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This systematic review aimed to provide a comprehensive view of critical pedagogy-informed collaborative professional development practices in English language teaching. Using four databases and relevant keywords, we found 67 studies conducted in Asia, South/Central/North America, Europe, Australia, and the Gulf countries and systematically analyzed them. Results show that critical collaborative practices enabled teachers to develop a critical stance, implement pedagogically critical actions, and initiate social change regarding social awareness and power distribution. However, these changes, visible in teachers' pedagogical practices, have not expanded onto a macro-social level. Implications for language teacher development program planners and policymakers are discussed.

Several international large-scale assessments were conducted at the turn of the new century, and during the past two decades the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) completed seven cycles of assessment to facilitate practitioners' policy debates and governance. This study reviews PISA-related articles published in English and Chinese. Three literature databases were searched, with a focus on SSCI, CSSCI, and TSSCI journal publications. The frequency of publication was analyzed according to the author's country affiliation, type of journal, and research categories/themes. Findings indicate that research on student-, school- and system-level indicators with a focus on students' learning processes and outcomes as well as critiques of technical matters on PISA were frequent topics in the literature during the past two decades. Issues of equality and equity examined in the publications have implications for enhancing practitioners' capabilities in terms of policy making and governance.

The increasing use of research metrics in the monitoring and evaluation of research has led to the expansion of research information infrastructure, as indicated by the rising number of national databases for research output and research information systems. At the same time, debates on requirements of national databases for research output are typically guided by simplistic assumptions about what an infrastructure is and how it shapes our understanding of different phenomena. We present an alternative framing of databases wherein infrastructure and context are seen as mutually constitutive. Drawing upon qualitative data on 12 national databases in Europe, we investigate the role that databases for research output play in research metrics and consequently in our understanding of research activities. Specifically, we bring to the surface database features that are typically left implicit and yet are crucial for understanding these databases in context. A key outcome of this study is an identification of two database logics--New Public Management and Enlightenment--that underpin database designs and the organization of database work. These logics do not merely guide practical database work (e.g. by determining the features of highest priority), but through the outcomes of that work they both enact and distribute a particular conception of what research is. In this article, we show how the two logics manifest and how they are related to each other. Situating these findings in the landscape of developments in research information infrastructure, we discuss implications for research evaluation and the understanding of research in general.

The application of the language proficiency scales (LPS) in education validates its function, as it can explore the value in-depth. However, little systematic research on applying LPS has been conducted due to the complex intertwining of stakeholders and a lack of theoretical framework and practical approaches. Adopting the framework proposed by Y. Jin and Jie (2020), this study explored how the Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR) and China's Standards of English (CSE) were used and impacted various stakeholders in the education context. The literature search was taken from WoSCC, Scopus, and CNKI from 2018 to 2022. Qualitative content analysis was used for systematic review. Results showed that policymakers used LPS in education policy guidance; teachers applied them as the benchmark of diagnostic assessment to get accurate language profiles of students and create new approaches to teaching; students used them as goal-setting guidance and self- or peer assessment criteria to track progress; test developers aligned them with tests to obtain reliable results; curriculum designers tailored descriptors and scales from CEFR to develop new curricula, align, or revise the existing ones; researchers used LPS as references to develop new rubrics, frameworks and assessing models. This study could provide insight in scientific application of LPS. However, it focused mainly on the CEFR and CSE with a framework for exploring the impact of language testing. Studies containing more scales and theorizing the framework of aftereffects of LPS should be encouraged.

The aim of this article is to explore the attainment of Eastern European children in primary schools in England. The research draws on detailed National Pupil Database and school census data for 586,181 pupils who completed Key Stage 2 in England in 2016. Two methodological approaches were used to analyse the data. First, the performance of all pupils was analysed by ethnic and language background to illustrate patterns of attainment for each group. Second, attainment data were further analysed by social background factors to explore the main factors influencing performance in schools and the reasons for underachievement. The main findings from the study confirm that a number of Eastern European pupils have low attainment, and their performance in English schools has been masked by government statistics that fail to distinguish between 'White Other' ethnic groups. The empirical data suggest that speakers of Czech, Slovak, Hungarian, Polish, Romanian, Latvian, Lithuanian and Bulgarian are particularly underachieving, and that the difference between their educational performance and others is larger than for any other main groups. There is also a wide variation in performance between regions in England, with large attainment gaps between Eastern European and White British children. Some of the main reasons for underachievement identified from the study are the lack of fluency in English, economic deprivation, a disrupted or non-existent prior education and parental lack of understanding of the British education system. Overall, this research confirms that the underachievement of Eastern European children remains a cause for concern and is obviously an issue that policymakers and schools need to address. Implications for policy and practice are discussed in the final section.

Creativity is a vital topic of various educational discourses, yet the support it receives within the school system is insufficient. This chapter focuses on four particular ways of making creativity more democratized, salient, and accessible in school settings. We start by exploring the educational benefits of egalitarian theoretical approaches to creativity. Then, we posit that democratization requires an equal focus on the cognitive aspects of creative potential and the motivational sphere of self-perception and self-regulation. Third, analyzing cognitive characteristics, we pay special attention to creative imagery: an understudied yet critical aspect of creative potential. By meta-analyzing available evidence from interventional studies, we show that there are multiple effective approaches to enhancing creative imagery, so--in a sense--supporting creative potential might be democratized as well by going beyond creativity training. Fourth, and finally, we discuss the possibilities of adapting so-called wise interventions for the educational psychology of creativity. We review available evidence of how to strengthen creative confidence and the perceived value of creativity among students, and how to make their creative self-regulation more effective.

Violence in adolescent relationships is a common problem with numerous negative short- and long-term consequences. Because most of the evidence on teen dating violence (TDV) synthesized in reviews comes from North American studies, this review aimed to compile evidence on prevalence rates of TDV based on studies identified for Europe only. Specifically, we considered different forms of TDV victimization and perpetration, gender differences, and its measurement. A systematic literature search of the most popular databases Ebsco and PubMed yielded a total of N = 34 studies, with most of the studies identified for Spain, and only a few studies in other European countries. In sum, the results revealed a great variability in prevalence rates across and within the European countries, a common pattern of gender differences, and a wide range of applied measures, corresponding with the evidence from the North American studies. Implications for future research and policy were discussed.

This paper makes an important and original contribution to the updating of methodological approaches to research syntheses. We analysed all 813 Proceedings of the British Society for Research into Learning Mathematics from 2003 to 2018, first using a quantitative corpus-survey and qualitative thematic coding and, again, independently, using topic modelling. We found strong convergence between findings from the different methods. We compare our findings to those from an earlier Proceedings review (1995-2002) and to a recent review of the corpus of publications in the "Journal for Research in Mathematics Education and Educational Studies in Mathematics," as well as to a review by the European Society for Research into Learning Mathematics and several other reviews. We found considerable similarity between the issues discussed, and similar trends over time. We conclude that the efficiency of topic modelling makes it a powerful option to include among a range of methodological approaches to research review.

Background: Conceptual models are an essential phase in software design, but they can create confusion and reduced performance for students in Database Design courses. Objective: A novel Relational Data Model Validation Tool (MVTool) was developed and tested to determine (1) if students who use MVTool perform better than those who do not, and (2) if design skills improve after using MVTool. Method: After a pre-test of database design skills, 68 students were divided into matched-pair control and experimental groups. All completed a database design task, with the experimental group having access to MVTool and the control group having no access to the tool. Findings: Notable improvements in specific design skills could be consistently detected in students after the introduction of the tool. Implications: Validation tools such as MVTool may help students to understand modeling languages and conventions used in database design, thereby improving their skill development and course outcomes.

The university programs designed for older people (UPOP) is an important educational resource and it is essential to study them to identify their characteristics, the key aspects of their effects, and the possible additional benefits of participation in formal educational activities for its students. This systematic review aimed to examine the current state of empirical research focusing on UPOP in the European context. We performed a systematic search of scientific literature between 1980 and May 2017 in various databases (ProQuest Psychology Journal, ERIC, Sociological Abstracts and Social Science Citation Index) from which 1663 works were extracted. After applying the inclusion and exclusion criteria, the selected articles were reduced to 23. Analyzing the articles and their main themes, we identified a specific profile of UPOP students, their reasons for attending, the perceived benefits of attending UPOP and several factors could be optimized in research of these areas of formal education, especially the methodological aspects. Empirical research focusing on UPOP in Europe is currently at an early stage and needs further development.

Is there a trend towards internationalization of educational research in Europe? Educational research is said to follow a tradition of nationally oriented studies and interventions supported by a national publication culture. Publications are a suitable source of empirical analysis of research output, as they reflect results, emergence and impact of research. This study focuses on publication based bibliometric indicators, which represent measurable characteristics of international orientation of research publications and which can be surveyed in time course. Being aware that the Web of Science (WoS) databases cover a crucial but rather limited proportion of the worldwide educational research output, this study provides bibliometric insights into the development of national publication outputs in educational research in the WoS and what idiosyncrasies are revealed for European countries, into the role of English as a publication language, into the trend towards transnational co-authorship as an indicator of international cooperation, and into citation frequencies as a measurement of research communication or research impact.

This study tested the effects of the modality of reading formats (electronic vs. print), online reading habits (engagement in different online reading activities), use of cognitive strategies, metacognitive knowledge, and navigation skills on printed and electronic reading literacy across regions. Participants were 31,784 fifteen-year-old students (50.78% female) from 19 countries and economies in the 2009 Programme for International Student Assessment database. Results showed that students exhibited better reading literacy in the print environment. Moreover, information-seeking activities, control strategies, knowledge of metacognitive strategies, and navigation skills positively predicted reading literacy in both print and electronic formats for all regions, whereas social reading activities negatively predicted reading literacy in print and were most harmful for the Asian region in both formats. Memorization strategies were negatively associated with reading literacy in both formats for Australasian, Western and Eastern EU, and South American regions, but not for the Asian region. Online reading habits, regardless of types, had no impact on reading literacy in both formats for the South American region. The study findings provided suggestions for literacy instruction in the e-learning era across different regions.

We utilised four waves of TIMSS data in addition to the information we have collected on countries' educational systems to examine whether different degrees of standardisation, differentiation, proportion of students in private schools and governmental spending on education influence students' math achievement, its variation and socioeconomic status (SES) gaps in math achievement. A higher level of standardisation of educational systems was associated with higher average math achievement. Greater expenditure on education (as a percentage of total government expenditure) was associated with a lower level of dispersion of math achievement and smaller SES gaps in math achievement. Wealthier countries exhibited higher average math achievement and a narrower variation. Higher income inequality (measured by the Gini index) was associated with a lower average math achievement and larger SES gaps. Further, we found that a higher level of standardisation alleviates the negative effects of differentiation in the systems with more rigid tracking.

Tertiary educational institutions increasingly are relied upon for sustainable development initiatives. This policy research note analyzes newly available data regarding seven key dimensions of 295 transnational sustainable development projects involving US universities. Comparative regional analysis of the projects profiled in the APLU/AAU database indicates that US universities engage in substantially fewer development projects in Central/Eastern Europe and the Middle East relative to other regions in the South. Further, these projects tend to be short term in duration, with a smaller proportion continuing to be active in 2011 and beyond. Donors or other external sources tend to be the principal impetus for projects in both regions, rather than campus faculty members. The findings suggest that one path to increasing higher education development initiatives in the Middle East and Central/Eastern Europe would center on providing opportunities and incentives for faculty at US and overseas partner institutions to build transnational contacts that lead to joint proposal initiation and submission. The future policy implications of these research findings highlight the importance of increased funding by government agencies, international organizations, NGOs, foundations and corporations for sustainable development projects undertaken through transcontinental higher education linkages of ten years' duration or longer. By expanding direct awards to higher education institutions for collaborative transnational initiatives, donors can further empower universities to address sustainable development challenges of the twenty-first century. (Contains 6 notes and 4 tables.)

The scientometric study of scientific output through publications in specialized journals cannot be undertaken exclusively with the databases available today. For this reason, the objective of this article is to introduce the "Base de Datos de Investigacion en Orientacion Vocacional" [Vocational Guidance Research Database], based on the use of scientometric indicators. The use of dynamic tables in the technical design of this database results in real-time updates. Moreover, the option of exporting data to other software programs enables researchers to expand their field of study. This is complemented by a topic-based vocational guidance classification, allowing us to identify the fields that are most researched, and a vocational guidance glossary containing 245 terms in three languages (Spanish, English and French). Furthermore, we can use this database for teaching purposes, as an introduction to scientometric research. The flexibility of this database also makes possible an expansion to other areas and fields of psychology. (Contains 7 figures.)

Presents a geography program to show students why the European Community was formed. Involves student research of economic data, creation of a computer database on the European Community, and simulation of trading. Emphasizes geographic themes of movement, region formation, and change in response to economic forces. Includes game rules, sample database, and economic comparisons. (DK)

Describes use studies of CD-ROM products in American and western European academic, public, and special libraries. Comparative results of the surveys are reported, including effect of CD-ROMs on library use of online databases, difficulties with different vendors' search techniques, and desired subjects of optical products. (10 references) (LRW)

Discusses the extent to which online use of databases is affected by a foreign language barrier. Topics discussed include the effects in western Europe on establishing a uniform information market; database distribution by language; retrieval software; contracts, documentation, and training; and databases that try to overcome the language barrier. (16 references) (LRW)

The second of three articles on abusive data collection and usage practices and their effect on personal privacy, discusses the evolution of data protection laws worldwide, and compares the scope, major provisions, and enforcement components of the laws. A chronology of key events in the regulation of computer databanks in included. (1 reference) (MES)

Discusses general aspects of education, training, and marketing techniques for on-line searching, and describes methods adopted by 12 organizations in Norway, the Netherlands, France, Switzerland, Italy, Belgium, and Britain that use computers for their bibliographic information requirements. (CWM)

Briefly describes new developments pertaining to the EURONET/DIANE information network, the growth of telecommunications in the United Kingdom, education and training in information science in Europe, the current state of European videotex systems, EUSIDIC's document delivery program, and international data flow. (JL)