<p> Many Canadian school districts use standardized reading achievement data to support reading instruction. Over 30% of 9th-grade students in the Anglophone School District-South (ASD-S) have not met targets for the English Language Proficiency Assessment (ELPA), a graduation requirement in New Brunswick, Canada. This study compared archival reading scores of 6th-grade students from 2009-2012 with the same students&rsquo; scores in 9th-grade from 2012-2015, to determine if 6th-grade scores were a predictor of 9th-grade results. Rendering the impact illiteracy plays on society, this study applied the theoretical framework of social theory from Bourdieu&rsquo;s (1977, 1984, 1986) view of social mobility and Turner&rsquo;s (1960) view of contest mobility. A quantitative design employed a regression analysis to determine how standardized reading scores for three cohorts of students in 6th-grade between 2009-2012 compared with the reading achievement test scores as 9th-grade students in 2012-2015. A sample of 1,200 students was selected. A paired samples <i>t</i> test determined which level(s) of reading comprehension (literal, inferential, or critical) presented the most difficulties for students between 2009-2015. Results of the study concluded that 6th-grade overall reading scores were a predictor of 9th-grade overall scores and that inferential and critical levels of reading comprehension were areas of concern. These findings are intended for administrators and District leadership in ASD-S to support the implementation of an intervention year in Grades 7 and 8 to address this problem. This research promotes positive social change by identifying potential pathways for improving adolescent reading skills for New Brunswick youth.</p>

Over the last 15 years, approximately 12,000 Somali immigrants and refugees have settled in the capital region of Ottawa-Carleton. According to a study of Somali youth (Ali, 1995), about seventy percent (70%) of the Somalis in Ottawa-Carleton are between 1 and 17 years old. The Ottawa Board of Education reported that in 1993, thirty three percent of all immigrant and refugee students were Somalis. While schools have been successful in helping a significant portion of these students to succeed in their learning, evidence shows that many are disconnected from productive learning. As establishing constructive connections between the home environment and the school environment is an important and crucial step to improve the educational opportunities for students who are at risk of failure, a study of the parents' perceptions is warranted. The main purpose of this study, therefore, was to investigate the Somali parents' perceptions of the school and non-school learning conditions that help or hinder the education of their children in Ottawa high schools. A survey questionnaire was used to collect the data from a sample of diverse Somali parents. The diversity of the sample is in terms of gender, level of education, employment, marital status, number of years in Canada, and number of children. Specifically, four research questions guided this study: (1) What do Somali parents consider to be the school and non-school learning conditions that help the education of their children who are succeeding in their learning? (2) What do Somali parents consider to be the school and non-school conditions that hinder the education of their children who are at risk of failure in learning? (3) What are parents perceptions of the school personnel's willingness to involve immigrant parents in educational decision-making? (4) What recommendations do Somali parents make to improve learning conditions for all children? Data were drawn from the survey responses of 85 Somali parents whose children attend high schools in Ottawa. Findings indicate that parents are concerned about the lack of diversity and multicultural instructional materials in schools. While parent responses regarding the treatment of their children in schools vary widely, there is a consensus among the parents that guidance counselors are not sensitive to the needs of immigrant students. Findings also indicated that parents expressed the schools' limited effort and interest in involving immigrant parents in school committees. Lack of effective communication is an other concern raised by parents. Most of participating parents stated that the only time they get a call from school is when there is a problem. Some expressed the schools unwillingness to communicate with parents even when a parent takes the initiative and visits the school of his or her child.

No description available.

This thesis is concerned with the selection and early career education of executive branch officers in the Royal Navy c1902-1939. The thesis attempts to place naval selection and educational policy in context by demonstrating how it was affected by changing naval requirements, external political interference and contemporary educational reform. It also explores the impact of the First World War and the Invergordon mutiny upon officer education. The thesis discusses the selection of potential executive officers, exploring what methods were used, why they were used and how they were developed over time. It discusses the increasing openness of the officer corps of the Royal Navy to boys of talent, irrespective of their background; and shows that this trend was driven by political demand, fuelled by the increasing number of well educated lower middle class boys, and welcomed by many in the Royal Navy. The thesis demonstrates that the Fisher-Selborne Scheme of officer education combined existing naval practice with recent educational developments to produce a unique and innovatory educational system. It shows how many of the assumptions on which the scheme was founded were subsequently proven to be wrong, and demonstrates its gradual dismantling through the inter-war years. The thesis considers the development of the Special Entry scheme, initially in response to a shortage of junior officers but later as a means of broadening entry to the officer corps. It contrasts the fortunes of the two schemes in the inter-war period, in which the educational side of the Special Entry scheme was largely unaltered. Overall the thesis seeks to place the development of the Royal Navy’s systems for the selection and early career education of executive officers in context by exploring how and why they were developed and their response to the changing fortunes and shape of the Royal Navy.

Driven by the overarching objective of promoting reconciliation through education, this thesis strives to unpack the first national goal of education set out by the Sri Lankan Ministry of Education, which involves nation building and the establishment of a Sri Lankan identity through the promotion of social cohesion and the recognition of cultural diversity in Sri Lanka's plural society. Within education, history teaching in secondary school acts as the main focus of the research, due to the relevance of this goal to the subject of history as well as the ability of history to shape the attitudes and perceptions of youth. As such, the original contribution of this thesis is the development of an understanding of how the goal of nation building is being carried out through the Sri Lankan education system by focusing on the subject of history, which in turn facilitates an analysis of the identity politics of teaching history in a multicultural post-war society. With the intention of developing such an understanding, the study aims to answer three research questions: 1) What type of nation is being built through history education in Sri Lanka?; 2) How is the ethnic and religious diversity which characterises the Sri Lankan nation being dealt with through history education?; and 3) How are Sri Lankan youth being aided in understanding the sensitive matters which impeded the nation building exercise in the recent past and resulted in the break out of the ethnic conflict? The thesis draws on an inductive approach, using qualitative research and secondary literature. Findings are generated from field work and textbook analysis. Conducted in four different districts around the country chosen based on their ethnic and religious compositions, field work involves the conducting of interviews with youth, history teachers, curriculum developers, textbook writers and other academics. This thesis argues that an ambiguity regarding the composition of the 'Sri Lankan nation' is being created through history education, with it sometimes being characterised as a purely Sinhalese-Buddhist nation instead of a multicultural one. This is most likely because the prominent players involved in the development of the curriculum themselves appear to be conflicted about the monoethnic versus polyethnic nature of the nation, with their views filtering through to the educational materials they produce. It is evident that the history curriculum predominantly contains Sinhalese-Buddhist history, with little information being conveyed about the history of the minority groups. Tamils and Muslims are portrayed as invaders and outsiders since the national story is narrated through the perspective of the Sinhalese-Buddhist community who play the role of the protagonist. With respect to stakeholder reactions, there appears to be a contrast in the attitudes of Tamil and Muslim youth regarding the portrayal of minority history, with Tamils being vocal about their anger towards the perceived bias, but Muslims being reluctant to discuss ethnic matters, preferring to sweep them under the rug. Finally, in terms of the ethnically sensitive matters in recent history, while some are completely omitted from the history lessons, others are narrated through a majoritarian perspective or glossed over by leaving out key pieces of information. Youth are therefore largely unaware of the contentious matters that led to the breakdown of ethnic relations in the country, despite having lived through a brutal ethnic conflict. These findings indicate the failings of the nation building exercise being carried out through history education. Instead of building a strong Sri Lankan identity, this type of education is creating confusion regarding the composition of the nation and adversely affecting the sense of belonging of minority youth. It is also creating a younger generation who are unaware of their country's past troubles. The recent spate of ethnic and religious violence that shook the nation highlight the need to address these weaknesses in a timely manner, with a view to promoting reconciliation through education.

Thesis (M. Ed.)--University of Hong Kong, 1985.

Thesis (M.Ed.)--University of Hong Kong, 1985. / Also available in print.

No description available.

This research examines problematic and taken for granted issues in Scottish Secondary Education, from a critical community psychological perspective. Young people are positioned as central to the research, in particular young people experiencing exclusion being the most disempowered group in education, and to fully understand problems they experience the thesis develops a standpoint with young people. Methodologically the research is grounded in a particular approach to praxis. Critical reflection, action and knowledge construction all influence one another cyclically in complex relationships, at times conflicting and at others developing together dialogically and these relationships are embraced and reflected upon carefully. Power and knowledge are viewed as being inextricably linked and knowledge, what is legitimated within a certain frame of reference as ‘truth’ or ‘reality’, is viewed as being constructed by dominant groups with the power to do so. Ethnography was carried out in three educational settings: a mainstream High School; a Special School in a city centre catering for young people experiencing exclusion; and a Youth Project where permanently excluded young people were on an alternative curriculum. Qualitative methods were used in a varied and tailored way for each setting and group of people and included Participatory Action Research and group work with young people, interview and group work with teachers, active participation in settings leading to fieldwork notes, and collection of textual information. Analysis involved careful examination of a wide variety of material, drawing on various methods of discourse analysis. The research material was analysed for the ways in which education made possible and placed limits on legislation, social practices, ways of speaking and ways of being. The assumption that adults must be in control of young people in education was found to be absolute and pervasive, stemming from societal ideas of young people, but also perpetuating them. This emerged throughout my research, from practices in mainstream school to ways of speaking available to adults and young people. Inclusion, while often spoken of in relation to equality and social justice, in practice is often conditional, and is re-positioned in this thesis as a form of control. School exclusion is often described in education as being expelled or suspended, but is repositioned in this research more generally as being excluded from learning and peers, and is argued as inherently problematic. Problematic, institutional, educational discourse is constructed as often placing limits on ways of speaking, such that critical reflection and action within secondary education becomes very difficult for adults and young people. Ways of speaking available to young people are examined and demonstrate that while education imposes particular ways of speaking and being, young people find opportunities to resist and reconstruct. Ways of being are examined, between adults and young people in educational settings, and an account of performance of resistance and compliance between young people and adults is developed. This research draws on a complex and multi disciplinary use of theory, literature, methodology and methods, and in doing so constructs an account of young people’s experiences in education that is based on a standpoint with young people. By grounding the research in the interests of young people, particularly those experiencing school exclusion, it challenges assumptions of dominance and control that have implications for education as a whole and all those operating within.

1 ABSTRACT This final thesis is focused on the description of the specific conditions of the current development of regional education in Prague and the Central Bohemia Region. This is particularly true in relation to the use and creation of basic conceptual documents (long- term Plan for Education and the Educational System in the City of Prague and Central Bohemia Region) and other policy materials created for specific regional education in the City of Prague and Central Bohemia Region. The aim of this final thesis is to describe the specific fundamental conditions for the development of regional education in each region, the specific shared conditions of City of Prague and Central Bohemia Region. The final thesis also describes the current functioning of regional education in terms of financing, legislation and some decision-making responsibilities of local governments - municipalities and regions. The aim of this thesis is also to find common requirements and recommendations of a shared approach to solving problems in regional education in the City of Prague and Central Bohemia Region. KEYWORDS Regional education, preschool education, elementary education, secondary education, education funding long-term plan for education, specific conditions of education, Strategy 2020, City of Prague, Central Bohemia...