Implications For Educational Policy Research Articles

Switching for Survival and Success? Black Students’ Struggles, Shifting, and Solidarity Within the St. Louis Desegregation Plan

ABSTRACT The St. Louis Voluntary Desegregation program, and its corollary, the Interdistrict Transfer Plan, have existed in some form since 1983. At its height, approximately 13,000 Black students from the city of St. Louis transferred into predominantly White and suburban school districts, representing the largest voluntary desegregation plan in the United States. County and school district leaders responsible for the plan have slowly reduced the number of Black transfer students, and a November 2016 agreement extended the plan for a five-year period to allow about 1,000 new students to enroll through the 2023–2024 school year. Emanating from qualitative interviews with 37 Black former students who participated in the plan between 1983 and 2018 (Waves 1–4), this article captures participants’ experiences, agency, their struggles, and solidarity efforts to ensure their chances of surviving and succeeding in schooling contexts that drastically differed from their home and community environments. Given the impending ending of this plan at the end of the 2023–2024 school year, findings provide implications for research, educational policy and reform, and schooling practices that create and sustain culturally affirming and educationally enriching environments for Black students.

Trajectories of powerful knowledge and epistemic quality: analysing the transformations from disciplines across school subjects

ABSTRACT This paper outlines the development of a comparative research framework in subject didactics and applies this in the process of analysing the transformations from academic disciplines across different school subjects. The theoretical framework builds on the concepts of ‘powerful knowledge’ and ‘transformation’ and ‘epistemic quality’ within which transformation processes from the classroom to the societal level are considered as ‘trajectories of powerful knowledge and epistemic quality’. The framework is used to analyse the findings from recent empirical studies across school subjects that have been reported on in publications arising from the Knowledge and Quality across School Subjects and Teacher Education (KOSS) network. 1 The paper then focuses on analysing the transformations from disciplines across school subjects, given that the first boundary in defining powerful knowledge concerns knowledge that is specialized in both how it is produced and transmitted. To analyse this boundary, the findings from the empirical studies are grouped into broad subject categories. These are then compared with the corresponding disciplines by using the widely cited Biglan classification scheme of academic disciplines in higher education. Finally, we consider the implications for curriculum planning and teacher education policy and reflect on the concept of subject-specific educational content knowledge (SSECK).

Performance evaluation of scientific research system in Chinese universities: A view of goal congruence

The performance of scientific research system is a key element in the assessment of higher education institutions (HEIs). The scientific research system mainly be constructed by two sub-systems: scientific research achievements production and the transformation of these achievements. Different from prior literature, this paper attempts to evaluate the performance of scientific research system of HEIs from a view of goal congruence. Specifically, it examines how and to what extent such two sub-systems are consistent with the goal of overall scientific research system. To this end, this study employs data envelopment analysis (DEA), a non-parametric frontier analysis approach, to present a goal congruence model which is used to measure the degree of both the overall goal congruence and the internal goal congruence. Then, the proposed model is applied to evaluate the performance of scientific research systems of 40 “first-class” universities and 62 “first-class disciplines” universities in China. Results show that only the scientific research systems of Tsinghua University and Central China Normal University achieve the goal congruence. Finally, both higher education policy recommendations and implications are discussed.

Study of the Variables of Local Healthcare Personnel Linked to Becoming a Formal Public CPR Instructor in Baoan, Shenzhen, China

BackgroundPublic Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) education is important to increase the survival rate of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA). In this study, we survey local healthcare personnel in China who met the requirements of becoming public CPR instructors to assess their level of knowledge and attitudes toward teaching CPR.Materials and MethodsTo find qualified public CPR instructors among the local healthcare personnel, we ran three training sessions between March 2018 and December 2018. We held three courses on selecting public CPR instructors from the local healthcare personnel (n = 496). We also surveyed candidates for public CPR instructors before making our final choice. The selected instructors were retrained for a single day in December 2021. The necessary information was exchanged with the members of the passing group, and the maintained valuables were investigated.ResultsPublic CPR instructors certified 428 cases (86.49%) after the final exam. The results showed that the emergency group had a higher success rate than the non-emergency group (control group) (175, 90.7% vs. 253, 83.8%; P = 0.042). Here, we conducted a binary logistic regression analysis to determine the relationship between 15 survey variables and the passing rate. The variables, such as financial incentives, prior automatic external defibrillator (AED) training, and younger age were independently affected by being public CPR instructors. Despite this, 246 instructors (57.9%) still attended the retraining courses in 2021, with significantly more instructors in the emergency group than those in the non-emergency group (111, 64.5% vs. 135, 53.4%; P = 0.022). Furthermore, the instructors who were not incentivized financially were less likely to switch between the emergency and non-emergency groups (96, 79.33% vs. 116, 86.56%; P = 0.990).ConclusionThe Chinese emergency team can serve as a model for the local healthcare personnel by training and leading a group of volunteer CPR instructors. Our research has practical implications for China's national CPR education policy by informing the scheduling of regional public CPR education programs.

STEM education in early primary years: Teachers’ views and confidence

Pre-school and first years of primary school provide the basis for future learning in STEM, and teachers’ views-confidence are important for effective classroom practices. This study investigated teachers’ views and confidence in implementing STEM education in early primary years. The participants were 140 Greek teachers who completed an online 35-item questionnaire. Teachers expressed positive-strong perceptions and confidence in implementing STEM education in early primary years. Over 80% of the sample expressed agreement in that they feel comfortable-confident when they facilitate inquiry-based learning activities within mathematics or science topics. The practical obstacles of resources-material and time to explore STEM topics and implement learning activities were reported. The findings have implications for educational policy and practice.

The battle for trans rights: Political spectacle theory and its implications for education policy

AbstractIn the United States, an increasing political divide and an emphasis on culture war issues have increased legislation and policy targeting transgender and non‐binary students in public education systems. Transgender and non‐binary identities are weaponized by conservative politicians who seek to influence policies in schools. Local, state, and federal protections are the solution to end discriminatory policies and the weaponization of transgender and non‐binary identities for political gain.

Using Personal Learning Environments before, during and after the Pandemic: The Case of “e-Me”

The rapid developments in early 2020 with the emergence of COVID-19 have led humanity into unexpected situations with significant implications at all levels. In trying to cope with the urgent need for distance education, the Greek educational community has incorporated various platforms and digital tools previously unknown to most teachers and students. This study uses a mixed research method to capture (a) the frequency of use of a Personal Learning Environment called ‘e-me’ by the teachers before, during, and after the quarantine, and (b) the reasons why some teachers did not use this environment during these three periods. A total of 902 Greek teachers from primary and secondary education participated in this research. The results showed an almost universal non-use of ‘e-me’ before the pandemic and universal usage during the pandemic. Moreover, about 40% of these teachers used this personal learning environment after the pandemic. The main reason for not using this learning environment in the three periods is teachers’ familiarity with the interface of another platform. Implications for educational policy and teacher development programs are discussed.

The affective ideology of the OECD global competence framework: implications for intercultural communication education

ABSTRACT This paper adds to the growing literature that critically examines the cultural politics of the OECD’s framework of global competence by turning our attention to the ‘affective ideology’ underlying this framework, namely, how affect is used ideologically to produce specific subjectivities and moralities in students. Building upon the work of affect theories in education policy, this paper explores how the concept of global and intercultural competences, as it is manifested in the OECD global competence framework, constitutes a site of affective sense-making and affective governance. In particular, the analysis reveals two ways in which this happens: first, by capitalising on global and intercultural competencies as self-centred, emotional skills to sell policy and pedagogical ideas and tools; second, by using certain affects as moral imperatives to shape global competence in intercultural communication education. The paper concludes with a discussion of the research, policy, and pedagogy implications for intercultural communication education.

Unequal opportunities in accessing employability‐related programmes: South Asian graduates' experiences in Australia

AbstractLimited scholarly work has been conducted on obtaining equal opportunities to participate in employability‐related programmes by international students while studying in Australia. Drawing on a qualitative study, 20 South Asian postgraduates were interviewed to explore their experiences in accessing employability‐related programmes. Based on the findings, South Asian graduates have experienced unequal opportunities in accessing employability‐related programmes as postgraduate international students in Australia. They are disadvantaged by generic career advice and resume assistance offered by their university career office, and companies invited to university career fairs offer internships, placements or graduate programme opportunities mostly to domestic students. As a result, South Asian graduates were unable to gain employment in their field of studies. South Asian graduates have also offered several useful recommendations to facilitate more equal chances of developing employability and thereby gaining successful employment in Australia. These include partnerships with companies in providing employment opportunities, diversification of university career office roles, and establishing connections with alumni. The paper also discusses implications for Australian higher education institutions and higher education policy and practice in Australia.

Teacher attributions of workload increase in public sector schools: Reflections on change and policy development.

In education systems around the globe influenced by neoliberalism, teachers commonly experience reforms which emphasise local responsibility and accountability. Teachers additionally work within what has been described as an era of social acceleration and associated "fast policy", with a perceived increase in the pace of reform. In this article, we present data drawn from a large (N = 18,234) survey of Australian public-school teachers' work. Analysis of both quantitative and qualitative reports indicates a widespread teacher perception of workload increase from 2013 to 2017, and the attribution of such increase to the introduction of policy initiatives including, but not limited to, school autonomy reform. Our findings have implications for education policy in Australia and beyond, with an erosion of teacher trust suggesting the need for more sustainable and consultative forms of "slow democracy" in education policy.

Minor Forms of Parental Maltreatment and Educational Achievement of Immigrant Youths in Young Adulthood: A Longitudinal Study.

Parental hostility and emotional rejection-or aggregated as general harsh family interactions with parents-have received little research attention due to such parent-child interactions being counted as minor forms of parental maltreatment and regarded as being less harmful. However, recent research showed that these minor forms of parental maltreatment on youth development are far from negligibility on account of their frequency, chronicity, and incessancy. In this longitudinal study, we investigated how parental hostility, emotional rejection, and harsh family interactions with parents of in early adolescence of immigrant youths (wave-1 Mage = 14) adversely impact successful college graduation of immigrant youths in young adulthood (wave-3 Mage = 24) through the mediation of their development of academic aspirations in late adolescence (wave-2 Mage = 17). Using data from a representative sample of the Children of Immigrants Longitudinal Study (N = 3344), the current study revealed that parental hostility, emotional rejection, and harsh family interactions with parents significantly impaired successful college graduation of immigrant youths in young adulthood, with the decreased odds of 20.1% to 30.22%. Furthermore, academic aspirations of immigrant youths in late adolescence not only significantly mediated the abovementioned relationships but also contributed to the higher odds of immigrant youths' college graduation by 2.226 to 2.257 times. Findings of this study related to educational innovations, family services, and policy implications are discussed herein.

School Psychology annual journal update.

School Psychology is an outlet for research on children, youth, educators, and families that has scientific, practice, and policy implications for education and educational systems. In this editorial, annual updates are provided regarding journal impact, special topics, and editorial leadership, as well as reflections on how the journal engages social justice and antiracism through dynamic review and revision to ensure equity, diversity, and inclusion in the editorial process. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

SOCIAL-EMOTIONAL SKILLS, BULLYING AND CYBERBULLYING IN MEXICAN ADOLESCENTS

This study studies the relationship between the socio-emotional skills of high school students and bullying and cyberbullying. 15,500 young people participated (41.90% women and 58.10% men, Medad = 15.88, SD = 0.9) from the preparatory schools of the Autonomous University of the State of Mexico. The participants answered a battery of four instruments: sociodemographic data (sex, age, sexual orientation and ethnic-cultural group), a Socioemotional Competences scale, a Bullying scale and a Cyberbullying scale. The results show that there are differences in socio-emotional competencies by gender, ethnic-cultural minority group and sexual orientation. Aggression and cybervictimization are placed with low reference weights to socio-emotional competencies. These results suggest that a high development of social and emotional competencies is a protective factor in adolescents who participate in dynamics of bullying and cyberbullying. This study has implications for educational policies and supports proposals to design and implement a program that contributes to optimizing the development of social and emotional competencies in students to have an impact on coping with problems related to these antisocial behaviors, which favor coexistence and inclusive education.

Citizenship to (counter)terrorism: the need to de-securitise the Norwegian education system and create space for democratic resilience

Education for citizenship has been the subject of growing policy and research attention since the beginning of the twenty-first century. Yet, alongside conventional assumptions that school can help young learners develop socio-political attitudes that support democratic attitudes and behaviours, there are growing political expectations that educators will actively prevent terrorism. In Norway, these expectations have had implications for educational policy, as the objective of preventing terrorism was securitised into the curriculum in 2020. In this article, we scrutinise security governance in the Norwegian educational domain and examine how precautionary counterterrorism logic can cause harmful and exclusionary pedagogical practices. Through a detailed qualitative research, we demonstrate that pedagogical practices emphasising democratic resilience could be a promising approach to counter conflict, extremism and violence. Additionally, it is our contention that democratic resilience may also have a de-securitising effect by allowing for peacebuilding to be carried out within the normal rules and regulations of democratic education. In this regard, de-securitisation can allow for mobilising students for peaceful and democratic ends in and beyond education.

Exploring Mathematics Teachers’ Attitudes towards Indigenizing Pedagogies in Mathematics Education in Southern Province, Kalomo; Zambia

This research study aimed to investigate the attitudes of mathematics teachers towards indigenizing pedagogies in mathematics education in the Southern Province of Kalomo, Zambia. The study employed a pragmatic approach, which is suitable for mixed methods research as it focuses on using the most effective methods to answer the research questions. This approach allows for a flexible combination of both quantitative and qualitative methods. The study also utilized a Sequential Exploratory Design, starting with quantitative data collection and analysis, followed by qualitative data collection and analysis. This design is particularly useful when the research is in an exploratory phase and aims to understand a phenomenon in-depth before quantifying. The study was grounded in pragmatism and involved a total of 343 participants, including 55 mathematics teachers and 271 Grade 12 pupils. while the qualitative component involves 17 participants from community members, the District Education Board Secretary’s office, and school administrators. Various data collection methods were employed, including surveys, interviews, focus group discussions, observations, and document analysis. The collected data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics, which were validated through a pilot study and reliability assessment using Cronbach’s Alpha. The results of the study indicated that teachers in Kalomo District favored indigenized teaching methods in mathematics education. This finding is significant as it highlights the potential of indigenizing pedagogies in enhancing educational quality in Zambia. The study emphasized the impact of indigenized pedagogies on student engagement, performance, and cultural identity. Specifically, the findings revealed that students were more engaged and performed better when taught using indigenized pedagogies. This suggests that incorporating local cultural knowledge and practices into mathematics education can lead to more meaningful learning experiences for students. Furthermore, the study underscored the importance of curriculum reform, teacher training, collaboration with local communities, and interdisciplinary cooperation for a comprehensive indigenized mathematics curriculum. These findings support the global movement towards recognizing diverse knowledge systems in education, promoting culturally inclusive pedagogies, and ensuring equitable educational experiences. The study provides valuable insights for policymakers, curriculum developers, and educators in Zambia and other countries seeking to incorporate indigenous knowledge and practices into their mathematics education systems. These findings have implications for educational policies and practices, supporting the global movement towards culturally inclusive pedagogies and equitable educational experiences.

The relationship between urban locality, socioeconomic status and school achievement in Stockholm county, Sweden: evidence from an intra-urban model

The current article examines geographical location–academic achievement relationships in the Stockholm region, Sweden. The results suggest that there is a substantial association between the distance to the Stockholm city center and the intake ratings among 373 programs that were selected for analysis in the present study. This relationship became slightly more distinct when the top ten and bottom ten programs were compared. However, a socioeconomic control variable explained most of the variance in a consecutive regression model. Moreover, while non-native background was negatively related to intake ratings, this effect decreased virtually to zero when this variable was tested in the regression model which also included a SES indicator. Some educational policy implications are discussed.

Locus of control and Public Secondary School Teachers Job Involvement as sustainable Development in Oyo State, Nigeria

The paper examines the relationship between Locus of control and Job Involvement of public secondary school teachers’ in Oyo state, Nigeria, in the context of sustainable development. Data was collected from 250 respondents (secondary school teachers) through questionnaire prepared from Mary Lynn Collins scale, Rotter’s locus of control scale and Kanungo scale for job involvement. Collected data was analysed using descriptive statistics of frequency counts, percentage, average, mean and standard deviation. The result of the study revealed that locus of control had a significant positive association with job involvement among the teachers. The implications for educational policy making, as well as future research are discussed.

Učenje i podučavanje o Holokaustu - perspektiva studenata nastavničkih fakulteta u Srbiji

Holocaust, defined as the process of suffering of 6 million Jews, organized by the Nazi Germany during the World War II, is a topic that does not lose its relevance. Teaching about the Holocaust should be aimed at students' understanding of historical facts, and it is also necessary to point out the importance that this part of the past has for the modern world and current social problems. In the teaching process, attention should be paid to preserving the memory of the lives of the Jews and the Jewish community in Europe before the war in order to highlight their rich cultural heritage. The paper presents the results of an empirical research aimed at analyzing the challenges in the process of learning and teaching about the Holocaust in formal and informal education. Using a close-ended questionnaire, the perspective of the students of teacher education faculties in Serbia was investigated, and the sample included 741 respondents. The results indicate a varied understanding of the term Holocaust, with the prevailing understanding that the process included a wide range of victims. Students find this topic emotionally taxing and very disturbing, and they identify this as one of the biggest obstacles encountered in teaching about the Holocaust. The obtained results can serve as a platform for creating implications for educational policies and formulating recommendations for the improvement of the school practice with the aim of deepening and expanding knowledge on this topic, but also with the aim of developing intercultural competences, reflective dealing with stereotypes and prejudices, and fostering a culture of remembrance.

The Relationship between Education Policy and Socioeconomic Inequality

The relationship between education policy and socioeconomic inequality in the Philippines is the topic of discussion in this paper. The purpose of the study is to determine whether or not education policy is to blame for socioeconomic inequality in the country by conducting an investigation into the correlation between education policy and socioeconomic standing. According to the findings, there is an inverse relationship between education policy and socioeconomic status. This finding lends credence to the hypothesis that education policy is one of the factors that contribute to socioeconomic inequality. According to the findings of the study, it is vitally important for decision-makers to take into account the potential impact of education policy on socioeconomic inequality when formulating policies. As a strategy for lowering the socioeconomic disparities that exist within the educational system, the research paper suggests giving priority to policies that ensure all students, regardless of their socioeconomic background, have equal access to quality education. The findings of the study have implications for education policy in other countries, particularly those with similar socioeconomic contexts. Additionally, the findings highlight the necessity for policymakers to carefully consider the design and implementation of policies to ensure that they do not contribute to socioeconomic inequality. Additional research is required to identify strategies that are effective in reducing socioeconomic inequality through education policy in the Philippines and in other countries.

An Exploration on Core Competencies for Korean Adults and the Needs Analysis of the Adult Competencies

This study aims to identify competencies for Korea adults It also attempted to analyze the level of educational needs on essential adult competencies. Nineteen competencies were identified as core competencies for Korean adults to develop as a result of literature review and a Delphi method. Then, online survey on 19 adult competencies was conducted and data were collected from Korean adults with age range of 19 to 69. First, gap analysis was carried out to identify discrepancy between perceived importance of each competence and the current level of attainment of each competence using t-test and Borich needs assessment formula. Next, the Locus for Focus model was adopted to rank the competences, therefore to determine the highest priority of the competences. As a result, health-management competence, finance-management competence and self-development competence were identified as the highest-priority competencies for the Korean adults to develop. Based on the finding, the study presented practical implications for life-long education policy. The information on 19 competencies required for adults can be shared with lifelong education policy institutions and lifelong educational institutions to be used as basic data for developing competency-related policies and educational programs. It is also necessary to develop a scale for diagnosing the three highest-priority competencies, thus to understand the level of competency of each adult.