This thesis is a study of the comparative academic effectiveness of Catholic schools in England. It uses a combination of quantitative and qualitative approaches to investigate the hypothesis that, pupils who attend Catholic comprehensive schools will, all things being equal, achieve higher levels of academic attainment in GCSE examinations at the age of sixteen than similar pupils attending other maintained comprehensive schools. The study reviews the published findings of research in this field in England and the United States of America and reports previously unpublished analysis of the results of school inspections made under Section 9 of the Education Act 1992 by OFSTED. There has been very little empirical research into the academic effectiveness of Catholic schools in England. Findings that have been reported have arisen from studies which were focused on other issues and this facet of the results has not been investigated further. In contrast, in the USA there has been a significant quantity of large scale research indicating the academic superiority of schools in the Catholic sector. The research uses a simple form of multi-level modelling as the main analytical tool to compare the performance of pupils (n = 2335) attending eighteen comprehensive schools in a medium sized shire county. In addition, a case study approach is used to compare two different models of Catholic school in the sample to highlight factors which may contribute to their differing levels of academic productivity. The findings partly confirm previous research that has indicated the superiority of Catholic schools in England and extends understanding of the possible causes of that superiority. The study suggests areas for further research and possible applications of the findings for Church authorities and other providers of maintained schools.

This thesis is an empirical examination of coursework and coursework assessment in the General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE). The research was conducted using the condensed fieldwork methods of multi-site case study, and fits broadly within the ethnographic research tradition. Case studies of the effects of coursework were made in six schools, across three different counties and two metropolitan districts. Examination texts, it is argued in the thesis, are open to interpretation and re-interpretation at different moments of use. Textual reading, moreover, is only part of the policy process - construction, reading, meaning formulation, meaning re-formulation and implementation. Texts allow multiple readings, although some texts are more 'readerly' than 'writerly'. These sources of meaning compete with previous examination technologies and with other discursive forms. They are practical documents and they are guided by specific sets of ideological meaning. They seek to provide apparatus for differentiating between candidates, and they play their part in the creation of individual subjectivities. A typology of teachers' attitudes towards GCSE coursework is developed, and these are classified as conformist, adaptive, oppositional, ritualistic, transformative and non-conformist. Teachers' initial reading of GCSE texts or their initial confrontation with the ideas behind the new examination draws upon both those internalized rules which actors reproduce in their day to day working lives and those structural resources which position actors within set frameworks. Those elements of structure that are relevant to the matter in hand condition, but do not determine, actors' responses. Initial textual readings give way to subsequent interpretations and reinterpretations of coursework processes, and all the various readings are implicated in the implementation and reimplementation of coursework strategies. This cycle of activity at different moments and in different guises influences actual practice. An account is given of the way those structural and interactional influences impact upon initial textual readings within one of the case-study schools. Curriculum policy and curriculum practice within specific sites is always the result of contestation. Within institutions that devolve power and decision-making, outcomes are never all the same; that contestation will have different outcomes at different moments and at different places. Further to this, five sets of polarized concepts - weak/strong knowledge framing, formative/summative modes of assessment, the production of reliable/unreliable assessment data, limited/extended amounts and types of teacher interventions in coursework processes and normal/irregular classroom practices - are developed to help analyse issues such as the influence of the GCSE on classroom practice, integration of assessment and curriculum, pupil-teacher relations, pedagogy and pupil motivation. Finally the threads of the argument that has been developed in this thesis are drawn together to show how dislocated relationships between examination policy texts and realisation have consequences for examination comparability, educational disadvantage, and the production and reproduction of educational knowledge in schools.

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) has proposed that economic growth in developing countries can best be achieved through a good delivery of technical/vocational education targeted to the specific needs of the country and its economy. In Iraq, the state regards technical/vocational education within the secondary system of education as the main source of the middle-rank skilled labour needed to satisfy the requirements of the economy. This study analyses the development of technical/vocational secondary education policies in Iraq. It seeks to examine this system in relation to the country's geopolitical, economic, social and cultural circumstances. The first chapter considers the arguments for and against I technical and vocational: education. The second chapter is concerned with Iraq's geopolitical position and examines the structure of its society. It will also examine the evolution and development of the Iraqi economy, with the main focus on the period after 1968. The third chapter is an analysis of the existing Iraqi educational system, including principles, aims and priorities, levels of education and quantitative growth, education finance and administration, curriculum and examination system. The fourth chapter reviews the nature of and growing need for technical and vocational education throughout the history of the country. The fifth chapter evaluates the existing system of technical and vocational education by firstly, examining its characteristics and then the problems facing it. Implications for planning and the reform of technical and vocational education in Iraq emerge from the conclusions and suggestions which constitute the final part.

Thesis (MArts(ReligionStudies))--University of South Australia, 2002.

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Thesis (MArts(ReligionStudies))--University of South Australia, 2002.

The study upon which this thesis is based aimed, first of all, to document the history of mathematics curriculum change in Western Australia. Although curriculum development in mathematics in this State has been an ongoing process for at least two decades, the outcome of an extensive literature review conducted as part of the study revealed that only a cursory evaluation of the current upper school mathematics curriculum change process had ever been undertaken. Neither has any formal appraisal of the suitability or otherwise of the variety of new upper school mathematics courses introduced during the last decade ever been carried out.This study was designed to 'fill these gaps' by not only documenting the history of the change process, but also by seeking out teachers' and other educators' views about those curriculum and strategy changes as well as the views of the students who were so intimately involved in the process.Tertiary lecturers' perceptions regarding the mathematical preparedness of first year university students were also considered a relevant source of information in this quest to first, record the events that preceded the establishment of the current State mathematics curriculum, and second, record those events that occurred subsequently. Major reports which have influenced the direction of mathematics education were examined, and underlying didactical principles were identified to determine the origins of previous and current educational policy.To determine upper school mathematics teachers' attitudes to curriculum and strategy changes, and the impact of the present curriculum upon students' choice of mathematics subjects, use was made of a variety of instruments - questionnaires and interview proformas - which were used to interview students prior to questioning them on such matters as their reasons for selecting specific units.Upper school ++ / mathematics teachers were also surveyed and interviewed in order to obtain the practitioners' views on new topics which were introduced, such as complex numbers and vectors. Five of Western Australia's most high profile mathematics educators who played significant roles during the period of this study were interviewed to determine their recollections of major points of discussion and concern in mathematics education at that time. Feedback from these interviews was used to compile a questionnaire for upper high school mathematics teachers to determine their opinion on such issues as the introduction and practicality of the new courses, teaching and learning strategies introduced, and the degree of support for the new curriculum.Ten teachers were interviewed one year after the survey to determine any changes in their perceptions about the new upper school mathematics courses. By means of a questionnaire, students' reasons for choosing specific mathematics subjects in either Year 11 or 12, and their perceived success in mathematics in general were sought. In order to determine the effectiveness of the new curriculum in terms of further studies, students' level of mathematical preparedness was investigated by means of a questionnaire for university mathematics staff. The results of this research indicate that the most recent curriculum change in the upper high school has been successfully introduced by the Education Department of Western Australia, although this has not always been the case with curriculum change in this State.Though initially daunted by the number of new topics which were to be taught, teachers were appreciative of the in-service courses available, the resources present and the general support they received from the Education Department. Traditional teaching strategies, such as 'drill-and-practice' and teacher-centred environments have been largely ++ / replaced by a problem-solving and investigational approach to mathematics in a student-centred classroom environment. Clearly, the constructivist theory of learning has been a major influence on current teaching and learning strategies used in the upper school mathematics classroom. Teachers' opinions about the practicality of the new courses and approaches to teaching them were positive, though the view was held that previous traditional teaching methods should not be discarded.Specific weaknesses in the various mathematics courses introduced were identified (for example, inadequate attention paid to basic algebra and, in particular, to trigonometry), and many teachers were adamant that certain changes should be made for the benefit of the students (for example, reorganisation of parts of the course content). Improvements in the nature of the information provided to students at the time they make their upper school mathematics subject choice were strongly recommended. Information on influential factors regarding students' subject choices was obtained, and interviews with university mathematics staff showed that many first year students remain underprepared because of incorrect mathematics subject choices made in either Year 10 or 11.