abstract: This dissertation focuses on entrepreneurial and business performance indicators as determinants of Arizona charter schools' quality. The study utilizes a mixed-method inquiry with focus on qualitative research, exploration, and implementation studies. It draws data from surveys with charter operators performed by Education Team Partners (ETP). All survey results are drawn from the ETP database. The study reviews the genesis and evolution of charter schools. It reviews the social agreement within the context of public policy analysis, and the public-private partnership nature within the context of entrepreneurship and business management. It attempts to develop a research-based foundation for future action research to complement the newly introduced performance management plan (PMP) measurement and evaluation system in Arizona. The research includes four group indicators for measuring charter schools' business productivity and performance. They are studied in relation to three groups of indicators for measuring charter schools' quality. The case studies include two existing and two future charter schools. Study results indicate that all participating charter operators confirm the significance of the liquidity ratio in relation to any aspect of charter school quality covered in this study. The participants indicated a strong relationship between the capacities of their schools to utilize external resources and all indicators of charter school quality. This study draws two important conclusions. First, charter schools are business organizations, despite the fact that they receive public funds. Operationally, they differ substantially from district schools and government agencies and depend on market forces. Second, charter schools cannot survive inefficient management practices, as market forces tend to drive them out of business, regardless of academic success and student achievement levels. The intended implications from this study include: first, increased awareness about the importance of understanding business indicators in relation to charter school quality; second, the need for more research associated with the business and finance components of charter schools. As the body of collective knowledge about charter schools expands, the relationship between various business indicators to measures of quality should be routinely studied within larger populations, which may allow for an improved measurement system and applications of advanced statistical methods. / Dissertation/Thesis / Ph.D. Public Administration 2011

Soon after the political handover in 1997, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) government had introduced a series of education and curriculum reforms. Such reforms is said to be proceeded in response to teenagers' lack of national identification towards their motherland China, and also to the public discourse addressing the economic challenges and competition in the universal trend of globalization. Although a few studies had unveiled the underlying values of Confucianism, neo-liberalism and market ideology under these objectives, how the new definitions of "ideal citizens" is understood and promoted in the actual school settings, and how those values influence the process of students' identity construction and their vision on their life trajectories, remains unknown. Drawing on the data from an ethnographic research conducted in 2010, this thesis illustrates how the qualities of an "ideal citizen" propagated in the education and curriculum reform would be understood and transformed in two very different schools in Hong Kong. One is a long-established girls' school located in a middle-class district, which has a reputation of providing "all-rounded" education and nurturing future woman-leaders; the other one is being considered as a "academically-low band" school located in remote area, which struggled to survive and started to admit "Non-Chinese speaking" (NCS) students from Pakistan, Nepal and Philippines three years ago in order to solve the problem of insufficient intake of local students. Apart from the halfyear participant-observation in the two campuses, in-depth interviews of the 2 school principals, 13 teachers, 19 students and 2 alumni of the two schools have also been conducted. Other school documents including official school magazines, school reports as well as students’ publications have also been collected as supporting information. Due to the different historical background, the school management strategy and most of all, the composition of students from very different socio-economic and ethnic backgrounds, the two schools had developed very different ideas and definition of an "ideal citizen", and thus led to different directions of school policies and expectations on students. Through the examples of the provision of the “Other learning Experience” (OLE) and students’ participation patterns in Chapter Five, the different language policies and students’ ability in languages in Chapter Six, and the process of the construction of femininities of young girls in Chapter Seven, this study shows how the problematic of class, gender and ethnics domination still exist under the new context of education reform. This study also reveals that while Hong Kong policy-maker claimed that the education reform ‘bears upon the equity and balance of our society', the socio-economic backgrounds, ethnicity and gender which traditionally being viewed as factors that differentiate education outcomes in sociological studies are completely ignored in the reform.

Submitted by Bruna Rodrigues (bruna92rodrigues@yahoo.com.br) on 2016-09-21T12:37:39Z No. of bitstreams: 1 DissMRD.pdf: 2256436 bytes, checksum: 5ccd47bc60640b3f7edf9e397627263a (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Marina Freitas (marinapf@ufscar.br) on 2016-09-21T18:24:03Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 DissMRD.pdf: 2256436 bytes, checksum: 5ccd47bc60640b3f7edf9e397627263a (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Marina Freitas (marinapf@ufscar.br) on 2016-09-21T18:24:10Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 DissMRD.pdf: 2256436 bytes, checksum: 5ccd47bc60640b3f7edf9e397627263a (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2016-09-21T18:24:17Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 DissMRD.pdf: 2256436 bytes, checksum: 5ccd47bc60640b3f7edf9e397627263a (MD5) Previous issue date: 2015-06-29 / Não recebi financiamento / The objective of this research is to develop a study around the teaching of Philosophy in the Italian secondary schools, based on the education reform fostered by Giovanni Gentile, Ministro della Pubblica Istruzione (Secretary of the Department of Education, in English). We will focus this study during the years of 1923 - 1925, when the reform was implemented, until the moment it suffered some changes promoted by the Secretaries of Education who succeeded Gentile. In order to achieve these objectives, we divided the research into three sections. The first section is to familiarize the reader with the history of this research, which is presenting the first years of the fascist regime implemented by Mussolini. This way, we will discuss the development of the fascism as a myth and investigate its primary impacts in the education and in the Italian society as a whole. The second section will focus on the introduction of the philosopher Giovanni Gentile. It will talk about the application of his education reform in the Italian schools, which had been stagnated since 1859, without significant accomplishments. In the third section, we will cover the teaching of Philosophy, which is present in the secondary schools but excluded from other types of schools, such as technical institutes and complementary schools. This reform has ensured the presence of the teaching of Philosophy in the curriculum but has not been enough to guarantee it to be offered to all Italian youths. The reasons that led to this unequal treatment on the teaching of Philosophy will be reviewed during this research. / Esta pesquisa tem por objetivo desenvolver um estudo acerca do ensino de Filosofia na escola secundária italiana a partir da reforma educacional promovida pelo ministro da Pubblica Istruzione Giovanni Gentile. Nos situamos, neste estudo, entre os anos de 1923 e 1925, desde a implementação da reforma até o momento em que ela passou a sofrer alguns retoques promovidos pelos ministros que sucederam a Gentile. A fim de alcançarmos tal objetivo, dividimos o trabalho em três eixos. No primeiro objetivamos contextualizar o leitor da realidade histórica em que estamos pesquisando, ou seja, os primeiros anos do regime fascista implantado por Mussolini. Assim, apresentamos a construção do fascismo como um mito e investigamos acerca de seus principais efeitos na educação e na sociedade italiana como um todo. O segundo eixo visa introduzir a figura do filósofo Giovanni Gentile nesse contexto e a aplicação de sua reforma educacional, que movimentou a escola italiana que estava praticamente estagnada, sem passar por atualizações significativas, desde 1859. No terceiro eixo tratamos do ensino de Filosofia, presente nos liceus, mas excluída de outros tipos de escolas, como o instituto técnico e a escola complementar. A mesma reforma que zelou pela presença do ensino de filosofia, por sua carga horária e por seu conteúdo, não garantiu que ela fosse oferecida a todos os jovens italianos. Os motivos que levaram a este tratamento diferenciado do ensino de filosofia, serão examinados ao longo deste trabalho.

abstract: Employing narrative ways of inquiry, this study interrogated how a reform action--legal banning corporal punishment in schools, which was intentionally introduced into Taiwanese society by advocates as a social movement strategy at a time when the incidence rate of school corporal punishment was high--could contribute to ending educators' use of corporal punishment. From the narratives of the teachers who believed in corporal punishment, we see how the school system itself contributed to passing, mostly without educators' consciousness of doing so, from one generation to another, a punitive mind that deems punishment a necessity and humans to be incapable of self-regulation without extrinsic force. It is this punitive way of thinking, deeply rooted in Taiwanese culture that was challenged by the legal ban. The transformation of the punitive mind requires a psychological subject-object perspective move that allows the mind to break the identification with a previously built teacher identity submitting to coercive authority. Alternative values, beliefs, and ideas--particularly the caring, trusting, respectful and persuasive approaches to interpersonal relationship--must be brought into personal experiences in order to transform the punitive mind. However, the availability of alternatives does not guarantee transformation, nor does a pure logical reasoning of the alternatives make true transformation to happen. Transformation was discovered to happen in those moments, either in narrative critical reflection or in action, when the mind sees those stories of others or themselves that were once familiar but can be realized, interpreted, retold, or recreated if using a new set of assumptions and perspectives. The effects of the legal ban were mixed. It contributed to the decline of the most well-recognized form of corporal punishment--hitting students by sticks--and offered teachers who disbelieve corporal punishment, previously questioned and crowed out by their colleagues who hit, a strong backup to justify their opposition to sticks. And the ban created opportunities for teacher to learn alternatives. Nevertheless, because the wrongdoing-punishment disciplinary framework still dominates school campuses, the ban also led to the increase or creation of new forms of coercive and humiliating measures that could not be constrained by this legal ban. / Dissertation/Thesis / Ph.D. Educational Psychology 2013

Orientador: Nora Rut Krawczyk / Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Faculdade de Educação / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-23T18:05:04Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Martins_ErikaMoreira_M.pdf: 2021412 bytes, checksum: 44c171fe4a71be9fbf9a38174473823c (MD5) Previous issue date: 2013 / Resumo: A pesquisa procurou, através da análise do Movimento "Todos Pela Educação" - TPE, apresentar elementos para a compreensão do processo de construção de um projeto hegemônico para a nação brasileira, em que a educação pública ocupa um papel estratégico. Em tal processo, privilegiamos a análise do lugar do empresariado no âmbito da formulação de políticas e da mobilização social. Buscamos compreender em que medida a atuação do TPE expressa uma nova configuração da esfera pública. Para tanto, analisamos seu significado como uma nova força que, ao inserir-se na arena de disputas políticas que conformam o atual cenário brasileiro, conjuga as demandas e propostas para educação provenientes do governo, iniciativa privada e outros setores da sociedade. Além disso, no decorrer da pesquisa, percebeu-se que o TPE conta com um maciço poder de comunicação, com um respaldo técnico que sustenta suas afirmações e propostas e com um alto grau de articulação com o Estado, representado em seus três poderes. Finalmente, a forma como o TPE foi estruturado - a partir de um pacto entre iniciativa privada, terceiro setor e governos - contribui para a ocultação dos conflitos entre classes e frações de classe, tornando mais complexa a compreensão da realidade, sobretudo no que se refere aos tênues limites entre o público e o privado - de modo a tornar também menos nítida a distinção entre os direitos sociais e os direitos individuais. As propostas desse grupo contribuem para sustentar a possibilidade de aliar práticas de mercado à justiça social, integrando e promovendo pactos por supostos interesses em comum entre as classes sociais. / Abstract: Through analyzing the "All for Education" Movement (TPE), this research presents the elements necessary to understanding the process of building a hegemonic project for the Brazilian nation in which public education occupies a strategic role. The analysis focuses on the business class's role in policy formulation and social mobilization. We examine the extent to which the actions and policies of the TPE create a new configuration of the public sphere. To this end, we analyze the TPE's significance as a new social force that combines public, private and popular demands and proposals for education as a means to become a central player in political disputes currently shaping Brazil. In the course of the research, we observed the TPE relying on powerful communication backed by solid technical support to advance its positions and proposals with a high degree of articulation within all three branches of the state's power. Finally, the form in which the TPE was structured - a pact between entrepreneurs, the service sector and the government - contributes to the blurring of class conflict and class divisions, making the understanding of reality more complex, especially regarding the tenuous line between the public and the private, and making the distinction between social rights and individual rights less clear. This group's proposals contribute to maintaining the possibility of aligning market practices with social justice as a means to integrate and promote agreements for supposed common interests between different social classes. / Mestrado / Ciencias Sociais na Educação / Mestra em Educação

Abstract The post-war educational reform implemented in Japan by the American occupation forces has been studied widely, and this study discusses the reform policy in the light of American wartime planning process. Wartime American interest in the imperial educational system was first awakened in the context of psychological warfare and all information that might help in gaining victory was gathered. Japan capitulated unconditionally in August 1945, and the plans made for a combat situation were revised for the new circumstances of occupation. During the war the most crucial problems were, on the other hand, finding Japanese who would be responsive to the reform policy, and on the other, persuading the Japanese to be responsive. The invitation of the United States Education Mission to Japan, which consisted of distinguished educators that visited Japan in March 1946, proved to be the catalyst for acceptance of reforms. The report of recommendations of the Mission was also utilised in justifying reform policy for the Allied partners and for aligning the American officials who were responsible for implementing the reforms. The new educational legislation came into effect in the 1st of April, 1947. The wartime aims were essentially attained. The indoctrination of militarism and ultra-nationalism was abolished and replaced by an extended compulsory education, which emphasized individualism and aimed at the extensive alteration of Japanese society. / Tiivistelmä Japanissa toisen maailmansodan jälkeen amerikkalaisten toimesta toteutettua koulujärjestelmän uudistamista on tutkittu varsin laajasti, mutta tällä tutkimuksella avataan uusi näkökulma aiheeseen aloittamalla tarkastelu toisen maailmansodan aikana Yhdysvalloissa muotoutuneista näkemyksistä Japanin koulujärjestelmästä sekä siihen kohdistetuista haltuunotto- ja muutossuunnitelmista. Sodanaikainen kiinnostus keisarillista koulujärjestelmää kohtaan lähti liikkeelle psykologisen sodankäynnin tarpeista sekä niiden toimenpiteiden valmistelusta, joilla vihollismaan koulujärjestelmä otetaan amerikkalaisjoukkojen haltuun Japanin pääsaarista käytävien taisteluiden aikana. Suunnitelmat säilyivät pääpiirteissään samoina, vaikka Japani antautui ehdoitta elokuussa 1945, eivätkä amerikkalaiset joutuneet pystyttämään miehityshallintoa taistelutilanteessa. Jo sodan aikana koulujärjestelmän muuttamisen vaikeudeksi oli ennakoitu japanilaisten vastustus sekä uudistuspolitiikalle myötämielisten japanilaisten löytämisen vaikeus. Maaliskuussa 1946 Japanissa vierailleen arvostetuista amerikkalaisista koulutuksen ammattilaisista kootun koulutuslähetystön roolin ja sen jättämän suositusraportin merkitys avautuu nimenomaan sodanaikaisen suunnittelutyön valossa. Koulutuslähetystöä ei tarvittu muotoilemaan koulu-uudistuspolitiikkaa vaan avustamaan japanilaisten tekemisessä suopeiksi koulujärjestelmän uudistusta kohtaan. Koulutuslähetystön suositusraporttia käytettiin myös koulu-uudistustoimien perustelemisessa muille liittoutuneille sekä riviensuoristajana miehityshallinnon koulu-uudistuksen toimeenpanosta vastaavien keskuudessa. Uudet koululait, joilla kumottiin sodanaikaiset koulutusta määränneet säädökset, astuivat voimaan huhtikuun 1. päivänä 1947. Näin sodanaikana määritellyt tavoitteet oli pääpiirteissään saavutettu: koulutus militarismin ja äärinationalismin kanavana ja yhteiskuntaryhmiä erilleen sosiaalistavana mekanismina oli murrettu ja tilalle oli luotu laajennettu yksiön oikeuksia korostanut oppivelvollisuus, jolla pyrittiin laaja-alaisesti japanilaisen yhteiskunnan muuttamiseen.

This diploma thesis tries to analyze the system of tertiary education financing in the Czech Republic. First part analyses tertiary education as an economic good. The following part shows the main problems of the current financing system in the Czech Republic and through empirical research and many international comparisons proves the importance of changes. It introduces one way how to solve the current state -- income-contingent repayment schemes -- which can work efficiently in case of properly parameter settings. The last part brings the general principles of the reform of higher education in the Czech Republic.

Orientador: Agueda Bernardete Bittencourt / Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Faculdade de Educação / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-26T14:07:29Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Barbosa_LarissaPaivaRossetti_M.pdf: 4351353 bytes, checksum: 2510acf0d6fdbd73202819006aeaea34 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2014 / Resumo: O domínio da língua materna se apresenta como um dos capitais exigidos e construídos socioculturalmente, uma vez que se expressar na língua oficial não é algo natural ¿ muito pelo contrário, diferencia os indivíduos. Diante desse cenário, nota-se a existência de discursos políticos e projetos de lei que consideram a antecipação do ingresso no Ensino Fundamental um meio para impulsionar a democratização e a qualidade do ensino. Este estudo realiza um levantamento de representantes do âmbito político e acadêmico que consideram a expansão e a antecipação do acesso escolar um meio para melhorar as oportunidades e a qualidade do ensino. Para tanto, esta pesquisa apoia-se nos trabalhos apresentados em dois dos principais congressos de educação do país (COLE e ANPEd), nas teses e dissertações das Faculdades de Educação da UNICAMP, USP e UFMG e na análise das trajetórias de políticos que defendem essa proposta, para compreender como se dá o debate sobre o tema, tanto no âmbito político quanto no acadêmico / Abstract: The domain of the mother language is presented as one of the required capital and it is socio-culturally constructed, considering that express the official language is not natural - quite the contrary, differentiates individuals. Given this scene, can be observed the existence of political speeches and Law Projects that consider an anticipation of admission in elementary school a means to boost democratization and quality of teaching. This study conducts a survey of political and academic representatives that consider the expansion and anticipation of school access a way to improve opportunities and quality of education. To do so, this research builds on the work presented in two major education conferences in the country (COLE and ANPEd), theses and dissertations of Colleges of Education at UNICAMP, USP and UFMG and analysis of trajectories of politicians who advocate this proposal, to understand how is the debate on the subject, both in the political sphere as in academia / Mestrado / Educação, Conhecimento, Linguagem e Arte / Mestra em Educação

As education reform initiatives around the world are becoming more focused on developing teacher professional development and school professional learning communities (PLCs), the role of school principal leadership in implementing reforms related to the government vision of teacher professional development and school PLC has come to be seen as important. This has also led to the establishment of leadership training programmes for school principals to assist these principals with their new role as leaders of school reform implementation. The purpose of this thesis is to examine the school principals' roles in leading teacher professional development in four public schools in similar socio-economic contexts, but with different levels of learner achievement, within the greater Cape Town area. Towards this end, the thesis relates professional development practices to the relevant policy - the Integrated Strategic Planning Framework for Teacher Professional Education and Development (the 'Framework'), to the Advanced Certificate of Education: School of Management and Leadership (ACE-SML) training curriculum and to the idea of a professional learning community, which is promoted by this policy and this training course. The research reported in this thesis draws on Pierre Bourdieu's concepts of field, habitus, capital, and doxa to conceptualise and describe the relationships between the various players and the ways in which these relationships affect teacher professional development practices and school PLC culture in the participating schools. Findings from this research reveal similarities and differences between the schools with regard to the roles of school senior leaders and the schools' approaches to teacher professional development practices. Ironically, government policy is taken less seriously in the three schools that achieve higher learning outcomes than in the school that achieves weaker outcomes. Instead of conforming to the policy, the approach in each of the three higher achieving schools is based on the history and values of the particular school, the preferences of the principals and whether or not the principal attended the school management and leadership training course.

The purpose of this study was to examine the use of the teacher portfolio as an evaluation of professional development in Utah's new teacher licensing--the Early Year's Enhancement (EYE) program. This study explored teacher perceptions of the value of the portfolio. Results of the study identified the perceived value of teacher portfolios related to: (a) accuracy as an evaluation tool, (b) usefulness with respect to teacher professional growth, (c) feasibility with regard to teacher time, and (d) appropriateness related to the effect of portfolios on teaching practices. It also identified the relationship of the teacher's perceived value and the required district portfolio format, teaching assignment, age of teacher, number of years teaching, district employed by, district training in portfolio development, and district use of the portfolio. Using a mixed method survey design, data were collected from the new teachers who had completed the EYE evaluation in the 40 school districts of Utah during the 4 years since its implementation. Teacher surveys developed by Tucker, Stronge, and Gareis were adapted, delivered electronically, and utilized to provide both quantitative and qualitative data. Telephone interviews with the district EYE contact provided additional information for the study. The results of the study indicated that new teachers perceived the EYE portfolio as minimally effective as an accurate, useful, feasible, and appropriate tool for measuring professional development. A relationship was found in the teacher's assignment, age, district, portfolio training level, and the district's use of the portfolio and their perception of value. Teachers identified self-reflection as an important advantage and the time requirement as a critical disadvantage of the portfolio process.