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Designing the markets that allocate public school seats is a crucial policy consideration. This paper compares the design of school choice mechanisms in terms of economic efficiency, stability, and strategic behavior. We estimate demand for schools using data from a large US public school system with novel indicators of students' levels of strategic sophistication. We find important benefits of reserving a set of seats to be assigned by a pure lottery. In settings that share features in common with the school system we study, our findings suggest that non‐selective criteria such as lotteries induce a large increase in truth‐telling. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyzes the relationship between the welfare state and educational policies in Europe. One of the ways to measure the development of the welfare state has been the analysis of social spending. Based on this indicator, it is possible to verify that there was no destruction of the Social State, but a change in its execution and in the relationship between state, society and market. These are changes arising from the resumption of free market theses and the new conformation of the capital and labor relationship. In this context, New Public Management was introduced and education came to be considered as another business opportunity for capital. Despite the fact that the welfare state maintained its foundations, with the educational reforms the market appropriated public resources, altering the provision of education services and its own conformation as a social right. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

By selecting as object of research the National Learning Standards in Brazil (BNCC) and the movement for the regulation of homeschooling, this study proposes to identify the beliefs underlying the actions of those involved in the advocacy of each cause. Documentary research was conducted by focusing on the Movimento pela Base (MPB), an actor supporting the BNCC, and the Campanha EducAÇÃO Domiciliar - Direito Já!, a campaign which brings together actors from the coalition in favor of homeschooling. For the analyses, the paper used categories from the Advocacy Coalition Framework, created by Sabatier and Jenkins-Smith in the 1980s. Although both policies refer to the right to education - either by linking this right to the homogenization of the curriculum or by questioning who is responsible for providing it - our findings indicate that these actors have different beliefs and forms of organization, which explains their different interests and strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study analyses the complexities of implementing trilingual education in the context of Kazakhstan. Trilingualism has been gaining both supporters and opponents among teachers, students and parents. The main objective of this paper is to identify the educational characteristics in the implementation process of trilingual policies in Kazakhstan by analysing the opinion of six Kazakh teachers from two different types of schools (NIS and general secondary schools) through online interviews. The qualitative analysis of the data follows a grounded theory scheme in order to establish the different categories, through which we carry out content analysis. Results show that trilingual education is necessary in Kazakhstan. Specific drawbacks are also identified (e.g. lack of qualified teaching staff or level of language competence of students). Our conclusions suggest that trilingual education is beneficial for the Kazakh system though the differences identified (NIS and general secondary) may jeopardise successful implementation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper presents the results of a study carried out in Chile on the attitudes of principals to the School Inclusion Law, legislation that promotes the desegregation of schools and which went into force in 2016. Considering the approach of inclusive leadership and social justice, the study was conducted based on an online survey of 157 principals from four cities. Because of its exploratory nature, the study followed a non-experimental quantitative design with a descriptive scope. The results show that principals agree with the provisions of this policy, but they anticipate that they will have problems due to the lack of training of teachers and the tensions involved in implementing inclusion policies in the context of a school system that measures quality based on results on standardized tests. Therefore, school principals show commitment to the principles of the policy, but, at the same time, they demonstrate conformity with and resistance to its more specific implications, since they do not believe that it structurally changes the operating logic of their schools. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper presents an overview of Syed Abul Aa'la Maudoodi's philosophical thoughts and its applications to educational process. Syed Abul Aa'la Maudoodi was a great thinker of Islam and a famous religious of the world. He gave logics in a philosophical style and proved that Islam is an absolute system of life. In his tafsir (Quranic interpretation) Tafhim'ul Quran he introduce the four interrelated concepts. He believed essential to understand Quran: Ilah (divine), Rab (Lord), Ibadah (worship) and Din (religion). Fundamental philosophical thoughts rooted in Islam that (i) ultimate reality is Allah (swt); (ii) ultimate source of knowledge is revelation (wahi); (iii) every person is a vicegerent of Allah (swt) and he is responsible for his responsibilities infront of Allah (swt). As the paper aimed to provide only some glimpse of Maudoodi's educational thought in an outline form it warrants a comprehensive and obtained study on the reconstruction of educational thoughts in the context of Maudoodi's philosophy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper examines the educational development in Azerbaijan in the last century. It considers major aspects of higher education as well as the educational policy under the Soviet influence. In the course of this study, the following methods were used: theoretical analysis, historical-comparative method and the analysis of the archived documents. The article also provides comparative analysis of the textbooks issued before and after 1991. It analyses training dynamics in the educational institutions, highlighting achievements and failures in this area. The paper proves that the principles of historical succession, contemporaneity and nationality will promote well-founded development of the educational system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper touches upon an important for the modern school concept of multicultural language education; its main objective is to prepare schoolchildren using linguistic means for full-scale interaction and cooperation in the modern multicultural and multilingual world. The authors prove that the concept of "culture" becomes a fundamental polysemantic phenomenon in this situation. However, the dialogue or polylogue of linguocultures becomes crucial for language education. In this case, the learner studies the culture of another country through its language and culture, i.e. multicultural language education contributes to the formation of his/her multilingual and multicultural (native language - native culture and at least two non-native languages-nonnative cultures) personality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the relationship between civil conflict and educational achievement in Colombia. We use multilevel analysis to deal adequately with the hierarchical structure of the data and an instrumental variables approach to tackle the possibility of bias associated with endogeneity. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first effort to understand the relationship between civil conflict and educational achievement in exit examinations through the use of multilevel analysis. The results show that the relationship between the intensity of the conflict and performance on exit examinations is not as straightforward as it may seem at first glance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we aim to understand if the process of implementation of the proposal for high school curriculum restructuring of SEDUC/RS produced changes in the definition of the identity of High School. We did 03 focus group with 20 teachers of SI and 34 interviews with 13 education coordinators, 20 SI Teachers (some grouped) and 06 high school teachers, acting in 20 schools of the 8th Regional Coordination of Education SEDUC/RS. We can say that the implementation of the proposal did not changed High School, especially because it did not sufficiently raise the question about the social function of this High School, which in that process remained a solid nucleus, protected in such a way that no changes took place there. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Post-modern society calls for the educational process modelling imperiously in the direction of objectivizing the results in learning skills. In this regard, education in Romania went through a series of system and process transformation that we find objective in the strategies and measures of the most diverse. We note a lack of consistency in the implementation of educational reform plans that are justified on a complex case (macrosocial and microsocial causes). The analyses carried out at the level of educational policies since the 1990s and so far reveals a lot of changes in legislation which have not led to any specific increase in the quality of education. The present paper is a research on the measures of reform in Romanian education and offers a number of explanations regarding their implications at the level of the educational process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Myriad methods exist for analyzing qualitative data. It is, however, imperative for qualitative researchers to employ data analysis tools that are congruent with the theoretical frameworks underpinning their inquiries. In this paper, I have constructed a framework for analyzing data that could be useful for researchers interested in focusing on the transactional nature of language as they engage in Social Science research. Transactional Analysis (TA) is an inductive approach to data analysis that transcends constant comparative methods of exploring data. Drawing on elements of narrative and thematic analysis, TA uses the theories of Bakhtin and Rosenblatt to attend to the dynamic processes researchers identify as they generate themes in their data and seek to understand how their participants' worldviews are being shaped. This paper highlights the processes researchers can utilize to study the mutual shaping that occurs as participants read and enter into dialogue with the world around them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines perspectives on student disaffection in education at the levels of culture and policy. It considers the balance between punitive/exclusionary and therapeutic/restorative positions. The paper engages with concepts of retributive punishment (Murray, 2004a; 2004b), social welfare ideologies (Esping-Andersen, 1990) and discourses of social exclusion (Levitas, 1998). The conclusion is that policy choices are made about how disaffected, at risk young people are to be provided for, and these policy choices are not contained simply within an education policy and practice setting. The policy responses emerge from national and local government decision-making. They correlate with national indicators of punitiveness in the criminal justice system and the scale of inequalities tolerated. Policies resonate with deep-seated cultural positions which are linked to the willingness to pay– for prevention or for punishment– and with the propensity to allocate blame either to individuals and families or to societal failures. Opportunities for intervention at points in the reinforcing cycle of punitiveness are indicated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper estimates public and private (household) spending per student on education in early childhood, primary and secondary education in Spain, in public educational institutions and in publicly-funded private educational institutions. We use 2007 data from the Household Spending on Education Survey and the Statistics on Public Spending on Education. Public expenditure on education per student in publicly-funded private educational institutions was 49.9% that spent on public educational institutions. The cost assumed by families in public institutions was 38.7% that spent on publicly-funded private educational institutions. The total expenditure per student on publicly-funded private educational institutions was 66.9% that spent on public educational institutions. Enrollment in publicly-funded private educational institutions implies a reduction of public expenditure on education and the transfer of part of those educational expenses to families. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Taking as an empirical basis some of the data from a questionnaire applied to a sample of approximately eight hundred parents from three public secondary schools, this paper discusses how various categories of parents organise «hierarchies of excellence» through the «arguments for choice» that they prioritise when choosing their children's school for entrance into secondary education (year 10 of schooling, equivalent to the year 4 of compulsory secondary education in Spain - ESO). The analysis of the data highlights that, in all segments of parents, a group can be found that attaches great importance to academic indicators; in addition, an unequal concentration of these groups was verified in the three establishments studied, which reflects a predominance of different types of public in each school. Thus, even though the importance attributed to the «arguments for choice» varies according to the educational level of the parents, in the cases studied the «hierarchies of excellence» are distinguished, above all, by the school variable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents estimates of production functions of reading and mathematics test scores to assess the effects of supply-side interventions, such as the provision of a community-based school management programme, bilingual education and multigrade teaching, on student learning in Guatemala. The efficiency and consistency of the estimates is improved by using seemingly unrelated regressions to account for potential correlation between test scores. Results indicate that the community-based management programme, bilingual schools and traditional schools produce comparable learning of first-graders. However, in the case of third-graders the community-based school management programme and bilingual schools produce less learning than traditional schools. The learning of both first- and third-graders is found to be diminished in the multigrade teaching approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Most nations in Africa south of the Sahara made a significant effort to promote education mainly in the years that followed their independence from colonial powers; however, the policies devised for promoting education after independence minimized or excluded the private sector. It is only recently that most African governments started to realize the limitations of public monopoly in education and since then, private schools are re-emerging in all major cities in Africa south of the Sahara. This paper therefore, after providing a brief overview of the development of private education in the Africa south of the Sahara, addresses the comparative analysis of the merits of private and public education and some policy issues that are emerging out of the current trend. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The expansion of higher education in Taiwan starting from the late 1980s has successfully raised the average level of education. Using the concept of the education Gini, we find that the educational inequality declined as average schooling rose during the period of 1976–2003. The impacts of a rising average schooling and a declining educational inequality are also tested empirically in this paper. The evidence supports that a higher level of average schooling will generate a lower income inequality. On the other hand, a lower educational inequality, as measured by education Gini coefficient, will also cause a lower income inequality. Skill-biased technological change that shifts the labor demand from unskilled workers toward skilled workers is the most likely cause for the rising income inequality in Taiwan. However, the trend of rising income inequality could be reversed due to possible future over-education and unemployment in the labor market. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose - The purpose of this article is to investigate whether family background and the choice of vocational field explain the observed gap in dropout rates from vocational upper secondary education between natives and children of immigrants in Denmark and to investigate ethnic and gender differences in educational choices. Design/methodology/approach - A parsimonious version of Cameron and Heckman's (2001) dynamic statistical model of educational progression is estimated. By parceling educational attainment out into a series of transitions by grade, the model is able to identify barriers to educational progression and to determine the effects of explanatory variables at different stages of the educational career. In addition, the model is able to accommodate the institutional structure of an educational system with parallel branches of study at the upper secondary level and to control for educational selection and unobserved heterogeneity. Findings - The main findings are: that family background variables do not explain the gap in dropout rates between natives and children of immigrants; that the dropout rates from different vocational fields are significantly different but affect natives and children of immigrants equally; that girls do better than boys in immigrant families; and that intergenerational mobility is greater among children of immigrants than natives. Research limitations/implications - The statistical model used is not available in any standard statistical package. For the purpose of this paper it was coded in GAUSS. Furthermore, the model demands fairly large data sets to be useful in empirical research. Originality/value - The analysis provides more detailed information about differences in educational attainment between population groups than most previous studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The dramatic growth in student numbers associated with the shift from elite to mass systems across virtually all developed countries is central to current transformations in terms of structure, purpose, social and economic role of higher education. As a part of this process of expansion and heterogenization, new groups of students who, for a complex range of social, economic and cultural reasons were traditionally excluded from or under-represented in higher education, might be expected to participate in increasing numbers. The paper develops the concept of non-traditional learners and demonstrates how an examination of ways in which higher education systems respond to such learners can provide a fruitful basis for a comparative analysis of change in higher education across ten countries – Austria, Australia, Canada, Germany, Ireland, Japan, New Zealand, Sweden, United Kingdom, and the United States. The primary emphasis in the study was on the institutional and policy issues which appeared to either inhibit or support participation by non-traditional learners. On this basis six factors were identified which seemed to be particularly influential with regard to the participation of non-traditional students and the associated moves towards a lifelong learning mode of higher education. The evidence suggests that, while progress can be reported on a number of dimensions in comparison with a similar analysis of participation by adults students in the same countries undertaken just over a decade earlier, high participation rates do not automatically imply that the functions of higher education in social selection and reproduction are obsolete, or that issues of access and equity can be regarded as features of the past. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper argues the necessity of making distinctions between facts, values as subject matter (values as facts), value judgments, and world views when discussing or debating goals and methods of sexuality education. The utility of such distinctions is demonstrated through analysis of one recent debate. Development of skills of critical inquiry is proposed as the primary goal which should be shared by all sexuality educators regardless of the value judgments and world views their positions represent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The place of religion and how it should be employed in education for citizenship is currently an issue in Europe. The challenges of increasing diversity are the underlying factors. The conception of maximal citizenship (a critical model of citizenship) gives a significant framework for analysis and scholarly perspectives about several European contexts on this matter. However, there is hardly maximal citizenship in Finnish contexts in scholarship. Hence, this work searches for the elements of maximal citizenship in educational policy for young people by employing the policy relating to citizenship in Finnish religious education (RE). Focusing on grades 7–9 of basic education, its primary data is based on selected national policy documents. The data were analysed using critical discourse analysis. The main findings suggest that citizenship in Finnish RE is only somewhat compatible with the characteristics of maximal citizenship. This reveals some policy shortcomings that could negatively affect the potential of critical-mindedness of young people and equal opportunities in a democracy. Hence, some suggestions that could improve the situation are embedded in the paper. Nevertheless, a linguistic conception of citizenship in Finland vis-à-vis a recent development in national educational policy seems to push the conception of maximal citizenship in a relatively new direction. Furthermore, an explicit use of the "Convention on the Rights of the Child" in Finnish curriculum broadens our conception of maximal citizenship in general. Moreover, while scholars generally agree that maximal citizenship is essentially "critical", this piece suggests that every "critical" approach to citizenship education is not necessarily "maximal". [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]