Education & Pedagogy

This book presents the current advances and emerging trends in digital technologies for learning and education through a number of invited chapters on key research areas. It addresses information and communications technology (ICT) in a global context, reporting on emerging trends and issues in four areas -- basic education, technical and vocational education, distance and continuing education and higher education --, as these four areas represent the primary contexts in which ICT is used to support learning and instruction. This book provides a brief overview of the potential benefits of ICT used in education and some of the best approaches in which different ICTs have been used in education thus far in a global context. It also presents the expertise and the most current research and practices of recognized international educators and researchers in the field of ICT in education. Third, this volume is both informative and transformative in its coverage of the conceptual and practical impact of technology on current educational practices, making it a valuable resource for policymakers, educators and educational researchers around the globe.

This document records testimony from a hearing held to examine the federal government's mismanagement of Native American schools. The hearing is part of an effort to begin addressing the challenges facing Native American schools so that every child in every school can receive an excellent education. Member statements were presented by: (1) Honorable John Kline, Chairman Committee on Education and the Workforce, U.S. House of Representatives; and (2) Honorable Robert C. Scott, Ranking Member, Committee on Education and the Workforce, U.S. House of Representatives. Witness statements were presented by: (1) Dr. Charles Roessel, Bureau of Indian Education, Department of the Interior, Washington, DC; and (2) William Mendoza, Executive Director, White House Initiative on American Indian and Alaska Native Education, Department of Education, Washington, DC. Additional submissions include: (1) Questions submitted for the record by the Honorable Glenn Thompson, a Representative in Congress from the state of Pennsylvania; and (2) Responses to questions submitted for the record by the Bureau of Indian Education.

Post-secondary education is claimed to have long-term life benefits for all individuals. However, little is known in terms of how post-secondary education assists ex-inmates to live crime-free. The aim of the present study was to explore how post-secondary education independently and directly came to assist ex-inmates to live crime-free. Participants (n=20) in the study were male ex-inmates living crime-free. Comprehensive education-related information in terms of school experiences, learning trajectories and educational history/background was collected for each of the participants. The study found that only few participants (20%) who continued post-secondary post-prison education not only remained crime-free but had a positive pathway post-release. Gaining post-secondary qualifications appeared to position ex-inmates in a socially cultured academic environment away from anti-social and negative at-risk communities directly assisting them to live crime-free. Consequently post-secondary education appears to reposition ex-inmates into a crime-free post-prison pathway. Hence, prison education (i.e. education programs delivered in prison) for inmates should be organized and/or facilitated toward post-secondary education with a multifaceted lifelong learning pathways.

This study combines information from British Columbia administrative school data, the Postsecondary Student Information System, and the Registered Apprenticeship Information System to analyze the postsecondary and apprenticeship enrolment rates of high school graduates with and without special education needs, in the six years following graduation. The report answers four questions: (1) Are high school graduates with certain types of special education needs less likely to attend postsecondary education than graduates without special education needs? (2) Are graduates with certain types of special education needs more likely to delay entering postsecondary education? (3) If so, does the gap in enrolment close over time? and (4) Are graduates with certain types of special education needs more or less likely to follow certain programs of study (e.g., apprenticeships versus undergraduate degree programs) than graduates without special education needs? Although gifted status is considered to be a special education need in British Columbia, graduates with gifted status are excluded from this analysis. Preliminary analysis suggested that graduates with gifted status generally have different patterns of postsecondary enrolment than graduates with other special education needs.

This book presents a comprehensive overview of selected research concerning global and comparative trends in dominant discourses on human rights education. Using diverse paradigms, ranging from critical theory to historical-comparative research, the book examines major human rights education reforms and policy issues in a global culture with a focus on the ambivalent and problematic relationship between human rights education discourses, ideology and the state. Further, it discusses democracy, national identity, and social justice, which are among the most critical and significant factors defining and contextualising the processes surrounding nation-building, identity politics and human rights education globally, and also critiques current human rights education practices and policy reforms, illustrating the shifts in the relationship between the state and human rights education policy. Written by authors from diverse backgrounds and regions, the book examines current developments in research concerning human rights education, and citizenship education globally. As such it enables readers to gain a more holistic understanding of the nexus between nation-state, national identity and human rights education both locally and globally. It also provides an easily accessible, practical yet scholarly insights into international concerns in the field of human rights education in the context of global culture.

On March 10, 2006, the National Education Association (NEA) and the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) joined forces and convened an Education Summit in Denver, Colorado. The purpose of the Summit was to have participants (mainly community activists) discuss and provide information and strategies as to how educators and policy makers might improve the educational status of Hispanic students. In order to facilitate the discussion over the two-day Summit, NEA and LULAC staff identified five areas for discussion: (1) Innovative classroom strategies for Hispanic students; (2) School funding and educators' professional development; (3) Early childhood education and postsecondary education; (4) Immigration, migrant education, and English language learner politics; and (5) Early childhood education and higher education The purpose of this report is to examine the status of Hispanic education by integrating the results from the Denver Summit with the information provided by the available research about each of the above five topics. The following are appended: (1) Methodology; (2) State Distribution of Hispanic Population 1980 to 2004; and (3) Definitions of Proficiency Levels for Math, Reading, and Science NAEP Scores.

The purpose of this study was to test whether co-teaching had an impact on special education students achievement in the areas of reading comprehension and fluency. The study was conducted in a south-west suburban Chicago elementary school, and data from special education students at the school were discrepant from their nondisabled peers. This study implemented co-teaching and measured the impact it had on special education students. All special education students remained in the general education classroom with their nondisabled peers, with a special education teacher co-teaching along with the general education teacher. Previously, special education students had been pulled out of the general education classroom and provided instruction in a separate setting, at a specific level of instruction. The study found that students with individualized education plans (IEPs), placed in a co-taught general education classroom, showed no significant change in their growth in the areas of reading comprehension and reading fluency. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]

It is hoped that this year will be marked in history as the year when the world agreed on an ambitious global plan to eradicate poverty and ensure that all children have access to a high-quality basic education. This report focuses on how a subset of the targets related to basic education--that is, that all children should complete high-quality pre-primary, primary and lower secondary education--can be financed. It reviews the financing efforts for the education sector in developing countries during the past decade and assesses what will be required in the coming years to reach the basic education goals by 2030. The authors draw on variety of data sources as well as five country case studies--for Afghanistan, Lebanon, Malawi, Nigeria and Pakistan. Based on their findings, they conclude with four opportunities for global action. Three annexes are included: (1) Projected Total Annual Cost, Domestic Public Spending and Aid for Basic Education in 2020, per Child, constant 2012 dollars; (2) Goal 4 of the United Nations General Assembly's Open Working Group on Sustainable Development Goals: Ensure Inclusive and Equitable High-Quality Education and Promote Lifelong Learning Opportunities for All; and (3) Methodology.

An illuminating account of a widespread problem that has received little attention, "Racial Inequity in Education" sets the stage for a more fruitful discussion about special education and racial justice. An illuminating account of a widespread problem that has received little attention, "Racial Inequity in Education" sets the stage for a more fruitful discussion about special education and racial justice. Racial inequities pervade special education in U.S. schools today. Minority children-especially African Americans-are far more likely than white children to be designated mentally retarded or emotionally disturbed and therefore in need of special education. Even when appropriately placed in special education classes, minority children often receive poorer services than disabled white children. This book explores the inequities experienced by minority schoolchildren in special education. These issues are examined as problems in their own right, and as reflections of persistent racial inequities in our system of public education. "Racial Inequity in Special Education" describes the scope of these problems, and provides a comprehensive review of attempts by legislators, child advocates, and educational and civil rights enforcement agencies to address these complex issues. The authors outline essential areas for further research and dialogue. [Foreword by Senator James M. Jeffords.]

National government education policies in Australia and elsewhere are concerned with preparing citizens who can engage with a global economy and be internationally competitive. For example, the preamble to The Melbourne Declaration (Ministerial Council on Education Employment Training & Youth Affairs [MCEETYA], 2008) focuses on the need for young Australians in the 21st century to consider the global implications of their education. Topics relevant to global education have long been established in social studies syllabi, but the current context provides a strong argument for their inclusion more broadly throughout school curricula. For this to occur, teachers must be adequately prepared, have a good understanding of what global education (GE) is, and how to teach it effectively. A group of teacher educators at one University integrate global perspectives into various teacher education courses in order to raise the profile of global education with pre-service teachers. Research through surveys shows that students' preferred learning directions are not always aligned with GE principles, but awareness of pre-service teacher views on global education has provided direction needed to create better prepared teachers of GE. (Contains 2 tables.)

This study of Poland's Institutions of Higher Education is one of a series undertaken at the request of the American Association of Collegiate Registrars. Other publications completed and now available in the series relate to Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. While care has been taken to include in it the data that the Collegiate Registrars need about the Polish institutions, the scope of the study is wide enough to make it useful to students of the general field of comparative education, especially those who wish to learn of the part that higher education plays in the national life of Poland. The following chapters are included: (1) Organization of instruction; (2) Academic schools; (3) The classical universities; (4) Technical institutions; (5) Schools of agriculture and veterinary medicines; (6) Schools of commerce, foreign cultures, political science, and journalism; (7) Teacher-training institutions; (8) A school of dentistry; (9) Schools of fine arts, music, and dramatics; and (10) Schools of national defense. A bibliography is included. Statistical data for the year 1933-34 is appended. (Contains 49 tables.) [Best copy available has been provided.]

Patterns and trends in the participation of African Americans in higher education in California were studied using data collected by the California Postsecondary Education Commission and the California Department of Education on high school preparation, high school completion, and college enrollment across public and private sectors of California higher education. Using a river or pipeline analogy, the study shows that the chronic under representation of African Americans in California higher education results from historical, deep, systematic, and persistent racial inequities in K-12 educational opportunities and restricted flow or access into postsecondary programs. California leads the United States in the total number of African Americans enrolled in higher education, although the proportion of African American students enrolled in higher education continues to decline. Close to 76% of all African Americans in public elementary school graduate from high school, but only 13% go on to graduate from institutions in the California state higher education systems. Higher education opportunities in California parallel a racial apartheid system and reflect extreme socioeconomic inequities. An excellent and accessible public higher education system fueled California's meteoric economic prosperity, and the diminished and declining opportunities for African Americans in California higher education threaten the state's economic, democratic, and cultural vibrancy. (Contains 36 figures and 24 references.) (SLD)

This document contains four reports detailing a four-phase research project on Alaska Natives' attitudes and values toward education. A literature review examines the history of Native education in Alaska, issues in research on American Indian and Alaska Native education, dropout studies, student assessment, language and culture, learning styles, teaching styles and teacher training, distance learning and technology-based education, parent and community involvement, and higher education. The other three reports present findings of interviews with Alaska Native educational and cultural experts; a random telephone survey of 1,000 Alaska Native households; and focus groups with students, parents, and elders in Anchorage and rural Aniak and with business representatives and human services personnel. Common themes that arose across the four studies included barriers to education for Alaska Native students, the role of language and culture in education, family and community problems contributing to the high Native dropout rate, racism in urban schools, high teacher turnover and poor teacher quality in rural schools, and the need for parent and community involvement in schools. Appendices contain 147 references, a list of relevant educational Web sites, and breakdowns of focus group findings by group type. (SV)

This second volume in the series "Advances in Foreign and Second Language Pedagogy" is an introduction to the pedagogy of language learning in higher education focusing on learner motivation, classroom environments, relationships for learning, and the future of language education. The book reveals numerous links to language education on the secondary level. Fifteen authors for the United States, Australia, and Germany contribute articles on issues such as the political agenda of institutions of higher education, artistic and aesthetic practice, language across the curriculum, service learning, adult education, intercultural awareness through electronic media, extra-curricular consultation, and language learning outreach. These pedagogical issues are related to teaching Portuguese, Spanish, Russian, Japanese, French, German, and English as a second or foreign language. The book is divided into four parts (Learner Motivation, Classroom Environments, Relationships for Learning, and Preparing the Future of Language Education) and 15 chapters. Author and subject indices are included. (References appear at the end of each chapter) (KFT)

This is the fourth in a series of reports focusing on diversity in teacher education student enrollments. Collectively, the surveys span a decade and provide a quantitative description of the teaching force for the next century. The report provides data for discerning the discipline areas that have the greatest need for educators of color, noting the state and regional productivity of prospective teachers and students. Data come from many sources, including the U.S. Department of Education Schools and Staffing Survey of the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), the NCES Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System surveys; and the American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education (AACTE) teacher education survey. The study identified the number of students in the teacher education pipeline by race/ethnicity and gender. Researchers mailed the survey to all schools, colleges and departments of education (SCDE) from several rosters and received 1,026 usable responses (a 52.1 percent response rate). This report presents: a national profile summary; data on postbaccalaureate enrollment; SCDE doctoral enrollment data; regional summaries (northeast, southeast, central, and western regions); SCDE undergraduate program enrollment summary; and SCDE graduate-level program enrollment summary. The three appendixes present technical notes, response rates, and the survey instrument. (SM)