Author Archives: internationalednews

India

Posted on May 20, 2012 | Leave a comment
‘No detention’ policy works
Thomas, L.  The Hindu (18 May 2012)

The “no detention policy” in the Right to Education (RTE) Act “is one clause [of the act] that a majority of the teachers resent. It states that until class VIII, no child can be held back or expelled from school.”  Teachers believe the policy creates a “lackadaisical” mindset in their students, for the students have developed, in the teachers’ opinion, an attitude of “why study when there’s no fear of failing?”  RTE was enacted because of India’s extraordinarily high drop-out right, but “blindly following the ‘no detention policy’ will not help. Schools must offer bridge course for slow learners, but there is little focus on that. Classes with large student strength also make it difficult for teachers to offer extra care and attention to slow learners.”  Still, teachers find the “no detention” policy problematic, as some students are having difficulties passing examinations.

Leave a comment

Posted in Newspaper Articles

Tagged , ,

Australia

Posted on May 20, 2012 | Leave a comment
Principals warned off test boycott
Topsfield, J.  The Age (15 May 2012)

Principals have been warned not to encourage students to boycott NAPLAN, the standardized tests for Years 3, 5, 7, and 9 in reading, writing, language conventions, and numeracy.  Opposition to the test has been building, as groups like Say No to NAPLAN have expressed concerns about the examinations.  The move to boycott by principals takes advantage of provisions in the program that “the tests are not compulsory and parents have the right to withdraw their children on the grounds of philosophical objections or religious beliefs.”  The testing authority’s response to this tactic:  “Parents do have the right to withdraw their children from the tests, but we emphasise that principals are not to actively encourage students not to participate,” adding that ”we would consider that quite inappropriate for obvious reasons.”

Leave a comment

Posted in Newspaper Articles

Tagged , , ,

The Netherlands

Posted on May 15, 2012 | Leave a comment
Pilot to prevent segregation of schools (in Dutch)
Besturenraad: Center for Christian Education (April 2012)

Segregation of students with different ethnic backgrounds in schools (leading to what is called “white” and “black” schools) is a problem in a number of Dutch cities; segregation is hard to tackle as parents are free to choose a school for their children. The Dutch Department of Education has implemented a number of pilot projects to increase cooperation between these schools and to have students with different backgrounds work together.

Leave a comment

Posted in Think Tank/Institute Report

Tagged ,

Japan

Posted on May 15, 2012 | Leave a comment

Expanding Science Elites: Super Science High School (in Japanese)
Watanabe, A. Benesse.jp (14 May 2012)

The Ministry of Education established the Super Science High School (SSH) system to combat a decreasing interest in math, science, and technology in Japanese schools in 2002.  With 73 newly appointed schools in 2012 (an increase of 33 schools from 2011), there is a total of 178 SSHs across Japan. Of those 73 new SSHs selected from the pool of 97 applications, 3 are national, 57 are public, and 13 are private schools. SSH students have the opportunities to experience university-level and world-class research while participating in international science fairs and interacting with top researchers from various universities, institutes, and corporations.

Leave a comment

Posted in Newspaper Articles

Tagged

A Quick Scan of Ed News Over the Past Few Weeks

Posted on May 14, 2012 | Leave a comment

Students’ roles in education policy and the costs of higher education are the subject of debates and protest in Austria, Canada, and South America  (“Student group demands direct ballot for student representation”; “Protesters clash with police as Quebec students’ grievances grow”; “60,000 Chileans protest in the year’s first authorized student march”).

Control of education, the autonomy of schools and public and private education have been in the news in Germany, Japan, India, and New Zealand (“Cost explosion in education administration: Court of Auditors urges centralization under Federal Government of all education matters”; “Governor and Prefectural Board of Education in Shimane Agreed on Joint Determination of Educational Goals”; “Who picks up the tab?; Charter school trials to take place across the country”).

A host of issues related to teachers and teaching quality including teacher evaluation and merit pay, student-teacher relations, and stress and burnout have also been subjects of discussion in England, Australia, Austria, South Korea, and Germany (“Great teachers: Attracting, training and retaining the best”; “Annual appraisal plan includes observing teachers in classroom”; “Demand for reduction in teachers‘ holidays”; “More teachers insulted by students, parents”; “Pupils overstrain their teachers”).

Leave a comment

Posted in About K-12 International Education News

Austria

Posted on May 6, 2012 | Leave a comment
Integrative vocational education has positive impact (in German)
Dornmayr, H.  Institut für Bildungsforschung der Wirtschaft (Institute for Research on Qualifications and Training of the Austrian Economy) (April 2012)

In 2003, the Austrian Government introduced a measure called “integrative vocational education” to allow students with disabilities or any other kind of disadvantage to choose adapted forms of apprenticeships. A recent study shows that the measure is having a positive impact for the students concerned and is promoting their integration into the job market. According to the report, 52% of students remained in their jobs following their integrative vocational education, and a further 10% changed to another apprenticeship. Although 22% of students are unemployed and 8% are engaged in job center skills development, 23% of the drop-outs found a new integrative apprenticeship opportunity shortly after dropping out. The study also reveals that business apprenticeships have been more effective than inter-company vocational training.

Leave a comment

Posted in Global Reports/Studies

Tagged ,

England

Posted on May 6, 2012 | Leave a comment
Great Teachers: attracting, training and retaining the best
United Kingdom Parliament (1 May 2012)

The Education Select Committee has released its ninth report with a set of recommendations on teacher training and retention. The committee recommends that Performance Related Pay be introduced in England as a way of increasing the attainment of students by rewarding and retaining the most ‘effective’ teachers in the profession.  Other studies, including this one conducted by the RAND Corporation in New York City, have called into question the effectiveness of teacher merit pay for improving student academic achievement.

Leave a comment

Posted in Global Reports/Studies

Tagged , , ,

Germany

Posted on May 6, 2012 | Leave a comment
Kindergarten in Germany not well in early childhood education (in German)
Zeit Online (26 April 2012)

The initial results of the NUBEKK (Nationale Untersuchung zur Bildung, Betreuung und Erziehung in der frühen Kindheit) study funded by the Ministry for Families, the Jacobs Foundation, the Robert Bosch Foundation, and some federal states show that early childhood education is improvable in Germany. The study has explored 600 childcare facilities over two years. 2000 children and their parents have been observed in this period. In a quality test especially related to reading, math, science and intercultural learning, 80% of the childcare facilities only reached a score in the middle range. But results also show that mothers notice increased communication skills after early entrance into kindergarten. The complete research report will be published in Autumn 2012.

Leave a comment

Posted in Government Reports, Newspaper Articles

Australia

Posted on May 2, 2012 | Leave a comment
Annual appraisal plan includes observing teachers in classroom
Arlington, K.  Sydney Morning Herald (27 April 2012)

Australia is implementing its first national guidelines for performance assessments of teachers, giving them a clear understanding of 1) what they will be expected to achieve each year and 2) how their performance will be measured.  Every teacher will set goals for the year, have their performance reviewed, and provide evidence in support of their performance.  (Evidence will include improved student results and feedback from students, parents, peers or supervisors on goal attainment.)  Classroom observations will also be carried out.  In return, teachers will receive constructive feedback and may be eligible for performance bonuses. National consultations of the document, developed by the Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership (AITSL), will be held before it is implemented next year.  Anthony Mackay, the chair of the AITSL, argues for “recognizing and supporting the best” teachers here.

In addition, below is a video from AITSL about the desired outcomes of teaching standards:

Leave a comment

Posted in Newspaper Articles, Videos

Tagged , ,

India

Posted on April 27, 2012 | Leave a comment
Who picks up the tab?
Kumar, P.  Deccan Herald (22 April 2012)

Recently, opponents to the Right to Education (RTE) Act challenged the constitutionality of the law in the Supreme Court of India.  RTE makes education a fundamental right of every child between the ages of 6 and 14 and specifies minimum norms in elementary schools. It requires all private schools to reserve 25% of seats to children from poor families, which is to be reimbursed by the state as part of the public-private partnership plan. Several private schools campaigned against this ruling and appealed in court.  On April 12, the Supreme Court of India released its judgment upholding RTE.  Although much of the media attention has focused on the 25% threshold for children from poor families, other sources focus on the inadequate education that public-private partnership schools provide their students.

The following video from News X, a video-based India news source, summarizes the Supreme Court ruling:

Leave a comment

Posted in Newspaper Articles

Tagged , ,