Educational Disadvantage Research Articles

History and Education of the Sacred: Black Girls and Curricular Violence in Literacy Learning

AbstractBlack girls and their literacies are genius. Yet, education, as we know it, does not consistently offer spaces for Black girls to be loved and honored. This form of neglect extends to literacy classrooms. As displayed in the news and research, Black girls experience abuse within the confines of educational walls. Educational violence against Black girls is a byproduct of dehumanization and devaluation, and it stems from history. The underlying stereotypical conditioning centered around the dehumanized, oversexualized, unladylike, Black girl may rationalize why educators overlook them when creating literacy curricula. When classroom teachers rely on these biases, the need for an intentional literacy curriculum to support and uplift the literacy development of Black girls may seem unimportant, which in turn leaves Black girls at an educational disadvantage. This paper will discuss social and educational historical factors that have problematized literacy education for Black girls. As a resolution, we unpack the Black Girls Literacy Framework to respond to educational and literacy inequities.

The Grass Ceiling: Hidden Educational Barriers in Rural England

Rurality is rarely integrated into analyses of educational inequalities and this article presents an alternative perspective on rural–urban attainment and highlights the impact of rurality on educational outcomes. The traditional narrative of urban–rural educational disadvantage is that urban pupils do less well in the English exam system. Decontextualised data across different English exam performance measures demonstrate how rural pupils outperform their urban counterparts. Socioeconomic disadvantage (SED) has the most significant impact on attainment and this analysis explores the rural–urban attainment gap through this SED lens. An analysis of the Department for Education (DfE) data explores possible factors that might explain the emerging rural educational gap and presents an argument that rurality is another limiting factor that intersects with SED. This article demonstrates how rural underachievement in England has been hidden by the relative sizes and SED distribution of rural and urban populations.

Economic evaluation of vaccination against COVID-19: A systematic review.

Coronavirus has burdened considerable expenditures on the different health systems. Vaccination programs, the critical solution against pandemic diseases, are known as safe and effective interventions to prevent and control epidemics. We aimed to perform a systematic review to provide economic evidence of the value of different types of vaccines available to combat the Covid-19 to all health policymakers worldwide. Electronic searches conducted on Medline/PubMed, Cochrane Library, Web of Science, Scopus, Embase, and other economic evaluation databases. Related and published articles searched up to March 2022 by using keywords such as "Vaccination," "Covid-19," "Cost-benefit," "Cost-utility," "Cost-effectiveness," "Economic Assessment," and "Economic evaluation." Followed by choosing the most suitable articles according to inclusion and exclusion criteria, data captured and the results extracted. The quality assessment of the articles performed by the checklist of CHEERS 2022. Finally, 13 articles included in the review. All messenger RNA vaccines were dominant with approximately 70% coverage against no vaccination in the primary vaccination program except in one study that looked at booster effects. From a payer's perspective, a dollar invested in a vaccine would be less profitable than from a societal perspective. Therefore, primary mass vaccination can be considered a cost-effective intervention in primary vaccination to save more lives and produce more positive externalities. However, the cost-benefit ratio for all vaccines increases when statistical lifetime value and global economic and educational disadvantages are considered. The COVID-19 primary vaccination programs in regional outbreaks, from a long-term perspective, will demonstrate substantial cost-effectiveness. It is suggested that due to the positive externalities of vaccination, primary mass vaccination, with the help of COVAX-19TM, could be considered a reliable way to combat viral epidemics compared to the loss of individual lives and economic and educational disturbances around the world.

Taking boys seriously: Utilising participatory action research to tackle compounded educational disadvantage

This paper presents successive phases of Taking Boys Seriously (TBS), a longitudinal participatory action research initiative bringing together diverse educational bodies and indigenous educators across a highly stratified education system in a contested society. The voices and everyday life and school experiences of adolescent boys are positioned firmly at the centre of a research methodology aimed at re-engaging, empowering, and learning from marginalised boys. We discuss how a collaborative and reflexive process co-produced with a committed steering group has been vital in pursuit of systemic change. New concepts of compounded educational disadvantage, relational education, and an educational ecosystem have been co-theorised and applied in practical ways to counter deficit narratives and support holistic approaches and new partnerships across educational settings in Northern Ireland. Strengths and limitations of our participatory approach are considered, particularly in relation to the role and participation of boys in the research process.

Embedding masculinities within a gender conscious relational pedagogy to transform education with boys experiencing compounded educational disadvantage

ABSTRACT Responding to a persistent gap in policy and practice, this paper offers a new gender conscious relational pedagogy, directly informed by boys and educators who have participated in Ulster University’s longitudinal ‘Taking Boys Seriously’ research in Northern Ireland. The development of this pedagogy is grounded in the authentic voices of boys from disadvantaged communities whom despite encountering multiple models of masculinity within a contested society, are rarely provided with opportunities to explore and better understand these in relation to themselves and others. Transcending the boundaries of formal and informal education, we have found this gender conscious relational pedagogy to be highly significant in re-engaging boys in education, increasing their participation, confidence, emotional support, behavioural management, critical thinking, and reflexivity. Our work contributes to a gender-transformative research agenda (Keddie and Bartel 2021) committed to an emancipatory praxis that engages intentionally with boys and educators to examine gender socialisation processes with a focus on masculinities, re-shaping power relations within contextual educational communities, and improving educational experiences, opportunities, and outcomes for disenfranchised adolescent boys and ultimately all learners.

Educational Disadvantage and Policy: Expanding the Spaces of Assessment

Educational Disadvantage and Policy: Expanding the Spaces of Assessment

Teachers and managers experiences of virtual learning during the COVID-19 pandemic: A qualitative study

The closure of universities and schools interrupted learning outcomes and deprived students from growth and development opportunities as well as hindering their academic progress. Indeed, the COVID-19 Pandemic changed educational mechanism from traditional method to staying at home and virtual education globally. On the other hand, the educators and student particularly in developing countries faced shortage of necessary software and hardware infrastructures. Accordingly, introduction of virtual education along with some organizational and regional obstacles as well as poor planning caused low-quality online courses. Therefore, the present study extrapolated teachers' virtual education experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic. This qualitative study conducted on Iranian teachers using the conventional content analysis method in 2022. To do this, the targeted sampling method with maximum variation continued until data saturation. Hence, a total of 17 teachers (10 women and 7 men) included in the study. Data collected through five focus group discussions on the Sky room platform and two individual in-depth interviews. Male teachers had an average age of 44.42 years, while female ones had an average age of 47.80 years. The qualitative analysis categorized 22 themes as virtual education's pros and cons. Mental, physical, and social injuries; economic problems; insufficient virtual teaching skills; lack of virtual infrastructure; lack of motivation were identified as the main disadvantages of virtual education. Virtual education benefits included familiarity with modern science and education, time management, the durability of video and course topics, and not forcing students to attend class. Removing structural barriers (like creating a good platform for practical education and stopping new restrictive policies) and individual barriers (like economic and family problems, lack of motivation, psychological pressures, and occupational stress) could possibly improve virtual education. Virtual education should be different from face-to-face teaching because it can only meet some students' needs.

Интернационализация основных программ высшего образования в современных условиях

The subject of the study is the tools to increase the competitiveness of Russian higher education programs, taking into account the geopolitical situation and the development of competition from foreign countries. in the market of educational services. The objectives of the work are to determine, based on statistical indicators of the Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation for 2019-2022, the potential for international competitiveness of higher education programs at the bachelor's, specialist and master's levels and to assess its resistance to external shocks. It has been established that the topic of internationalization of education is of great research interest among Russian and foreign scientists. The internationalization of Russian education is based on strategies to increase competitiveness provided for by the 5-100 Project and the Priority 2030 program. Scaling up the export of Russian education is one of the priorities of Russia's scientific and technical development. The article pays special attention to the study of indicators of leading countries in terms of the number of students accepted for training and the share of those accepted under contracts for the provision of paid educational services in their number in the Russian Federation for the period 2019-2022 in the context of education levels (bachelor's degree, specialty, master's degree). The competitive advantages and disadvantages of Russian education for foreign applicants are highlighted. Conclusions are drawn about the prospects for exporting educational services to the largest states of Eurasia and the Middle East, as well as about the significant potential for promoting master's degree programs in India due to the competitive advantages of Russian education.

Role of Counselling in Helping Neglected Boy Children in Lusaka District, Zambia.

The exclusion and neglect of boy children in Zambia, particularly in Lusaka district, has resulted in increased conflicts between boys and girls, a rise in illiteracy among boys, heightened crime rates, more street boys, and increased drug abuse among boy children (Kambilima, 2014). Despite societal focus on protecting the girl child, the neglect of boys poses future risks to the very girls being safeguarded. This study explores the role of counselling in mitigating the effects of boy child neglect in Lusaka. Guided by Empowerment Theory, which emphasizes enhancing individuals’ capacity to make choices, the study aimed to: (a) describe the factors causing boy child neglect in Lusaka, (b) explore experiences of boy children due to societal neglect, and (c) establish how counselling can address these outcomes. Employing a qualitative and descriptive research design, data was collected using in-depth interview guide and focus group discussions with 50 participants, including 20 elderly men and women and 30 boys. Elderly participants were selected using simple random sampling. Data was thematically analyzed, revealing that one primary factor of boy child neglect is the preferential care and support given to girls in the which is influenced by cultural societal systems. Boys are often expected to be more independent, leading to reduced attention and neglect. The findings highlighted educational disadvantages as a significant experience among neglected boys. The study recommends enhancing counselling services by increasing the availability of qualified counselors trained to meet the unique needs of neglected boy children. These counselors should utilize culturally sensitive approaches and tools to effectively engage with this demographic.

OFFSPRING EDUCATIONAL (DIS)ADVANTAGE, MECHANISMS, AND COGNITIVE FUNCTION IN KOREA

Abstract Adult children’s education plays a significant role in parental cognitive well-being later in the life course. However, there is limited evidence in rapidly changing societies, leaving several key questions unanswered, including (1) whether the effects of offspring educational disadvantage can also flow upward, (2) whether these effects operate through similar explanatory mechanisms, such as financial, social, and informational support from their children, as seen in educational advantage, and (3) whether gender moderates these associations. Focusing specifically on Korea, a society where education has expanded rapidly and support from children is increasingly crucial, this study utilizes longitudinal data from the Korean Longitudinal Study of Aging (2006-2018) to demonstrate the role of offspring education in cognitive function during mid-to-late life. First, having adult children with a college degree or higher is associated with elevated levels of cognition and slower cognitive decline, whereas having adult children with less than a high school education is linked to lower levels of cognition and faster cognitive decline during mid-to-late life. Second, the association between adult children’s education and cognitive health, regardless of whether they have a college degree or less than a high school education, remains robust even after accounting for various other mediators. Third, while the effect of adult children’s education is more pronounced for mothers compared to fathers, children’s gender does not moderate the association. Together, I offer a novel explanation for the association between offspring educational advantage and disadvantage, and their connection to parental cognition and its subsequent decline in rapidly changing society.

BIAS AND GENERALIZABILITY IN MEDICARE-BASED ANALYSES ACROSS THREE POLICY PERIODS

Abstract Administrative Big Health data such as that drawn from the Medicare program is an invaluable resource for the study of population health. Although the Medicare program provides near universal health coverage for older U.S. adults age 65+, for most types of care data is collected only for individuals enrolled in traditional Medicare (TM) plans, with those enrolled in private Medicare Advantage (MA) plans being effectively censored in terms of the extent of available data. This presents two potential problems for health outcomes research: bias and generalizability. In this study we use Health and Retirement Study data (1998-2015) to assess the presence and magnitude of group-specific differences between MA and TM beneficiaries as well as plan switchers across three policy-specific periods (Balanced Budget Act; Medicare Modernization Act; Affordable Care Act). We found that the MA population was characterized by higher diversity, adverse behavioral habits, lower education, and economic disadvantage. Initially, lower morbidity levels converged with the TM average over time. Individuals, switching into MA after TM had much larger morbidity levels and mortality risk than any other Medicare group. We found significant loss of generalizability with respect to the Hispanic population; such estimates could be further biased to the extent that MA Hispanics differ from TM Hispanics. Of great concern is the combination of low education and low economic status in MA beneficiaries – a combination also found in many disadvantaged minorities. Care is needed in the design of TM-based studies, especially those focused on ethnic differences.

POTENTIAL OF DUAL FORM OF EDUCATION IN TRAINING OF FUTURE SPECIALISTS IN SOCIAL WORK

The article characterizes dual education as an innovative form of training of qualified specialists, based on the development and deepening of interaction between the professional education system and the professional environment. It is noted that all applied professions have great potential for the use of a dual form of education, in particular, in the field of health care, engineering, economics, tourism, finance and management, and social work. The domestic normative and legal framework of dual education has been analyzed. The experience of Germany, which is the birthplace of dual education, is presented. Traced the process of introducing elements of dual education into the process of training specialists in Ukraine, which began in the mid-2010s with the launch of pilot projects for the training of skilled workers. The advantages and disadvantages of dual education from the point of view of the educational institution, the student and the employer are outlined. The prospects of dual education in the training of social work specialists as representatives of the applied profession are considered. It is emphasized that it is dual education that deepens the connection between theoretical and practical training of future social work specialists, creating conditions for students to learn the laws and principles of professional activity, master the methods and forms of its organization. The article indicates the difficulties and risks that accompany the process of introducing a dual form of education in the training of social workers, in particular: the need to take into account regional aspects of the training of social workers, the unpreparedness of higher education institutions for the introduction of new organizational approaches to education, an undeveloped financing mechanism, the lack of guarantees for the continuation of a graduate’s work at the enterprise, the presence of a full staff of employees, low motivation of education seekers to work in production, lack of mentors at the workplace, etc.

Understanding the educational disparities between Han and Muslim Chinese: The roles of gender, ethnic salience, and residential concentration

This study, using a 10% sample from China’s 1% inter-census population surveys for 2015, examines patterns of educational disparities between Han and Muslim Chinese. I use enrollment rates among children aged 6–15 and completion of junior high school among children aged 16–19 to capture access to education, and completed years of schooling and completion of tertiary education among adults aged 25–55 to measure educational attainment. To reflect the interplays between individual and contextual factors in shaping ethnic variations in education, I explore the moderation effects of gender, Islamic heritage, and residential concentration. Findings show that Muslim girls are not necessarily subject to double disadvantages in education. The only negative interactions between gender and ethnicity are among inland Muslims in inland northwestern China. Islamic heritage and region also lead to varied patterns. Compared to the Han majority, Muslims have unfavorable educational outcomes in northwestern China and comparable educational outcomes in non-northwestern China. This study highlights the importance of understanding China’s educational stratification mechanisms drawing on the interplays between socioeconomic and ideational contexts.

Trends in educational inequalities in Ireland’s primary schools: an analysis based on TIMSS data (2011–2019)

BackgroundSocioeconomic characteristics are persistently and systematically related to academic outcomes, despite long-standing efforts to reduce educational inequality. Ireland has a strong policy focus on alleviating educational disadvantage and has seen significant improvements in mathematics and science performance in recent years. This study investigates patterns of socioeconomic inequalities in 4th grade students’ performance in mathematics and science between 2011 and 2019. Two measures of inequality are examined: (i) inequality of achievement, i.e., the degree of variability in student performance and (ii) inequality of opportunity, i.e., the extent to which student performance is related to background characteristics.MethodsData for 4th-grade students in Ireland from TIMSS 2011, TIMSS 2015 and TIMSS 2019 were used. Mathematics and science achievement were the main outcome measures. The home resources for learning index was used as a proxy for student-level socioeconomic status. School-level socioeconomic status was examined according to schools’ participation in the Delivering Equality of Opportunity in Schools (DEIS) programme, which is the Department of Education’s main policy initiative addressing educational disadvantage. Descriptive and multilevel regression analyses were conducted to explore variability in student performance and to investigate the variance in achievement explained by socioeconomic factors, across cycles and subjects.ResultsBetween 2011 and 2015, between-student and between-school differences in mathematics and science performance became smaller, as shown by the decrease in standard deviations and the intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs). This points to reduced inequality of achievement. Between 2015 and 2019, a small increase in inequality of achievement was observed.Regarding inequality of opportunity, students’ home resources for learning and school disadvantaged status were statistically significantly related to mathematics and science achievement across all three cycles. Overall variance explained by these two variables increased from 2011 to 2019. This points towards increasing inequality of opportunity over the period examined.Performance gaps between disadvantaged and non-disadvantaged schools have been reduced over time; however, the relationship between home resources for learning and achievement appears to have strengthened. Findings were consistent for both subjects.ConclusionsThe findings indicate that improvements in overall performance do not necessarily reflect improved equality. Ireland’s improvements in average mathematics and science performance between 2011 and 2015 were accompanied by reduced inequality of achievement. Performance differences between disadvantaged and non-disadvantaged schools have been reduced over time, suggesting that the DEIS policy is meeting its goal of narrowing achievement gaps based on concentrations of educational disadvantage. However, inequality of opportunity linked to student-level socioeconomic factors (i.e., home resources for learning) appears to have increased over time. These findings are valuable in the context of measuring and tracking educational inequalities.

DIDACTICS OF DISTANCE LEARNING AND TRAINING

The aim of the article is to systematize knowledge about distance learning and training, characteristics of the subject and basic concepts of didactics, an attempt to identify the theoretical and practical roots of the changes introduced in didactics forced by technical and technological development, to show the essence and types of distance learning and training, the principles and methods of distance education and to present the advantages and disadvantages of distance education.

Estimating the causal impact of non-traditional household structures on children’s educational performance using a machine learning propensity score

Over the past two decades, family structures have diversified. International migration has led to a rise in the number of families in which at least one parent is foreign-born. Increases have also been observed in both the rate of partnership separation, leading to a greater number of single-parent households and an increase in the number of families where grandparents have assumed caring responsibilities for their grandchildren. Evidence indicates a strong relationship between family structure and children’s educational outcomes. Parental involvement is well documented as a key ingredient for the educational success of children. Drawing on Taiwanese multi-wave survey data (Taiwan Assessment of Student Achievement) and a machine-learning-based propensity score algorithm for multiple treatments, this paper aims to determine the various relationships between children from different household structures (two-parent households, skipped generation households, single-parent households, and immigrant households) and their cognitive knowledge (measured by test scores). Key findings reveal that children from skipped generation households achieve the lowest performance scores and that those from immigrant households tend to perform even better than children from traditional two-parent households in certain disciplines. Our results suggest that policy interventions targeted at providing remedial education and/or financial assistance are needed to support children from skipped generation families to redress existing educational disadvantages in Taiwan.

Social disparities in alcohol consumption among Canadian emerging adults.

Young adult drinking is a public health priority, but knowledge of socioeconomic status (SES) indicators and alcohol use among emerging adults (EAs; aged 18-29 years) is primarily informed by college samples, populations in their late teens and early twenties and non-Canadian data. We compared the association of three different SES indicators with monthly heavy episodic drinking (HED), less-than-monthly HED, no HED, and no drinking among Canadian EAs. We pooled the 2015 to 2019 waves of the Canadian Community Health Survey to include participants aged 18 to 29 years (n = 29 598). Using multinomial regression, we calculated weighted estimates of alcohol use by education, household income and area-level disadvantage, adjusting for adult roles and sociodemographic characteristics. Approximately 30% of EAs engaged in monthly HED, whereas 16% did not drink at all in the past year. Compared to those in the lowest household incomes, being in the top income quintile was significantly associated with increased relative odds of monthly HED (e.g. in combined SES model, RRR = 1.21, 95% CI: 1.04-1.39). Higher levels of education, being in higher income quintiles and living in less disadvantaged areas were significantly associated with reduced relative odds of no HED and not drinking. Adjusting for adult roles did not substantially change the associations between SES and alcohol use. Higher SES was associated with HED among EAs, although the magnitude of association was small. Universal prevention measures addressing the affordability, availability and marketing of alcohol could be complemented by interventions targeting EA populations at higher risk of HED.

Online Teaching at Universities in China: Advancement of Educational Technology or Reality's Helplessness?

The transition to online instruction in Chinese universities, similar to other global regions, may be analyzed from various perspectives. It is a progression in educational technology and an essential response to external factors, such as the COVID-19 outbreak. While technological advancements in the classroom have made online learning possible and increasingly efficient, it has shared difficulties. Many schools were unprepared for the sudden shift to online forms brought on by causes such as the pandemic and environmental issues; this manifests "reality's helplessness." This study adopted a qualitative method and in-depth interviews at selected universities to investigate the online teaching method's lack of some social dimensions fundamental to education, demonstrating significant implications for students' academic and personal growth. Therefore, this paper indicated that there is no "either-or" choice, as both points of view are correct. The outcomes from this study showed the advantages and disadvantages of online education to make better choices that expand kids' access to a high-quality education in China.

Innovations in online classes introduced during the COVID-19 pandemic and their educational outcomes in Japan

BackgroundThe novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic emerged in Japan in February 2020, forcing the adoption of online education by university medical schools across Japan. The advantages and disadvantages of online education have been studied in Japan; however, the educational outcome of online classes conducted during the COVID-19 pandemic has not been completely evaluated. In this study, we examined the relationship between lecture format (e.g., face-to-face or online) and performance of third-year university students in their organ-specific cardiovascular course examination.MethodsThis retrospective, nonclinical, and noninterventional comparative educational study included 550 third-year medical students who took a cardiovascular course between April 2018 and May 2022. Cardiovascular coursework was conducted in-person in 2018 and 2019, online in 2020 and 2021, and again in-person in 2022. The course comprised 62 lecture and 2 problem-based learning (PBL) sessions. A quiz was set up in advance on Moodle based on all lectures conducted in 2021 and 2022. A written examination was administered at the end of the course to evaluate the knowledge of students. The student online course evaluation questionnaires were administered in 2020 and 2021. Examination scores and proportion of failures in each year were compared.ResultsThe mean examination scores were significantly higher in 2021 and 2022 than in 2018, 2019, and 2020 (p < 0.05). Univariate and multivariate analyses adjusted for the class type, online quiz, and PBL revealed that only online quiz was significantly associated with better examination results (p < 0.05). A student course evaluation survey indicated that the online format did not interfere with the students’ learning and was beneficial.ConclusionsThe introduction of online classes into medical education due to the COVID-19 pandemic was as effective as face-to-face classes owing to learning management system and other innovations, such as online quizzes. Online education may confer more benefits when provided in a combination with face-to-face learning after COVID-19 pandemic.

Methodical Principles and of Digital Education: from the Experience of Teaching Philosophical Disciplines

The article is devoted to the study of digital education. The features of various forms of teaching academic and university disciplines, including philosophical ones, based on information technologies that enable distance learning are considered. The article analyses the peculiarities of cooperation between teachers and students in the digital education system, where living, real individuals function as media personages. It is revealed that such personages exist on the basis of digital visual anthropology, rather than the anthropology of bodily presence, which is the basis of traditional academic education. The article examines the methodical principles of digital, distance education – mediation, representativeness, and reflexivity – which make it possible to teach academic disciplines effectively at a distance. It has been found that the application of these methodical principles involves compliance with specific laws of digital education – proper digital behavior, legitimation of digital presentation, permanent digital movement as well as digital feedback. Both the advantages and disadvantages of digital education, especially for teaching philosophical disciplines, such as the history of philosophy and philosophical anthropology, are identified. It is revealed how teaching philosophical disciplines can be effective if the principles and laws of digital education are observed, but taking into account the requirements of the anthropology of presence, remains a basic prerequisite for any variant of the modern educational process. It is argued that overcoming this anthropology requires a radical «dematerialization» of participants in online education, which is not yet an achievable goal.