Equity in Education

Some argue that supporting minoritized students’ “academic language” (AL) development fosters equity in education. Others contend that AL is hegemonic, and that attempts to teach it perpetuate inequities across racial, ethnic, social class, immigrant, and related sociocultural and linguistic student differences. In this article, we frame the topic of this special issue—interdisciplinary approaches to equity in teaching AL—and show how authors across positions and analytic methods examine the goals of teaching AL and recommend ways for educators to foster meaningful language awareness for students. Although substantive, unresolved disagreements between positions remain; we identify points of agreement as well, which we present to educators as interdisciplinary principles of equity in teaching. Namely, educators should 1) understand how language is more than just vocabulary; 2) recognize academic features in students’ everyday talk; 3) develop awareness of language and its contexts of use with students, and 4) foster critical language awareness.

ABSTRACT. This paper reports on the manner in which a large, diverse, urban school board (Toronto, Ontario ) has responded to racial diversity and anti-racist education, and, in a larger sense, equity, from 1970 to 1995. The paper elucidates the factors which characterize the resistance to equity-based institutional change. A qualitative, applied research approach, based on an anti-racist education framework, is used to examine the institutional culture of the board. The research methodology involved interviews and questionnaires with key decision-makers, principals, and teachers. Three key findings are highlighted: 1) the evolutionary nature of attempts to deal with equity issues; 2) the systemic nature of discrimination; and 3) the inability to clearly define anti-racist education and equity, thus impeding the creation of a coherent vision for the implementation of responsive policy initiatives. The discussion focuses on the elements required to facilitate transfonnational change ...

Dynamic learning environments in the arts that nurture all students' capacities for deep meaning, synthesis and connection-making have the best chance of standing in the gap toward educational justice. New paradigms for teaching and learning are needed that elevate all students' capacities—not just the select few who excel in narrow subsets of intelligence. This article argues for a more socially just and equitable education that can be realized through and within cultures of thinking that develop students' balanced intelligence. A mixed model, research study conducted in visual art classrooms is highlighted, reporting the positive effect of balanced, learner-centered pedagogy and environments on the development of students' quality thinking and dispositions. More learner-centered classrooms also positively affected students' self-beliefs. This study resulted in new assessments for measuring students' balanced thinking skills

This research project was funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council in Canada. With a focus on examining the impact of COVID-19 on learning loss and extracurricular programs, the research explored how community-based programming can be adapted and mobilized to close the achievement and opportunity gaps for Black, Indigenous, people of colour (BIPOC), and people from lower socioeconomic backgrounds. Specifically, the project as a case study examined an afternoon and weekend supplementary academic program called the Community School Initiative (CSI), which was offered from September 2020 to May 2021 to members of the Jane and Finch community in Toronto, Canada. The CSI is a partnership between the non-profit organization Youth Association for Academics, Athletics, and Character Education (YAAACE) and for-profit enterprise Spirit of Math. It delivers a structured math curriculum to students in grades two to eight aged 8 to 14 years old supported by a team of caring adults including parents, coaches, and Ontario certified teachers. The efficacy and outcomes of the CSI was assessed through surveys with parents (n=33), students (n=33), and teachers (n=4), and a focus group with seven teachers delivering the curriculum in the CSI. Data was collected between June to July 2021 and responses were examined using thematic analysis as a methodology from a Critical Race Theory paradigm. The themes identified and discussed are holistic and culturally relevant programming, structured programming, communication and parental engagement, digital divide and inequality, and effective pedagogies.

Public-private partnerships (PPPs) in education are increasing in profile as countries grapple with serious challenges of educational access and quality—and as donors such as the World Bank turn to this approach as they advise countries on potential solutions to these barriers. Evidence is still limited on the impacts of this policy approach, however, and the academic literature that looks at equity and inclusion raises profound concerns.

This study seeks to understand the impact of the PPP initiative in Punjab province, Pakistan, on key dimensions of equity, education quality, and democratic and social accountability. It was conducted over a period of two months, through field visits in a sample of 31 schools across five districts of the province (in both rural and urban/slum areas) and all four programs run by the Punjab Education Foundation (PEF).

The study provides an in-depth view of how the sample schools are operating and are incentivized within the framework of the PEF programs, raising serious concerns about equity, quality, and accountability that need to be considered more broadly in the push to expand PPPs

The choice of motto for institutions, organisations and flagship programmes are meant to communicate to the larger populace what that institution, organization or programme stands for. So our institution IFEST uses the tagline " Driving innovation through research ". My university, the University of Cape Coast uses " Veritas Nobis Lumen " translated " Truth, Our Guide " and in my alma mater, Oda secondary school, we have " Knowledge Truth and Service ". The essence of these dictums is to signify the philosophy of these institutions. It will therefore be completely out of place if the " modus operandi " of these noble institutions deviates from what their motto says. It is against this background that I have reservations about the tagline of the free SHS policy and how it is being implemented. The free SHS logo was launched with the broad themes of Access, Equity and Quality. The import of this tagline to me is that, this policy is meant to ensure access to secondary education in Ghana, to ensure equity in our secondary education system and more importantly to achieve the global focus of quality education in senior high schools in Ghana. These are very brilliant and significant themes that should truly underpin the philosophy of our educational system in Ghana. But the question is, does the manner in which we are implementing the free SHS policy fall in line with these three themes? I will try to answer this in the subsequent paragraphs. Access to education is one of the problems of education around the globe. The Education For All (EFA) movement led by UNESCO which aimed at meeting the learning needs of all children, youth and adults by 2015 was not met. Although this was not achieved, it tells us that efforts are being made all over the world to improve access to education. Therefore, the two components of accessibility which are affordability and infrastructure should always be the starting point. From

This work aims to analyze the issue of equity in education in a comparative way, using international data (from the OCED – PISA project). In the first part there is a description of the policy change in educational field compared to the stability of the impact of  family background effect on skills achievements and school career; there is also a  theoretical proposal that will be tested in the following paragraphs (“hypothesis of multiple contingencies”). In the second part we examine the three principal measures of equity in education: inter-individual equity, the inter-categorical equity and the minimum threshold. In the third part we try to explain, using our hypothesis, the Italian singularity: the reasons which make the Italian education system is ineffective and at the same time that unfair.

The ‘comprehensivization’ of secondary school is a reform process that began in some European school systems in the 60s and 70s. With the comprehensive-type reform, a unitary scholastic model such as that which had already been in use for some time in the United States was introduced in a large part of Western Europe Countries. Our main problem has been verifying whether and to what extent the promises of greater equity linked to the comprehensive model, and those of greater quality linked to the selective one have been confirmed by the facts, comparing the respective results achieved by the comprehensive and traditional (or selective) systems, above all from the viewpoint of equity/quality of performance. In our contribution we shall deal with this issue, with an overview of the European panorama (based on different data sources) and summaries of papers dealing in depth with the situations in four countries (Germany, Italy, England and Sweden).

The case study of Mexico gives dimension to the students that can be considered to be in learning poverty and identifies the population groups they belong to from both a demographic and a learning perspective.  Policies that have been designed to attend to the learning of indigenous, migrant, rural and disabled groups are analyzed and recommendations are made to achieve learning equity

The importance of focusing on appropriate transitions in all grade levels is critical to the success of all students. Students with special needs under exceptional circumstances require a holistic, family and community oriented approach. Myriad factors must be addressed, analyzed, and articulated to fulfill the duty to the student. The value and rights of the student must be clearly identified to enable them to find appropriate citizen engagement or placement for best quality of life.

Il presente contributo, basato sull’analisi dei dati prodotti dall’indagine
internazionale ocse-pisa 2006 per l’Italia e in particolare sulle 13 aree territoriali
sovracampionate, si propone l’obiettivo di individuare i meccanismi da cui dipendono
l’efficacia e l’equità dei processi di insegnamento/apprendimento delle
competenze di base in scienze. Nel lavoro di ricerca si è tentato di stimare comparativamente
i fattori riferibili a tre livelli di analisi – individuale, di scuola, territoriale
– al fine di tracciare una mappa dell’Italia dal punto di vista dell’efficacia e
dell’equità e dei meccanismi che le generano. Infine, ci si è proposto di comprendere
meglio la relazione tra i due principali fattori di disuguaglianza empiricamente
riscontrati, riconducibili l’uno al territorio e l’altro alle filiere dell’istruzione secondaria
superiore, e la relazione tra questi e il background socio-culturale degli
studenti. I principali risultati sono: l’inesistenza di un trade-off tra efficacia ed
equità; l’importanza dell’origine sociale degli studenti, soprattutto quando è «aggregata
» a livello scolastico (attraverso i peer effects) e la sua forte associazione
con la tipologia di scuola frequentata; la necessità di andare oltre la dicotomia
Nord/Sud per rappresentare la realtà italiana.

Keywords: equità, efficacia, disuguaglianze sociali nell’educazione, disuguaglianze
territoriali nell’educazione.

Language testing and assessment have always been a matter of concern in education worldwide. In Vietnam, there has been a movement towards classroom-based assessment over the last few years to gain a more comprehensive look at students' progress. Classroom-based Assessment (CBA) is universally viewed as a crucial part of not only improving teaching and learning but also opening up equal learning opportunities for all learners. However, the effects of CBA on equity in the classroom remain relatively under-researched in Vietnam. This paper, therefore, aims to bridge this gap by first introducing the definition and components of CBA, then describing how it creates an all-embracing atmosphere in class. Some strategies to adopt CBA to foster an equitable classroom are then provided. Finally, the paper will draw some implications regarding the use of CBA to improve equity in language classrooms for various stakeholders in English teaching and learning, including teachers, administrators, and policymakers.

Aldo Visalberghi pubblicò nel 1955 un libro che può essere considerato un termine a quo nello sviluppo della cultura educativa in Italia: si trattava di "Misurazione e valutazione nel processo educativo", edito a Milano da Comunità. In quel libro si trovano congiunte le due linee d’impegno che avrebbero caratterizzato l'attività dell'Autore: da un lato la ricerca di soluzioni per il potenziamento della scuola, dall’altro il perseguimento di un traguardo di libertà e di democrazia che aveva nel progresso dell’educazione una condizione necessaria.

This paper discusses three distinct, yet overlapping and often exchangeable discourses of equity, diversity and social justice in mathematics education. Like all discourses in education, they are social constructs and have been subjected to development and critique from a variety of perspectives. This paper focuses on poststructuralist discourses, and in particular that of identity, that renders the traditional understandings of these constructs as problematic for policy and practice. The paper proposes that the discourse of ethics lies at the heart of the three discourses, and in turn places these discourses at the heart of mathematics education.

In an atmosphere of growing racism, xenophobia, intolerance and fear of diversity, schools, too, are faced with serious challenges. Taking – from a non-neutral perspective – the educational achievement of students of migrant origin as a parameter by which to evaluate the effectiveness of learning paths, we find that huge problems remain in our school system, which require the education system to be given the explicit function of a social equalizer. Through a Grounded Theory critique – part of a complex mixed-method study – the processes of (non-)success of students from migrant backgrounds are analysed, with the aim of developing a theoretical model for planning learning paths that work for all students. The research involved – through ethnographic observation, interviews and questionnaires – principals, teachers and students from five middle schools in the provinces of Trento and Turin. The multidimensional model which emerges demonstrates the importance of collective action which involves multiple links between schools, the political arena and the territory, following in the footsteps of both Lorenzo Milani and Paulo Freire.

The creation of Vocational Education Courses in 2012 rekindled recurring debates that shaped the process of institutionalization of basic education in Portugal and brought to light tensions between the need to diversify education pathways and to ensure equity. A diachronic analysis of educational policies was conducted based on legislation, parliamentary speeches and newspaper articles. The analysis traced the process of dualization of education in Portugal and identified six different periods that help to better understand the reasons for the recent change. It also revealed a story where actors, narratives and solutions reappear, even in face of new realities, raising theoretical questions about what drives change in policy. Keywords: diversification of educational pathways, policy change, equity in education, educational reforms. Resumo Em 2012 a criação dos cursos vocacionais por parte do governo PSD/CDS suscitou o despertar de um debate há algum tempo adormecido, mas que marcou a institucionalização do sistema compreensivo em Portugal, evidenciando a tensão latente entre a necessidade de diversificar percursos educativos e formativos e, simultaneamente, de garantir a equidade e igualdade de oportunidades educativas. Com base em legislação, debates parlamentares e artigos de imprensa produzidos ao longo de 40 anos, o artigo visa analisar a trajetória das políticas implementadas e as batalhas discursivas travadas no processo de desenvolvimento do modelo compreensivo de educação, identificando-se seis diferentes momentos que ajudam compreender e interpretar a mudança ocorrida em 2012. Esta análise revela também uma história em que se repetem atores, narrativas e soluções, mesmo diante de novas realidades, levantando questões teóricas sobre o que impulsiona a mudança em políticas públicas. Palavras-chave: equidade, modelo compreensivo de educação, diversificação de vias educativas e formativas, mudança em políticas públicas, institucionalismo histórico. Résumé La création des filières dites vocationnelles en 2012 par le gouvernement PSD/CDS a relancé un débat que l'on croyait clos depuis longtemps, mais qui a marqué l'institutionnalisation du système compréhensif au Portugal, en mettant en évidence la tension latente entre le besoin de diversifier les parcours éducatifs et formatifs et en même temps de garantir l'équité et l'égalité des chances en matière d'éducation. En s'appuyant sur la législation, les débats parlementaires et les articles de presse publiés au long de 40 ans, cet article analyse la trajectoire des politiques mises en oeuvre et les batailles discursives menées dans le processus de développement du modèle compréhensif d'éducation, en identifiant six moments différents qui aident à comprendre et à interpréter le changement survenu en 2012. Cette analyse révèle aussi une histoire où l'on retrouve les acteurs, les discours et les solutions qui se répètent, même face à des réalités nouvelles, suscitant des questions théoriques sur ce qui pousse au changement des politiques publiques. Mots-clés: équité, modèle compréhensif d'éducation, diversification des voies éducatives et formatives, changement de politiques publiques, institutionnalisme historique.

This paper aims to discover the level of equity in the Turkish education system using maths outcomes of 15-year-old students in the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) exam. In order to do that, associations between various social background variables and student performance are analysed via multilevel models. Female pupils, students from lower socio-economic backgrounds and students from eastern regions are all found to be disadvantaged in terms of maths outcomes. The biggest gap between students in Turkey is due to school types. The difference between selective academic schools and other types of schools is more than 100 points, which is equal to the difference between almost four grade years. However, the positive effect of attending selective academic schools is smaller for girls. Further investigations indicate that, in the Turkish education system, school type at secondary level represents the effects of socio-economic background and educational and physical resources at school in addition to previous achievements of pupils. Results of the analyses show that it is very hard to claim that the education system in Turkey is operating in a way that mitigates existing inequalities in the society. To the contrary, there are indications that the Turkish education system itself reproduces inequalities.

This paper reports on the manner in which a large, diverse, urban
school board (Toronto,Ontario) has responded to racial diversity and anti-racist education, and, in a larger sense, equity, from 1970 to 1995. The paper elucidates the factors which characterize the resistance to equity-based institutional change. A qualitative, applied research approach, based on an anti-racist education framework, is used to examine the institutional culture of the board. The research methodology involved interviews and questionnaires with key decision-makers, principals, and teachers. Three key findings are highlighted: 1) the evolutionary nature of attempts to deal with equity issues; 2) the systemic nature of discrimination; and 3) the inability to clearly define anti-racist education and equity, thus impeding the creation of a coherent vision for the implementation of responsive policy initiatives. The discussion focuses on the elements required to facilitate transformational change in the institutional culture of the hoard, emphasizing the concept of accountability.

This paper discusses three distinct, yet overlapping and often exchangeable discourses of equity, diversity and social justice in mathematics education. Like all discourses in education, they are social constructs and have been subjected to development and critique from a variety of perspectives. This paper focuses on poststructuralist discourses, and in particular that of identity, that renders the traditional understandings of these constructs as problematic for policy and practice. The paper proposes that the discourse of ethics lies at the heart of the three discourses, and in turn places these discourses at the heart of mathematics education. There is a range of linguistic constructs in the literature that aim at addressing the apparent correspondence between lack of participation and achievement in mathematics, and learners constituted according to a notion of their group identity 1. These linguistic constructs include, among others, equity, diversity, social justice and more recently, ethics. Each such construct heralds in a range of differing, often competing, perspectives that undergird assumptions within them. Atweh and Keitel (2007) argue that while equity and diversity discourses share many similar concerns, they differ in their aims and implications for group status. They argue that, instead, social justice may be a more useful construct. In particular, the authors utilise the model of social justice, explicated by Fraser (1995), as having two necessary, yet distinct components of recognition and distribution that roughly correspond with the two agendas of equity and diversity. On the one hand, the diversity discourse may result in an essentialising of differences between the different groups and it may fail to take into consideration the changing constructions of these labels and their contextual understandings across time and space. In particular, Swanson (2005) notes how difference in reference to race, class, gender, culture, language difference and other social difference discourses often become 'recontextualised' (Bernstein, 2000) into pedagogic disadvantage, thus constituting the 'construction of disadvantage' in school mathematics contexts. In other words, social difference becomes reconstituted in deficit terms. Thus, celebratory diversity discourses that might exoticise difference are insufficient in themselves to arrest the recontextualisation into constructions of disadvantage (Swanson, 2005). In the same vein, the diversity discourse fails to adequately take into consideration one of the greatest emphases of social inequality and exclusion in mathematics education, namely socioeconomic background and poverty that are difficult to constitute in the same way as that of gender and cultural difference. On the other hand, Wenzel (2001) discusses the difficulties within the traditional equity discourse in 1 While not insensitive to the biggest equity issues related to young people who are excluded from school altogether, we will restrict the discussion here to equity in the formal school contexts.

The aim of this work is to analyze the inequalities in educational
performances among the Italian regions after the period of educational reforms started
on the end of 90’s. The policies for decentralization and school autonomy have
produced a wide range of local implementations and the picture which emerges on
examining the effects of those education policies in recent years is that of an extremely
dynamic situation with a wide range of local declinations. In this paper, using data
from OECD PISA 2006, we attempt to identify the dynamics that produce the
differential in educational performance (both between individuals and between
geographical areas) taking into account the effects produced by the students
background, the school-level variables (aggregated background, school track, etc.) and
the contextual factors, in relation with the new policy framework.

Keywords: regional disparities, school autonomy, social inequality, equity in education

This paper is concerned with the process of studying socio-cultural elements/issues in e-learning from the perspective of the learner and his/her interactions with the components of the e-learning courses under the scope of inclusiveness. Presented are results that emerged from the implementation of an online course. Discussed are approaches to the study of socio-cultural elements in e-learning and learners’ dispositions-in-action during their engagement in the online course. The paper concludes with the definition of a set of four profiles of e-learners.

Public-private partnerships (PPPs) in education are increasing in profile as countries grapple with serious challenges of educational access and quality—and as donors such as the World Bank turn to this approach as they advise countries on potential solutions to these barriers. Evidence is still limited on the impacts of this policy approach, however, and the academic literature that looks at equity and inclusion raises profound concerns. This study seeks to understand the impact of the PPP initiative in Punjab province, Pakistan, on key dimensions of equity, education quality, and democratic and social accountability. It was conducted over a period of two months, through field visits in a sample of 31 schools across five districts of the province (in both rural and urban/slum areas) and all four programs run by the Punjab Education Foundation (PEF). The study provides an in-depth view of how the sample schools are operating and are incentivized within the framework of the PEF programs, raising serious concerns about equity, quality, and accountability that need to be considered more broadly in the push to expand PPPs

(Paper in Italian & English version)

The ‘comprehensivization’ of secondary school is a reform process that began in some European school systems in the 60s and 70s. With the comprehensive-type reform, a unitary scholastic model such as that which had already been in use for some time in the United States was introduced in a large part of Western Europe Countries. Our main problem has been verifying whether and to what extent the promises of greater equity linked to the comprehensive model, and those of greater quality linked to the selective one have been confirmed by the facts, comparing the respective results achieved by the comprehensive and traditional (or selective) systems, above all from the viewpoint of equity/quality of performance. In our contribution we shall deal with this issue, with an overview of the European panorama (based on different data sources) and summaries of papers dealing in depth with the situations in four countries (Germany, Italy, England and Sweden).

Luciano Benadusi, Orazio Giancola, Saggio introduttivo: sistemi di scuola secondaria comprensivi versus selettivi. Una comparazione in termini di equità (English version included), in "Scuola democratica" 2/2014, pp. 461-482, doi: 10.12828/77426

This paper critically interrogates on-going efforts to establish and legitimate global learning metrics. It highlights how and why the massive push to ensure that all students worldwide demonstrate measurable proficiencies in reading and mathematics has emerged, and with what consequences for the broader SDG 4 agenda, especially equity issues. Drawing on the growing rhetoric of a ‘global learning crisis’ and informed by innovative yet problematic technical work, we argue that the powerful movement to construct GLMs has several ‘unintended’ outcomes. These include the effective narrowing of the comprehensive global agenda on education (SDG 4), the undermining of a carefully negotiated country-led process to promote lifelong education opportunities
for all, the devaluing of learning that is not measurable or comparable, and the weakening of the principle of educational equity.

Skiba, R., Arredondo, M., Gray, C. Rausch, M. (2016) What do we Know about Discipline Disparities? New and Emerging Research. In Disparate Opportunity: Understanding and Addressing Inequality in School Discipline. Skiba, K., Medirratta, K., Raush, K.(eds). Palgrave/MacMillan

This paper discusses three distinct, yet overlapping and often exchangeable discourses of equity, diversity and social justice in mathematics education. Like all discourses in education, they are social constructs and have been subjected to development and critique from a variety of perspectives. This paper focuses on poststructuralist discourses, and in particular that of identity, that renders the traditional understandings of these constructs as problematic for policy and practice. The paper proposes that the discourse of ethics lies at the heart of the three discourses, and in turn places these discourses at the heart of mathematics education. There is a range of linguistic constructs in the literature that aim at addressing the apparent correspondence between lack of participation and achievement in mathematics, and learners constituted according to a notion of their group identity 1. These linguistic constructs include, among others, equity, diversity, social justice and more recently, ethics. Each such construct heralds in a range of differing, often competing, perspectives that undergird assumptions within them. Atweh and Keitel (2007) argue that while equity and diversity discourses share many similar concerns, they differ in their aims and implications for group status. They argue that, instead, social justice may be a more useful construct. In particular, the authors utilise the model of social justice, explicated by Fraser (1995), as having two necessary, yet distinct components of recognition and distribution that roughly correspond with the two agendas of equity and diversity. On the one hand, the diversity discourse may result in an essentialising of differences between the different groups and it may fail to take into consideration the changing constructions of these labels and their contextual understandings across time and space. In particular, Swanson (2005) notes how difference in reference to race, class, gender, culture, language difference and other social difference discourses often become 'recontextualised' (Bernstein, 2000) into pedagogic disadvantage, thus constituting the 'construction of disadvantage' in school mathematics contexts. In other words, social difference becomes reconstituted in deficit terms. Thus, celebratory diversity discourses that might exoticise difference are insufficient in themselves to arrest the recontextualisation into constructions of disadvantage (Swanson, 2005). In the same vein, the diversity discourse fails to adequately take into consideration one of the greatest emphases of social inequality and exclusion in mathematics education, namely socioeconomic background and poverty that are difficult to constitute in the same way as that of gender and cultural difference. On the other hand, Wenzel (2001) discusses the difficulties within the traditional equity discourse in 1 While not insensitive to the biggest equity issues related to young people who are excluded from school altogether, we will restrict the discussion here to equity in the formal school contexts.

Reciprocal teaching studies, done primarily in schools in North America and Europe, have reported reading comprehension gains for students across age and grade levels who struggle with comprehension in spite of efficient decoding. This paper reports a reciprocal teaching intervention that was implemented in Trinidad and Tobago for the purpose of improving the reading comprehension of 19 nine to ten-year-old students who had poor comprehension, in spite of good grade level decoding. The following questions were addressed: (a) What factors enhance or inhibit the effectiveness of the intervention in improving the students' reading comprehension? (b)In light of the enhancing or inhibiting factors, how can the intervention be modified to more effectively attain the goal of improved comprehension? and (c) What evidence is there of progress in the students' reading comprehension performance having engaged in the reciprocal teaching intervention? Across three academic school terms, qualitative and quantitative data were collected at the pre-, during-, and post-intervention stages. Results of constant comparative data analysis guided the study and the results of paired samples t-tests indicated statistically significant changes in the students' reading comprehension performance. The results of this study carry implications for current primary school reading programmes and the way in which reciprocal teaching fits into existing programmes in Trinidad and Tobago and the wider Caribbean.

An early investment in education is likely to give more returns to society than a late investment (Heckman, Stixrud, & Urzua, 2006). One of the most comprehensive and articulated approaches comes from cross-disciplinary research from economics to developmental psychology and neurobiology. Those studies reveal that a series of common principles could explain the effects of the early schooling environment on the development of human abilities (Knudsen et al., 2006). Early childhood education environments are a good place to foster the social and cognitive development of children, an experience with a unique influence on the development of skills and the brain’s maturation (Knudsen et al., 2006). Starting from this cross-disciplinary framework, this chapter aim to understand, through cross-country data, to what extent formal schooling received during early childhood makes a significant difference in development for regular school achievement. Specifically, we explore how equitable is the access to early childhood education as well as the long-term associations between preschool experience and the students’ cognitive outcomes. First, we explore the students’ background factors associated with access to pre-primary education, that is, to what extent some key characteristics of the family background are associated with greater or lesser access to pre-primary education. Our study confirms that the probability of access to pre-primary education is higher among students of high socio-economic status. In addition, this probability varies depending on the immigrant background of the students with a low socio-economic status. Second, we analyze to what extent attending pre-primary education is associated with obtaining better academic outcomes in the subsequent levels of the school system, specifically among 15-year-old students, who are typically enrolled in the lower secondary education. Our results confirm that the attendance to pre-primary education is significantly associated with learning, especially for those students with low socio-economic status. All students benefit from having attended, but students with low socio-economic status seem to benefit the most, even if they attended for a short period of time. In the following paragraphs we will review the main results of the research literature on the impact of early childhood education on cognitive and non-cognitive outcomes, the conditions of implementation of effective pre-primary education programs, and the effects of early environments for disadvantaged students. Then we address the main research questions, the method and empirical strategies, the results and the key conclusions. We finally discuss the results in terms of policy implications.

Computer science education from a young age has been demonstrated to be a predictor of students joining STEM related careers, potentially closing the gap of underrepresented women and minority groups. Systematic changes in classroom environments and instructional practices can attract, maintain, and promote the success of minority students through culturally relevant pedagogy. We developed a professional development model to help teachers build an equitable computing classroom by integrating culturally responsive pedagogy. This paper illustrates the ways teachers came to make sense of culturally relevant pedagogy through interviews and application in lesson plans. Findings suggest that teachers conceptualized culturally relevant pedagogy and planned to create an equitable learning environment for students in different and unique ways.

Il volume offre una panoramica delle problematiche attuali connesse con l’educazione interculturale e cerca di identificare le modalità pedagogiche per sostenere gli studenti delle fasce più fragili, in particolare quelli con background migratorio, maggiormente colpiti dall’insuccesso scolastico. La prima parte propone un approfondimento delle politiche educative, con una decostruzione del concetto di insuccesso in una visione multi-prospettica. L’ampia sezione empirica esplora poi i fattori che hanno influenzato il loro (in)successo attraverso un articolato percorso di ricerca che include aspetti sia quantitativi sia qualitativi (Grounded Theory costruttivista), contestualizzati in particolare all’interno della scuola secondaria di primo grado. Il testo prospetta un modello teorico sistemico e multidimensionale di pedagogia critica per progettare percorsi di successo scolastico degli studenti di origine migrante nella scuola italiana e propone alcune strategie operative che potrebbero costituire un utile contributo per chi opera sul campo, sia nell’ambito della ricerca che in quello della progettazione e dell’intervento educativi. Una ricca appendice metodologica online ripercorre l’intero processo di ricerca, rappresentando un valido strumento di riferimento per giovani ricercatori che si apprestano a condurre una Grounded Theory, con tabelle e modelli che esplicitano i diversi passaggi del percorso e l’utilizzo del programma NVivo10.

Through personal and research experience, I know that immigrant parents want to be a part of their children’s education. For them, access to a good education is one of the main reasons immigrants stay in the U.S. Consider, then, the irony that it is sometimes the lack of access to knowledge of how the USian[1] school system works that stands between parents and being able to effectively advocate for their children in schools.

In an atmosphere of growing racism, xenophobia, intolerance and fear of diversity, schools, too, are faced with serious challenges. Taking—from a non-neutral perspective—the educational achievement of students of migrant origin as a parameter by which to evaluate the effectiveness of learning paths, we find that huge problems remain in our school system, which require the education system to be given the explicit function of a social equalizer. Through a Grounded Theory critique—part of a complex mixed-method study—the processes of (non-)success of students from migrant backgrounds are analysed, with the aim of developing a theoretical model for planning learning paths that work for all students. The research involved—through ethnographic observation, interviews and questionnaires—principals, teachers and students from five middle schools in the provinces of Trento and Turin. The multidimensional model which emerges demonstrates the importance of collective action which involves mul...

Abstract This paper reports a case study on Maneesha Rai, a Nepalese girl living in Hong Kong and an “out of school” student. Based on in-depth interviews, a case was constructed of her previous school days and current “out of school” days. These provided a vivid picture of her life and several themes were created using schema analysis that help explain the reasons for her “dropping out” of school after Form Five. It has been common to attribute school failure for ethnic minority students in Hong Kong to problems with Chinese language education. Yet Maneesha’s case study shows that her experience of failure in other subjects such as Mathematics and Science contributed to her lack of successful schooling. Maneesha’s school failure was more than simply a consequence of academic failure. Rather, there were many other interrelated factors such as peer and community factors, dropout history in the family, racism, differences in schooling culture found that contributed to her school failure. In addition, Maneesha, like many of her ethnic minority friends, enjoyed the freedom afforded her in Hong Kong, but it seemed such freedom also meant inadequate attention from her teachers.

The United Nations International Decade for People of African Descent (2015-2024) provides an opportunity to recognize the necessity of promoting the human rights of Black populations across the globe, to enhance their access to justice, and to further the development, and promotion of their well-being (United Nations General Assembly, 2013). Regarding Canada, the Report of the Working Group of Experts on People of African Descent states the need to “implement a nationwide African Canadian education strategy to address the inordinately low educational attainment, high dropout rates, suspensions and expulsions experienced by African Canadian children and youth” (United Nations 2017, p.19). The report also underscores the importance of further developing an Africentric curriculum and an accurate portrayal of Black Canadian history in textbooks and course materials, to avoid the perpetuation of negative stereotypes (United Nations 2017, p. 16). This bilingual special issue is one answer to the United Nations’ recommendations, with a specific intention of informing reflections, policy- making processes, and practices that foster African Canadian learners’ educational success.

Nagyecsed sokszor szolgált mintaként a romák felzárkóztatását szolgáló programok számára (pl. REF, 2012), ugyanakkor a drogfogyasztással kapcsolatos újabb kvalitatív vizsgálatok (Lannert, Németh és Szécsi, 2017; Szécsi és Sik, 2016) alapján kirajzolódó kép inkább lehangoló. 1 A helyi erőfeszítések ellenére is egy 2017-es kutatás (l. Lannert, Németh és Szécsi, 2017) egy leszakadó, és iskoláiban, intézményeiben szegregálódó, entrópiás helyi társadalmat talált. A nem megfelelő munka és közlekedési lehetőségek, a káros szenvedélyek, a helyi társadalom szétesése és a helyi intézményrendszerek szelektivitása, szegregálása egyaránt ennek a megnyilvánulási formái. Az entrópián 2 a helyi fejlesztések sem tudtak felülkerekedni, így ezek általában előbb-utóbb elhalnak vagy az eredeti célhoz képest átformálódnak. A tanulmányban-elsősorban a 2017-es T-Tudok kutatásra alapozva (Lannert, Németh és Szécsi, 2017)-arra kerestünk választ, hogyan bicsaklottak meg és siklottak félre a biztatóan induló deszegregációs célzatú fejlesztési törekvések. Munka-és szórakozási lehetőségek Az észak-alföldi régióban található város, Nagyecsed lakossága 6700 fő, ebből 600-700 fő gyerekkorú. A munkalehetőség kevés, elsősorban néhány üzem (cipő-, méz-, szemüveggyártó), a konzervgyárak és a csirkegyár tud munkát adni. Ez utóbbi azonban csak nehéz fizikai és rosszul fizetett munkát biztosít, így azt a lakosság kis része tudja vagy akarja bevállalni. A településen sokan dolgoznak közmunkában, azonban az interjúk során az derült ki, hogy kiszámíthatatlan, kik és mennyi időre jutnak ehhez a lehetőséghez. A 1 A tanulmány alapjául szolgáló kutatások: (1) A Good Start REF program értékelésére 2012-ben került sor, ahol fókuszcsoportos beszélgetés zajlott az érintettek körében (REF, 2012). (2) A Nagyecseden készült másik kutatás (Szécsi és Sik, 2016) célja az észak-alföldi régió egy hátrányos helyzetű járásában, szűkítve a mélyszegénységben, szegregált területeken élők közötti droghasználat vizsgálata volt. A klasszikus legális szerek (alkohol, cigaretta) mellett a kábítószernek minősülő anyagok fogyasztását, különös tekintettel az újfajta pszichoaktív szerek használatának elterjedtségét is vizsgálták. Az adatfelvételre 2015. június 29. és július 3. között került sor. Kevert módszertant alkalmaztak: a kapcsolatfelvételt szolgáló rövid kérdőíves felmérés mellett az etnográfiai jellegű terepmunka során a résztvevő megfigyelés és az interjúzás módszerét. (3) 2017 első felében a T-Tudok Zrt. a tanulók drogfogyasztásával foglalkozó kutatása Nagyecseden is végzett terepmunkát. Ennek során első alkalommal az ötödikes és nyolcadikos tanulókkal készítettek fókuszcsoportos beszélgetést, és szintén csoportos formában az iskola pedagógusaival is készült interjú, melyben az intézményvezető helyettest, az intézményvezetőt és a kutatásba bevont két osztály (5. és 8.) osztályfőnökeit érték el. Egy másik beszélgetésben a telepi szülőket is megkérdezték. Második alkalommal egy szakértői, valamint egy másik szülői fókuszcsoportos beszélgetésre került sor (Lannert, Németh és Szécsi, 2017). 2 "Bizonyos absztrakció segítségével az entrópia kifejezés átvihető a társadalomra mint olyan rendszerre, ahol az emberek közti viszonyokat az információ birtoklása és áramlása határozza meg. A társadalmi energia e viszonyokban testesül meg. Az entrópia a rendezetlenség növekedése, vagyis a rendezettebb állapotból egy kevésbé rendezettebb állapotba való átmenetnek felel meg [...] Azokat a rendszereket és alrendszereket tekintjük magas entrópiával rendelkezőnek, amelyeken teljes szakadás van a közösségi kapcsolatokban, a közösségi pillérek közt. Ezekben a rendszerekben bár megvan a fenntarthatóságra a lehetőség, de mostani állapotukban nem képesek ezt önmaguk elősegíteni. Erős függés érzékelhető a külső környezeti fejlesztések iránt, információs, kommunikációs és kohéziós zavarok sokasága lépett fel." (Goda és Tóth, 2013).

Nei paesi industrializzati la grande maggioranza delle popolazioni fruisce di istruzione di base per un numero consistente di anni. È una condizione sufficiente per affermare, sul piano formale, che si sia realizzata un'uguaglianza delle opportunità educative. Ma è sufficiente per sostenere che si sia raggiunta una condizione di equità?

As Canadian communities grow increasingly diverse, examining the ways that educators and policymakers are addressing the growing diversity is crucial in order to take steps which improve educational opportunity and outcomes. In the context of the recent partnership between the Axe Éducation et rapports ethniques of the CEETUM and the Centre for Urban Schooling of the OISE, we are planning a conference that compares the initial and in-service training and experiences of professional educators in the fields of diversity (with a special but not exclusive focus on ethno-cultural, racial, religious, and linguistic diversity), inclusion, equity and culturally responsive and relevant pedagogy in education, in Ontario and Quebec. It will be held in Montreal on the 24th and 25th October 2013. Bringing together researchers, practitioners, and policy makers from the Departments of Education and school boards in Quebec and Ontario, the conference will sketch a portrait of the current situation in each province. In Quebec, representatives from the Direction des services aux communautés culturelles of the Department  of Education, Leisure, and Sport, as well as a number of school boards have confirmed their participation. More specifically, the conference will bring together representatives from both provinces to describe: 1) Québec and Ontario contexts regarding ethno-cultural diversity in schools and initial and in-service training of teachers and other professionals; 2) Identification of the knowledge, attitudes and skills central in this area; 3) Critical examination of the impact of initial and in-service training activities; and 4) Presentation of case studies of innovative practices and experiments.