The need to spur innovation and improve student performance initiated the formation of, under different legislative acts, charter schools that include variations of traditional public schools. With the enthusiasm and level of investment going into the formation of charter schools, it is necessary to explore whether these schools have achieved their objectives. This study explored whether Texas open enrollment charter schools perform bettered compared to Texas public schools. The study applied a causal comparative quantitative research design. School data on graduation and dropout rates, college preparation, attendance rates, and overall performance were analyzed quantitatively. Student achievement data available for statistical analysis includes student performance on the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (TAKS) state assessment from 2007 to 2011. Data analysis for race, special programs, at risk, economically disadvantaged, and limited English proficiency was incorporated. Descriptive statistics and analysis of variance techniques were included in the data analysis. The analysis extended to post hoc tests to determine variables that caused variation. The study found Texas open-enrollment charter schools had more African American students but fewer Whites compared to public schools. Students in public schools performed better than those in charter schools, and Whites yielded the best performance. Charter schools had high dropout rates, low attendance, and low graduation rates, while public schools had low dropout rates, high attendance, and high graduation rates. Finally, public schools had more students ready for college than charter schools.

This research study examined the perceptions of school administrators and of historic site directors toward the function of the sites in the public school curriculum. In-depth, personal interviews were conducted, tape-recorded, and transcribed at six selected sites, representing the various ethnic historic settlements of Texas, a variety of population densities, each of the major physical geographic regions, and different economic levels in the state. Data analysis involved careful study of the taped interviews, comparisons of responses given by people of similar roles, and comparisons of responses regarding the same site. Documentation of elements of the historic sites, of programs offered, of participation of the local school district in programs, and of written school policies were examined. The perceptions of the interviewees along with recommendations for changes were noted. Responses varied from expressed impression of students who are steeped in local history and are bored with their heritage, to enthusiastic positive opinions that the prosperity of the community is directly related to the strong identification of the citizens with its local history. The role of local history and of specific sites in the curriculum of the public schools is not consistent in Texas. This research study suggests that positive gains are possible if communication between local historic site/park/museum personnel and professional educators who are responsible for planning and implementation of school curriculum can be improved. Professional educators tend either to value local history and historic sites as part of the curriculum, or to avoid the question of meeting state mandates for classtime through the use of off-campus visits to historic sites by interpreting recent reforms to prohibit them. Professional personnel who oversee the historic sites tend to offer programs to the public schools that will meet the mandated curriculum, while adhering to the scheduling constraints of school reform legislation.

Wang, Xueju. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2011. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 255-269). / Electronic reproduction. Hong Kong : Chinese University of Hong Kong, [2012] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Abstract also in Chinese; some appendixes in Chinese.

This thesis traces the historical evolution of one of the early responses to youth crime and violence -- public school police. In addition, this thesis addresses the lack of information about the creation and implementation of a public school police force, specifically the Portland Public School Police and School District No. 1, during its formative years, 1937 to 1953. Finally, the thesis intends to address two principal questions: A) Why did the Portland Board of Education find it necessary to create their own police agency? While one opinion suggests that there was a real need for school police due to the escalating crime raking place within the school district, the other opinion suggests that the school police were created mostly for underlying political reasons rather than general public safety. B) What were the principal functions of the School Police? The initial function of the Portland Public School Police was to protect school property and reduce the monetary loss incurred by the school district. However, after 1941, when large number; of immigrants came to Portland with their school-age children, the Portland Public School Police expanded their function from property protection and reduction of monetary loss to include crime repression and protection.

The present study intends to contribute to the work undertaken in Quebec and in France on religious pluralism in the public sphere. The first section examines the common approach adopted by both States which allowed students to wear religious symbols in public schools. We then highlight the divergent approaches that emerged in 2004 when the French legislature prohibited almost entirely this practice. / The second section assesses the capacity of Quebec's and France's legal and political approaches to ensure social cohesion, to protect freedom of religion, the right to equality as well as the rights of the internal minorities who are pressured and constrained by their surroundings. Some considerations related to French universalism might be used to counterbalance the negative effects of the differentialist approach. Nevertheless, this comparative study leads us to conclude that, in Quebec, differentialism remains the path to be followed.

Public school planning and land use planning have become increasingly separated fields over the last 35 years. This results in misaligned goals when school districts do not plan facilities that support a community's land use planning goals. The result is a disjointed growth pattern where new schools are built on the urban fringe and act as a magnet for new development that often goes against desired development patterns. Previous research on school locations and development patterns has focused on institutional barriers to cooperation and strategies to help local governments cooperate better with local land use planners. To date, there has been no significant research that attempts to quantify the relationship between school location and development patterns and the transportation infrastructure necessary to serve new development. This research shows that there is a relationship between school location and new development. Four counties in Georgia were selected as case studies and analyzed with a Geographic Information System (GIS) to determine the significance of the link between these activities. Counties were selected based on their character (urban, suburban, exurban, rural) and analyzed separately. An elementary school and high school were analyzed for each county. In addition, interviews with school facility planners were conducted to further define what institutional barriers prevent cooperation among local land use planners and school planners. It was found that there is a wide range of levels of cooperation between school planners and local planners. Some school districts had a formalized communication process with local planners, some had an ad-hoc communication process, and others had no process at all. Recommendations are made on ways to improve the cooperation between these two professional fields. This thesis also examines the link between education and transportation capital funding. Georgia lawmakers are struggling to determine what type of capital funding mechanism would be appropriate for new transportation projects, but these new projects may negatively impact educational funding, which is currently based on a sales tax.

This study was prompted by the researcher’s concern that the gender equity imperative within the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, Act 108 of 1996, and within national curriculum policy in South Africa is being sidelined in school History teaching for various reasons, the most significant of which is argued to be lack of awareness of the constitutive nature of discourse within language. The main aim of the study is to investigate whether a feminist post-structuralist approach to History teaching, which focuses on multiple perspectives and open interpretation, within the framework of six key aspects of critical media education, can open up space for female voices of the past and present in order to reconstruct realist historical narratives. The literature review reflects research relating to theories which have been seminal in the development of feminist post-structuralism. The qualitative research design entails a data collection instrument which focuses on denotative and connotative analysis of textual samples selected from Grade 10 schools History textbooks used for this investigation. Data collection relates to content analysis, narrative theory, textually-oriented discourse analysis, and gender-biased language with regard to images and print. To establish the category into which each textual sample falls, individual data counts have been undertaken. A detailed analysis process reveals that all nine of the textual samples are of the conforming type which do not question patriarchal gender construction.The study offers suggestions regarding the implementation of feminist post-structuralist strategies within the context of Grade 10 outcomes-based History teaching, which is compliant with South Africa’s national curriculum policy. Notwithstanding the gaze upon the problematising of discursive gender representation in Grade 10 History teaching resources used in South African public schools, this study argues that the results have wide application across grades, levels, learning areas and subjects which are part of South Africa’s national curriculum. The researcher therefore suggests that this study offers a positive contribution to equitable gender relations in the History classroom, in education generally, and in South Africa as a whole. / Didactics / D. Ed.

This study sought to understand how the continuous formation policy of teachers of municipal schools, in Aracaju City, contributed to the inclusion of environmental education in a critical perspective. This is an exploratory qualitative research that used questionnaire and interview instruments. The data were analysed with authors that discuss environmental education and teacher training in a critical perspective. This research was based on the assumption that the pedagogic project of modernity entailed in a rationalization of the knowledge and insight of exploitation and domination of human beings on the other. This phenomenon can be explained as a civilizing crisis that can only be overcome from a new paradigm of knowledge. In the educational context, public policies are drawn up, aiming to meet the demand for training from the process of globalization and expansion of education. There is a process of decentralization of responsibilities, however remains the control through the planning and evaluation of education systems. On the results presented in the evaluations, the policies are directed to initial and ongoing training of teachers. From the analysis of public policies of environmental education, teacher education, analysis of relevant documents and testimonies of the actors involved, it was found that the public policies that guide the continuous formation of teachers at municipal Aracaju remain as a formational proposal focused only on teachers' practices, through the provision of specific courses per area of knowledge. It is concluded that the environmental training of teachers in the perspective of critical and transformative environmental education, is still a path to be trodden by teaching professionals who work on SEMED in Aracaju City. / Este estudo buscou compreender como a política de formação continuada de professores da rede municipal de ensino, em Aracaju, contribuiu para a inserção da Educação Ambiental em uma perspectiva crítica. Trata-se de uma pesquisa exploratória de abordagem qualitativa que utilizou como instrumentos o questionário e a entrevista. Os dados foram analisados à luz de autores que discutem a Educação Ambiental e a formação de professores em uma perspectiva crítica. Partiu-se do pressuposto de que o projeto pedagógico da modernidade implicou em uma racionalização do conhecimento e uma visão de exploração e dominação do ser humano sobre o outro. Tal fenômeno pode ser explicado como uma crise civilizatória que só poderá ser superada a partir de um novo paradigma de conhecimento. No contexto educacional, políticas públicas são elaboradas, visando atender a demanda de formação advinda do processo de globalização e expansão do ensino. Observa-se um processo de descentralização de responsabilidades, no entanto permanece o controle por meio do planejamento e avaliação dos sistemas de ensino. Diante dos resultados apresentados nas avaliações, as políticas são direcionadas para a formação inicial e continuada dos professores. A partir da análise das políticas públicas de Educação Ambiental, formação de professores, análise de documentos pertinentes e depoimentos dos atores envolvidos, verificou-se que as políticas públicas que orientam a formação continuada de professores na rede municipal de Aracaju permanecem como uma proposta de formação centrada apenas nas práticas dos professores, por meio da oferta de cursos pontuais por área do conhecimento. Conclui-se que a formação ambiental dos professores, na perspectiva da Educação Ambiental crítica e transformadora, ainda é um caminho a ser trilhado pelos profissionais do magistério que atuam na Secretaria Municipal de Educação (SEMED), em Aracaju.

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