Education Of Disadvantaged Children Research Articles

The Jean Monnet Chair Freiburg for European Education (JMC-FrEE)

This paper presents the teaching, research and other activities realized from 2020 to 2023 within the EU-funded Jean Monnet Chair Freiburg for European Education (JMC-FrEE) at the University of Education in Freiburg (Pädagogische Hochschule Freiburg). The main objectives of the JMC-FrEE-project are first of all to provide expert guidance to future educators and teachers about European matters, and to prepare them to organize learning and teaching processes in a European context for the education of the next generation of active European citizens. Secondly, more public awareness for the topic European Education in and outside of the academic world shall be raised on a national and international level in cooperation with scientists, teachers, civil society actors, policy makers, journalists and school pupils. To achieve these two goals there are multidisciplinary teaching activities, research projects and special events in these areas: Europeanization of Education, Intercultural Education (esp. Multilingual Education) in Europe and Education for disadvantaged children (esp. from the Roma-minority) in Europe.

Do Conditional Cash Transfers Improve Education and Labour Market Outcomes in the Future Generation?

This paper estimates the long-term impacts of PROGRESA, the Mexican conditional cash transfer programme, on the educational attainment and the labour market performance of children aged 18 years or younger in 1997. Based on the household panel in 1997-2017, we utilise the initial experimental design where the programmes were allocated randomly at the village level in a phased manner. After controlling for the attrition bias by Inverse Probability Weights and the unobservable time-invariant household characteristics, we estimate the intent to treat (ITT) effect by Propensity Score Matching and weighted OLS and Probit models. After 20 years, children of the poor eligible households in the early treated villages outperformed the matched children in the control villages. Regardless of age groups and gender, early beneficiaries achieved better educational attainments in both durations and levels and were more likely to work and earn a higher salary in the regular and non-regular labour markets. We also find spillover effects on children of non-poor households in the treated villages for education but not for employment. The study provides robust evidence to support Heckman's (2012) conclusion that the education of disadvantaged children should be prioritised by public policies not only for the sake of fairness and social justice but also for the productivity of the economy.

Solving 'Problems No One Has Solved': Courts, Causal Inference, and the Right to Education

For several decades now, liberal public-interest litigators have argued that insufficiently generous subsidies for the education of disadvantaged children violate the education or equal protection clauses of state constitutions. Their opponents responded that the evidence that more money would substantially improve student outcomes was too speculative to warrant judicial intervention. More recently, conservative public-interest litigators have started attacking teacher tenure and seniority protections on the same constitutional grounds. In response, liberals are parroting the evidentiary and causation arguments that conservatives made in school-finance cases. Both factions in this back-and-forth have overlooked a critically important fact: the state’s own choices substantially determine whether researchers — and hence litigators — can produce credible evidence concerning the causal effect of state laws and funding arrangements on the outcomes that ground the education right. States exercise this control through the architecture of administrative data systems; through the rules for assigning students, programs, and funding to schools; through the manner in which educational reforms are rolled out; and through the terms on which the state provides access to administrative data. Recognizing that the information needed to enforce the education right is endogenous to law, we make the case for a new, information-oriented education rights jurisprudence in which courts would intervene not simply to resolve disputes about how to organize and fund the education of disadvantaged children, but to enable more credible tests of the competing predictions of warring education reformers. Our analysis directs attention to a number of issues that have been overlooked since education-rights litigation got underway in the 1970s and it does so at a critical moment — as educational research undergoes a “scientific revolution” bearing on the very questions that must be answered to implement the education right.

Quality early childhood education for disadvantaged children: an investigation in the MCD schools

ABSTRACTSchools run by Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) play a pivotal role in providing early childhood education to young children belonging to marginalized sections of Delhi. However, literature review reveals that low learning outcomes are common among children attending these schools. Low levels of learning are often associated with poor quality educational programmes. The present study was therefore undertaken in nursery, grade I and grade II of 36 randomly selected MCD schools to investigate their structural and process quality. Structural quality included infrastructure facilities like availability of drinking water and toilets, safety and cleanliness of the physical setting among others. Process quality included the experiences of the children in the school. Findings revealed that while many MCD schools had an average score on components related to structural quality, the process quality scores of the schools were below average. Significant differences were also observed in overall quality scores of grade II, grade I and nursery, with nursery scores being the highest. The decline in quality scores from nursery to grade II is a sign of decreasing quality and prevents a smooth transition of children from pre-primary to primary.

The relationship of child poverty to school education

Child poverty is a global issue that affects around half the children in the world; it is inextricably bound to the poverty experienced by their parents and families and has been identified by the United Nations as a human rights issue. Child poverty can be a barrier to children and young people accessing school education or achieving any form of success through participating in school education. This article examines some of the main issues surrounding child poverty and school education and a number of government interventions designed to enhance the education of disadvantaged children (exemplified in the United Kingdom). The article will argue that some of these interventions have had some success, although they need to be contextualized in the wider educational and political context. The article offers an alternative vision of intervention in schools drawn from research from the United Kingdom, America and Australia.

Impact of Childhood Poverty on Education for Disadvantaged Children in Bangladesh

Little attempt has been made to empirically investigate the effects of childhood poverty on children s educational attainments and their everyday life in Bangladesh. Quality education is a prominent aspiration in the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), but there are few studies of school improvement in relation to the educational achievement of disadvantaged children living in rural Bangladesh. This article offers a theoretical understanding of childhood poverty and educational exclusion, building on the empirical research carried out in two rural areas to explore the following questions: Why do so many socio-economically disadvantaged children tend to dropout from formal secondary school? and Why do some succeed? After exploring the challenges of childhood poverty and educational exclusion, it shows how the challenges could be mitigated through attention to the ecology of human development in the contexts of individual children. Complex ways in which efforts can be made to tackle the challenges of childhood poverty are influenced by ecological factors within the context of the study. Recommendations for policy and practice are offered based on the findings to improve formal secondary schooling for socio-economically disadvantaged children in Bangladesh.

Dutch policies on socio‐economic and ethnic inequality in education

Since the 1960s The Netherlands has produced policy to combat educational inequalities stemming from the social milieu and ethnicity of pupils. This policy has evolved from local to central policy and back again to a decentralised level. The initial focus on disadvantaged native Dutch pupils in big cities has shifted to immigrant groups and – at the time of writing – to disadvantaged pupils in general. According to many, the various policies have produced disappointing results. The under‐performance of children with under‐educated parents from ethnic minorities are still quite large while the under‐performance of children of native Dutch working‐class parents is somewhat smaller but still substantial. This article gives an overview of the various policies that were implemented over time. It also devotes attention to the outcomes of the policies and the current state of affairs with regard to the achievements and attainment in education of disadvantaged children. In closing, it places the findings in an international perspective and discusses reasons for the policies' disappointing lack of success.

A Bittersweet Appraisal of Progressive Education

After solidifying its role as a powerful innovative educational force reinforced by its alignment with mid-century concerns with preventive mental health, the progressive education movement responded to the call to improve the public education of disadvantaged children mandated by civil rights legislation. Although the ideas and tools of progressive education are relevant to this task, this challenge has been only partially met because its scope and complexity have been seriously underestimated. Further complicating the goals and agendas of education today are the massive social and technological changes, thus far insufficiently identified and understood, that affect all children.

Will School Finance Reform Improve Education for Disadvantaged Children? Research Issues

The third part of William Clune's proposed strategy for reforming the role of the states in supporting elementary and secondary education is the development of performance-oriented policies that focus resources on improving student achievement. This article discusses questions central to the design of such policies. The questions concern four areas: curricular goals, assessment strategies, professional development for teachers, and treatment of learning disabled students.

Learning from Experience: Evaluating Early Childhood Demonstration Programs

1 Front Matter 2 Part 1: Report of the Panel 3 Evaluating Early Childhood Demonstration Programs 4 Part 2: Papers 5 The Health Impact of Early Childhood Programs: Perspectives from the Brookline Early Education Project 6 Measuring the Outcomes of Day Care 7 Informing Policy Makers About Programs for Handicapped Children 8 Preschool Education for Disadvantaged Children 9 Comprehensive Family Service Programs: Spal Features and Associated Measurement Problems 10 The Evaluation Report: A Weak Link to Policy

Evidence Supporting Comprehensive Early Childhood Education for Disadvantaged Children

A trend toward providing educational experiences for preschool children has been evident in recent years. The trend raises a number of policy issues. Who should be served? What kinds of programs are most effective? Should preschool programs be administered by the public schools? An evaluation of the New York State Experimental Prekindergarten Program provides evidence of the effectiveness of one early childhood education program in improving performance of disadvantaged children and in increasing the likelihood that effects will persist over time. Major components of the program are an instructional program for 4-year-olds, comprehensive noninstructional services, involvement of parents, and staff development to increase continuity of learning experiences of children from prekindergarten through the primary grades. It was found that (1) prekindergarten favorably affected children's cognitive and noncognitive performance; (2) involvement of parents augmented the favorable impact of prekindergarten; (3) prekindergarten reduced the possibility that a child would repeat a grade or would require special education; and (4) increasing the continuity of learning experiences of children helped maintain the effects of the prekindergarten program in the primary grades. The results indicate that a comprehensive early childhood education program, operated by the public schools, can improve the performance of disadvantaged children.

LEVEL I AND LEVEL II ABILITIES IN PRIMARY SCHOOL CHILDREN

Summary. Jensen's (1970) two‐level theory of ability relates intelligence and rote learning to socio‐economic status (SES) and educational achievement. In order to test four hypotheses from the theory, two tests of Level I ability (Digit Span, and Paired Associates) and two tests of Level II ability (Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test, and Raven's Matrices) and a questionnaire were administered to 525 fifth grade, Australian primary school children. Only one hypothesis was supported: that Level II ability is more strongly associated with SES than Level I ability. The utility of Jensen's suggestion that Level I ability should be more fully exploited in the education of disadvantaged children is questioned.

Improving Education for Disadvantaged Children

The Bernard van Leer Foundation has, as its remit, to give primary to preschool education as a major area of educational research in Belgium, to develop a wider awareness of the roots of social inequality in education and to provoke a critical reappraisal of educational institutions. The projects reported in this volume give a good picture of this work. The first project concerns 'socio-cultural handicap' defined as a pattern of psychological characteristics supposedly common to a great number of children from socially and culturally deprived environments, which would make these otherwise 'normal' children more or less able to take advantage of the primary education available in all industrialised societies. The risk is that a state of inferior intellectual development and a process of socio-cultural marginalisation is built into the child's mind. The factors responsible for this operate before the appearance of any sign of inferior intellectual development and a learning disability. This fundamental hypothesis led the researchers to look carefully at the preschool stages of a child's development. Thus the period between 6 and 24 months is of particular interest. Behavioural organisation is particularly rapid during this period when the child is thought to structure his experiences. The influences of the family and of the creche is focused on. The study is supposed to throw light on the genesis and determinants of the phenomenon of failure-an obvious prerequisite to any preventive or compensatory action. In short it is not unlikely that at least one of the factors probably explaining the way socio-cultural handicap works has been isolated-the patterns of mothers' attitudes predominant in the initial development of the child. Actions undertaken in the creche have proved fruitful. Thus it is possible to improve the quality of this institution by taking judicious measures, and to increase its educational values. It must be possible also to modify mothers'

Compensatory Education for Disadvantaged Children

Previous articleNext article No AccessCompensatory Education for Disadvantaged ChildrenCraig T. Ramey and Frances A. CampbellCraig T. Ramey Search for more articles by this author and Frances A. Campbell Search for more articles by this author PDFPDF PLUS Add to favoritesDownload CitationTrack CitationsPermissionsReprints Share onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail SectionsMoreDetailsFiguresReferencesCited by Volume 87, Number 2Feb., 1979 Article DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1086/443468 Views: 14Total views on this site Citations: 30Citations are reported from Crossref Journal History This article was published in The School Review (1893-1979), which is continued by the American Journal of Education (1979-present). Copyright 1979 The University of ChicagoPDF download Crossref reports the following articles citing this article:Sharon Wolf, J. Lawrence Aber, Jere R. Behrman, Morgan Peele Longitudinal causal impacts of preschool teacher training on Ghanaian children’s school readiness: Evidence for persistence and fade‐out, Developmental Science 110 (Jul 2019).https://doi.org/10.1111/desc.12878Jorge Luis García, James J. Heckman, Anna L. Ziff Early childhood education and crime, Infant Mental Health Journal 40, no.11 (Jan 2019): 141–151.https://doi.org/10.1002/imhj.21759Peter Wood ‘We are trying to make them good citizens’: The utilisation of SEAL to develop ‘appropriate’ social, emotional and behavioural skills amongst pupils attending disadvantaged primary schools, Education 3-13 46, no.77 (Jun 2017): 741–754.https://doi.org/10.1080/03004279.2017.1339724Jorge Luis García, James J. Heckman, Anna L. Ziff Gender differences in the benefits of an influential early childhood program, European Economic Review 109 (Oct 2018): 9–22.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.euroecorev.2018.06.009Jorge Luis Garcca, James J. 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Beckman, Philip J. Burke Early-Childhood Special Education, Topics in Early Childhood Special Education 4, no.11 (Aug 2016): 19–32.https://doi.org/10.1177/027112148400400105Annette U. Rickel, Louise A. Lampi Prevention of Childhood Dysfunction, (Jan 1984): 295–349.https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-9817-2_9Craig T. Ramey, Jean W. 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Lamb Individual Differences in Infant Sociability: Their Origins and Implications for Cognitive Development, (Jan 1982): 213–239.https://doi.org/10.1016/S0065-2407(08)60071-3Edward Zigler, David Balla Selecting outcome variables in evaluations of early childhood special education programs, Topics in Early Childhood Special Education 1, no.44 (Aug 2016): 11–22.https://doi.org/10.1177/027112148200100406Ron Haskins, Paul O. Hirschbiel, Albert M. Collier, Margaret A. Sanyal, Neal W. Finkelstein Minor illness and social behavior of infants and caregivers, Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology 2, no.22 (Jun 1981): 117–128.https://doi.org/10.1016/0193-3973(81)90033-2Susan Jay, Dale C. Farran The relative efficacy of predicting IQ from mother-child interactions using ratings versus behavioral count measures, Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology 2, no.22 (Jun 1981): 165–177.https://doi.org/10.1016/0193-3973(81)90036-8Philip Sanford Zeskind, Craig T. Ramey Preventing Intellectual and Interactional Sequelae of Fetal Malnutrition: A Longitudinal, Transactional, and Synergistic Approach to Development, Child Development 52, no.11 (Mar 1981): 213.https://doi.org/10.2307/1129233Craig T. Ramey, Ron Haskins The modification of intelligence through early experience, Intelligence 5, no.11 (Jan 1981): 5–19.https://doi.org/10.1016/0160-2896(81)90013-1Judith L. Adams, Craig T. Ramey Structural Aspects of Maternal Speech to Infants Reared in Poverty, Child Development 51, no.44 (Dec 1980): 1280.https://doi.org/10.2307/1129573Dale C. Farran, Ron Haskins Reciprocal Influence in the Social Interactions of Mothers and Three-Year-Old Children from Different Socioeconomic Backgrounds, Child Development 51, no.33 (Sep 1980): 780.https://doi.org/10.2307/1129465Dale C. Farran, Craig T. Ramey Social Class Differences in Dyadic Involvement during Infancy, Child Development 51, no.11 (Mar 1980): 254.https://doi.org/10.2307/1129616Craig T. Ramey, Dale C. 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Perspectives on the follow Through Evalution

Few of the ambitious educational programs spawned in the fervor and hopes of the 1960s have survived into the present era; but one has managed to straddle the two decades—the Follow Through program. Created at a time when education was enthroned as the catalyst for creating a more equal and equitable society, Follow Through was designed as a combination research and demonstration project to the early education of disadvantaged children.

The Effectiveness of Follow Through: Evidence from the National Analysis

In the national Follow Through experiment, more than twenty teams of educational experts representing a variety of perspectives sponsored models of compensatory intervention in the early primary grades. As a service program, Follow Through was designed to extend Head Start's services through the third grade. As an experiment, it was designed to find out what works in the education of disadvantaged children. As part of the national evaluation of Follow Through, Abt Associates has been responsible for the primary analysis of the experiment's data. We have been charged with documenting each model's effects in a number of respects, both academic and affective. As we complete our study we are aware that our results provide a unique perspective on Follow Through's performance as a compensatory-service program and as an experiment intended to teach educators how to improve future programs and research. We realize that our present findings do not constitute a comprehensive evaluation of the national Follow Through endeavor. Rather, they are in the nature of a report card. This analogy-albeit flawed-is neither frivolous nor trivial. When my young son brings home a report card that indicates that he is reading better than he did last term and getting along better with his peers, I am pleased and make a point of letting him know it. But if it also says that he seems preoccupied and cannot keep his mind on his arithmetic, I try to understand why. I may or may not bother to tell the teacher that the lad has been working out an acute sibling rivalry with his older brother, or

Organizational Change in Schools: Bedford-Stuyvesant

This article reports on the failure of a university-based educational change project which sought to change one junior high school in BedfordStuyvesant "into a school of unusual merit in the education of disadvantaged children." In their efforts at improving teaching-learning from 1966-68, the New York University Clinic for Learning planners relied on two generally accepted theories of planned organizational change: subordinate participation in relevant decision-making processes and the importance of leadership behavior as exhibited by the change agent; and two widely regarded objectives for educational reform: namely, increasing total community involvement and effecting broad social change. The author uses data from personal interviews and project literature to evaluate the ways in which the Clinic applied (and failed to apply) these theories, and uses the data further to clarify the theoretical bases of the propositions themselves in relation to OD in schools. The study concludes that organizational change theories-if used wisely-would be suitable for reaching the goals of improved teaching-learning sought for the schools, but would not be useful in fundamentally increasing community participation or using schools to effect social change-goals that are obstructed by a larger political reality.

THE EDUCATION OF DISADVANTAGED CHILDREN

This review of recent experiments in the education of disadvantaged children includes descriptions of activities in the United States, Israel, the People's Republic of China and Great Britain. Aims common to most of the early childhood programmes are skills concerned with language development, conceptual and perceptual development, delay of gratification, socialization, and auditory and visual discrimination. In the newer programmes there is an emphasis on parent involvement in the community and on the child's image of himself.

Experimental Program Impact on Attitudes of School Personnel

The effectiveness of an experimental program (EP) in modifying attitudes of principals, teachers, and teacher aides was investigated. Teachers participating in the EP displayed sizable and statistically significant differences in attitudes from those of conventional teachers. These differences reflected EP teachers’ adoption of the EP’s optimism and environmentalistc philosophy regarding the education of disadvantaged children. Attitudes of school principals wherein EP classes were conducted were not systematically influenced. Teacher aides demonstrated significant decrement in attitudinal levels during participation in the EP.

Education of disadvantaged children

There are at least two basic strategies for finding answers to the questions posed: what compensatory programs are “successful”, for which groups of children, and at what cost? The first strategy involves the design and execution of a series of controlled experiments in education; the second involves statistical analyses of existing compensatory education programs. In line with the first strategy, next year, the Follow Through program will fund a series of educational demonstration programs based on a “menu” of different curricula for children in the early elementary grades. Participating school districts will opt for one or another of the approaches offered, and will, in the course of the year, receive the advice and counsel of consultants in implementing the approach selected. A second—and complementary—basic strategy for finding out what works in compensatory education capitalizes on the wealth of information waiting to be collected on the operation of existing programs. Since the spring of 1967, staff members of the Office of the Secretary of DHEW, the Office of Education, and a contractor—TEMPO, a division of General Electric Company—have been engaged in a pilot cost-effectiveness analysis of compensatory education programs. For the 11 districts studied, two distinct developments appear to have occurred in pupil performance: first, there appears to have been a slight decline in average pupil achievement in the sample schools. At the same time, there appears to have been a slight improvement in the achievement of pupils who are at the lowest achievement levels in their respective grades. The achievement data from the districts in the study indicate considerable variation in achievement results. The conduct and content of compensatory programs vary greatly. Preliminary analysis suggests that the amount of achievement increase is positively related to the level of expenditures for compensatory education programs. To make real progress in assessing the effectiveness of alternative education programs and to overcome the difficulties discussed throughout this paper, we see the need to pursue two major courses of action. The first concerns the funding of controlled experiments introducing major variations into school programs, using comparable measures of program costs, inputs and effectiveness over time. The second is a frontal assault on evaluation in the form of a cooperative effort with a small number of interested States and local school districts to carry out a longitudinal study of compensatory programs.