With new student assessments and teacher evaluation schemes in the planning or early implementation phases, this book takes a step back to examine the ideological and historical grounding, potential benefits, scholarly evidence, and ethical basis for the new generation of test based accountability measures. After providing the political and cultural contexts for the rise of the testing accountability movement in the 1960s that culminated almost forty years later in No Child Left Behind and Race to the Top, this book then moves on to provide a policy history and social policy analysis of value-added testing in Tennessee that is framed around questions of power relations, winners, and losers. In examining the issues and exercise of power that are sustained in the long-standing policy of standardized testing in schools, this work provides a big picture perspective on assessment practices over time in the U. S.; by examining the rise of value-added assessment in Tennessee, a fine-grained and contemporary case is provided within that larger context. The last half of the book provides a detailed survey of the researchbased critiques of value-added methodology, while detailing an aggressive marketing campaign to make value-added modeling (VAM) a central component of reform strategies following NCLB. The last chapter and epilogue place the continuation of test-based accountability practices within the context of an emerging pushback against privatization, high stakes testing, and other education reforms. This book will be useful to a wide audience, including teachers, parents, school leaders, policymakers, researchers, and students of educational history, policy, and politics.

The "ideal" 21st century teacher in public schools has a keen understanding of the racialized history of education and has already taken a critical stance regarding that history. This teacher is a changemaker and able to create classroom conditions that enable children and youth to be changemakers as well. In order to convert teachers into this ideal educator, alternative professional development must be undertaken that has as its goal the transformation of teachers and teachings for the eventual transformation of classroom environments and educational experiences, particularly for students of color. Unfortunately, such transformative teacher professional development has been in short supply in the age of high-stakes standardized testing and the deprofessionalization of the teaching profession. Anti-Racist Professional Development for In-Service Teachers: Emerging Research and Opportunities is a crucial reference book that addresses the historical, sociological, and pedagogical background concerning racial issues in education and proposes an alternative model for professional development as a tool for transforming schools and teachers to be critically sensitive and become changemakers. The book includes data from the author's national survey of teacher professional development, examples of assignments, teacher work products, and the author's self-critique/reflections, which draw upon 20 years of working to transform teachers and teaching on how to improve outcomes. The book also presents composite profiles of P-12 teachers such as the transformations of teachers who already "knew it all," the new teacher at a punitive public charter school with high turnover, teachers who take leadership within the school and in the larger community, and teachers who significantly changed their practice for the long-term. Moreover, the authors offer policy recommendations for funding and designing teacher professional development experiences that meet the needs of professional teachers who intend to stay in the field of education, provide immediate impact on students, and that engage all students to become critical changemakers. As such, this book is ideal for teachers, educational leaders, administrators, policymakers, academicians, researchers, and students.

This book addresses, and seeks to harmonise, different paradigms for understanding school bullying. It sets out to examine two paradigms for conceptualising bullying, and the worldviews that underpin them. It uses a complex systems perspective to bring the two paradigms together in a holistic fashion. By doing so, it creates an integrated framework for conceptualising the many individual, relational and societal factors that are in dynamic interaction and play a part in promoting or reducing school bullying. This book draws upon a number of disciplines by way of background, including evolutionary, child development and social psychological theories of group behaviour and identity. It proposes that the human need for belonging is central to understanding bullying, and situates the topic within an understanding of gender and children's human rights, bringing philosophical and moral perspectives to bear. It discusses practical ways forward, presents a systemic approach to bullying and application of complex adaptive systems methods to bullying research and evaluation. It serves as an introduction to such methods and suggests further creative ideas for policy, intervention practice, and teacher education about bullying.

In recent years, the issue of race in education in the UK have been submerged in wider discourses of diversity, leading to an invisibility of the quotidian experiences of marginalised peoples in educational institutions. Race, Education and Educational Leadership in England looks at how the experiences of black and ethnic minority (BME) students and academics in education has changed and investigates how the implementation of current policies on race equality are being monitored by the government. The contributors take an integrated approach, looking at issues and themes that occur across all educational phases in England and draw on expertise from within and outside the education system. The editors highlight areas of weakness and good practice in access, curriculum, progression and the lived experience. This book makes a compelling argument for why race equality matters in England's education system.

Despite a higher percentage of women entering various STEM fields, issues of discrimination and stereotyping continue to exist. These difficulties create a potential hostile environment and a noticeable gap in opportunities, advancements, and compensation increases in comparison to their male counterparts. Critical Research on Sexism and Racism in STEM Fields investigates the bias, stereotyping, and repression experienced by women within STEM-based career fields. Emphasizing the struggle felt by women within politics, education systems, business environments, STEM careers, as well as issues with advocacy and leadership, this publication benefits professionals, social activists, researchers, academics, managers, and practitioners interested in the institutionalized discrimination and prejudice women encounter in various fields.

Overeducation is one of the most important mechanisms for labour market adjustment when there is an excess supply of highly skilled workers. However, there is much debate about the consequences of this phenomena and the short- and long-term effects for both the overeducated worker and the economy as a whole. This book contributes to our understanding of recent developments in the research on overeducation by providing a detailed overview of the pertinent theoretical and policy issues. The authors study evidence that a substantial number of workers in Europe are overqualified and challenge the wisdom of greater investments in the education of the workforce. Although it may appear a waste of resources if many workers have a higher level of education than their job requires, others argue that overeducation may actually facilitate the development of a competitive and dynamic knowledge-based economy in Europe. They move on to look at labour mobility and skill mismatches in the labour market, and examine the impact of overeducation on earnings. They also address the somewhat controversial issue of how to measure employee overqualification, and propose an income ratio based on the difference between actual and potential earnings as an effective approach. Finally, they look at the effect of overeducation on specific groups in society such as licensed professionals, university graduates and ethnic minorities. Economists, social scientists, and academics interested in labour market theory and policy will find this an insightful and original volume which will make an important addition to the literature on overeducation.

The School Leadership Program (SLP) is a federal grant sponsored by the United States Department of Education. A hallmark of the grant is the connectivity between various agencies to provide quality leadership preparation and development programs for aspiring and current school leaders. These collaborative efforts involve community and educational stakeholders including districts, universities, city agencies, not-for-profit entities, foundations, private academic organizations, and others involved in the development of school leaders. Since its inception in 2002, over one hundred grants have been funded. This edited book's purpose is to share innovative, research-based practices from the federally funded grants that are sustainable after the life of the grant and are able to be used throughout the field for preparing and developing aspiring and current school leaders. This book features the work of current and past grantees around their innovative practices and lessons learned about school leadership preparation and development, especially around the issue of sustainability of these practices upon completion of the grant. SLP Grantees share practical, usable lessons learned from their experiences with the grants, based on their research, project data, and practical experience.

Today's students face the challenge of finding a career and a passion while facing economic uncertainty. Service learning has the potential to challenge and inspire students as they hone their skills. An increasingly popular subject, service and experiential learning are changing the way education is taught worldwide. Student Experiences and Educational Outcomes in Community Engagement for the 21st Century collects and analyzes students' experiences in diverse service-learning contexts, giving fodder for rethinking strategies and finding optimal pedagogies for successful community engagement. This unique publication is ideal for educators, administrators, policy makers, and students of education.

The media is full of reference to failing schools, troublesome pupils, underperforming boys, disappearing childhood and a teaching profession in crisis as more and more teachers contemplate abandoning their careers. Key Questions in Education looks at the current and historical debates of each of these issues, examining how a multitude of stakeholders have viewed, and still view, childhood and schooling. In highlighting how these same or similar issues have persistently been debated throughout time, John T. Smith shows something of their complexity and the need to break apart these key enduring questions in education. Each chapter covers a key question such as: How far should the state interfere in education? Should schools feed their pupils? and Why do children misbehave? Analysing each key question, chapters discuss how such issues were viewed or defined in the past, what solutions and outcomes were envisaged and compare and contrast how this relates to where we are now. Clear links are made throughout between historical sources and current ideology, policy, practice and research. In opening up these debates through case studies and vignettes, students are encouraged to reflect on how these contentious issues might be resolved and how this affects them as future educators.

The creation of a sustainable and accessible higher education systems is a pivotal goal in modern society. Adopting strategic frameworks and innovative techniques allows institutions to achieve this objective. The Handbook of Research on Administration, Policy, and Leadership in Higher Education is an authoritative reference source for the latest scholarly research on contemporary management issues in educational institutions and presents best practices to improve policies and retain effective governance. Addressing the current state of higher education at an international level, this book is ideally designed for academicians, educational administrators, researchers, and professionals.

Academics, policy makers and professionals explore the development of EU education policy, its impact on practice and potential future directions after the Lisbon treaty. "Schools for the Future Europe" brings together a team of leading academics, policy makers and education professionals to explore the emergence, development and application of European education policy up to the 2009 Lisbon Treaty and beyond. This book charts the historical development of a Europe-wide education policy, and examines how that policy has sought to address such issues as European citizenship, human rights and bilingual schooling. Taking as examples the intended future extension of the European Schools and the European Baccalaureate, and a case study of work towards the first British European Academy at Culham, UK, this book critically explores the interplay of EU action programmes, policy and rhetoric on secondary education. In the final section, the editors draw on the insights of the previous chapters to outline an achievable programme for the future development of education policy structures and practice in schools for Europe.

The Constitution of the Republic of South Africa guarantees all citizens the right to education. It further identifies persons with disabilities as one of the groups that were previously most disadvantaged across all spheres of life and therefore key to redress in the transformation of the country. People with disabilities are therefore prime beneficiaries of affirmative action measures including their inclusion in mainstream schools. Inclusive education policy is intended to facilitate the afore-mentioned process and ensures that issues of access to education by students with disabilities are approached from a human rights perspective. Ultimately, public schools need to be conducive to students with disabilities. One of the objectives of this work, apart from advocating for the inclusion of all students in the current education system, is, to ensure equal access to training, skills development, equal opportunities as well as career pathing of students with or without disabilities. Students with disabilities are often not able to perform to the best of their abilities, often find themselves learning in inaccessible environments, and are often subjected to increased stress levels due to the ad hoc provisioning of education characterised by physical, communicative, and unsuitable teaching and learning approaches including unfair assessment practices. Misconceptions and lack of knowledge with regards to the provisioning of inclusive education detract from the successful admission of students with disabilities, their retention, and their active participation in the teaching and learning encounters. In light of the above, this book explores the concept of inclusive education in an African context and examines inclusive education using Ubuntu as an African philosophy that is unique and embedded in the moral value systems of Africa.