Suchergebnisse

Considers the politics behind recent US efforts to publicly finance private education in the form of school vouchers or tax relief, suggesting that these proposals are marked by a consistently high-handed use of state power to intervene in the affairs of private education. In small-scale experiments with these tools, it has been found that they routinely become a kind of transfer payment from the middle & working classes to the inner-city poor overseen by state bureaucrats. Efforts to privatize education are doomed because they do not account for the fact that education has become a primary vehicle of social indoctrination that the managerial state is loathe to relinquish. Thus, the privatization of schooling will fail because a political space does not now exist in which it might succeed. Comparison of the US with Europe, where the administrative state has been more naturalized, illuminates the difficulties privatization boosters face. Given these difficulties, it may be more useful to promote social change by advocating governmental support for parochial institutions through the distribution of highly restricted grants. D. Ryfe

The report provides an overview of the educational system in Germany in terms of childcare, primary and secondary schooling and vocational training. It is characterized by German federalism, causing a diversity of structures. Compulsory education in Germany covers nine or ten years of schooling. Depending on their educational attainment in primary school, children attend different forms of secondary schools. Higher education is generally accessible for all students with Abitur or equivalent diploma. Based on human rights and international law, refugees should have full access to education in Germany. In practice, access to education depends on federal structures, locally available facilities, residence titles and language capacity. Refugee children are underrepresented in childcare facilities, whereas their participation in primary and secondary schooling is mainly ensured. However, education is often restricted within the first months of their stay and in some Länder schooling for refugees takes place separately from the regular school system. Access to vocational training has recently been opened to refugees, even if some limitations remain. The state has introduced assistance measures for refugees. Social organizations and volunteers provide language tutoring, homework assistance, training and qualification.

This concise volume presents a series of conversations conducted by its editor with internationally renowned educators, scholars and social critics. The primary focus is on a set of important social and cultural issues and the complex nature of the global contemporary crises in higher education and economics, and the values and goals educational institutions pursue and produce. Contributors to this volume discuss why the present systems of higher education are ailing almost everywhere, and which remedies have turned out to be their poison.The contributions here investigate how and why universities and the knowledge they seek have become hostages to an ideology based on neoliberalism, economism and a fundamentalism of the market. These ideologies have reshaped higher education and contributed to its commodification and commercialization, transforming educational institutions according to a model that originated in the domains of global business enterprises. Bureaucratization and the growth of a managerial class in higher education have led to universities that focus on what is purportedly marketable, while neglecting the commitment to the pursuit of truth, the education of character and the cultivation of civic values that informed older educational models. The contributors to this book argue, from many different angles, for resistance to these recent developments within higher education.

Evolution and Religion in American Education shines a light into one of America's dark educational corners, exposing the regressive pedagogy that can invade science classrooms when school boards and state overseers take their eyes off the ball. It sets out to examine the development of college students' attitudes towards biological evolution through their lives. The fascinating insights provided by interviewing students about their world views adds up to a compelling case for additional scrutiny of the way young people's educational experiences unfold as they consider--and indeed in some cases

AbstractLocal school boards have primary authority for running educational systems in the U.S., but little is known empirically about the merits of this arrangement. State takeovers of struggling districts represent a rare alternative form of educational governance and have become an increasingly common response to low performance. However, limited research explores whether this effectively improves student outcomes. We track all takeovers nationwide from the late 1980s, when the first takeovers occurred, through 2016 and describe takeover districts. While these districts are low performing, we find academic performance plays less of a role in predicting takeover for districts serving larger concentrations of African American students. We then use a new data source allowing for cross‐state comparisons of student outcomes to estimate the effect of takeovers that occurred between 2011 and 2016. On average, we find no evidence that takeover generates academic benefits. Takeover appears to be disruptive in the early years of takeover, particularly to English Language Arts achievement, although the longer‐term effects are less clear. We also observe considerable heterogeneity of effects across districts. Takeovers were least effective in districts with higher baseline achievement and least harmful in majority‐Hispanic communities. Leaders should be cautious about using state takeover without considering local context and a better understanding of why some takeovers are more effective than others.