Using integrated threat theory as a theoretical framework, this multiple case study analyzed the effects of threat and the perception of threat from immigrants on the attitudes of teachers toward their elementary school students. The study was conducted with teachers at five northern California schools. All of the teachers were experienced and well-trained, teaching in low-income neighborhoods with large immigrant populations. In support of integrated threat theory’s premise, results indicated that where threat was present or perceived, teachers’ words and reported teaching behavior indicated prejudicial attitudes toward students. The lack of threat corresponded to a lack of bias. It was found that teaching behavior that reflected prejudicial attitudes affected a number of areas of instruction. Specifically, teachers spent less time in informal interaction with students, limiting their familiarity with the children. Curricular decisions were affected in subtle ways, and there were examples of implicit bias in interaction. The report concludes with recommendations for practice and further research. Recommendations for policy are particularly important, as teacher education programs and school districts are both able to provide anti-bias training.

A partir de uma análise conceitual de usos aparentemente consensuais do termo qualidade no campo da educação e apoiado sobretudo no conceito de público em Hannah Arendt, o presente trabalho discute a validade do que se denomina aqui narrativa instrumental da qualidade em educação. Essa narrativa se assenta na definição de qualidade restrita a determinados resultados obtidos pelos alunos, em termos de seu rendimento cognitivo, em avaliações de larga escala e à utilidade que porventura tenham esses resultados para a esfera social, conseqüência da indefinição dos limites entre as esferas pública e privada, típica da Modernidade. Os pressupostos dessa narrativa utilitária se fundam em fins extrínsecos à própria educação escolar, relegando-a à condição de um simples meio para a satisfação de necessidades antes criadas por uma sociedade de consumo do que legitimamente estabelecidas por uma discussão de caráter eminentemente público e político. É como se o valor da escola pudesse ser estimado pela riqueza ou pelo status social que proporciona aos indivíduos ou pelo desenvolvimento econômico que pode acarretar. Nesses termos, a formação escolar se vê reduzida a atender a interesses socialmente valorizados, supostamente capazes de viabilizar as condições para se obterem mais e melhores resultados, alimentando um fluxo sem sentido. A essa visão utilitária, opõe-se a vocação da educação escolar pública, que, reconhece a natalidade e a iniciação no mundo humano como seu fundamento e assume a responsabilidade por esse mundo sob a forma da autoridade a partir de uma herança pública e comum. Nessa perspectiva, a escola tem uma dupla responsabilidade: a preservação das tradições de conhecimento e formas de vida de um mundo preexistente do qual os recémchegados vão se apropriando e a possibilidade de agir sobre esse mundo, renovando-o. / From a conceptual analysis of apparently consensual use of the word \"quality\" in the field of education and especially supported by the concept of public in Hannah Arendt, this work discusses the validity of what is called here instrumental narrative in quality education. This narrative is based on the definition of quality restricted to certain results obtained by the students in terms of their cognitive performance in large-scale evaluations and the usefulness that might have these results for the social sphere, a consequence of the lack of boundaries between public and private spheres, typical of Modernity. The assumptions of such narrative are based on utilitarian purposes extrinsic to the school education, relegating it to the condition for a simple means to the satisfaction of needs before created by a society of consumption than legitimately established by a discussion of highly public and political character. It is as if the value of the school could be estimated by wealth or social status that gives individuals or the economic development that may entail. Accordingly, the school can be seen reduced to meet the interests socially valued, supposedly capable of enabling conditions for obtaining more and better results, feeding a stream senseless. That utilitarian view, is opposed to the vocation of public school education, which recognizes the birth and initiation in the human world as its basis and take over this world in the form of authority from a public and common heritage. Accordingly, the school has a dual responsibility: preserving the traditions of knowledge and ways of life of an existing world which the newcomers will be appropriating - and the ability to act on this world, renewing it.

A partir de uma análise conceitual de usos aparentemente consensuais do termo qualidade no campo da educação e apoiado sobretudo no conceito de público em Hannah Arendt, o presente trabalho discute a validade do que se denomina aqui narrativa instrumental da qualidade em educação. Essa narrativa se assenta na definição de qualidade restrita a determinados resultados obtidos pelos alunos, em termos de seu rendimento cognitivo, em avaliações de larga escala e à utilidade que porventura tenham esses resultados para a esfera social, conseqüência da indefinição dos limites entre as esferas pública e privada, típica da Modernidade. Os pressupostos dessa narrativa utilitária se fundam em fins extrínsecos à própria educação escolar, relegando-a à condição de um simples meio para a satisfação de necessidades antes criadas por uma sociedade de consumo do que legitimamente estabelecidas por uma discussão de caráter eminentemente público e político. É como se o valor da escola pudesse ser estimado pela riqueza ou pelo status social que proporciona aos indivíduos ou pelo desenvolvimento econômico que pode acarretar. Nesses termos, a formação escolar se vê reduzida a atender a interesses socialmente valorizados, supostamente capazes de viabilizar as condições para se obterem mais e melhores resultados, alimentando um fluxo sem sentido. A essa visão utilitária, opõe-se a vocação da educação escolar pública, que, reconhece a natalidade e a iniciação no mundo humano como seu fundamento e assume a responsabilidade por esse mundo sob a forma da autoridade a partir de uma herança pública e comum. Nessa perspectiva, a escola tem uma dupla responsabilidade: a preservação das tradições de conhecimento e formas de vida de um mundo preexistente do qual os recémchegados vão se apropriando e a possibilidade de agir sobre esse mundo, renovando-o. / From a conceptual analysis of apparently consensual use of the word \"quality\" in the field of education and especially supported by the concept of public in Hannah Arendt, this work discusses the validity of what is called here instrumental narrative in quality education. This narrative is based on the definition of quality restricted to certain results obtained by the students in terms of their cognitive performance in large-scale evaluations and the usefulness that might have these results for the social sphere, a consequence of the lack of boundaries between public and private spheres, typical of Modernity. The assumptions of such narrative are based on utilitarian purposes extrinsic to the school education, relegating it to the condition for a simple means to the satisfaction of needs before created by a society of consumption than legitimately established by a discussion of highly public and political character. It is as if the value of the school could be estimated by wealth or social status that gives individuals or the economic development that may entail. Accordingly, the school can be seen reduced to meet the interests socially valued, supposedly capable of enabling conditions for obtaining more and better results, feeding a stream senseless. That utilitarian view, is opposed to the vocation of public school education, which recognizes the birth and initiation in the human world as its basis and take over this world in the form of authority from a public and common heritage. Accordingly, the school has a dual responsibility: preserving the traditions of knowledge and ways of life of an existing world which the newcomers will be appropriating - and the ability to act on this world, renewing it.

A study was undertaken to explore what constitutes instructional capacity in the teaching and learning of mathematics (TLM), with a focus on how schools (as institutions of teaching and learning) integrate resources for a particular configuration of capacity to promote high achievement levels of Grade 12 students in mathematics. Data were collected in ten public secondary schools, mostly in a disadvantaged context, in the Vhembe District in Limpopo Province, South Africa. The study explores strategies for constructing, organising and replenishing instructional capacity in TLM. Five low- and five high-performing schools were selected, based on the pass rate in mathematics in high stakes examinations. The researcher observed lessons and interviewed ten Grade 12 mathematics teachers, ten principals, five curriculum advisors and a sample of forty Grade 12 mathematics students. The research revealed that the capacity to encourage the new curriculum reform practices in TLM within different schools is often inadequate, and largely fails to compensate for organisational effects and arrangements that shape the capacity to create quality instruction in mathematics. However, high-performing schools were somewhat ahead of low-performing schools in terms of encouraging reform-oriented teaching and learning in mathematics. Recommendations include: Principals should initiate the development and implementation of a school-based clinical supervision programme through collaborative decision-making to promote a sense of ownership by all mathematics teachers. Such a supervision programme would enhance commitment and ensure that all efforts are unified towards improving the quality of TLM. There is a need for the DoE in Limpopo Province to coordinate teacher professional development workshops, where effective practising mathematics teachers model how they teach mathematics in the classroom, while other teachers observe. Context-based strategies to enhance student outcomes in mathematics should be devised, such as modelling good practice by effective teachers in terms of: lesson preparation; subject knowledge; pedagogic approach; assessment and monitoring of classroom practice, including direct observation of teaching by HoDs and principals. It is proposed that attention to these issues, amongst others, would limit the impact of an unpromising context on student achievement levels in mathematics in high stakes examinations in the Vhembe District and elsewhere. / Mathematics Education / D. Phil. (Mathematics, Science and Technology Education)

A study was undertaken to explore what constitutes instructional capacity in the teaching and learning of mathematics (TLM), with a focus on how schools (as institutions of teaching and learning) integrate resources for a particular configuration of capacity to promote high achievement levels of Grade 12 students in mathematics. Data were collected in ten public secondary schools, mostly in a disadvantaged context, in the Vhembe District in Limpopo Province, South Africa. The study explores strategies for constructing, organising and replenishing instructional capacity in TLM. Five low- and five high-performing schools were selected, based on the pass rate in mathematics in high stakes examinations. The researcher observed lessons and interviewed ten Grade 12 mathematics teachers, ten principals, five curriculum advisors and a sample of forty Grade 12 mathematics students. The research revealed that the capacity to encourage the new curriculum reform practices in TLM within different schools is often inadequate, and largely fails to compensate for organisational effects and arrangements that shape the capacity to create quality instruction in mathematics. However, high-performing schools were somewhat ahead of low-performing schools in terms of encouraging reform-oriented teaching and learning in mathematics. Recommendations include: Principals should initiate the development and implementation of a school-based clinical supervision programme through collaborative decision-making to promote a sense of ownership by all mathematics teachers. Such a supervision programme would enhance commitment and ensure that all efforts are unified towards improving the quality of TLM. There is a need for the DoE in Limpopo Province to coordinate teacher professional development workshops, where effective practising mathematics teachers model how they teach mathematics in the classroom, while other teachers observe. Context-based strategies to enhance student outcomes in mathematics should be devised, such as modelling good practice by effective teachers in terms of: lesson preparation; subject knowledge; pedagogic approach; assessment and monitoring of classroom practice, including direct observation of teaching by HoDs and principals. It is proposed that attention to these issues, amongst others, would limit the impact of an unpromising context on student achievement levels in mathematics in high stakes examinations in the Vhembe District and elsewhere. / Mathematics Education / D. Phil. (Mathematics, Science and Technology Education)