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2. The Changing Nature and Role of Vocational Education and Training in Europe. Volume 5: Education and Labour Market Outcomes for Graduates from Different Types of VET System in Europe. Cedefop Research Paper. No 69
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Cedefop - European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training, Department for VET Systems and Institutions (DSI)
- Abstract
This research paper is the fifth in a series produced as part of the Cedefop project The changing nature and role of VET (2016-18). Based on comparative analysis of labour force survey data from 2014, the report analyses the vocational effect on labour market and education outcomes, asking whether any advantages conferred by vocational qualifications in early career would be offset by disadvantages later in life. The report explores the functioning of the safety net and the diversion effects across countries, demonstrating how these vary considerably with the specific institutional structure of schooling and work-based training. The results indicate that VET graduates are potentially sacrificing the longer-term gains associated with further education in favour of short-term benefits. [This research was carried out by a consortium led by 3s Unternehmensberatung GmbH and including the Danish Technological Institute, the Institute of Employment Research (University of Warwick), the Institute of International and Social Studies (Tallinn University) and Fondazione Giacomo Brodolini. The Federal Institute for Vocational Education and Training (BIBB) in Germany is supporting the project as a subcontractor.]
- Published
- 2018
3. 'High' Achievers? Cannabis Access and Student Performance. CEP Discussion Paper No. 1340
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London School of Economics and Political Science (United Kingdom), Centre for Economic Performance (CEP), Marie, Olivier, and Zölitz, Ulf
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This paper investigates how legal cannabis access affects student performance. Identification comes from an exceptional policy introduced in the city of Maastricht which discriminated legal access based on individuals' nationality. We apply a difference-in-difference approach using administrative panel data on over 54,000 course grades of local students enrolled at Maastricht University before and during the partial cannabis prohibition. We find that the academic performance of students who are no longer legally permitted to buy cannabis increases substantially. Grade improvements are driven by younger students, and the effects are stronger for women and low performers. In line with how THC consumption affects cognitive functioning, we find that performance gains are larger for courses that require more numerical/mathematical skills. We investigate the underlying channels using students' course evaluations and present suggestive evidence that performance gains are driven by improved understanding of material rather than changes in students' study effort. [This paper was produced as part of the Centre's Education Programme. The Centre for Economic Performance is financed by the Economic and Social Research Council.]
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- 2015
4. The Value of Smarter Teachers: International Evidence on Teacher Cognitive Skills and Student Performance. Program on Education Policy and Governance Working Papers Series. PEPG 14-06
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Harvard University, Program on Education Policy and Governance, Hanushek, Eric A., Piopiunik, Marc, and Wiederhold, Simon
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Differences in teacher quality are commonly cited as a key determinant of the huge international student performance gaps. However, convincing evidence on this relationship is still lacking, in part because it is unclear how to measure teacher quality consistently across countries. We use unique international assessment data to investigate the role of teacher cognitive skills as one main dimension of teacher quality in explaining student outcomes. Our main identification strategy exploits exogenous variation in teacher cognitive skills attributable to international differences in relative wages of nonteacher public sector employees. Using student-level test score data, we find that teacher cognitive skills are an important determinant of international differences in student performance. Results are supported by fixed-effects estimation that uses within-country between-subject variation in teacher skills.
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- 2014
5. The Determinants of Transitions in Youth. Papers from the Conference Organized by the ESF Network on Transitions in Youth, CEDEFOP and GRET (Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona) (Barcelona, Spain, September 20-21, 1993). 2nd Edition. CEDEFOP Panorama. Second Edition.
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European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training, Berlin (Germany).
- Abstract
This document consists of the 24 papers delivered at a conference that had five workshops examining various dimensions of the social and occupational transition of young people. The papers are arranged by workshop/session. A summary report precedes the other papers presented during a session. The papers in the session on perspectives on systems, institutions, and change are as follows: "Summary Report" (Karl Ulrich Mayer); "Understanding Change in Youth Labour Markets" (David Ashton); "Different Systems of Vocational Training and Transition from School to Career" (Hans-Peter Blossfeld); "Tracks and Pathways" (David Raffe); "On the Interest of Longitudinal Approaches in the Analysis of Vocational Transitions" (Jose Rose); and "Education and Training in Transition" (Karen Schober). Session 2 on labor market itineraries of secondary school leavers contains the following: "Summary Report" (Jose Rose); "Entry into Employment of Young People Who Have Successfully Completed Their Secondary Technical and Vocational Education in French-Speaking Brabant and Charleroi" (Simon Cabitsis, Adinda Vanheerswynghels); "Explaining the Differences in the Occupational Insertion of Educationally Lesser Qualified Young People" (Didier Demaziere, Brigitte Monfroy); "Transition to the Labour Market of Vocational and Technical Secondary School Leavers" (Jan Denys); "Complex Training Routes and the Results of Insertion among Young People" (Jordi Planas); "Time Spent in Education and Lack of Job Security" (Simon Cabitsis, Nouria Ouali, Andrea Rea); and "Analysis of the Use of Government Integration Measures Made by Young People Leaving Secondary Education" (Thomas Couppie, Patrick Werquin). The session on transitions in youth--social and household dimensions--includes these papers: "Summary Report" (Alessandro Cavalli); "Transition Behaviour and Career Outcomes in England and Germany" (Walter R. Heinz); "French Women Entering the Labour Process and Setting Up Households in the 1980's" (Annick Kieffer, Catherine Marry); "From Youth to Adulthood Project" (Matti Vesa Volanen); and "Main Features of the Structure of the Working Population" (Luis M. Larringa, Ascen M. F. de Landa). Session 4 on the process and consequences of education differentiation contains the following: "Summary Report" (Walter Mueller); "Transition from Education to the Labour Market for Young People in Sweden" (Karin Arvemo-Notstrand, Ingegerd Berggren); "Secondary Technical Education Qualifications" (Marcelo Ossandon, Pol Dupont); "Transition from School to Work" (Wim Groot, Hans Rutjes); "Returns to Education" (Richard Breen, Damian F. Hannan); and "Competition on the Labour Market" (Rolf van der Velden, Lex Borghans). Session 5 on labor market itineraries of higher education graduates consists of the following: "Summary Report" (Francois Pottier); "'How Does a Changing Labour Market Affect the Transition from Higher Education to Work?'" (Clara Aase Arnesen, Jane Baekken, Terje Naess); "Training and Employment in Hospitals" (Mateo Alaluf, Adinda Vanheerswynghels); "Family Social Status and Paths of Youths in the Systems of Education and on the Labour Market" (Lea Battistoni); and"Training and Occupational Routes of New University Graduates in Catalonia" (Josep M. Masjuan, Helena Troiano, Jesus Vivas, Miguel Zaldivar). (YLB)
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- 1994
6. School Achievement of Pupils from the Lower Strata in Public, Private Government-Dependent and Private Government-Independent Schools: A Cross-National Test of the Coleman-Hoffer Thesis
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University of Arkansas, Education Working Paper Archive, Corten, Rense, and Dronkers, Jaap
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We consider the question whether pupils from the lower social strata perform better in private government-dependent schools than in public or private-independent schools, using the PISA 2000 data on European high schools. In the eighty's, Coleman and Hoffer (1987) found in the USA that the performance of these pupils was better at religious schools than at comparable public schools. Dronkers and Robert (2003) found in PISA-data for 19 comparable countries that private government-dependent schools are more effective then comparable public schools, also after controlled for characteristics of pupils and parents and the social composition of the school. The main explanation appeared to be a better school climate in private government-dependent schools. Private independent schools were less effective than comparable public schools, but only after controlling for the social composition of the school. As a follow-up we now investigate, again with the PISA-data of these 19 countries, whether this positive effect of private government-dependent schools differs between pupils from different strata. We use various indicators to measure social strata: social, cultural and economic. We expect that the thesis of Coleman & Hoffer does hold for private government-dependent schools, because in these 19 countries they are mostly religious schools, which have more opportunities to form functional communities and create social capital. But for private independent schools, which due to their commercial foundation are less often functional communities, this relation is not expected to hold. However, the results show that public and private schools have mostly the same effects for the same kind of pupils and thus mostly not favor one kind of pupils above another kind of pupils. But private government-dependent schools are slightly more effective for pupils with less cultural capital. However, private independent schools are also more effective for pupils from large families or low status families. (Contains 4 tables, 12 notes and a list of 25 Literature Resources .)
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- 2006
7. On the Widespread Impact of the Most Prolific Countries in Special Education Research: A Bibliometric Analysis
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Sezgin, Aslihan, Orbay, Keziban, and Orbay, Metin
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The aim of this study is to identify the most prolific countries in the field of special education and to discuss the widespread impact of their papers by taking into account the country's h-index. Through a bibliometric analysis, the data were collected in the Web of Science Core Collection category "Education, Special" in the Social Science Citation Index during 2011-2020. The 25 most prolific countries in the field of special education were determined in terms of paper productivity, and it was seen that the leading country was undisputedly the USA (54.42%). Meanwhile, a strong positive correlation was found between the h-index and the number of papers published by the countries (r=0.864). On the other hand, when the ranking in terms of the number of papers was reconfigured by the h-index, it was relatively changed. The possible reasons for this change for the countries with the most changing rankings were discussed by considering some definitive criteria such as the journal quartiles, the percentage of international and domestic, and the percentage of open access papers. This study reports a positive correlation between the quality and quantity in the field of special education for the publications of countries. It has been shown that where the positive correlation deviates, then especially, the journal quartiles, the percentage of international collaboration and the percentage of open access papers have a significant effect. The bibliometric findings may be useful to enrich the discussion about the widespread impact of papers and debate whether the use of h-index is acceptable for cross-national comparisons.
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- 2022
8. Innovative Aspects of Teaching Foreign Students to Read in English during Distance Learning
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Semian, Nataliia V.
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This study examines the issues of teaching foreign students to read in English in the period of distance learning. The relevance of the problem under study is driven by the need for implementation of non-standard systems of teaching students the reading techniques in response to the quarantine isolation, due to the inability to undergo training according to the standard scheme. The purpose of the paper is to investigate and determine the main directions to consider the problem at hand, with an indication of its specific innovative solutions. A combination of analytical and logical research methods with a detailed analysis of available studies in the chosen field was chosen as the leading approach to the investigation of this question. The main results of this paper are: a statement of the availability of unlimited opportunities in this field, with the development of the Internet-based teaching technologies, and the recognition of the fact that the level of technical equipment of Ukrainian universities corresponds to that necessary for conducting successful classes with foreign students online in order to teach them to read in English. Prospects for further research in this area are determined by the urgent need for the development of distance learning in general and to teach foreign students to read in English, in particular, using innovative solutions that increase the overall efficiency of the teaching process.
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- 2021
9. Commission for International Adult Education (CIAE) of the American Association for Adult and Continuing Education (AAACE). Proceedings of the 2021 International Pre-Conference (70th, Miramar Beach, Florida, October 4-5, 2021)
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American Association for Adult and Continuing Education (AAACE), Commission for International Adult Education (CIAE) and Griswold, Wendy
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The Commission on International Adult Education (CIAE) of the American Association for Adult and Continuing Education (AAACE) provides a forum for the discussion of international issues related to adult education in general, as well as adult education in various countries around the globe. These "Proceedings" are from the Commission of International Adult Education's (CIAE) 2021 International Pre-Conference. This year's "Proceedings" contain 17 papers from 37 authors, representing CIAE's usual diversity of authors and topics. Researcher and research sites include Belgium, Belize, Burkina Faso, Canada, China, Germany, Ghana, Italy, Nigeria, Norway, Serbia, and the United States. Not surprisingly, a major theme explored is the impact of COVID-19 on learners in a variety of settings, including school teachers, communities, parents, and higher education. A second major theme concerns digital resources and addressing the digital divide. Some papers address practices and research methods that enhance adult learning and others explore professional development, workplace learning, and cultural aspects of learning. [Individual papers are indexed in ERIC.]
- Published
- 2021
10. The Next Steps for Apprenticeship. Cedefop Reference Series. No 118
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Cedefop - European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training, Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) (France), Cedefop - European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training, and Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) (France)
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In a context of considerable interest in apprenticeship in recent years, Cedefop and the OECD decided to explore its future from the perspective of a number of megatrends, including sociodemographic changes, the accelerated adoption of emerging technologies and new forms of work organisation. They also considered how these trends have affected, and will continue to affect, the design and delivery of apprenticeship in European and OECD countries. The combination of the emerging economic crisis as an aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, together with long-term structural trends affecting global economies, will entail a profound transformation of the world of work and require effective policy responses in the years to come. This publication provides insights from 16 papers by researchers from Europe, Australia and the United States; nine were presented and discussed among policy-makers, practitioners and researchers during the joint Cedefop-OECD symposium on the future of apprenticeship held in October 2019 in Paris. Evidence and analysis in these papers will help inform political decisions shaping the future of apprenticeship.
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- 2021
11. The TeCoLa Project: Pedagogical Differentiation through Telecollaboration and Gaming for Intercultural and Content Integrated Language Teaching
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Jauregi, Kristi and Melchor-Couto, Sabela
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The Erasmus+ TeCoLa project (2016-2019) aims to develop and test innovative gamified telecollaboration approaches for secondary schools that address issues of learning diversity in intercultural and Content Integrated Language Learning (CLIL) and teaching. Authentic task-based transnational interactions among peers from different socio-cultural, educational and language backgrounds are at the very heart of the learning process, using telecollaboration as a way to communicate and collaborate. In this paper we will shortly describe the project's foci and will elaborate on the teacher training programme that has been designed on the basis of the teachers' needs and on a sound conceptualisation of telecollaboration tasks that are useful, enjoyable, and meaningful. [For the complete volume, see ED578177.]
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- 2017
12. Evaluating Eco-Innovation of OECD Countries with Data Envelopment Analysis
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Mavi, Reza Kiani and Standing, Craig
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Government regulations require businesses to improve their processes and products/services in a green and sustainable manner. For being environmentally friendly, businesses should invest more on eco-innovation practices. Firms eco-innovate to promote eco-efficiency and sustainability. This paper evaluates the eco-innovation performance of Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries with data envelopment analysis (DEA). Data were gathered from the world bank database and global innovation index report. Findings show that for most OECD countries, energy use and ecological sustainability are more important than other inputs and outputs for enhancing eco-innovation. [For full proceedings, see ED571459.]
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- 2016
13. Demographics and Education: The 20 Richest Countries
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Marchant, Gregory J. and Johnson, Jessica J.
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This paper explores the PISA [Programme for International Student Assessment] achievement of twenty countries in light of some of their demographic differences. SES [student socioeconomic status], nuclear family, gender, home language, and native status were predictive of achievement for every country. Demographics accounted for as little as 8 percent to as much as 22 percent of individual score variance depending on the country and subject. Being male was almost a universal advantage in math, but was a far greater disadvantage in reading for every country. The relative performance of some countries changed when scores were adjusted for demographic differences; however, the Asian countries and Finland remained on top. Instructional strategies related to countries performing above expectations were explored.
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- 2012
14. Returns to Workplace Training for Male and Female Employees and Implications for the Gender Wage Gap: A Quantile Regression Analysis
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Icardi, Rossella
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Context: Existing studies have explored the association between workplace training and wages suggesting that training participation may have a positive association with wages. However, we still know very little about whether this association varies between men and women. Through its potential positive association with wages, training may balance wage differences between men and women. In addition, the gender wage gap varies across the wage distribution. Differences in the association between training participation and wages for men and women across the earnings spectrum may offer an explanation as to why the discrepancy in female/male earnings is larger at some point of the wage distribution compared to others. Approach: Using data from the Programme for International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC) and unconditional quantile regression, this paper examines whether the association between workplace training and wages differs between men and women at different points of the wage distribution across 14 European countries. To partly control for endogeneity in training participation, detailed measures of cognitive skills have been included in the models. Findings: Findings show gender differences in the association between training and wages across the wage distribution. In most countries, results indicate larger training coefficients for women than men at the lower end of the wage spectrum whereas they are larger for men at the top. This pattern holds across most countries with the only exception of Liberal ones, where women benefit less than men across the entire wage spectrum. Conclusions: The findings of this work reveal that distributional variations in returns to workplace training follow a similar pattern across industrialized countries, despite their different institutional settings. Moreover, differences in training coefficients of men and women at different parts of the wage distribution suggest that training could reduce gender wage differences among low earners and potentially widen the gap in wages among individuals at the top of the wage distribution.
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- 2021
15. Effects of Pandemic-Related School Closures on Pupils' Performance and Learning in Selected Countries: A Rapid Review
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Zierer, Klaus
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The coronavirus pandemic has led to drastic measures around the world, which have also affected the education system. Schools were closed in the spring of 2020 in almost every country in the world, and many children and young people are still involved in distance learning to this day. What effect these measures have on children's and young people's learning performance is important in view of the time pressure under which educational policy decisions have to be taken. The rapid review presented in this paper delivers evidence on the effects of school closures to contain the coronavirus pandemic in the spring of 2020 on children's and young people's learning performance in five countries (USA, Belgium, the Netherlands, Switzerland and Germany).
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- 2021
16. Pre-School Education Audit in the World and Turkey
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Çakir, Turan
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Preschool education is an education process that prepares children for primary education, provides the training and upbringing conditions in the home and also aims to remove the inequalities in terms of language and society in the early period. The audit is to evaluate learning and all the factors that affect learning and also prepare the environment and conditions for effective learning. The purpose of this research was to develop a comprehensive point of view for preschool education audit in the world and our country. Document analysis that is one of the qualitative research methods were utilized in this paper as the method. The documents related to the systems in France, Netherlands, Germany, Belgium, Luxembourg, Denmark, Greece, Spain, Italy, Portugal, Ireland, Italy, Sweden, Sweden, Norway, Iceland, Switzerland, Russia, China, Israel, America, Saudi Arabia, Japan, India Jordan, Albania, Bulgaria, Macedonia, Romania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Poland, Kosovo and Turkey were researched out within the scope of this study.
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- 2021
17. Designing and Implementing Virtual Exchange -- A Collection of Case Studies
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Research-publishing.net (France), Helm, Francesca, Beaven, Ana, Helm, Francesca, Beaven, Ana, and Research-publishing.net (France)
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Virtual exchange is gaining popularity in formal and non-formal education, partly as a means to internationalise the curriculum, and also to offer more sustainable and inclusive international and intercultural experiences to young people around the world. This volume brings together 19 case studies (17 in higher education and two in youth work) of virtual exchange projects in Europe and the South Mediterranean region. They span across a range of disciplines, from STEM to business, tourism, and languages, and are presented as real-life pedagogical practices that can be of interest to educators looking for ideas and inspiration. [This content is provided in the format of an e-book. Individual papers are indexed in ERIC.]
- Published
- 2020
18. Agora IX: Alternative Education and Training Processes (Thessaloniki, Greece, June 26-27, 2000). CEDEFOP Panorama Series.
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European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training, Thessaloniki (Greece).
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This document contains the agenda and papers presented at the Agora IX meeting in Thessaloniki, Greece in June 2000 on alternative education and training processes. The papers are "Integration of Migrant Pupils in the Danish Education System" (Bang); "Support Services for Inclusive Education" (De Vroey); "Single Sex Schooling or Coeducation?" (Schrodt); "Serving the Needs of Gifted Individuals: The Optimal Match Model" (Monks); "The Common Culture Needed for the Democratic Transformation of Schools" (Rochex); "Danish Production Schools" (Ljung); "A Review of the Training Workshops and Craft Centres in Extremadura" (Lucas); "Combating Social and Economic Exclusion" (Brodigan); "The Irish Leaving Certificate Applied: Trojan Horse or Contrived Equilibrium?" (Gleeson); "Contribution of Mr. Manfred Schneider from the BBJ-Unternehmensgruppe" (Manfred Schneider); "Strategies to Combat Failure at School: A Comparison of Italian and European Experiences" (Montedoro); "Nightriders Tailoring Training to Young People's Lifestyles" (Lavelle); "Comprehensive Education or Removal of Pupils: The Dilemma Facing Education Systems in Responding to School Failure" (Casal); "The New Skills Approach The Roles of those Involved' (Rue); "The Relationship Between Centralised and Decentralised Learning in Vocational Training" (Vogel); "Company Role and Responsibility in Education and Training" (Suomalainen); and "The Role of Local Authorities in the Integration of Disadvantaged Young People in Germany" (Schlegel). The document contains a list of event participants. (SLR/CL)
- Published
- 2003
19. Inclusion and Intellectual Disabilities: A Cross Cultural Review of Descriptions
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Taub, Deborah and Foster, Megan
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The benefits of inclusive practices for students with intellectual disabilities have been demonstrated in several countries; however, large-scale inclusive practices remain elusive. Having a clear understanding of how researchers define the terms inclusion and intellectual disability would support more cross-cultural collaboration and facilitate the generalization of practices. Addressed in this paper is the question of what themes, if any, exist in conceptualizing inclusion and intellectual disability across the peer-reviewed research of six countries, three of which have been identified as highly inclusive and three that have been identified as minimally inclusive. These findings may be used to further research into barriers and opportunities for inclusive practices for students with intellectual disabilities.
- Published
- 2020
20. Pandemic Acceleration: COVID-19 and the Emergency Digitalization of European Education
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Cone, Lucas, Brøgger, Katja, Berghmans, Mieke, Decuypere, Mathias, Förschler, Annina, Grimaldi, Emiliano, Hartong, Sigrid, Hillman, Thomas, Ideland, Malin, Landri, Paolo, van de Oudeweetering, Karmijn, Player-Koro, Catarina, Bergviken Rensfeldt, Annika, Rönnberg, Linda, Taglietti, Danilo, and Vanermen, Lanze
- Abstract
With schools and universities closing across Europe, the COVID-19 lockdown left actors in the field of education battling with the unprecedented challenge of finding a meaningful way to keep the wheels of education turning online. The sudden need for digital solutions across the field of education resulted in the emergence of a variety of digital networks and collaborative online platforms. In this joint article from scholars around Europe, we explore the COVID-19 lockdowns of physical education across the European region, and the different processes of emergency digitalization that followed in their wake. Spanning perspectives from Italy, Germany, Belgium, and the Nordic countries, the article's five cases provide a glimpse of how these processes have at the same time accelerated and consolidated the involvement of various commercial and non-commercial actors in public education infrastructures. By gathering documentation, registering dynamics, and making intimations of the crisis as it unfolded, the aim of the joint paper is to provide an opportunity for considering the implications of these accelerations and consolidations for the heterogeneous futures of European education.
- Published
- 2022
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21. Cross-Cultural Communication and Collaboration: Case of an International e-Learning Project
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Toprak, Elif and Genc-Kumtepe, Evrim
- Abstract
Communication is an indispensable part of international cooperation and it requires managing different cultures. Being prepared to see and understand different values, trying to understand contrasting views in a consortium, can decrease the potential of misperception which otherwise may act as a real barrier to cooperation. This is why international cooperation necessitates negotiation across cultures. In the case of collaboration, parties come together for a joint work which itself may create common values/understanding, besides the set goals. This is because collaboration requires strong we-feeling and commitment. The purpose of this paper is to focus on cross-cultural communication and collaboration in the area of Open and Distance Learning (ODL), concentrating on the communication processes in project management. Cross-cultural studies point to different communicative behaviours of individuals in multinational work environments e.g. the cultural characteristics affect the preferences towards the use of the media. For the purposes of this paper, the authors make a phenomenological-oriented case study of project management based on interviews with partners of a multilateral Grundtvig (adult learning) project, affiliated with distance education institutions in eight different countries. The authors test their assumptions for constructive and cooperative communication in e-Learning projects; delineating the effects of different cultures as regards the expectations from (1) international projects and (2) communication media.
- Published
- 2014
22. Efficiency Measurement with Network DEA: An Application to Sustainable Development Goals 4
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Koçak, Deniz, Türe, Hasan, and Atan, Murat
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Education is the core of the factors that improved people for a better lifestyle and increases the level of society' development. Quality education is one of the most vital goals of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) due to actualizing these factors. Using relational network data envelopment analysis (DEA), which have three interrelated substages, this current paper computes the educational economy efficiency of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries bearing in mind the characteristics related to SDGs. The contribution of our study is the use of a novel approach to computing the educational economy efficiency using relational network DEA with GAMS. Even though some interesting differences reveal in the efficiency of the countries, the findings show that countries with high-efficiency scores are clustered around countries like Latvia, Slovenia, and Korea.
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- 2019
23. Government Spending across the World: How the United States Compares. National Issue Brief No. 144
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University of New Hampshire, Carsey School of Public Policy, Ettlinger, Michael, Hensley, Jordan, and Vieira, Julia
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In this brief, authors Michael Ettlinger, Jordan Hensley, and Julia Vieira analyze how much the governments of different countries spend, and on what, to illuminate the range of fiscal policy options available and provide a basis for determining which approaches work best. They report that the United States ranks twenty-fourth in government spending as a share of GDP out of twenty-nine countries for which recent comparable data are available. The key determinant of where countries rank in overall government spending is the amount spent on social protection. The United States ranks last in spending on social protection as a share of GDP and twenty-second in per capita spending. The United States ranks at or near the top in military, health care, education, and law enforcement spending. Measuring government spending by different methods and including tax expenditures does not appear to significantly alter the conclusion that the United States is a low-tax, low-spending country relative to the other countries examined, particularly when compared to its fellow higher-income countries. [This paper is an evolution of a previous work, "Comparing Public Spending and Priorities Across OECD Countries" (ED606844).]
- Published
- 2019
24. Proceedings of the Conference of the International Group for the Psychology of Mathematics Education (30th, Prague, Czech Republic, July 16-21, 2006). Volume 2
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International Group for the Psychology of Mathematics Education., Novotna, Jarmila, Moraova, Hana, Kratka, Magdalena, and Stehlikova, Nad'a
- Abstract
This document contains the second volume of the proceedings of the 30th Annual Conference of the International Group for the Psychology of Mathematics Education. Conference presentations are centered around the theme "Mathematics at the Centre." This volume features 60 research reports by presenters with last names beginning between Abr and Dri: (1) The Odds of Understanding the Law of Large Numbers: A Design for Grounding Intuitive Probability in Combinatorial Analysis (Dor Abrahamson and Rose M. Cendak); (2) Imaginary-Symbolic Relations, Pedagogic Resources and the Constitution of Mathematics for Teaching in In-Service Mathematics Teacher Education (Jill Adler and Zain Davis); (3) Relationship between Pre-Service Mathematics Teachers' Teaching and Learning Beliefs and Their Practices (Hatice Akkoc and Feral Ogan-Bekiroglu); (4) Teachers' Awareness of Dimensions of Variation: A Mathematics Intervention Project (Thabit Al-Murani); (5) The Student Teacher and the Others: Multimembership on the Process of Introducing Technology in the Classroom (Nelia Amado and Susana Carreira); (6) Improving Student Teachers' Understanding of Fractions (Solange Amorim Amato); (7) Autodidactic Learning of Probabilistic Concepts through Games (Miriam Amit and Irma Jan); (8) Graduate Students' Processes in Generating Examples of Mathematical Objects (Samuele Antonini); (9) Reasoning in an Absurd World: Difficulties with Proof by Contradiction (Samuele Antonini and Maria Alessandra Mariotti); (10) Will Penelope Choose Another Bridegroom? Looking for an Answer through Signs (Ferdinando Arzarello, Luciana Bazzini, Francesca Ferrara, Ornella Robutti, Cristina Sabena, and Bruna Villa); (11) Motivation and Perceptions of Classroom Culture in Mathematics of Students across Grades 5 to 7 (Chryso Athanasiou and George N. Philippou); (12) Deductive Reasoning: Different Conceptions and Approaches (Michal Ayalon and Ruhama Even); (13) The Tendency to Use Intuitive Rules among Students with Different Piagetian Cognitive Levels (Reuven Babai); (14) Coming to Appreciate the Pedagogical Uses of CAS (Lynda Ball and Kaye Stacey); (15) Students' Conceptions of "m" and "c": How to Tune a Linear Function (Caroline Bardini and Kaye Stacey); (16) A Contradiction between Pedagogical Content Knowledge and Teaching Indications (Ibrahim Bayazit and Eddie Gray); (17) Identifying and Supporting Mathematical Conjectures through the Use of Dynamic Software (David Benitez Mojica and Manuel Santos Trigo); (18) Students Constructing Representations for Outcomes of Experiments (Palma Benko and Carolyn A. Maher); (19) Logarithms: Snapshots from Two Tasks (Tanya Berezovski and Rina Zazkis); (20) Trying to Reach the Limit--The Role of Algebra in Mathematical Reasoning (Christer Bergsten); (21) Semiotic Sequence Analysis--Constructing Epistemic Types Empirically (Angelika Bikner-Ahsbahs); (22) Service Teaching: Mathematical Education of Students of Client Departments (Erhan Bingolbali, John Monaghan, and Tom Roper); (23) Students' Thinking about the Tangent Line (Irene Biza, Constantinos Christou, and Theodossios Zachariades); (24) Habermas' Theory of Rationality as a Comprehensive Frame for Conjecturing and Proving in School (Paulo Boero); (25) Extending Students' Understanding of Decimal Numbers via Realistic Mathematical Modeling and Problem Posing (Cinzia Bonotto); (26) Different Media, Different Types of Collective Work in Online Continuing Teacher Education: Would You Pass the Pen, Please? (Marcelo C. Borba and Rubia B. A. Zulatto); (27) Reformulating "Mathematical Modelling" in the Framework of the Anthropological Theory of Didactics (Marianna Bosch, Fco. Javier Garcia, Josep Gascon, and Luisa Ruiz Higueras); (28) Students' Impressions of the Value of Games for the Learning of Mathematics (Leicha A. Bragg); (29) The Transition from Arithmetic to Algebra: To Reason, Explain, Argue, Generalize and Justify (Trygve Breiteig and Barbro Grevholm); (30) Resisting Reform Pedagogy: Teacher and Learner Contributions (Karin Brodie); (31) Manifestations of Affordances of a Technology-Rich Teaching and Learning Environment (TRTLE) (Jill P. Brown); (32) Types of Representations of the Number Line in Textbooks (Alicia Bruno and Noemi Cabrera); (33) Educational Neuroscience: New Horizons for Research in Mathematics Education (Stephen R. Campbell); (34) Variability in a Probability Context: Developing Pre-Service Teachers' Understanding (Daniel L. Canada); (35) Implementing a Reform-Oriented Mathematics Syllabus: A Survey of Secondary Teachers (Michael Cavanagh); (36) Student's Modelling with a Lattice of Conceptions in the Domain of Linear Equations and Inequations (Hamid Chaachoua, Marilena Bittar, and Jean-Francois Nicaud); (37) Using Reading and Coloring to Enhance Incomplete Prover's Performance in Geometry Proof (Ying-Hao Cheng and Fou-Lai Lin); (38) Aspects of Teachers' Pedagogical Content Knowledge for Decimals (Helen Chick, Monica Baker, Thuy Pham, and Hui Cheng); (39) Collaborative Action Research on Implementing Inquiry-Based Instruction in an Eighth Grade Mathematics Class: An Alternative Mode for Mathematics Teacher Professional Development (Erh-Tsung Chin, Yung-Chi Lin, Yann-Tyng Ko, Chi-Tung Chien, and Hsiao-Lin Tuan); (40) Routine and Novel Mathematical Solutions: Central-Cognitive or Peripheral-Affective Participation in Mathematics Learning (Mei-Shiu Chiu); (41) The Role of Self-Generated Problem Posing in Mathematics Exploration (Victor V. Cifarelli and Jinfa Cai); (42) A Longitudinal Study of Children's Mental Computation Strategies (Barbara Clarke, Doug M. Clarke, and Marj Horne); (43) Assessing Fraction Understanding Using Task-Based Interviews (Doug M. Clarke, Michal Sukenik, Anne Roche, and Annie Mitchell); (44) Evaluation of a Teaching Concept for the Development of Problem Solving Competences in Connection with Self-Regulation (Christina Collet and Regina Bruder); (45) Developing Probability Thinking in Primary School: A Case Study on the Constructive Role of Natural Language in Classroom Discussions (Valeria Consogno, Teresa Gazzolo, and Paulo Boero); (46) Collaboration with Teachers to Improve Mathematics Learning: Pedagogy at Three Levels (Tom J. Cooper, Annette R. Baturo, and Edlyn J. Grant); (47) "Aim High--Beat Yourself": Effective Mathematics Teaching in a Remote Indigenous Community (Tom J. Cooper, Annette R. Baturo, Elizabeth Warren, and Edlyn J. Grant); (48) Development of Children's Understanding of Length, Area, and Volume Measurement Principles (Margaret Curry, Michael Mitchelmore, and Lynne Outhred; (49) Mathematics-for-Teaching: The Cases of Multiplication and Division (Brent Davis, Elaine Simmt, and Dennis Sumara); (50) Generative Concept Images (Gary E. Davis and Catherine A. Pearn); (51) Developmental Assessment of Data Handling Performance Age 7-14 (Pauline Davis, Maria Pampaka, Julian Williams, and Lawrence Wo); (52) The Effect of Different Teaching Tools in Overcoming the Impact of the Intuitive Rules (Eleni Deliyianni, Eleni Michael, and Demetra Pitta-Pantazi); (53) Investigating Social and Individual Aspects in Teacher's Approaches to Problem Solving (Fien Depaepe, Erik De Corte, and Lieven Verschaffel); (54) Maths Avoidance and the Choice of University (Pietro Di Martino and Francesca Morselli); (55) Primary Students' Reasoning about Diagrams: The Building Blocks of Matrix Knowledge (Carmel M. Diezmann); (56) Integrating Errors into Developmental Assessment: "Time" for Ages 8-13 (Brian Doig, Julian Williams, Lawrence Wo, and Maria Pampaka); (57) Vygotsky's Everyday Concepts/Scientific Concepts Dialectics in School Context: A Case Study (Nadia Douek); (58) Creating Mathematical Models with Structures (Katherine Doyle); (59) Mechanisms for Consolidating Knowledge Constructs (Tommy Dreyfus, Nurit Hadas, Rina Hershkowitz, and Baruch Schwarz); and (60) Reconciling Factorizations Made with CAS and with Paper-and-Pencil: The Power of Confronting Two Media (Paul Drijvers, Carolyn Kieran, Andre Boileau, Fernando Hitt, Denis Tanguay, Luis Saldanha, and Jose Guzman). (Individual papers contain references.)
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- 2006
25. Free Digital Learning for Inclusion of Migrants and Refugees in Europe: A Qualitative Analysis of Three Types of Learning Purposes
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Castaño Muñoz, Jonatan, Colucci, Elizabeth, and Smidt, Hanne
- Abstract
The increasing number of migrants and refugees arriving in Europe places new demands on European education systems. In this context, the role that free digital learning (FDL) could play in fostering inclusion has attracted renewed interest. While the existing literature highlights some general design principles for developing FDL for migrants and refugees, there is little information on the use of FDL at specific education levels, or for specific learning purposes. This paper presents the results of a qualitative study that was carried out as part of the Moocs4Inclusion project of the Joint Research Centre (JRC) between July and December 2016. The study, which has a European focus, disaggregates the analysis of FDL initiatives by what were identified as its three most common purposes: (a) language learning, (b) civic integration and employment, and (c) higher education. For each of these topics, the study sheds light on the approaches used by a wide sample of initiatives, users' levels of awareness of what is available and take up, and migrants' and refugees' perceptions of the current offer. In order to collect the information needed to cover different approaches and perspectives, semi-structured interviews with 24 representatives of 10 FDL initiatives and four focus groups with 39 migrants and refugees were carried out. The results show that there are indeed overlaps between the purposes of FDL initiatives and their design principles. Specific recommendations on how to better design FDL initiatives for migrants and refugees, taking into account their specific purposes, have also been identified.
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- 2018
26. Fostering Inquiry and Creativity in Early Years STEM Education: Policy Recommendations from the 'Creative Little Scientists Project'
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Stylianidou, Fani, Glauert, Esme, Rossis, Dimitris, Compton, Ashley, Cremin, Teresa, Craft, Anna, and Havu-Nuutinen, Sari
- Abstract
"Creative Little Scientists" was a 30-month (2011-2014) EU/FP7-funded research project focusing on the synergies between early years science and mathematics education and the development of children's creativity, in response to increasing interest in these areas in European educational policy. Using a variety of methods, including desk research, a teacher survey and classroom-based fieldwork, the research provided insights into whether and how children's creativity is fostered and appropriate learning outcomes, including children's interest, emerge. Based on these and ongoing collaboration and dialogue with participants and other stakeholders the project proposed recommendations for policy and teacher education. This paper presents these recommendations and the research on which they were based. Throughout the study, mixed methods were employed, combining quantitative approaches used in surveys of policy and teachers' views based on a list of factors, alongside qualitative approaches employed in case studies of classroom practice. A strong conceptual framework developed at the start of the project guided data collection and analysis, as well as the presentation of findings and the development of policy recommendations, thus ensuring the latter's strong and consistent relationship with the relevant theoretical knowledge, the comparative research, analysis of classroom practices and the production of guidelines for teacher education.
- Published
- 2018
27. Refugees Welcome? Recognition of Qualifications Held by Refugees and Their Access to Higher Education in Europe--Country Analyses
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European Students' Union (ESU) (Belgium), Eckhardt, Lukas, Jungblut, Jens, Pietkiewicz, Karolina, Steinhardt, Isabel, Vukasovic, Martina, and Santa, Robert
- Abstract
The European Students' Union with the support of the Open Society Foundation published a new study on recognition of qualifications held by refugees and their access to higher education in Europe. The paper analyses how a selected pool of countries use education as an instrument for inclusion of refugees, asylum seekers and persons in refugee-like situation. The report includes detailed country analyses of Romania, Belgium, Norway and Germany. The chosen countries represent different parts of Europe as well as countries that face specific challenges in coping with the inclusion of refugees into higher education and that have partially found solutions for these problems that might serve as good practice examples. According to the information provided by the European Higher Education Area's (EHEA) the main barriers refugees face when accessing higher education in Europe are lack of information; lack of advice and individual guidance; recognition of credits and qualifications, particularly without documents; inadequate language support provisions and lack of adequate financing. The report provides an argument that providing access to education for refugees contributes to the country economically and societally. However, in order to guarantee this inherent element of integration, national higher education systems need to fulfill their commitments to social dimension, i.e. the strategies and measures to mirror the diversity of society within higher education. One of the tools used to provide wider participation in higher education for refugees is recognition of their qualifications. National authorities and higher education institutions should ensure flexible procedures for the recognition of degrees, periods of study and prior learning of refugees, in line with the Lisbon Recognition Convention. However, despite the existing legal regulations ENIC-NARIC [European Network of Information Centres in the European Region and the National Academic Recognition Information Centres in the European Union] centres responsible for information and recognition still indicate a number of challenges, such as: lack of information about the education systems and qualifications from countries in conflict, questionable authenticity of the documents provided, lack of documentation, incomplete qualifications and the number of applicants. The report shows that despite various approaches to policy-making and implementation that the countries applied, they certainly have elements in common: bottom-up approaches and initiatives taken up by higher education institutions, staff, students and NGOs [non-governmental organisations], regardless of the scope of governmental support, are central to refugees' integration.
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- 2017
28. Higher Education in Federal Systems. Proceedings of an International Colloquium (Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada, May 8-10, 1991).
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Queen's Univ., Kingston (Ontario). Inst. of Intergovernmental Relations. and Brown, Douglas
- Abstract
This volume contains the proceedings of an international colloquium on higher education in federal countries with complex divisions of responsibility for the many facets of higher education. The volume is organized in four parts. Part I contains one paper, "The Federal Context for Higher Education" by Ronald L. Watts and a description of the discussion that followed its presentation. Part II offers detailed descriptions of higher education in seven federal systems: "Higher Education in Seven Federal Systems: A Synthesis" (David M. Cameron); "Higher Education in Federal Systems: Canada" (David M. Cameron); "Origins and Development of Federalism in American Higher Education" (Martin Trow); "Higher Education in Federal Systems: Australia" (Robert H. T. Smith and Fiona Wood); "Higher Education in Federal Systems: Switzerland" (Augustin Macheret); "Higher Education in Federal Systems: Germany" (Ulrich Teichler); "Higher Education in Federal Systems: Belgium" (Ignace Hecquet); and "Higher Education in Federal Systems: The European Community" (Pierre Cazalis). Part III summarizes discussions held at the colloquium on four issues in higher education: organization, planning and management; financing higher education; student mobility; and research planning and financing. Part IV covers the final session and contains rapporteur's comments titled "Hasty Generalization, Missed Opportunities and Oversimplifications: Overcoming the Obstacles to Understanding Higher Education (Whatever That Is) in Federal Systems (Whatever They May Be)" by J. Stefan Dupre and the discussion that followed. Many papers include reference notes. A list of participants and their addresses is also provided. (JB)
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- 1992
29. Generating Stable University Funding Mechanisms: Income Contingent Loan Structure Choice within the Irish Education System
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Larkin, Charles and Corbet, Shaen
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This paper presents an exploratory analysis of the funding mechanisms for higher education across sixteen countries which builds upon existing work on educational institutions, educational outcomes, and welfare regimes. We focus upon the current financing dilemma within the Irish higher education system, seeking potential solutions within an international comparison. Our quantitative analysis identifies four clusters of countries: the Nordic, Continental-Europe, Mediterranean and English-Speaking; all of which are strongly correlated to economic and structural characteristics based on welfare state literature. Each education regime is associated with institutional, economic, and political factors. Our analysis presents evidence that Ireland does not possess the characteristics of a country that could benefit from an income-contingent lending structure to fund university education due to inherent sovereign characteristics. Further, Ireland could be better served through the introduction of free fee structures such as that found in Norway and Scotland or through the generation of state-sponsored lending facilities through private institutions like those already in place in Finland, Germany, and Sweden.
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- 2021
30. Patterns of Cross-National Variation in the Association between Income and Academic Achievement
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Chmielewski, Anna K. and Reardon, Sean F.
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In a recent paper, Reardon found that the relationship between family income and children's academic achievement grew substantially stronger in the 1980s and 1990s in the United States. We provide an international context for these results by examining the income-achievement association in 19 other Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development countries using data from the Progress in International Reading Literacy Study and the Programme for International Student Assessment. First, we calculate and compare the magnitude of "income achievement gaps" across this sample of countries. Second, we investigate the association between the size of a country's income achievement gap, its income inequality, and a variety of other country characteristics. We find considerable variation across countries in income achievement gaps. Moreover, the U.S. income achievement gap is quite large in comparison to this sample of countries. Our multivariate analyses show that the income achievement gap is positively associated with educational differentiation, modestly negatively associated with curricular standardization, and positively associated with national levels of poverty and inequality.
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- 2016
31. Does Variation in the Extent of Generalized Trust, Individual Education and Extensiveness of Social Security Policies Matter for Maximization of Subjective Well-Being?
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Valeeva, Rania F.
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In this paper, I examine whether generalized trust and education, as well as social security policies of welfare state institutions matter for cross-national differences in subjective well-being (SWB), because knowledge on this issue is still lacking. For this purpose I integrated the insights of two sociological theories: Social Function Production theory and Actor-Centred Institutionalism. Based on these theoretical notions we derived several hypotheses, which I tested using multilevel analysis of the data from the European Social Survey (2006), in a sample of 37,237 respondents from 22 European countries. My findings indicate that various extensiveness of social security policies matter for the level of SWB, and for the impact of education on SWB. I found negative impact of low education on SWB in all countries, except in Northern and Western European countries. This might suggest that social security policies of the latter countries have diminished the negative impact of low education on SWB. Moreover, my findings indicate positive relationship between individual education and generalized trust; as well as between generalized trust and SWB in countries with all five types of social security policies.
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- 2016
32. Legal Nature and Functions of Referendum in Constitutional Law Theory
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Kucherenko, Petr A., Sangadzhiev, Badma.V, and Velibekov, Murad C.
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The relevance of the study of the legal nature and functions of the referendum is conditioned by the increasing dynamics of development of direct democracy in the developed countries and the needs to legalize it in constitutional and legal norms to ensure stability in society. The purpose of this paper is to define the legal nature of the referendum in the context of the theory of constitutional law. The research methodology is built on the comparison of institutional and instrumental features of the referendum. The materials of the legal practice of the Federal countries of Western Europe are investigated, having a tradition of direct democracy and the practice of its legislative regulation. The basis of the study is constitutional norms about the referendum of the Constitution of Germany, Switzerland, Austria and Belgium, as well as quantitative data on referenda in those countries. In the result of the study of the legal nature of the referendum the evident instrumental purposes of direct democracy are justified: legitimation, restraint, institution, self-government and political arbitration. Also a conclusion is made about the instrumental function of the referendum in modern Federal countries of Western Europe. The obtained results of the study are important in theoretical terms--for the development of the definition of a referendum, understanding of its legal nature and functions, and in practical terms - for legislative activities and public discussions about ways of development of democracy in certain public conditions.
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- 2016
33. Cross-Border Higher Education Institutions in Mainland China: A Developmental Perspective
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Wu, Mei and Li, Shengbing
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Cross-border higher education institutions are considered a main way to fulfill the educational internalization in Mainland China; to some extent they represent the attitude of entering the international market. In this paper, the history, status quo, and future of Chinese-foreign cooperatively-run schools are analyzed and discussed. Cross-border higher education institutions in Mainland China have experienced the process from accidental and disorder to a systematic and quality orientation.
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- 2015
34. Framework of Quality Assurance of TEL Integration into an Educational Organization
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Volungeviciene, Airina, Tereseviciene, Margarita, and Tait, Alan
- Abstract
This research paper addresses the issues of integration of technology enhanced learning (TEL) into an educational organization. Good practice experience cannot be directly transferred to new organisations due to different contextual conditions. The TEL integration depends significantly upon a very rapid development of services and information communication technologies (ICT). Some organizations have managed to go step by step with the developments and have become leaders in TEL provision, however others, though having successful examples, have not succeeded in reaching the service level they want. While many positive examples exist in research literature, it is rare that institutions have complete strategies or solutions for integrating TEL that meet their specific pre-conditions and satisfy quality assurance parameters at the same time. The research reported here aims at the development of a theoretical framework for quality assurance of TEL integration into educational organizations. During the research, the development of the TEL concept has been discussed, success indicators for TEL integration in an educational organization have been described, the quality parameters of TEL integration into an educational organization have been identified and the model for TEL integration into an organization has been developed.
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- 2014
35. The United States Is Far behind Other Countries on Pre-K
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Center for American Progress, Herman, Juliana, Post, Sasha, and O'Halloran, Scott
- Abstract
Early childhood education and school readiness is essential to preparing children to succeed in an increasingly competitive global economy. Compared to other countries, however, the United States lags far behind on preschool, trailing a number of other countries in enrollment, investment, and quality. In February 2013, however, President Barack Obama put forth a bold plan to significantly expand access to preschool. His plan would invest $75 billion in high-quality preschool, helping the nation catch up with other countries. On almost every element (preschool participation, typical age children begin early-childhood programs, teacher-to-child ratio in early childhood-education programs, and total investment in early childhood-education programs) the United States ranks behind most of the other countries in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, or OECD. This paper shows how far behind the United States is on preschool, making it evident that the president's plan needs to be implemented. Each of these elements is explored and compared with other countries' numbers. If the United States is to train a world-class workforce, it is imperative that it catches up to the rest of the world on pre-K.
- Published
- 2013
36. An Assessment of the Growth in Coverage of Social and Environmental Issues in Graduate Accounting Courses
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Green, Sharon and Weber, James
- Abstract
The paper examines if there has been an increase in the attention paid to social and environmental issues (SEI) in accounting curricula. Using schools participating in the Aspen Institute's Beyond Grey Pinstripes (BGP) program, we measure the increase in the number of accounting courses incorporating SEI across the biennial application years of 2005, 2007 and 2009. We also examine the percentage of SEI coverage in accounting courses between 2007 and 2009. Our findings suggest that there was not an appreciable increase in the number of accounting courses dealing with SEI between 2005 and 2007, but that the increase was significant during the period from 2007 to 2009. Further, the increase over the four-year period from 2005 to 2009 was also significant. In addition, there is a significant increase in the percentage of SEI coverage in accounting courses between 2007 and 2009. Implications of these findings are discussed.
- Published
- 2013
37. The Development of Children's Early Numeracy through Key Stage 1
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Aubrey, Carol and Godfrey, Ray
- Abstract
This paper describes a limited longitudinal study of young children's early numeracy development within three testing cycles, at the mid-point and towards the end of their reception year (at five years-of-age) and again at the mid-point of Year 1 (at six years-of-age), located within the broader context of progress through to Key Stage 1 SAT results (at seven years). Assessment was carried out using the Utrecht Early Mathematical Competence Test (Van Luit et al., 1994). This comprised eight sub-topics, five items in each, including comparison, classification, correspondence, seriation, counting, calculation and real-life number problem solving. Broadly, one set of sub-tests related to understanding of relations in shape, size, quantity and order, whilst a second set of sub-tests related to basic arithmetic. Three hundred pupils were selected from twenty-one schools, large and small, from rural and urban areas, with high and low concentrations of children eligible for free school meals and/or with special educational needs, as well as representing a broad range of achievements levels based on standards assessment tasks. Whilst this paper focuses upon the performance of English pupils, reference is also made to the larger European sample which involved children from Flemish-speaking Belgium, Germany, Greece, Slovenia and the Netherlands. Results showed that children's total scores at around the mid-point of reception year were indeed predictive of later achievement at the end of KS1 though the combined scores over three testing cycles which extended to the mid-point of Year 1, were more so. Discriminant analysis confirmed that a combination of a counting sub-test (one seemed sufficient) and a sub-test focusing on understanding of relations in shape, size, order or quantity (a different one at each testing cycle), together with the general number knowledge sub-test was best predictive of final SAT levels. Comparison with the international data set suggested a different trajectory for English pupils, with more of a bias towards arithmetic sub-tests than their European counterparts who start school later. Moreover, the pattern of dependence of scores on age in which no advantage was found in including any national differences was especially interesting. These findings are discussed within the context of different school start ages and traditions of preparation for formal schooling. Perhaps what emerged most strongly is the need for young English pupils to maintain a broad and balanced early mathematics curriculum, which places appropriate emphasis on practical problem solving. (Contains 8 figures, 15 tables and 1 note.)
- Published
- 2003
- Full Text
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38. AGORA XII. Training for Mentally Disabled People and Their Trainers: Permitting the Mentally Disabled a Genuine and Appropriate Exercise of Their Rights. CEDEFOP Panorama Series.
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European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training, Thessaloniki (Greece). and Guggenheim, Eric Fries
- Abstract
Materials from Agora 12 demonstrate that the disabled are merely another side of ourselves and training for them is a means of developing and acquiring independence and of becoming absorbed into society. A Foreword outlines the subjects of the three sessions: social solidarity and mental disability; training of the mentally psychologically disabled and the transition from institution to integration; and training of trainers and other professionals providing support for the mentally disabled and assisting their integration into economic life. A 36-item bibliography and agenda follow. The 15 presentations are "Mental Health: Medical Fact or Social Construct" (Gaye Hutchison); "Disability and Independence: Improving the Quality of Life of Disabled People" (Carmen Duarte);"Professional Training of the Mentally Disabled in Enterprises in the Open Labor Market" (Helmut Heinen); "Job Creation for the Mentally Disabled: New Approaches in Germany Through Integration Enterprises and Employment Companies" (Rainer Dolle); "The Effects of Globalization on the Mentally Disabled" (Alberto Alberani); "Economic Costs and Benefits of Integrating Disabled People into the Labor Market: An (sic) European Look" (Juan Carlos Collado); "Permitting the Mentally Disabled a Genuine and Appropriate Exercise of Their Rights" (Annet De Vroey); "The Initial and Continuing Training of the Mentally Disabled in Lifelong Education and Training" (Christian Robert); "Education and Training Proposed to Persons with Learning Disabilities in the Different European Countries" (Victoria Soriano); "Occupational and/or Personal IndependenceThe Role and Significance of Sheltered Employment in the Emancipation Process" (Gerard Zribi); "The Normal Environment as a Training Ground and Indicator of Personal Potential for Disabled Workers and Their Trainers" (Yvonne Schaeffer); "How Does a Trainer Working with the Mentally Disabled Differ from Any Other Teacher or Trainer?" (Hans-Juergen Pitsch): "Training of Trainers in Learning Disability ServicesIs Learning or Disability the Issue?" (Paul Twynam); "Training of Trainers of the Mentally Disabled in Europe" (Angelika Buehler); and "How Useful Are Networks of Trainers and of Trainers of Trainers in Preparing Them for Their Very Special Role?" (Raymond Ceccotto). A summary of discussions (Victoria Koukouma) is provided. Several presentations include bibliographies. (YLB)
- Published
- 2003
39. Current Research in European Vocational Education and Human Resource Development. Proceedings of the Programme Presented by the Research Network on Vocational Education and Training (VETNET) at the European Conference of Educational Research (ECER) (4th, Lille, France, September 5-8, 2001).
- Author
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Manning, Sabine and Dif, M'Ham
- Abstract
These proceedings are comprised of 23 presentations on research in European vocational education and human resource development. Papers include "Developing Information and Communication Technology Capability in Higher Education in the United Kingdom (UK)" (Nick Boreham); "Methodological Issues in the Study of Organizational Learning, with Reference to the Framework V Project ORGLEARN--Organizational Learning in the Chemical Industry and Its Implications for Vocational Education and Training (VET)" (Nick Boreham); "Forms and Implications of Work Related Identity Transformation: Preliminary Findings of "FAME" Project Investigation in the French Case" (M'hamed Dif); "Promoting Social Capital in a 'Risk Society': A New Approach to Emancipatory Learning or a New Moral Authoritarianism?" (Kathryn Ecclestone, John Field); "The Value of a Three-Year Upper Secondary Vocational Education in the Labor Market" (Erika Ekstrom, Asa Murray); "Taking Control of Their Lives? Agency in Young Adult Transitions in England and the New Germany" (Karen Evans); "Tacit Skills and Work Inequalities: A UK Perspective on Tacit Forms of Key Competences and Issues for Future Research" (Karen Evans); "Does Training Have Any History? The Enduring Influence of Behaviorism in Britain, 1940-1966" (John Field); "Training Policies Valuation in European Enterprises by Studying the Valuation Practices/Comprendre les Politiques de Formation d'Entreprises Europeennes par l'Etude de Leurs Pratiques d'Evaluation" (Gerard Figari et al.); "Work Process Knowledge in the Context of Socio-Technical Innovation" (Martin Fischer); "'I Couldn't Wait for the Day': Young Workers' Reflections on Education During the Transition to Work in the 1960s" (John Goodwin, Henrietta O'Connor); "Typology of Work Experience: Analysis of the Workplace Training Process in Quebec" (Marcelle Hardy, Louise Menard); "Apprenticeship in France, Ireland, the Netherlands, and Scotland: Comparisons and Trends" (Jannes Hartkamp); "Gender and Qualification: Are Gender Differences Ignored?" (Anke Kampmeier); "From Normatively Constructed Identity to New Identities in the Contexts of 'Double' Transition Processes. The Case of Estonia" (Krista Loogma et al.); "The Consideration of Relevant Features for the Processes of Identity Formation in Current VET Policies" (Fernando Marhuenda); "The Hidden Labor Market of the Academic" (Anne Rouhelo); "Developing a Model of Factors Influencing Work-Related Learning: Findings from Two Research Projects" (Sally Sambrook); "Transition from Higher Vocational Education to Working Life: Different Pathways to Working Life" (Marja-Leena Stenstrom); "WEPP--The Work Environment Pedagogy Project: Individuals' Discovering, Interpreting, and Changed Perception of Work and Learning Environments" (Arvid Treekrem); "Continuing Vocational Training in Belgium: An Overview" (Els Vanhoven, Dirk Buyens); "Training Incidence and Job Mobility in Switzerland" (Stefan Wolter); and "The Role of Human Resource Development in Creating Opportunities for Lifelong Learning: An Empirical Study in Belgian Organizations" (Karen Wouters et al.). (YLB)
- Published
- 2001
40. Skills, Earnings, and Employment: Exploring Causality in the Estimation of Returns to Skills
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Hampf, Franziska, Wiederhold, Simon, and Woessmann, Ludger
- Abstract
Ample evidence indicates that a person's human capital is important for success on the labor market in terms of both wages and employment prospects. However, unlike the efforts to identify the impact of school attainment on labor-market outcomes, the literature on returns to cognitive skills has not yet provided convincing evidence that the estimated returns can be causally interpreted. Using the PIAAC Survey of Adult Skills, this paper explores several approaches that aim to address potential threats to causal identification of returns to skills, in terms of both higher wages and better employment chances. We address measurement error by exploiting the fact that PIAAC measures skills in several domains. Furthermore, we estimate instrumental-variable models that use skill variation stemming from school attainment and parental education to circumvent reverse causation. Results show a strikingly similar pattern across the diverse set of countries in our sample. In fact, the instrumental-variable estimates are consistently larger than those found in standard least-squares estimations. The same is true in two "natural experiments," one of which exploits variation in skills from changes in compulsory-schooling laws across U.S. states. The other one identifies technologically induced variation in broadband Internet availability that gives rise to variation in ICT skills across German municipalities. Together, the results suggest that least-squares estimates may provide a lower bound of the true returns to skills in the labor market.
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- 2017
- Full Text
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41. Degrees of Competency: The Relationship between Educational Qualifications and Adult Skills across Countries
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Massing, Natascha and Schneider, Silke L.
- Abstract
Background: Educational qualifications and literacy skills are highly related. This is not surprising as it is one aim of educational systems to equip individuals with competencies necessary to take part in society. Because of this relationship educational qualifications are often used as a proxy for "human capital". However, from a theoretical perspective, there are many reasons why this relationship is not perfect, and to some degree this is due to third variables. Thus, we want to explore the net relationship between educational attainment (harmonized according to the International Standard Classification of Education, ISCED) and literacy skills, and how much skills vary within education levels across countries. Methods: We use data from 21 countries from the Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies 2012. This paper compares the literacy skills of adults who achieved different levels of educational attainment across countries. Given the high degree of educational differentiation in most countries, we do this using a more differentiated educational attainment variable than what is commonly used. In our analyses we firstly adjust for factors that are likely to affect access to education and the acquisition of educational qualifications and literacy skills, such as parental education and language and migration background. In a second step, we also take into account factors affecting skill development after initial formal education, such as occupation and skill use at home. Results: We firstly find a high degree of heterogeneity of skills across countries for equivalent education categories. Secondly, we find skill similarities for equivalent education categories classified at different broad education levels, sometimes even breaking the hierarchical order of 'higher education entails higher competencies'. Conclusion: We conclude that ISCED levels cannot be taken as a cross-nationally comparable proxy for human capital in terms of literacy skills, and that education has to be harmonized in a substantively more meaningful way in future adult literacy surveys.
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- 2017
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42. The State as a Support System: What Should Women in Academe Expect? A Global Perspective.
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NtiAsare, Nancy Sharp
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A comparative analysis of family policy in various nations looks at state financial support for families and in particular how professional women in academia fare internationally with respect to state support for their families. The analysis includes a review of the general development of family support through the industrial revolution and the 20th century, analysis of family policy in the United States, and a comparative analysis of the family policy of other nations. The comparative analysis notes that, in European countries, family benefits are regarded as a right. Policies are analyzed for the following countries: Sweden, Norway, France, Germany, Belgium, Zambia, Mozambique, Ghana, India, Singapore, Peoples Republic of China, Chile, Australia, and the United States. The final portion of the analysis examines the positive and negative aspects of state support of the family. Positive aspects found include support for the initial phase of parenting, family solidarity, and equal support to all families. Negative aspects of state support, state intervention in family life, economic costs, discrimination against women; were found to be not compelling. The analysis concludes that the United States should adopt a national family support policy. (Contains 20 references.) (JB)
- Published
- 1995
43. Acceptance and Use of Game-Based Learning in Vocational Education and Training: An International Survey
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Schmitz, Birgit, Felicia, Patrick, and Bignami, Filippo
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This paper presents findings from a study carried out between May and October 2013. Based on a survey, which was developed by the MoGaBa VET project partners, the study aimed at understanding the factors that influence the way vocational instructors perceive and use game-based learning. A total of 267 trainers from eight European countries took part in the survey. Results indicated that even though educational games were regarded effective and useful with regard to motivational aspects or learning to use ICT; however, it also revealed that the integration and widespread use of mobile GBL solutions faced several challenges linked to technical, institutional and also organizational aspects.
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- 2015
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44. Organizational Learning from the Perspective of Knowledge Maturing Activities
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Kaschig, A., Maier, R., Sandow, A., Lazoi, M., Schmidt, A., Barnes, S.-A, Bimrose, J., Brown, A., Bradley, C., Kunzmann, C., and Mazarakis, A.
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The level of similarity of knowledge work across occupations and industries allows for the design of supportive information and communication technology (ICT) that can be widely used. In a previous ethnographically informed study, we identified activities that can be supported to increase knowledge maturing, conceptualized as goal-oriented learning on a collective level. The aim of this paper is to investigate the current state of support and success of these knowledge maturing activities and to contrast them with their perceived importance, to identify those which have the highest potential for being supported by ICT. Quantitative and qualitative data were collected through telephone interviews with representatives from 126 organizations throughout Europe in a sample stratified according to size, sector, and knowledge-intensity. The activities that appear to be most promising are "reflecting on and refining work practices and processes," "finding people with particular knowledge or expertise," as well as "assessing, verifying, and rating information." Rich empirical material about how these activities are performed and also the issues that emerged and need to be managed were collected. Three clusters of organizations were identified: best performing organizations, people- and awareness-oriented organizations, and hesitant formalists. It was found that a balanced knowledge strategy that leaned toward personalization outperformed a codification strategy.
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- 2013
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45. Managerialism, Organizational Commitment, and Quality of Job Performances among European University Employees
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Smeenk, Sanne, Teelken, Christine, Eisinga, Rob, and Doorewaard, Hans
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To achieve efficient and effective quality improvement, European universities have gradually adopted organizational strategies, structures, technologies, management instruments, and values that are commonly found in the private business sector. Whereas some studies have shown that such managerialism is beneficial to the quality of job performances of university employees, others have argued that managerialism is largely counterproductive and that it results in lower performances. The latter situation is called a "managerialism contradiction". This paper tests two lines of reasoning underlying a potential contradiction governing the relationship between managerialism and job performances, while using university employee survey data from six European countries (Belgium, Finland, Germany, Netherlands, Sweden, UK). The results tend to support the assumption that managerialism, in these six countries at least, has a positive effect, albeit a modest one, on the quality of performances. The most important conclusion is therefore that there is no managerialism contradiction at work in European universities.
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- 2009
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46. Are National-Level Research Evaluation Models Valid, Credible, Useful, Cost-Effective, and Ethical?
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Coryn, Chris L. S. and Scriven, Michael
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The evaluation of government-financed research has become increasingly important in the last few decades in terms of increasing the quality of, and payoff from, the research that is done, reducing the cost of doing it, and lending public credibility to the manner in which research is funded. But there are very large differences throughout the world in the extent to which systems used promote these results. This paper briefly presents the dimensional results of a study designed to comparatively evaluate the national-level research evaluation models in sixteen countries on five merit-defining dimensions. (Contains 6 figures.)
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- 2007
47. Comparative Research as an Instrument for EU Aid and Development Programmes
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Sayer, John
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This paper reflects on the usefulness and applicability of comparative inquiry for policy and practice in education development projects involving universities within the EU or EEA (Socrates, Erasmus, etc.) and especially in technical aid and outreach programmes (Tempus etc.), using concrete examples, exploring the distinctions made in EU regulatory documents and funding frameworks between research and development. The tension is shown between overt political objectives such as the transfer of assumed know-how to solve immediate priority problems of common concern, and educational objectives of extending understanding among equal partners. It is suggested that the more a development project is a shared learning programme, the more applicable and fruitful are comparative methods. Experienced examples are considered of research investigation applied to development programmes from within, whether as practitioner research or by independent research commissioned by practitioners, to assist in pursuing development objectives; of surveys commissioned by the EC across programmes to evaluate the overall effectiveness of a scheme and identify best practice for the future; and of research undertaken independently, taking advantage of access to the project framework to explore questions which are not necessarily or exclusively instrumental. The need is identified to bring these into a coherent system, and recommendations are outlined for future policy.
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- 2006
48. An International Comparison of Equity in Education Systems
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Gorard, Stephen and Smith, Emma
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This paper uses pupil responses to the PISA study in 2000 for all EU countries. Using indicators of the pupil intakes to schools and their outcomes it computes segregation indices for 15 countries, and then tries to explain the resulting patterns in terms of the characteristics of national school systems. Segregation by sex in each country is explicable by its provision of single-sex schools, religious schools, and the use of academic selection in allocating school places. Segregation by outcome is largely explicable by the use of academic (and other forms of) selection. Segregation by parental occupation or country of birth is lower in countries allocating places at school through elements of choice or with relatively little governmental control of schools rather than use of rigid catchment areas or selection. In all countries there are small gaps between the performance of boys and girls in reading, in favour of girls. This gap is generally smaller in countries with the highest overall scores. Overall, the Scandinavian countries of Sweden, Finland and Denmark show less segregation on all indicators, while Germany, Greece and Belgium show the most. The UK has below average segregation in terms of all indicators except sex, despite a commonly held but unfounded view that segregation in the UK is among the worst in the world.
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- 2004
49. Information for Developing Countries: Definitions, Institutions and Issues. A Contribution towards Forming an Understanding of the Potential for Consultancy, Marketing and Training Related Activities. Kingston Polytechnic School of Information Systems Research Report 87-3.
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Kingston Polytechnic, Surrey (England). School of Information Systems. and Lindsay, John
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This paper reports on the emerging market in information on development-related activities in terms of the European capacity in databases and information networking. The first of its two parts addresses issues that are emerging consequent to the introduction of information technology in developing countries. Problems of definition and interest in the area of information for development are explored; information users are described; and types of information involved are defined. Major institutions in Great Britain concerned with library and information science, documentation, and computer science are identified, and similar institutions in West Germany, France, Scandinavia, Belgium, and Switzerland are briefly mentioned; a table lists the names and addresses of British institutions. The second part outlines recent progress of each of the 13 British member agencies of the Information and Documentation Working Group of the European Association of Development, Research, and Training Institutions in introducing information technologies in their organizations. Progress by other institutions is also noted. Information systems and databases are briefly reviewed, as are training courses in Britain that focus on information technology and development planning. (SD)
- Published
- 1987
50. Annual Report of the Secretary of the Interior for the Fiscal Year Ended June 30, 1895. In Five Volumes. Volume V -- In Two Parts. Part 1 [Report of the Commissioner of Education]
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Department of the Interior, United States Bureau of Education (ED)
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This is the Report of the Commissioner of Education, part of the Annual Report of the Secretary of the Interior for the Fiscal Year Ended June 30, 1895. The Bureau of Education report is contained within volume five, which is in two parts. Part one contains: (1) The Commissioner of Education's Introduction; (2) Statistics of State Common-School Systems; (3) City School Systems; (4) Statistical Review of Secondary Schools; (5) Statistical Review of Normal Schools; (6) Statistical Review of Higher Education; (7) Statistical Review of Professional Schools; (8) The Educational Systems of England and Scotland, with Statistics for 1893-94; (9) Manitoba School Case; (10) Education in France; (11) Public Education in Belgium; (12) Education in Central Europe; (13) Education in the Netherlands; (14) Education in Italy; (15) Report of the Loyal Commission on Secondary Education; (16) Papers Accompanying the Report of the Loyal Commission on Secondary Education; (17) Higher Education in Russian, Austrian, and Prussian Poland; (18) Art education in the public schools; (19) Facilities for the University Education of Women in England; (20) Educational Status of Women in Different Countries; (21) Chautauqua: A Social and Educational Study; (22) Pensions for Teachers; (23) Coeducation--Compulsory Attendance--American Students in Foreign Universities--Continuation and Industrial Schools; and (24) Educational Directory. [For the first part of the Commissioner of Education's 1894-95 report, see "Report of the Commissioner of Education for the Year 1894-95. Volume 2. Containing Parts II and III" (ED622083).]
- Published
- 1896
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