No description available.

Research shows that students who take advanced mathematics courses perform better on measures of college readiness than students who take less rigorous courses. However, no clear effect has been shown on requiring all students to take more advanced courses. This study examined whether increases in the number and level of mathematics courses required for high school graduation have resulted in increased levels of college aspirations and preparedness. Specifically, twenty years of data from a rural school district in Texas were analyzed to determine whether the impact on college entrance exam-taking and performance differed by the mathematics requirements in effect for each class. Logistic and linear regression modeling revealed no statistically significant effect of higher requirements. And while overall results by gender and race mirrored previous research, with males tending to have higher scores than females and White students tending to score higher than African-American and Latinx students, the increased requirements were not associated with any mitigation in these inequities.

This master's thesis is concerned with the understanding of identity in the multicultural education in the Czech educational system - more precisely by the construction of identity. Multicultural education is the main educational stream, when it comes to the education against racism, xenophobia, intolerance or discrimination. In the Czech Republic, the multicultural education is one of the cross-subjects defined in the Educational Framework Programs. Lately, there have been many criticisms and concerns regarding multicultural education's tools including the identity politics due to its inability of reaching the proclaimed goals and objectives. Sometimes, it does quite the opposite - it reproduces dangerous stereotypes in the society and perpetuates discrimination. Identity is the key element in the multicultural education. How we perceive ourselves and others, influences many spheres of our lives. Whether the groups are constructed positively or negatively influences for example the allocation of benefits. Within this regard, through the discursive analysis, the construction of identity in the multicultural education is examined. It has been proven that the multicultural education tends to either construct the identity on the basis of external characteristics, which are visible on the first sight (skin...

Education drives labour market outcomes and social mobility. When educational attainment is influenced by socioeconomic factors, many students from disadvantaged backgrounds are left behind. This is undesirable as it greatly reduces the human capital that could have been present in the national economy, therefore affecting the potential of economic growth. The purpose of this thesis is to analyse the impact of a policy that has the purpose of reducing the gap in educational attainment between disadvantaged students and their peers.  The analysis takes place over a 12 year time span and across 22 local authority areas in Wales. The results highlight the importance in the measure of the attainment gap. The implementation of Pupil Premium can be correlated with a reduction in the gap that is defined by the proportional difference between disadvantaged students and their peers. The magnitude of the attainment gap has stayed fairly constant but overall attainment has risen significantly over the period under analysis.  There is room for further study into the possibility that the impact of Pupil Premium has affected some groups of students more than others.

[pt] A pesquisa investiga como professores de História da rede municipal do Rio de Janeiro reinterpretam a política curricular (entendida como orientações e cadernos pedagógicos) em vista da sua autonomia docente e do contexto de sua escola. O referencial teórico utilizado inclui: ciclo de políticas de Ball e Bowe (1996), teoria crítica e pós-crítica de currículo de Giroux (1997), conceito de autonomia docente e autonomia da escola de Barroso (1996) e Contreras (2012) e conceitos sobre ensino da disciplina história com base em Bittencourt (2011). Trata-se de um estudo qualitativo, utilizando-se entrevistas que foram realizadas, em sua maioria, durante a greve dos professores ocorrida no ano de 2013, sendo essa mobilização fundamental para perceber como a política educacional é reinterpretada pelos sujeitos da pesquisa. As conclusões revelam que a aplicação das orientações e dos cadernos pedagógicos não segue um padrão. Os professores fazem adaptações tendo em vista: tornar o conhecimento histórico significativo aos estudantes, as condições materiais e o contexto sociocultural da escola em que atuam. Outro aspecto a ressaltar diz respeito à atuação da gestão que interfere na política reduzindo ou ampliando a margem de autonomia dos professores quanto à seleção e a aplicação de materiais didáticos, pois a questão da aprovação dos alunos é supervalorizada por causa da política de metas e bonificação das escolas. / [en] The present research investigates how History teachers of Rio de Janeiro’s county public schools reinterpret the curriculum policy (understood as guidelines and pedagogical material) in view of their teaching autonomy and context of their school. The theoretical framework used includes: police cycle approach of Ball and Bowe (1996), critical theory and post-critical curriculum of Giroux (1997) concept of teaching autonomy and school autonomy of Barroso (1996) and Contreras (2012) and concepts about teaching history discipline based on Bittencourt (2011). This is a qualitative research using interviews that were conducted mostly during the teachers strike occurred in 2013, this mobilization being fundamental to understand how educational policy is reinterpreted by the research subjects. The findings reveal that the application of guidelines and pedagogical notebooks do not follow a unique pattern. Teachers make adjustments in order to: make the historical knowledge significant to students, in view of the material conditions of the school and the sociocultural context in which they operate. Another aspect to be emphasized concerns the proceeding of the management that interferes with policy, reducing or enlarging the margin of autonomy of teachers on the selection and implementation of teaching materials, for the question of the approval of the students is overvalued because of the goals of policy and schools bonuses.

[pt] A presente pesquisa buscou investigar a atuação dos professores formuladores, na elaboração dos Cadernos Pedagógicos de História da Secretaria Municipal de Educação do Rio de Janeiro (SME/RJ), com o intuito de integrar a política oficial e o que é necessário para o trabalho do professor em sala de aula. O contexto da investigação foi de uma nova política educacional elaborada para o município do Rio de Janeiro, o que provocou mudanças no currículo das escolas. O referencial teórico utilizado inclui: ciclo de políticas de Ball e Bowe (1992), conceitos de política curricular de Lopes (2004), conceitos sobre materiais e livros didáticos de Bittencourt (2011a, 2011b) e Munakata (2007, 2012). A metodologia utilizada seguiu os princípios de um estudo qualitativo, utilizando a entrevista, realizada com os cinco integrantes da equipe que formulou os Cadernos Pedagógicos de História da SME/RJ, para a coleta de dados. As conclusões revelaram que mesmo diante de uma política curricular prescritiva e de uma política de metas e premiações, os professores elaboradores procuraram formular um material adequado às necessidades dos professores e alunos da rede. Esta equipe defendeu a liberdade do professor na utilização do material e teve como objetivo produzir um material de apoio para o professor, que o auxiliasse com novas ideias, textos e atividades apropriadas aos alunos. Assim, é possível afirmar que as ações dos elaboradores dos Cadernos Pedagógicos de História no contexto da produção do texto modificaram a política. / [en] This research investigates the role of developer teachers in the elaboration of the Cadernos Pedagógicos de História da Secretaria Municipal de Educação do Rio de Janeiro (SME/RJ) (History Pedagogical Materials of the Municipal Education Secretariat of Rio de Janeiro), in order to integrate the official policy and the necessary resources for teachers to work in the classroom. The context of the research was a new educational policy developed for the municipality of Rio de Janeiro, which led to changes in the curriculum of schools. The theoretical references include: policy cycle approuch by Ball and Bowe (1992), curriculum policy concepts by Lopes (2004), concepts on resource materials and textbooks by Bittencourt (2011a, 2011b) and Munakata (2007, 2012). The methodology followed the principles of a qualitative study, using interview held with the five members of the team that developed the Cadernos Pedagógicos de História da Secretaria Municipal de Educação do Rio de Janeiro SME/RJ, for data collection. The conclusions revealed that even when facing a prescriptive curriculum policy and awards policy, the elaborator teachers sought to create resource materials suitable to the needs of municipal school teachers and students. This team defended the teachers freedom in the use of resource materials and aimed to produce support resources to help them with new ideas, texts and appropriate activities for the students. Thus, it is possible to state that the actions of the elaborators of Cadernos Pedagógicos de História – in the context of text production – have changed the policy.

[pt] A presente tese analisa a relação entre religião e políticas educacionais no município de Nova Iguaçu-RJ. Foram utilizados dois modelos de análise de políticas públicas: o Modelo de Ambiguidades e Conflitos e o Modelo de Coalizões de Defesa. Os estudos sobre conservadorismo, influência religiosa na Educação e laicidade foram eixos transversais a esses dois modelos. A metodologia empregada foi uma pesquisa qualitativa, com análise documental (leis, processos, notícias na imprensa, notas oficiais e postagens em redes sociais) e entrevistas semiestruturadas com apoiadores e opositores das políticas estudadas. A análise de conteúdo foi usada para o tratamento dos dados coletados, com o auxílio do software Atlas TI para codificação e análise dos resultados. Foram analisadas três leis municipais: Lei 4576/16 - proíbe a divulgação de material sobre diversidade sexual nas escolas públicas; Lei 4619/16 - autoriza o poder executivo a firmar parcerias para distribuição de Bíblias nas escolas; e Lei 4865/19 - implementa o Ensino Religioso na rede pública municipal. As seguintes conclusões foram alcançadas: foram identificadas duas coalizões no subsistema: uma progressista laica e outra conservadora religiosa; as principais crenças da coalizão conservadora religiosa foram a necessidade da presença da religião e do controle moral conservador na escola; as leis analisadas foram originárias de setores religiosos ou conservadores de direita, tendo apoio público destes e de outros atores religiosos após sua aprovação; as leis apresentaram muitas ambiguidades e foram motivo de conflitos com setores progressistas e laicos, com reações intensas quanto à proibição de material sobre diversidade sexual e à distribuição de Bíblias nas escolas, e inércia quanto ao Ensino Religioso, que não foi priorizado pelos responsáveis por sua implementação. Nenhuma dessas leis foi aplicada na rede pública de ensino, mas serviram para manter em pauta os interesses de grupos conservadores e religiosos no município, constituindo desafios para uma educação plural e laica na atualidade. / [en] This thesis analyzes the relationship between religion and educational policies in the city of Nova Iguaçu-RJ. Two public policy analysis models were mobilized: the Ambiguity and Conflict Model and the Advocacy Coalition Framework. Studies on conservatism, religious influence on education and secularism were transversal axes to these two models. The methodology was a qualitative research, with document analysis (laws, processes, news in the press, official notes and posts on social networks) and semi-structured interviews with supporters and opponents of the studied policies. Content analysis guided the treatment of the collected data. The use of Atlas TI software contributed to coding and analysis of results. Three municipal laws were analyzed: Law 4576/16 - prohibits the dissemination of material on gender diversity in public schools; Law 4619/16 - authorizes the executive branch to establish partnerships for the distribution of Bibles in schools; and Law 4865/19 - Implements Religious Education in the municipal public network. The following conclusions were reached: two coalitions were identified in the subsystem: one progressive secular and the other conservative religious; the main beliefs of the conservative religious coalition were the need for religion and conservative moral control at school; the laws analyzed originated from religious or right-wing conservative sectors, having public support from these and other religious actors after their approval; the laws presented many ambiguities and were the reason for conflicts with progressive and secular sectors, with intense reactions regarding the prohibition of material on gender diversity and regarding the distribution of Bibles in schools, and inert reaction regarding Religious Education, which was not prioritized by the responsible for its implementation; none of these laws were applied in the public school system, but they served to keep the interests of conservative and religious groups in the municipality on the agenda, constituting a challenge to a plural and secular education today.

No description available.

No Child Left Behind and Race to the Top are Federal educational policies that have evoked criticism from teachers and administrators. Both policies extended the federal government’s reach into local education by tying federal funds to a school’s student growth and teacher effectiveness. With an increasing emphasis on economic mechanisms such as choice and competition, teachers’ effectiveness is now determined by standardized and quantifiable measurements. These policies have created a data driven and high stakes accountability culture within each school. Teachers are finding themselves in a new balancing act of recording quantifiable yearly progress for all students while trying to work against environmental factors that are out of their control. The rising trend to utilize a “no zero” homework policy under these new pressures merits investigation into its role within teacher culture and these current tensions. The recent call for anthropology to re-enter the classroom as a cultural site allows the researcher to provide context to the fluid relationships that often lead to the reproduction of or resistance against dominant ideology. Using the case study method, this ethnography employs the critical theory framework to examine policy impact on teacher culture and gain an understanding for how and why trends such as the “no zero” homework become a part of school policy. By looking at a “school of choice” and a traditional “feeder middle school,” this thesis gives context to how the local trends illuminate larger cultural shifts

Neoliberal ideology frames the discourse of the current political rhetoric of education as an economic investment in the preparation of students to compete in a global economy. These discourses that emanate from policymakers shape the construct of schooling and control the trajectory of education in the US. As education policy becomes centralized, accountability systems are assumed to be the driver of positive educational outcomes and higher student achievement; however, the impact of these systems of accountability shape teaching practice and may be pushing students with disabilities out of the competition and violating their right to access and participate in general education. This study examined the outcomes of current educational policy on daily teaching practice and its impact on inclusive practice. In addition, it examined teachers' self-regulation as a means to adapt and remain in a regulated environment. The perspectives of beginning and experienced teachers from an urban and a rural area were analyzed through semi- structured interviews, classroom observations, and document analysis.