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This paper argues that understanding the particular educational ideology underpinning the federal role in public education is key to understanding the rise of the modern punitive education state. The U.S. education system has become increasingly punitive in the last decade, most notably in the rise in the use of a variety of harsh sanctions for schools and teachers as a tool to hold these groups accountable for student performance. Seeking an explanation for this trend, several political scientists have become increasingly interested in the institutionalization and expansion of federal control of education in the post-War era, particularly beginning with the 1965 Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA). Recent scholarship has portrayed the ESEA as the pinnacle of the Great Society's attempt to attack inequality and poverty, with initial success rolled back by conservative mobilization around the school choice and standards movement, and a renewed focus on 'excellence' rather than 'equity' in education. However, little attention has been paid to the ideological terms which the first federal federal expansion into education policy occurred. This paper pushes against the current rollback framework, arguing that federal power in education was premised from the start on a conservative ideology that laid the groundwork for future punitive developments. This paper argues that moment when political liberals succeeded in institutionalizing the federal role in education policy coincided with the moment of consolidation of conservative economic policy that successfully redefined the purpose of education. This meant much of the programmatic structure that emerged from the ESEA incorporated a conservative understanding of public education's purpose, an understanding that is the basis for much of the punitive policies of the modern education state. By ignoring the ideological underpinnings of the ESEA and the fundamental ideological continuity of the education state after its passage, scholars have failed to grasp the role of the ESEA and Great Society liberals in setting the education state on a path towards punitiveness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of the most important developments in the recent politics of education reform has been the rise of a new group of education reform advocacy organizations (ERAOs) that are working to mobilize parents behind school reform at the district and state levels. The past two years have witnessed an unprecedented wave of state education reforms to increase accountability for student achievement, improve teacher quality, turn around failing schools, and expand school choice, much of this fiercely opposed by the teachers unions. The ERAOs and their efforts to organize parents have played an important role in pushing for these changes in state capitols, and they clearly are reshaping the politics of school reform in the United States in important ways. Despite the increasing number and activity of ERAOs, we know relatively little about them and how they operate. This paper will offer an in-depth examination of ERAOs and what we can learn from their efforts to engage parents in school reform and from other grassroots community organizing experiences. Including academic research, a brief literature review, and field-based case studies and interviews, this paper will assess the circumstances necessary for parent empowerment campaigns to be successful and the factors that may hinder engagement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the last decades, there has been an intense debate in the literature regarding the evolution of social cleavages, focusing especially on the class cleavage. On the one hand, the hypothesis of electoral dealignment argues that social cleavages have lost much of their relevance in structuring voters' choices, as a consequence of a process of social modernization. On the other hand, some authors argue that changes affecting the social structure (transformation of the employment structure, increase in education level, secularization, etc.) lead to a transformation of the central cleavages and to a process of realignment). Many analyses have been presented to support one or the other of these claims. However, comparing results from different analyses is a difficult task, due to this variety in the definition of social groups and in the measures used to gauge the strength of the corresponding divisions. This paper presents a critical discussion of the statistical merits or drawbacks of various indices of cleavage strength and makes three important contributions.First of all, it shows that the differences between the most frequently used indices are usually exaggerated. There are actually only two main strategies for estimating differences in the voting behavior of social groups, relying either on absolute or relative differences. The similarities between different indices have often been overlooked and the arguments advanced to support or criticize particular indices often concern the underlying theoretical model and the classification of social groups, rather than the statistical properties of these measures.Second, virtually all analyses ignore the uncertainty surrounding the estimated strength of cleavages. I show in the paper how simulation techniques can be used to compute not only point estimates for various indices of cleavage strength, but also the corresponding confidence intervals.Finally, most analyses do not account for the fact that electoral dealignment may result from two different processes: a change in the voting behavior of citizens ('behavioral dealignment') or a change in the size of social groups ('structural dealignment'). This distinction is central to explaining and modeling the evolution of cleavages. However, none of the existing measures of cleavage strength allows one to distinguish between these two processes in an adequate way. The paper introduces a new measure of cleavage strength that allows making such a distinction and that can be computed on the basis of either absolute or relative differences in voting choices. It is illustrated with an analysis of the evolution of the religious cleavage in Germany, between 1969 and 2002. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Scholars theorize that social contacts affect the productivity of individuals and groups. Robert Putnam claims to have found support for this theory in his studies of Italy and the United States. In each case he concludes that the presence of social capital - generalized norms of trust and reciprocity - is sufficient to predict progress on a variety of social indicators. Using demographic and public opinion data collected at the state level in the U.S, Putnam links the performance of schools to his measure of social capital. Schools perform best where social capital is found in greater abundance. This paper attempts to replicate Putnam’s finding using data from local communities in North Carolina. Since social contacts and social capital occur at the local level between individuals and groups in a community, a logical extension of Putnam’s work is to verify that these relationships exist locally. I propose and test the following two hypotheses using data from the 100 counties of North Carolina: 1) Students score higher on statewide tests in school districts where social contact is greater among residents; 2) Students drop out of school at lower rates in school districts where social contact is greater among residents. If local evidence exists to support the claim that social contacts matter, then what programs governments fund in the name of social progress may need to be reconsidered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Scholars and policy makers in the U.S. have long been concerned about achievement gaps between ethnic minorities and white students. The notorious black-white test score gap of a full standard deviation has received special attention (Jencks and Phillips 1998). Although the consensus is strong that such gaps exist and ought to be significantly narrowed if not eliminated, there is little agreement regarding which public policies are likely to be most effective in closing minority student achievement gaps.     In this paper we examine the question of what policy-influenced characteristics of teachers appear to hold the most promise to boost achievement among various disadvantaged groups and whether such achievement gains are likely to come at the expense of other subgroups of students. We pay especially close attention to the question of teacher race and ethnicity and explore what implications teacher race has for the academic achievement of various student groups. We are particularly interested in exploring whether or not teachers of minority races boost the achievement of students of their race, thus demonstrating a [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we examine the Cumulative General Social Survey (GSS) survey data and find that American confidence in schools declined markedly between 1973 and 2010. Those whose confidence declined the most were white, elderly men. In order to determine if this lost confidence was due to poor student performance, we examined NAEP math and reading scores (1978-2008). We found evidence of strong improvements across students of all ages and racial groups. Finally, we re-estimated the NAEP gains by using two different statistical methods that control for changes in the demographic composition of the American student body. We find that failure to control for these factors causes researchers to underestimate NAEP gains by more than 40%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Governance and accountability are key elements in the American political system. In this paper we focus on accountability, particularly accountability in public education. Accountability involves account-giving in which an individual or organization provides information related to their actions intended to achieve a particular goal. Accountability can be quite complex, with many different variations beyond the current focus on standardized testing. In education, it is often debated who is accountable - teachers, students, policymakers, and others - and to whom accountability is owed. Accountability goals are often contested as well. While academic achievement is most frequently cited, other goals, such as citizenship and physical health, also are important. Account-giving involves two key elements: accounts and forums. Accounts are reports or other forms of information, like student test scores or an annual audit, that describe relevant actions of the accountable party. Accounts are presented within accountability forums involving different institutional dynamics. Six forums are presented: legal, bureaucratic, political, market, professional and network. Each forum involves a different accountability relationship with various incentives and dynamics that shape account-giving. Importantly, accountability systems and the logic of the different forums have the potential to influence how problems are perceived as well as the choice of remedial strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents information on a research paper which analyzes the performance of charter schools in the Greater Los Angeles area in California, where charters have experienced the fastest growth rate in the country. It uses traditional statistical analysis and geospatial statistical analysis to compare the performance of charter schools with traditional public schools.

In the last twenty years, charter schools have been portrayed as a potential solution to educational achievement gaps in the United States. Even though charter schools are public institutions, they exercise significant control over what is taught and how it is taught. This educational flexibility not only distinguishes charters from traditional public schools. It also creates considerable variation among charters themselves. Using an original data set on charter school characteristics, this paper examines the advertised educational mission statements charter schools in California and assesses whether their programmatic variation correlates with the race and wealth of their student bodies. Using multiple regression analysis and GIS mapping software, this study finds that the racial and socioeconomic makeup of charter schools in California varies considerably as do their school mission statements. In addition, certain charter school programs correlate with specific racial and socioeconomic categories. The study has implications for understanding how social groups sort themselves based on educational preferences and for estimating the ability of market-based plans to reform America's schools and close educational achievement gaps between student groups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper evaluates job advertisements posted with APSA to assess what kind of teaching credentials are required for open positions in 2008 and 2012. We analyze the teaching credentials required for different types of positions, as well as different types of departments, to investigate whether required teaching qualifications differ across types of departments and for different ranks. Our aim is to develop suggestions that can be used by job applicants to showcase their strengths in teaching. Our findings suggest that the institutional characteristics of departments affect how job applicants are asked to document their preparation to take on the responsibilities associated with full-time academic employment. While research qualifications are required in large majority of all job listings, the extent to which teaching qualifications are required varies by type of department. Highly-ranked departments housed in national universities put less emphasis on candidates' demonstration of teaching qualifications, while liberal arts colleges are more intent to have job candidates furnish evidence of their teaching skills, as do higher-ranked regional universities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The recent litigation concerning "educational adequacy" attempts to raise taxes and increase education spending by suing states for under-funding low-performing public schools. This approach, however, ignores the need to increase the efficiency of current spending. It disregards evidence that the U.S. government's monetary investment in public education, despite being significantly higher than that of other industrial democracies, has not translated into improved student achievement. Increased spending may make it easier to avoid tough decisions in funding disputes, but it erodes incentives for districts to be economically savvy and disrupts the democratic process by pursuing policy through the courts, rather than through the legislature. This paper argues that adequacy lawsuits are not an effective avenue for pursuing substantive reform or improved student achievement. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, scholars have explored the relationship between local democracy and education from two distinct perspectives. The first perspective assumes democratic practice to be inherently good. Studies adhering to this perspective have been motivated by a desire to deepen the practice of democracy. They have considered the implications for democratic practice of many aspects of schools, from governance arrangements to classroom management to community engagement. The second perspective has questioned the merits of democratic school governance. Starting from the view that good outcomes for students - especially academic outcomes - should be paramount, contributors to this literature have explored tensions between democratic governance and the pursuit of improved student outcomes. This paper examines the extent to which trade-offs exist between the pursuit of deepened democratic practice and improved student outcomes. Contemporary challenges for educational policy-makers are assessed, with emphasis given to how policy design might simultaneously support the pursuit of local democracy in education and the pursuit of improved student outcomes. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 1998, Oklahoma instituted a univeral pre-kindergarten program in order to improve educational and developmental outcomes of children. We analyze the short-term effects of pre-kindergarten on children in Tulsa Public Schools (TPS). The main difficulty with estimating the causal impact of a voluntary pre-K program on test scores is that certain parents are more likely to select pre-K for their children, and these parents might also have other unobservable characteristics that influence the test outcomes of their children. We rely on a quasi-experimental framework to address this selection bias. We find that the program increased cognitive/knowledge scores by 0.39 standard deviation, increased motor skills scores by 0.24 standard deviation, and increased language scores by 0.33 standard deviation. Also, we find that the impacts tend to be largest for Hispanics and for blacks, with little impact for whites. Children who qualify for the full free-lunch program also have much larger impacts than the population as a whole. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An important yet overlooked component of retrospective voting theory is the extent to which it may exacerbate existing inequalities if the outcomes for some groups of citizens are given greater attention than others when voters make their decisions at the ballot box. We investigate whether there is racial inequality in retrospective voting by evaluating the relationship between white and racial minority student achievement and the vote share of incumbent school board members seeking reelection. Analyzing election data from California for 2004-2010, we find evidence that voters reward or punish incumbent officeholders based on how well or poorly white students are faring while, in contrast, the achievement levels of African American and Hispanic students receive comparatively little attention. We then engage in a preliminary analysis to identify possible mechanisms driving these results and report survey data that indicates nearly half of Americans are not aware of the disparities in educational achievement between white and racial minority students and, among those who are aware, the vast majority believe the disparities are caused by factors outside of schools' (and, by extension, school board members') control. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents the author's views on the economic condition of the Arab areas after the 2011 Arab uprisings. Views of Robert Zoellick, President of the World Bank on the failure of neo-liberal policies is presented. He also discussed about the existing inequality and poverty in the country. Various necessities of the country that have improved since 2011 includes economic growth, increased health and educational achievement.

An established pedagogical literature suggests that student-student interaction in discussion settings promotes cognitive engagement, student satisfaction, and positive learning outcomes-and may enhance critical thinking skills. Furthermore, a growing body of research indicates that these positive processes and outcomes can be effectively recreated in the online environment. Yet we also know that the effectiveness of online discussions can be conditioned-even compromised-by such factors as group size, gender composition, and differences in the prior academic achievement of participants. In this study, we offer a preliminary look at the efficacy of a conditioning intervention: The role of student preceptors in promoting student interaction and elevating discussion quality. Using data from 26 discussion groups and 3 substantive discussions, we measure quantitative indicators of discussion activity under two quasi-experimental conditions: preceptor-as-student and preceptor-as-GTA. In the control condition, no student preceptor was present. In terms of quantitative indicators of discussion activity, we find no emergent differences between the preceptor intervention and the control. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article profiles political scientist Halford L. Hoskins who was a member of a group of experts on the Middle East. It states that most of Hoskins' works on the Middle East were infused with geopolitical assumptions, which made him famous and led him to prominent positions in international relations. It tackles Hoskins' educational background, career experiences, and achievements. It also examines his book "Middle East Oil in the United States Foreign Policy."

The article discusses the two approaches applied in teaching and political economy for the development education and student's engagement in critical issues worldwide. It states the assessment for students using the approach on problem based learning to focus on the poverty issues in Southern Africa. It also mentions the use of task based learning for students to complete a task for the education programme.

As Robert Behn (2001) writes, accountability is a complex concept, requiring agreedupon goals, measures, principals and agents. For public schools under both No Child Left Behind (NCLB) and various state accountability schemes, accountability measures are test scores measuring student learning in core subjects, such as reading and mathematics. Schools which produce either above-average student performance, or else above-average gains in achievement (controlling for student characteristics) are generally deemed successful, while less successful campuses (in theory at least) are to be held accountable. But which school-type, when performing poorly, is most likely to "face the music": Charters or traditional district schools? This is a particularly important question since President Obama has made expanding the number of charter schools an educational priority, but has emphasized that these schools must be held accountable. We discuss competing views on how to achieve school accountability, followed by a comparison of charter and traditional district school accountability using school performance data from Arizona (the state with the largest charter school market share). We provide evidence suggesting that, using education standards mandated by Arizona, poorly performing charter schools are more likely to be held accountable than poorly performing traditional district schools. Under NCLB standards, however, this finding is reversed: Traditional public schools appear to be more accountable. We discuss, from a qualitative vantage point, why these results are plausible. We also outline several research directions suggested by these findings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In his classic work on response to failing organizations, Hirschman (1970) argued that more exit options leads to a reduction in the use of voice to address institutional failures. School choice is premised on the idea that more exit options can lead schools to improve themselves for fear of losing market share, but this change could also lead to a reduction in parental involvement in schools if Hirschman (1970) is correct. We examine how competition among schools influences exit and voice in the schools using the variation in choice context across the United States and a nationally representative sample of parents and students. We find that more choices of a particular type of school do lead to an increase in parental exit to that type of school, but that the effect on voice is more complicated. Specifically, more exit options decreases the use of collective voice intended to affect the functioning of the institution as a whole, but not individual voice focused on the education of one's own child. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a study which compares the academic performances of students taking the blended course and those in a face-to-face course. Students in the blended course were required to complete works on political parties and interest groups online, while the students in the face-to-face course was taught in a traditional format, with meeting three days a week or 50 minutes. The computation of the students' academic performance using OLS regression is assessed.

The positive effect of education on political participation is unique in the annals of political science in that it is almost universally acknowledged to exist. Political scientists and pundits alike view this link as inextricable even in light of persistent counterintuitive trends, including the coincidental increase in levels of educational attainment and decrease in levels of political participation over the past fifty years, and failure to clarify the causal mechanisms that produce this strong relationship. In this work, I question the validity of observational findings touting education as "the universal solvent." To do so, I isolate the role of education from confounding influences by examining a randomized experiment concerning educational attainment. Downstream analysis of this educational intervention supports observational findings of a positive independent relationship between education and political participation. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Social promotion has long been the normal practice in American schools. Criticsof this practice, whereby students are promoted to the next grade regardless of academic preparation, have suggested that students would benefit academically if they were made to repeat a grade. Supporters of social promotion claim that retaining students (i.e, holding them back) disrupts them socially, producing greater academic harm than promotion would. A number of states and school districts, including Florida, Texas, Chicago, and New York City, have attempted to curtail social promotion, by requiring students to demonstrate academic preparation on a standardized test before they can be promoted to the next grade.This study analyzes the effects of Florida's test-based promotion policy on student achievement two years after initial retention. It builds upon our previous evaluation of the policy in two ways. First, we examine whether the initial benefits of retention observed in the previous study continue, expand, or contract in the second year after students are retained. Second, we determine whether discrepancies between our evaluation and the evaluation of a test-based promotion policy in Chicago are caused by differences in how researchers examined the issue, or by differences in the nature of the programs. Our analysis shows that, after two years of the policy, retained Florida students made significant reading gains relative to the control group of socially promoted students. These academic benefits grew substantially from the first to the second year after retention. That is, students lacking in basic skills who are socially promoted appear to fall further and further behind over time, whereas retained students appear to be able to catch up on the skills they are lacking. Further, we find these positive results in Florida, both when we use the same research design that we used in our previous study, and when we use a design similar to that employed by the evaluation of the program in Chicago, The differences between the Chicago and Florida evaluations appear to be caused by differences in the details of the programs, and not by differences in how the programs were evaluated. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]