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Descriptors:
Admission (School); Elementary Education; Migrants; Foreign Countries; Social Class; Disadvantaged Youth; Slums; Access to Education; Prevention; Urban Areas; Poverty; Rural to Urban Migration; Gender Differences; Consciousness Raising; Indians; Parent School Relationship

Abstract:
This paper examines the factors that prevent slum children aged 5-14 from gaining access to schooling in light of the worsening urban poverty and sizable increase in rural-to-urban migration. Bias against social disadvantage in terms of gender and caste is not clearly manifested in schooling, while migrated children are less likely to attend school. I argue that the lack of preparation for schooling in the pre-schooling ages and school admission procedures are the main obstacles for migrated children. The most important implication for universal elementary education in urban India is raising parental awareness and simplifying the admission procedures. (Contains 6 tables and 2 figures.) Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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Descriptors:
Stakeholders; Elementary Education; Foreign Countries; Principals; Case Studies; Early Childhood Education; Young Children; Economically Disadvantaged; Grade 1; Educational Policy; Interviews; Teacher Attitudes; Administrator Attitudes; Parent Attitudes; School Readiness; Educational Quality; Access to Education; Equal Education; Family Environment

Abstract:
In South Africa, the development of the 2001 White Paper No. 5 on Early Childhood Development (ECD) has been an instrumental policy in the development of changes to assist in preparing children for formal schooling, along with a strong focus on early childhood education. However the extent to which these are being enacted is relatively unknown. This study investigated understandings and practices of stakeholders involved in the transition of children moving from preschool or home into primary school in South Africa. A case study approach was adopted focusing on two schools situated in economically disadvantaged provinces of South Africa. School principals and teachers were interviewed to determine their knowledge of, and relationships with preschools, and practices around school transition. Grade 1 teachers were also asked about the factors influencing children's transition to school. Parents were asked about their views of transition and how their children were supported as they started school. Taking note of the children's own voices was imperative in determining how they experienced transition to school. While case study findings cannot be generalised, the results suggest that much needs to be done to increase awareness of early childhood education and for the government to move beyond universal accessibility to ensuring the quality of provision at the local level. Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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Descriptors:
Core Curriculum; State Standards; Alignment (Education); Grade 2; Grade 3; Elementary Education; Language Arts; Beginning Reading; Reader Text Relationship; Difficulty Level; Reading Achievement; Pattern Recognition; Readability Formulas; Word Frequency

Abstract:
The Common Core Standards for the English Language Arts (CCSS) provide explicit guidelines matching grade-level bands (e.g., 2-3, 4-5) with targeted text complexity levels. The CCSS staircase accelerates text expectations for students across Grades 2-12 in order to close a gap in the complexity of texts typically used in high school and those of college and career. The first step of the band at second and third grades is examined because it marks the entry into the staircase and a critical developmental juncture. In this article, we examine the theoretical and empirical support for three assumptions that underlie the acceleration of text complexity in Grades 2-3. Then we identify patterns in American reading achievement and instruction to illustrate the potential and far-reaching consequences of an increase in the first step of the CCSS staircase. (Contains 1 figure and 2 notes.) Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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Descriptors:
Equal Education; Elementary Education; Foreign Countries; Ideology; Social Status; Educational Policy; Governance; Educational Assessment

Abstract:
Meritocracy functions in Singapore as the key principle of governance and educational distribution. However, the concept of meritocracy itself contains a number of inherent contradictions, most evidently witnessed in the tension between its egalitarian and elitist strands. This tension is documented in the recommendations of Singapore's recent primary education review, already accepted by the Ministry of Education and to be implemented in the coming years. This article considers these recommendations against the backdrop of a tentative movement towards egalitarianism in educational distribution. Specifically, it provides a preliminary and provisional assessment of how far they would go towards providing for greater educational equity and, therefore, in recovering the ideology of meritocracy in the nation-state. (Contains 10 notes.) Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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Descriptors:
Evidence; Foreign Countries; Bilingualism; Educational Policy; Discourse Analysis; Elementary Education; Student Attitudes; Teacher Attitudes; Administrator Attitudes; Interviews; English (Second Language); Second Language Learning; French; Language of Instruction

Abstract:
This research builds on several layers of meaning representing views from education officials, head teachers, teachers and pupils to investigate the discourse and implementation of official bilingualism policy in primary schools in Cameroon. While at the macro-level, the celebration of the "National Bilingualism Day" in schools has tended to suggest that the country's option for bilingualism is a success, at the micro-level, views from the participants researched indicate that the implementation of official bilingualism policy is still far from a reality. The exploration of participants' views at various levels showed how they grounded their accounts within the context of everyday practice and highlighted issues related to official bilingualism inefficiency, although statistics at a national level rather point to an apparent success of the policy in schools. While some adults seemed to operate double standards regarding their perception of policy application, the pupils' views were more straightforward, based on the evidence of classroom daily teaching and learning interaction. (Contains 9 figures and 19 notes.) Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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Descriptors:
Behavior Disorders; Teachers; Elementary Education; Teaching Methods; Emotional Development; Emotional Problems; Foreign Countries; Child Development; Well Being; Questionnaires; Behavior Problems; Social Problems; Partnerships in Education; Semi Structured Interviews; Preschool Teachers; Interviews

Abstract:
Background: Emotional and behavioural disorders in early childhood are related to poorer academic attainment and school engagement, and difficulties already evident at the point of starting school can affect a child's later social and academic development. Successful transfer from pre-school settings to primary education is helped by communication between pre-school staff and primary school teachers. Typically, in Scotland, pre-school establishments prepare individual profiles of children before they start school around the age of five years, highlighting their strengths and development needs, for transfer to primary schools. There is, however, no consistent approach to the identification of potential social, emotional and behavioural problems. In 2010, in one local authority area in Scotland, the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) was introduced for children about to start school as a routine, structured, component of the transition process to help teachers plan support arrangements for classes and individual children. The SDQ assesses emotional, conduct, hyperactivity/ inattention and peer-relationship problems as well as pro-social behaviour. In order to be an effective means of communicating social and emotional functioning, the use of instruments such as the SDQ needs to be practicable. Finding out the views of pre-school education staff with experience of assessing children using the SDQ was, therefore, essential to establish its future utility. Aim: The purpose of this study was to explore the views of pre-school education staff about assessing social and emotional wellbeing of children at school entry using the SDQ. The objectives were to examine the opinions of pre-school workers about completing the SDQ and to elicit their thoughts on the value of doing this and their perceptions of the usefulness of the information collected. Method: Pre-school establishments were approached using a purposive sampling strategy in order to achieve a mix of local authority (n=14) and "partnership" establishments (n=8) as well as different socio-economic areas. Semi-structured interviews (n=25) were conducted with pre-school head teachers (n=14) and child development officers (n=11) in order to explore the process of completing the SDQ along with perceptions of its value. The interviews were transcribed "verbatim" and analysed thematically. Results: In general, staff in pre-school establishments viewed the use of the SDQ positively. It was seen as a chance to highlight the social and emotional development of children rather than just their academic or educational ability. Most felt that the SDQ had not identified anything they did not already know about a child. A minority, nevertheless, suggested that a previously unrecognised potential difficulty was brought to light, most commonly emotional problems. Completing the SDQ was felt to be relatively straightforward even though the staff felt under pressure from competing priorities. Concerns were, however, raised about the potential of labelling a child at an early stage of formal education. Conclusion: The findings from this small scale study suggest that, from the point of view of pre-school education staff, it is feasible to assess children systematically for social and behavioural problems as part of the routine transition process at school entry. (Contains 2 notes.) Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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Descriptors:
Elementary Education; Illiteracy; Slavery; Foreign Countries; Social Change; Letters (Correspondence); Educational History; United States History; Civil Rights; Access to Education; Social Systems; Conflict; Poverty; Racial Bias; Social Bias; Educational Administration; Administrative Organization; Public Officials

Abstract:
The objective of this article is to analyse the process of institutionalisation of public elementary schooling associated with the political organisation of the constitutional monarchy and the legislation regarding citizen rights and prerogatives in Brazil, especially in the province of Minas Gerais, during the nineteenth century. During this century, two characteristics in Brazil were significant: the existence of a constitutional monarchy from 1822 to 1889 and the continuity of slavery until 1888. Paradoxically, the development of the idea of citizen rights and duties, and steps taken to provide access to elementary school, coexisted with these characteristics. Education was considered a decisive step for the effective implementation of social change. My hypothesis is that the new political structure also led to a new dynamic of interdependence between rulers and ruled as constituents of the civilising process underway. Even so, this was an extremely tense process whose results fell short of those intended by the elite governing authorities; by the end of the nineteenth century, Brazil still had an illiteracy rate of 85%. In order to understand this situation, an analysis of situations and conflicts present in the process of implementing public elementary education is essential. Important among these are poverty, ethnic and racial prejudice, political decentralisation of elementary education administration, disputes among local politicians and the definition of teachers as public servants and funding of school supplies. For this study, documents consulted included government reports, laws, official letters and correspondence among government officers, parents and teachers. The main theoretical concepts used were Norbert Elias' sociological theory for analysis of the civilising process and the dynamics of interdependence in the organisation of society, and the characteristics of postcolonial society discussed by Hilda Sabato, Marcelo Caruso and Miriam Dolhnikoff. (Contains 1 table and 27 footnotes.) Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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Descriptors:
Foreign Countries; Educational History; Latin American History; Public Education; Elementary Education; Organizations (Groups); Politics of Education; Newspapers

Abstract:
Over the last 200 years in Brazil, the notion of "public" has been established to mean the same as the notion of "state". Sergio Buarque de Holanda and, more recently, Marilena Chaui point out that the very old tradition of the appropriation of public goods by the private sector has been updated. However, the understanding of what is considered public has not always been the same. At the beginning of the nineteenth century, scientific and literary associations became responsible for public elementary education in provinces and municipalities. The study of these associations provide an indication that, in those times, the meaning of "public" had not yet been reduced to "state", as it would be in the Latin American political culture of the following century. This understanding of the "public" in education during the first half of the nineteenth century is key to revising the configuration of the public (state) education systems in the following century, when education came to be understood as the unique and exclusive responsibility of the nation state. It is a weighty task to question the political culture and the concepts that were formulated at the beginning of independent life in Brazil, especially for those who, like us, believe that the public dimension of citizen life should not be reduced to those customs that our nation state conceived and implemented throughout the past centuries. (Contains 20 footnotes and 1 figure.) Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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Descriptors:
Elementary Education; Foreign Countries; Religious Education; Parochial Schools; Protestants; Public Education; Educational History; Catholics; Ideology; Conflict; Religious Factors

Abstract:
In the Netherlands of the late nineteenth century, primary education became one of the central issues in relation to raising political awareness and mobilising previously quiescent Dutch citizens. Protestants and Catholics alike claimed that Dutch public education left insufficient space for religious education and teamed up to struggle for state-financed religious schools. These were created in 1917, after which education was organised along religious and ideological lines. Tensions between Catholic, Protestant and secular public schools were severe, but after 1945 disagreements between these groups decreased as Dutch society secularised. This article examines how religious schools have dealt with this transformation since the 1950s. In a society secularising as rapidly and dramatically as the Netherlands, one would expect that support for religious schools would diminish over time. This, however, never occurred. Parochial schools still accommodate two-thirds of Dutch children and thus managed to retain their institutional dominance. This article argues that this curious "survival" of Christian schools in a secularised society does not imply that Christian schools were able to oppose secularisation as such. Instead, by their dedicated attempts to "personalise" religion in the 1950s and 1960s, hoping to strengthen religious convictions among students, they ironically smoothened rather than obstructed the path for secularisation. (Contains 33 footnotes.) Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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Descriptors:
Foreign Countries; Educational History; Latin American History; Historiography; Government School Relationship; Public Education; Elementary Education; Public Schools; Privatization; Citizenship Education; Culture; Sex Role; War; Violence; Educational Research

Abstract:
ISCHE 33 was convened in San Luis Potosi to re-examine a relationship--that between society, education and the state--that had been largely taken for granted in official histories of education of modern nations. This theme was inspired by the bicentenary celebrations of the relatively early nineteenth-century movements (from 1804 to 1824) that instated independent nations in most of Latin America. National educational systems, there and elsewhere, were created largely with the aspiration of building uniform, modern nations of equal, illustrated citizens, yet research has shown that they also organised diversity and reproduced inequalities, creating and separating categories of class, gender, religion, ethnicity, race, generation, status and ability. ISCHE 33 brought historical research to bear upon the very categories used to talk about education. In this article, the authors first present discussions on this theme that have emerged in the historiography of Mexico, the venue of the conference. They then examine alternative conceptual tools, with reference to the papers in this special issue, used to study the actual configurations that have joined or opposed actors identified with the "state" or "society". By historicising these concepts, rather than assuming them as constants, one may gain insight into the particular import and alignment of the social and political collectivities involved in education. (Contains 49 footnotes.) Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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