A growing amount of empirical research and theory on educational development in multilingual contexts emphasises that mother tongue based education will benefit disadvantaged children. For most of the research and literature, led by UNESCO, it is argued that educational success in multilingual nations can only be achieved based on early learning and schooling in the mother tongue. Effective language policy based on mother tongue is crucial to the implementation of the educational system of any multilingual country, including Nigeria the case study, where the home and school languages are mainly uncoordinated. It also confirms that fluency and literacy in the mother tongue establish a cognitive and linguistic foundation for learning additional languages. Both the theoretical and empirical research agree that in order to drastically challenge the educational disadvantages and to be fair to various multi-ethnic groups, national education policy must promote multilingualism in the education system. This PhD thesis explores attitudes of Nigerian young people towards their mother tongue and English, in the context of Nigerian language and education policies. It describes the sociolinguistic realities of Nigeria and its language policy and planning situation, relating them to language use and attitudes among young people. It also aims to identify the role language plays in the widespread phenomenon of pupils who drop out of secondary education and pupils' attitudes towards the medium of instruction. These aims were supported by a language attitudes survey and fieldwork; where data were collected to study the attitudes of different young people, both secondary school pupils and school dropouts towards mother tongue and English, and to investigate differences in their language choice and use patterns. Findings from this research substantiate that mother tongue language policy within education can foster positive attitudes; they also confirm that there are attitudinal differences between certain groups of young people.

Proponents of charter schools argue that contracting out schools to management organizations can improve student performance and decrease costs by giving schools autonomy in exchange for accountability. Little evidence exists, however, on how contracts are determined, whether contracting is an effective policy in education, and the effects of terminating contracts. In New Orleans, most of the public schools have been contracted out to nonprofit management organizations over the past ten years. Several of those contracts have been terminated and schools are then contracted out to new management organizations. The empirical analysis of how authorizers make decisions about which charter schools are allowed into the market, and which schools have their contracts terminated revealed that initial approval decisions were strongly predicted by the subjective ratings of the outside charter application evaluator, but not by other application characteristics derived directly from the applications. Schools were renewed for operation if they had high test levels and/or value added, but family preferences were not taken into consideration (as measured by enrollment levels and growth). The results of the difference-in-differences and matching analysis used to analyze the effect that district-to-charter and charter-to-charter restarts and closures have on student performance indicated that elementary student test scores increase by the second year after both types of restart. The scores increase even sooner, after only one year for charter-to-charter restarts. However, if failing schools are closed instead of being contracted out, students do not experience any change in test scores. High school students experience decreases in test scores and in the probability of graduating following restarts and closures. / 1 / Whitney Ruble

This thesis is concerned with the organisation of education and training systems and the extent to which their design may challenge or reinforce social inequalities. In modern societies, people’s life chances are inextricably linked to the education they are able to access and the knowledge and skills (typically manifested through formal qualifications) they acquire, thus how countries organise their education and training systems is of fundamental importance in determining the opportunities available to its citizens and to their life chances. The specific focus of the thesis is on the design and organisation of post compulsory education and training systems - a stage that represents a particular challenge for policy-makers - and within that, on how systems might conceptualise academic and vocational learning in more productive ways. Education systems are not context-free structures: the design of a nation’s education and training system provides a window onto its traditions, its social values and economic stance, and its current preoccupations and ambitions for itself. Thus the thesis uses the example of the Higher Still reform of post compulsory education and training in Scotland (from 1999 onwards) to reflect more generally on education and social inequalities in Scotland and to ask how we should understand the way in which Scotland has approached reform of its education and training provision. It seeks to explicate the reasons for the adoption of the Higher Still reform strategy, to identify the factors that determined its specific design and development and to reflect on how the particular reform strategy embodied by Higher Still relates to certain aspects of the Scottish context and its policy processes. The thesis then examines the institutional response to Higher Still and its impact on the opportunities available to young people. It locates the Higher Still example within the broader field of education policy, considering what the experience of the Higher Still reform reveals about the possibilities of re-designing an education and training system in ways which promote social equality and the scope for manoeuvre that policy-makers, in a specific national context, have in relation to system reform.

Thesis (M.S.)--University of Wisconsin--Madison, 1981. / Typescript. eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 41-43).

<p> Data that follow students over time are not only important but necessary at all levels of education to make accurate policy and funding decisions. Districts have personnel responsible for collecting data from their schools and then reporting the data to the state. Using critical realism as the frame, a multiple case study was conducted to develop an understanding of how perspective and context influence actions of the district data personnel responsible for collecting and reporting data, provide those personnel with a voice, and contribute to the improvement of the federal reporting processes. </p><p> A review of the literature offers several points of reference for understanding this work. Researchers found that barriers to district data use do not tend to be technical issues, but human, state support of districts improves data use, and individuals bring their own context and understanding into any process in which they participate. </p><p> Four case studies of school districts in Virginia with exemplary data reporting were used in this research. Data were collected through interviews with district data personnel. All cases had data audit processes that were followed and documented, and all had distinct philosophies surrounding data in their districts, however, there was not a one size fits all organizational context or process. Challenges to state reporting included conflicting priorities of the school data personnel and lack of district data personnel. Recommendations include states support of communities of practice among school districts and federal funding support for school and district data collection and reporting. </p><p>

<p> After the Syrian Civil War began, refugee exodus gained unprecedented momentum. Turkey, as one of the major destinations of Syrian refugees, experienced problems regarding the accommodation of a high number of refugees (Dorman, 2014; UNICEF, 2014; USAID, 2015). The scholars widely debated the problems regarding educating refugee (Akkaya, 2013; Arabaci et al. 2013), but the available studies do not focus on experiences of refugee students in the schools.</p><p> This dissertation study, therefore, examines the schooling experiences of Syrian child refugees in a Turkish public school with a developing conceptual framework named as Middle East Refugee Protection Model (MRPM). The MRPM originates as a result of the different expectations and motives among the host countries located in Europe and the Middle East.</p><p> This study uses Critical Qualitative Research. The data is collected through interviews and classroom observations. I employed the reconstructive data analysis strategies and used NVivo qualitative data analysis software to analyze the data.</p><p> The results show that the Syrian refugee students&rsquo; experiences in the school in Turkey are not dependent on the liability of the legal instruments but social norms and values. The school staff and classroom teachers use a child-centric approach to educate and integrate refugee students through accentuating values such as transparency and honesty, determination and commitment, and approving authority. Syrian refugee students in the public school face challenges due to their language skills, the host communities&rsquo; social expectations, and the lack of sustainable refugee education policy. As they continue facing challenges, refugee students begin constructing survival skills and these survival skills help them become an independent being and develop a sense of agency.</p><p> Based on the interpretation of the results, I have created two models to explain the refugee education strategies in the school, and how refugee students make sense of the school staff's approach in educating them. The first model is the refugee education and protection model. It explains the concepts and principles that school staff uses to regulate their refugee education system. The second model is agency and independence development, which explains the stages that refugee students go through to be an agent and an independent student. This dissertation suggests theoretical, political and practical implications of the use of models and effective strategies for educating refugees.</p><p>

<p> This study conducted an international comparative study between Japan and the United States to examine both problems and possibilities in the use of the term &lsquo;sustainable development&rsquo; (SD) among environmental educators. In so doing, this study applied a multilevel analysis&mdash;national, state/prefecture, and individual levels&mdash;to assess SD&rsquo;s overall influences. Such a comparative elaboration of the individual perceptions, as well as the policy contexts, helps in comprehending both the conceptual and practical obstacles, and their possibilities, when using an internationally-promoted term. I found that respondents of both countries tend to have a firm grounding in the field of EE, and make only supplementary use of the notions of sustainable development and ESD, primarily for emphasizing social and economic dimensions of environmental issues. </p><p> Some of the notable results are as follows: 1. Environmental educators of both countries are still hesitant to embrace ESD or Education for Sustainability in their teachings; 2. Environmental educators of both countries, while not rejecting the concepts of sustainable development and ESD, are instead operationalizing them to punctuate social and economic issues; and 3. Most environmental educators perceive EE as being larger and more comprehensive than ESD. This is demonstrated in the survey results in which none of the American environmental educators perceived EE as being smaller than ESD. </p><p> Implications from the results are as follows: 1. The &lsquo;shift&rsquo; in discourse from EE to ESD appears to be incomplete, contrary to some recent observations. I believe that this is because the field of EE, while showing some differences at the national level, has been affirming the incorporation of social and economic processes into teaching practice through attention to laws, literacy plans, guidelines, and conferences. The individual educators appear to be influenced by these shifting emphases, professional networks and policy contexts.</p>

This thesis aims to better understand the under life of Indonesian academics during implementation of major policy changes associated with the Higher Education Act 2012. More specifically the study sought to explore and analyse the principal changes as experienced by academics in Indonesian state universities, how academics responded to these changes and the impact of these changes upon the nature of academic work and organisations. The research undertaken was in the form of a multiple-embedded case study using semi-structured interviews, observations, and document analysis as instruments to collect data. Interviews were conducted with 30 academics in three state universities in Indonesia. The findings demonstrate how Indonesian academics' work is moving away from their traditional functions and roles towards new prescribed roles revealing tensions between maintaining their existing identities and pressures from the external environment to adapt. Using Scott's notion of 'weapons of the weak' the study reveals how Indonesian academics have resisted and accommodated policy reform in ways that have taken largely discursive and unobtrusive forms. It is anticipated that the study will both contribute to a better understanding of the dynamics of academics' work lives as they encounter large scale reform, and offer guidance for policy makers in the formulation and enactment of relevant policy.

No description available.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Hong Kong, 2009. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 196-219). Also available in print.