Philosophiae Doctor - PhD (Education) / The National Policy Framework for Teacher Education and Development in South Africa of 2006 (NPF) outlines seven principles which underpin this policy as expressed in the Norms and Standards for Educators (2000). These principles require a teacher to be: a specialist in a particular learning area, subject or phase; a specialist in teaching, learning and assessment; a curriculum developer; a leader, administrator and manager; a scholar and lifelong learner; and a professional who plays a role in community development, citizenship education, and pastoral care. Beginner teachers have difficulty adapting to these new roles as they have not had efficient exposure to the actual, often harsh realities of the classroom situation as it unfolds on a daily basis. A qualitative research approach is employed in the research study to explore beginner teachers' perceptions of school support to enhance their capability sets in relation to teacher education policy. Generally, a qualitative study lends itself to developing an understanding of a particular phenomenon of interest without formulating a hypothesis. In this explorative study, the investigation was underpinned by the elements of Amartya Sen's Capability Approach which include "Freedoms", "Unfreedoms", "Capabilities" and "Functionings" (Sen 1992). These elements were used to understand the nature of beginner teachers' competences and the impact of policy on their performance. In this regard, the achievement of quality learning outcomes concerning the basic competences of beginner teachers could be linked to Sen's vision for reaching achieved functionings (those valuable activities and situations that make up a person's well-being, which is also referred to as that which a person ultimately manages "to be and to do").

Les choix éducatifs, et notamment celui de l'accession à l'enseignement supérieur, sont le résultat de processus complexes qui font intervenir des instances de décisions variées (individu/collectivité ; parent/enfant ; système éducatif/établissement d'enseignement supérieur et de recherche) qui elles-mêmes se présentent avec des motivations multiples : gains économiques, recherche de bien-être ou de statut sociale, efficacité ou encore justice sociale. Chacune de ces décisions interdépendantes pèsent sur la création, l'allocation et la distribution des ressources dans une société.Notre contribution est ici de mieux comprendre comment les agents interagissement et de déterminer les conséquences de ces interactions. / Educative choices, and the entry in higher education in particular, result from complex processes which bring in various decision-makers (individual / community; parent / child; education system/higher education institutions) who appear with multiple incentives: economic gains, well-being or social status, efficiency or social justice ; given that each of these interdependent decisions influences the creation, the allocation and the distribution of the resources in a society.Our contribution is to demonstrate how the agents interact and what are the consequences of these interactions.

Notwithstanding challenges facing systems of higher education world-wide, higher education in South Africa has been fundamentally re-engineered since the achievement of democracy in 1994. The University of South Africa (Unisa) emerged as the only dedicated distance education institution and the biggest provider of higher education. Against the background of transformation in higher education policy and practice in South Africa, this study aimed to address the implementation of higher education policy in relation to the provision of distance education in South Africa, with special reference to Unisa. To address the research problem, a literature study investigated theoretical perspectives, recent policy trends in higher education globally and their influence on distance education and the impact of higher education policy development and implementation in South Africa on Open Distance Learning (ODL) provision. A mixed method empirical research design was used to explore how the academic and administrative cohort of top and middle and extended management at Unisa perceive the implementation of higher education policy at their institution in relation to distance education provision. The inquiry comprised two phases: Phase 1, a quantitative component entailed a survey using a self-designed questionnaire. A non-probability purposive sampling strategy was used to select respondents for the survey, and the entire target population (Unisa employees at middle to executive management level) participated. Phase 2, a qualitative component, entailed semi-structured interviews with a purposeful sample: members of top management and two council members. The survey results indicated strong agreement on the need for strategy and planning, more funding and improved levels of service. There was disagreement or ambivalence around sufficient human and infrastructural capacity, the cost of ODL, quality and the efficiency of ICT systems and processes. Four major areas of concern emerged from the interviews: Transformation (the national transformation agenda and mindset change); funding (enrolment planning and capping, the unfunded student issue and salaries); institutional efficiency (strategy, planning, capacity and quality); and the cost of ODL and the need for a dedicated ODL Policy. The study concluded with recommendations to facilitate the enhanced practice and delivery of ODL in South Africa. / Educational Studies

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / O presente trabalho buscou entender o funcionamento do Sistema Nacional de Avaliação da Educação Básica e os vínculos com uma proposta de currículo nacional, no caso expresso pela construção de Matrizes Curriculares de Referência. Além da análise dos documentos que subsidiam a política de avaliação, captaram-se, nos depoimentos dos profissionais que vivenciaram o SAEB em diferentes funções, a forma como a Secretaria Municipal de Educação do Rio de Janeiro e as escolas da rede relacionam-se com as propostas centrais. Procurou-se, assim, verificar as inter-relações entre os contextos de influência, produção de texto de política e prática, como proposto por Ball. Nesse processo, percebeu-se as influências e os efeitos da política educacional na reconfiguração do campo da prática. / The present study has sought to understand the functioning of the National System of Evaluation of Primary Education (SAEB), and its links to a National Curriculum proposal, as expressed within the process of construction of the Reference Curricular Guidelines. Apart from analysing the documents that give support to the evaluation policies, the study has focused on the discourses of professionals that participated in several functions in the SAEB, pinpointing ways by which the Municipal Secretary of Education of Rio de Janeiro and the schools within its net relate with central government proposals. The study therefore highlights the relationships among contexts of influence that work in the text production of policies and those responsible for their implementation, as suggested by Ball. The data evidence influences and effects of educational policies in the reshaping of educational practices.

Made available in DSpace on 2014-06-11T19:33:30Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2013Bitstream added on 2014-06-13T20:05:32Z : No. of bitstreams: 1 oliveira_sf_dr_mar.pdf: 658678 bytes, checksum: 829e7eef452f27a0e22136ba018846f2 (MD5) / Este estudo está vinculado à Linha de Pesquisa “Políticas Educacionais, Gestão de Sistemas e Organizações Educacionais” e tem como problema norteador da pesquisa o seguinte questionamento: qual é a percepção dos professores sobre a implantação do ensino fundamental de nove anos no contexto escolar? O interesse pela investigação do tema surgiu a partir da atuação docente nos anos iniciais do ensino fundamental durante o processo de discussão e implantação da ampliação desse nível de ensino. O foco desse estudo é desvendar a percepção dos professores de três escolas do município de Marília sobre a materialização da política no contexto escolar é. Os objetivos da pesquisa consistem em: investigar a política do ensino fundamental de nove anos, priorizando o seu aspecto pedagógico a partir da legislação e de documentos oficiais elaborados pelo Ministério da Educação que orientam sua implantação, e analisar a percepção dos professores dos anos iniciais do ensino fundamental sobre a implantação da política. A proposição de políticas educacionais aos contextos escolares provocam diferentes reações de acordo a percepção dos profissionais que neles atuam. A abordagem utilizada nessa investigação é qualitativa, sem desprezar o recurso de dados quantitativos. Para a coleta de dados foi utilizada a técnica de grupo focal com seis grupos de professores e a análise de conteúdo para tratamento dos dados. Este estudo defende a tese de que os professores refletem sobre as políticas determinadas à educação no contexto das implantações, mas não têm espaços e oportunidades para participar dos debates que levam as proposições políticas. Embora não participem da elaboração das políticas se esforçam para efetivá-las apesar das condições precárias para o desempenho da atuação docente. / The present study is linked to the line of research “Educational Policies, Systems Management and Educational Organizations” and its guiding issue is the following question: how teachers understand the implementation of a nine-year elementary school period in the school context? The interest by the theme investigation emerged from the teaching activity in the first years of elementary school during the discussion process and implementation of time extension. The study is focused on revealing the perception of teachers actuating in three schools in the city of Marília about the materialization of this policy in the school context, and it is aimed at investigating the policy of a nine-year elementary school period, thus prioritizing its pedagogic aspect from the legislation and official guidelines elaborated by the Ministry of Education, and analyzing how teachers of the first years of elementary school understand the implementation of such policy. The proposition of education policies in the school context leads to different reactions according to the perception of the professionals. The approach used in the present investigation is qualitative, but with no rejection of quantitative data. As for the data collection, it was used the technique of focus group comprehending sis groups of teachers, and content analysis for data treatment. Moreover, this study argues that teachers do reflect upon the policies determined to education in the implementation context, but do not have the opportunity to participate on the discussions which result in policies propositions. Although they do not take part on the elaboration of guidelines, teachers strive to apply them despite all poor conditions for the teaching activity.

abstract: This study is a narrative inquiry into teachers' and instructional coaches' experiences of new curriculum policy implementation at the classroom and district levels. This study took place during the initial year of implementation of the third grade Common Core State Standards in Mathematics (CCSSM). Interviews were conducted with individuals directly involved in policy implementation at the classroom level, including several teachers and the school's instructional coach. Observations of the teachers' instruction and professional practice were also conducted. As an embedded researcher, I used this data to create a series of fictionalized narratives of the initial policy implementation experience. My analysis of the narratives suggests that accountability structures shaped individual's sense-making of the original policy. This sense-making process consequently influenced individuals' actions during implementation by directing them towards certain policy actions and ultimately altered how the policy unfolded in this school and district. In particular, accountability structures directed participants' attention to the technical instructional `forms' of the reform, such as the presence of written responses on assessments and how standards were distributed between grade levels, rather than the overall principled shifts in practice intended by the policy's creators. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Educational Administration and Supervision 2015

abstract: ABSTRACT This study examines validity evidence of a state policy-directed teacher evaluation system implemented in Arizona during school year 2012-2013. The purpose was to evaluate the warrant for making high stakes, consequential judgments of teacher competence based on value-added (VAM) estimates of instructional impact and observations of professional practice (PP). The research also explores educator influence (voice) in evaluation design and the role information brokers have in local decision making. Findings are situated in an evidentiary and policy context at both the LEA and state policy levels. The study employs a single-phase, concurrent, mixed-methods research design triangulating multiple sources of qualitative and quantitative evidence onto a single (unified) validation construct: Teacher Instructional Quality. It focuses on assessing the characteristics of metrics used to construct quantitative ratings of instructional competence and the alignment of stakeholder perspectives to facets implicit in the evaluation framework. Validity examinations include assembly of criterion, content, reliability, consequential and construct articulation evidences. Perceptual perspectives were obtained from teachers, principals, district leadership, and state policy decision makers. Data for this study came from a large suburban public school district in metropolitan Phoenix, Arizona. Study findings suggest that the evaluation framework is insufficient for supporting high stakes, consequential inferences of teacher instructional quality. This is based, in part on the following: (1) Weak associations between VAM and PP metrics; (2) Unstable VAM measures across time and between tested content areas; (3) Less than adequate scale reliabilities; (4) Lack of coherence between theorized and empirical PP factor structures; (5) Omission/underrepresentation of important instructional attributes/effects; (6) Stakeholder concerns over rater consistency, bias, and the inability of test scores to adequately represent instructional competence; (7) Negative sentiments regarding the system's ability to improve instructional competence and/or student learning; (8) Concerns regarding unintended consequences including increased stress, lower morale, harm to professional identity, and restricted learning opportunities; and (9) The general lack of empowerment and educator exclusion from the decision making process. Study findings also highlight the value of information brokers in policy decision making and the importance of having access to unbiased empirical information during the design and implementation phases of important change initiatives. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Educational Leadership and Policy Studies 2015

abstract: Over the last three decades there has been a rise in the number of workers employed during nonstandard (evening and overnight) hours; accompanying this trend has been a renewed interest in documenting workers, their families, and outcomes associated with nonstandard-hour employment. However, there are important gaps in the current literature. Few have considered how parents who work nonstandard hours care for their children when parental care is unavailable; little is known about who participates in nonparental child care during nonstandard hours, or the characteristics of those who participate. Most pressingly from a policy perspective, it is unclear how participation in nonparental child care during nonstandard hours influences child well-being. This study aims to fill these gaps. This dissertation paints a descriptive portrait of children and parents who use nonstandard child care, explores the relationship between nonstandard hours of nonparental child care participation and various measures of child well-being, and identifies longitudinal patterns of participation in nonstandard-hour child care. I find that children who participate in nonstandard-hours of nonparental child care look significantly different from those who do not participate. In particular, children are more likely to be older, identify as black or Hispanic, and reside with younger, unmarried parents who have lower levels of education. Estimates also suggest a negative relationship between participation in nonstandard-hour child care and child well-being. Specifically, children who participate in nonstandard-hour care show decreased school engagement and school readiness, increased behavioral problems, decreased social competency, and lower levels of physical health. These findings have serious implications for social and education policy. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Public Policy 2015

abstract: Abstract: This study investigates grades from 1980 to 2010 in English 102 at Arizona State University Tempe Campus to see if grade inflation has taken place. It concludes it has and then goes on to study the causes. The data was collected from existing data held in the archives of the Registrar's Office, collated into proper order and saved in proper numerical format for analysis. After analysis, the data was reviewed to establish whether or not as consumer demands rise, measured by student responses to evaluation questions, grade point averages rise as well, and whether demands for adequate performance in classrooms have declined. This study statistically analyzes students' final grades in ENG102 for thirty years and concludes that grade compression at the top of the grading scale exists. This study discusses the implications of that compression at length. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation English 2015

abstract: In 2010, the Arizona Legislature established a performance-based diploma initiative known as Move On When Ready (MOWR). The policy relies on an education model designed to evaluate students' college and career readiness by measuring their academic ability to succeed in the first credit-bearing course in community college. Move On When Ready is a structurally oriented, qualification system that attempts to attain a relatively narrow goal: increase the number of students able to successfully perform at a college-level academic standard. By relying on a set of benchmarked assessments to measure success and failure, MOWR propagates a categorical binary. The binary establishes explicit performance criteria on a set of examinations students are required to meet in order to earn a high school qualification that, by design, certifies whether students are ready or not ready for college. This study sought to reveal how students’ perceptions of the policy and schooling in general affect their understanding of the concept of college readiness and the college readiness binary and to identify factors that help formulate those perceptions. This interpretivist, qualitative study relied on analysis of multiple face-to-face interviews with students to better understand how they think and act within the context of Move On When Ready, paying particular attention to students from historically vulnerable minority subgroups (e.g., the Latina (a)/Hispanic sub-population) enrolled in two schools deploying the MOWR strategy. Findings suggest that interviewed students understand little about MOWR's design, intent or implications for their future educational trajectories. Moreover, what they believe is generally misinformed, regardless of aspiration, socio-cultural background, or academic standing. School-based sources of messaging (e.g., teachers and administrators) supply the bulk of information to students about MOWR. However, in these two schools, the flow of information is constricted. In addition, the information conveyed is either distorted by message mediators or misinterpreted by the students. The data reveal that formal and informal mediators of policy messages influence students’ engagement with the policy and affect students’ capacity to play an active role in determining the policy’s effect on their educational outcomes. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Educational Leadership and Policy Studies 2015