a desperate need for accounting education change and that gradual changes are taking place in both countries, although China is at a more advanced stage of development because of its international trade. There are signs of both countries leaning towards the direction of the Accounting Education Change Commission’s (AECC initiatives. China is focusing more on breadth of education than specialization and Russia is at a preliminary stage having to enhance its financial reporting system. The available literature on accounting education in Russia and China is limited, particularly in Russia as the Soviet’s old system did not offer accounting degrees. However, this does not present a problem in identifying an accounting education trend in these two countries from the available literature as explained in the final section of this paper “Limitations of This Study and Future Research”. With major English-speaking and non English-speaking countries leaning towards AECC in their accounting education reforms regardless of the political orientation of the country, one may conclude that AECC is the direction that developing countries having the same need for change should consider. The comparison made in this paper provides insights into an area that

  1. Investigating Elementary School Students' Technology Acceptance by Applying Digital Game-Based Learning to Environmental Education

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cheng, Yuh-Ming; Lou, Shi-Jer; Kuo, Sheng-Huang; Shih, Ru-Chu

    2013-01-01

    In order to improve and promote students' environmental knowledge, attitudes, and behaviour, integrating environmental education into the primary education curriculum has become a key issue for environmental education. For this reason, this study aimed to investigate elementary school students' acceptance of technology applying digital game-based…

  2. Taking the Long View: Cultivating Historical Thinking in Elementary Teacher Education

    Science.gov (United States)

    Currin, Elizabeth; Schroeder, Stephanie

    2018-01-01

    As new teachers confront the realities of a Trump administration characterized by a troublingly tenuous grasp of history, we advocate for infusing historical thinking into all facets of elementary teacher education. Historical thinking can promote an inquiry stance, ably contribute to social justice initiatives, and enable teachers to appreciate…

  3. Voices from inside the elementary classroom: Three teachers' perspectives on the Alabama Reading Initiative and elementary science

    Science.gov (United States)

    Webb, Brenda Hainley

    The influences of mandates, particularly the Alabama Reading Initiative (ARI) as the response to No Child Left Behind (2002), on elementary science education in Alabama were investigated. Teachers' voices provided insights to the status of science education in kindergarten, second grade, and third grade, and all three case participants reported negative influences of ARI on science education in their classrooms. The multiple case study, framed by critical theory and critical pedagogy, indicated that these teachers sometimes accepted marginalized roles in determining curriculum and pedagogy yet at other times made the decisions to empower themselves and negotiate or discard mandates in favor of meeting their children's learning needs or their own professional needs as they perceived them to be. Whether the case participants reached a threshold of resisting mandates or not, they struggled with the view of the political hierarchy that continues to force them into the status of being a technician rather than being a teaching professional. NCLB currently mandates standardized science testing, beginning in the spring of 2008. Historically, standardized testing reduces learning to low-level recall and teaching to rigid, uncreative, uncritical strategies. All of this intersects with science education reform and a national call for more attention to be given to science, technology, and mathematics learning. Research should track the continued influences of intersecting mandates on science education at every level.

  4. The Discourse of Partnership and the Reality of Reform: Interrogating the Recent Reform Agenda at Initial Teacher Education and Induction Levels in Ireland

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Judith Harford

    2016-09-01

    Full Text Available Over the last decade, teacher education in Ireland has experienced radical reconceptualization and restructuring at both initial teacher education [ITE] and induction levels, with reform of continuous professional development now in the planning phase. The establishment of the Teaching Council (2006 as a statutory, regulatory body, with a role in the review and accreditation of teacher education, increased the visibility of and policy focus on teacher education. Significant reform of initial teacher education was announced in 2011 that included both an extension of the duration of programmes and, most notably, the period the student teachers were to be engaged in school-based professional development. This increased period has been accompanied by a shift in the understanding of what is involved in practicum and implies a redefinition of the respective roles of the university and the school, and the development of a new form of partnership between both agencies. The period of induction and probation has also become an area of reform with an emphasis on school-based coaching and the evaluation of newly qualified teachers, which devolves decisions on teachers’ full recognition and membership of the profession, to principals and colleagues. This shift, which changes the established approach to induction for primary level teachers, has resulted in the withdrawal of cooperation with this policy by the main teacher union and to the implementation process being stymied. Both policy developments bring the concept of partnership within Irish education into sharp focus: a partnership between schools and universities in ITE, but also partnership in policy development and implementation in the case of induction.

  5. Imaging the Frame: Media Representations of Teachers, Their Unions, NCLB, and Education Reform

    Science.gov (United States)

    Goldstein, Rebecca A.

    2011-01-01

    This article examines the political discourse surrounding NCLB, educational reform, and how that discourse shaped perceptions of public education during the Bush Administration. Examining mass media campaigns in the New York Times and Time Magazine, the article demonstrates how the media has visually and textually framed and reinforced NCLB and…

  6. Attitudes and Perspectives of Teacher Performers on Pedagogy and Perceived Student Learning in the Elementary and Secondary School Music Classroom

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vitale, John L.

    2015-01-01

    This study investigated the lives of three active music teacher performers and how their performing experience impacted pedagogy and perceived student learning in the classroom. At the time of data collection, one participant was a full-time elementary school music teacher, and the other two participants were full-time secondary school music…

  7. Administrative reform in the Venezuelan Ministry of Education: A case analysis of the 1970's

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hanson, E. Mark

    1984-06-01

    Democracy arrived in Venezuela in 1958, and reforming the rigid, centralized and unrepresentative institutions of government subsequently assumed a high priority. This article, based on data gathered in Venezuela several times over a twelve-year period by means of a standard field research methodology, represents a longitudinal case study of efforts through the 70's to generate administrative reform in the Ministry of Education. Specifically, the reform proposed to decentralize and regionalize the organization and management of education in order to promote regional socio-economic development. The study describes and discusses political and organizational factors which disrupted and frustrated the reform process, including: (1) lack of political continuity and maturity; (2) lack of appropriate structures within the system and of real desire on the part of ministry officials to initiate an effective delegation of powers and responsibilities; (3) lack of adequate mechanisms for gathering, processing and distributing information; and (4) lack of sufficient personnel within the ministry with the training and sustained experience to manage complex programs. As in many other countries, the ideals of the reform in Venezuela outstripped the political and human realities of the situation there. Comparative research is now needed to enable other nations to learn from this experience.

  8. Poland, assuring and strengthening the quality of (private) higher education : One of twelve case studies produced as part of the project on structural reform in higher education

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Kwiek, Marek; Antonowicz, Dominik; Westerheijden, Donald F.

    2016-01-01

    This study analyses how different types of system-level (or ‘landscape’) structural reforms in higher education have been designed and implemented in selected higher education systems. In the 12 case studies that form the core of the project, the researchers examine reforms aimed at:• Increasing

  9. The Receipt of Special Education Services Following Elementary School Grade Retention

    Science.gov (United States)

    Silverstein, Michael; Guppy, Nicole; Young, Robin; Augustyn, Marilyn

    2009-01-01

    Objective To estimate the proportion of children who receive an Individualized Education Program (IEP) following grade retention in elementary school. Design/setting Descriptive analysis of a nationally representative, longitudinal cohort. Participants Children retained in K/1 and 3rd grade for presumed academic reasons, followed through fifth grade. Outcome measure Presence or absence of an IEP. Results 300 children retained for presumed academic reasons in K/1, and 80 in 3rd grade were included in the study. Of the K/1 retainees, 68% never received an IEP over the subsequent four to five years; of the 3rd grade retainees, 73% never received an IEP. K/1 retainees in the highest SES quintile and suburban K/1 retainees were less likely to receive an IEP than retained children in all other SES quintiles (aOR 0.17; 95% CI 0.05-0.62) and in rural communities (aOR 0.16; 95% CI 0.06-0.44), respectively. Among K/1 retainees with persistent low academic achievement in reading and math (as assessed by standardized testing), 37% and 28%, respectively, never received an IEP. Conclusions The majority of children retained in K/1 or 3rd grade for academic reasons, including a many of those who demonstrate sustained academic difficulties, never receive an IEP during elementary school. Further studies are important to elucidate whether retained elementary school children are being denied their rights to special education services. In the meantime, early grade retention may provide an opportunity for pediatricians to help families advocate for appropriate special education evaluations for children experiencing school difficulties. PMID:19487611

  10. Introducing Engineering in Elementary Education: A 5-Year Study of Teachers and Students

    Science.gov (United States)

    Diefes-Dux, Heidi A.

    2015-01-01

    Engineering, when integrated into K-12 education, may offer a number of potential student learning and future success benefits. In a 5-year study, four cohorts of elementary teachers of grades 2 to 4 in a single US school district were provided with teacher professional development with engineering education. Teachers were prepared to teach…

  11. A Study on Environmental Education Films.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gerba, Diana

    The degree of communication between the film industry and educators and its effect on the future directions of environmental education films are the focus of this report. Separate surveys were mailed to 100 film industry producers and distributors and 150 elementary and secondary educators in Maine, Kansas, Pennsylvania, California, and Alabama.…

  12. 45 CFR 605.38 - Preschool and adult education.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-10-01

    ... 45 Public Welfare 3 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Preschool and adult education. 605.38 Section 605... Preschool, Elementary, and Secondary Education § 605.38 Preschool and adult education. A recipient to which this subpart applies that provides preschool education or day care or adult education may not, on the...

  13. A Critical Analysis of The Holmes Group's Proposals for Reforming Teacher Education.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hawley, Willis D.

    1986-01-01

    The Holmes Group proposals for reforming teacher education are evaluated by looking at the effects on teacher knowledge and competence, attraction and retention of talented teachers, organization of schools and the teaching profession, and cost effectiveness. (MT)

  14. Teaching Healthy Eating to Elementary School Students: A Scoping Review of Nutrition Education Resources.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Peralta, Louisa R; Dudley, Dean A; Cotton, Wayne G

    2016-05-01

    School-based programs represent an ideal setting to enhance healthy eating, as most children attend school regularly and consume at least one meal and a number of snacks at school each day. However, current research reports that elementary school teachers often display low levels of nutritional knowledge, self-efficacy, and skills to effectively deliver nutrition education. The purpose of this review was to understand the availability and quality of resources that are accessible for elementary school teachers to use to support curriculum delivery or nutrition education programs. The review included 32 resources from 4 countries in the final analysis from 1989 to 2014. The 32 resources exhibited 8 dominant teaching strategies: curriculum approaches; cross-curricular approaches; parental involvement; experiential learning approaches; contingent reinforcement approaches; literary abstraction approaches; games-based approaches; and web-based approaches. The resources were accessible to elementary school teachers, with all the resources embedding curriculum approaches, and most of the resources embedding parental involvement strategies. Resources were less likely to embed cross-curricular and experiential learning approaches, as well as contingent reinforcement approaches, despite recent research suggesting that the most effective evidence-based strategies for improving healthy eating in elementary school children are cross-curricular and experiential learning approaches. © 2016, American School Health Association.

  15. (De)constructing literacy: Education inequalities and the production of space in San Diego, California

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tangeman, Andrew Gerrit

    Since its inception, the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB) and recent additions to the U.S. Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) have elicited a broad swath of responses from the educational community. These responses include critical discussions of how standardized testing requirements proliferate a "teach for the test" mentality that transforms how reading, writing, and mathematics are taught in public schools. This thesis focused specifically on "literacy" in relation to the policies that challenge its status as a subjective form of communication, knowledge sharing, and story-telling. Embedded within the term "literacy" are sets of socially-constructed dualisms such as "good school" vs. "bad school," "literate" vs. "illiterate," and "reader" vs. "test-taker" that are propagated under education reform. Investigating these dualisms involved a mixed methods approach, which included the use of critical theory, geovisualization, and geographic analysis. The resulting data allows for a comprehensive look into the economic, political, social, and cultural forces involved in the production of literate space(s) in San Diego, California.

  16. Education Reform in Alberta: Where Do We Go from Here?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Spencer, Brenda L.; Webber, Charles F.

    This paper discusses what educational leadership might look like at the start of the 21st century, specifically within the context of Alberta. It also provides a brief synopsis of some of Alberta's major reforms of the past decade, and it presents some of the key findings and recommendations of a 1998 study entitled "An Analysis of Attitudes…

  17. Teachers' Voices in the Context of Higher Education Reforms in Armenia

    Science.gov (United States)

    Karakhanyan, Susanna; van Veen, Klaas; Bergen, Th. C. M.

    2011-01-01

    In this article, teachers' sense-making and reasoning about higher education reforms in a post Soviet country, namely Armenia, are examined using an analytical framework with six sensitising concepts: beliefs, emotions, attitudes, change knowledge, attributions and organisational culture. The results of semi-structured interviews with 12 Armenian…

  18. Integration of Technology in Elementary Pre-Service Teacher Education: An Examination of Mathematics Methods Courses

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mitchell, Rebecca; Laski, Elida

    2013-01-01

    Instructors (N = 204) of elementary mathematics methods courses completed a survey assessing the extent to which they stay informed about research related to effective uses of educational technology and the kinds and numbers of educational technologies they include in their courses. Findings indicate that, while they view educational technology…

  19. Public Mass Modern Education and Inter-Religious Human Capital Differentials in Twentieth-Century Egypt

    OpenAIRE

    Saleh, Mohamed

    2012-01-01

    Public mass modern education was a major pillar of state-led development in the post-Colonial developing world. I examine the impact of Egypt’s transformation in 1953 of traditional elementary schools (kuttabs), which served the masses, into public modern primary schools on the Christian-Muslim educational and occupational differentials, which were in favor of Christians. The reform allowed kuttabs’ graduates access to higher stages of education, which were confined to modern primary schools’...

  20. Education Reform as Platform for Promoting Lifelong Learning: The Case of Hong Kong

    Science.gov (United States)

    Poon-McBrayer, Kim Fong

    2008-01-01

    The fierce competition largely brought by the globalization of a knowledge-based economy provided an impetus for the Hong Kong government to endorse massive education reforms in 2000, as proposed by the Education Commission, as the central strategy to improve and sustain workforce quality and social justice through the provision of lifelong…