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This study provides a comprehensive global snapshot of wealth-based inequalities in higher education attendance. We draw on data from 117 countries to describe cross-national patterns in higher education attendance rates, disaggregated by wealth quintile and country income group. We then calculate four different indicators to quantify the size of wealth-based inequality in higher education attendance and completion for each country. Our findings point to large wealth-based inequalities in higher education attendance cross-nationally, which are: substantially larger than inequalities in secondary completion, larger in low- and middle-income countries than high-income countries, and negatively associated with national wealth. The results serve as a foundation for future studies on how country-level factors and policies exacerbate or reduce wealth-based inequalities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We investigate whether increasing the education quality causes increases in economic growth allowing poorer countries to catch up. To this end, we extend Nelson-Phelps's classic paper by introducing differences in education quality (proxied by students' performance on the Program for International Student Assessment [PISA] test) in a leader-follower type of growth model with knowledge diffusion. We use students' performance in a standardized international PISA test to measure education quality's impact on economic growth using a panel Vector Error Correction allowing for cross-correlation in the co-integration analysis in a set of all countries observed over the years 1975–2018. Additionally, we consider the possible reverse causality that characterizes economic development and the quality of education. Our results confirm the relevance of education quality as a significant causal factor of economic growth. However, further analyses indicate that the discussed relation is long-run, which may have important implications for policymakers.

Chile is known for universal school choice policies and a high level of economic segregation. In part, segregation has been linked to selective school admission policies. Chile implemented a centralized school admission system (New School Admission System), where PK–12 schools must accept any applicant, and lottery assignment is used for oversubscription. We exploit a natural experiment due to the phased implementation across grades and regions to attempt to detect any effects of this policy on access for and representation of low-income students using grade-within-school and year fixed effects. Eliminating admissions barriers may contribute to increased educational opportunity, but the impact may be limited by the multiple structural factors shaping inequality in Chile. We find little short-term change in access for low-income students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A growing literature measures the impact of education interventions in low- and middle-income countries on both access and learning outcomes. But how should one contextualize the size of impacts? This article provides the distribution of standardized effect sizes on learning and access from 234 studies in low- and middle-income countries. We identify a median effect size of 0.10 standard deviations on learning and 0.07 standard deviations on access among randomized controlled trials. Effect sizes are similar for quasi-experimental studies. Effects are larger and demonstrate higher variance for small-scale studies than for large-scale studies. The distribution of existing effects can help researchers and policymakers to situate new findings within current knowledge and design new studies with sufficient statistical power to identify effects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The intensities of the contemporary moment continue to prompt reflections on the strengths and limitations of approaches typically used to study education policy reform. The central contention of this essay is that policy sociology and its application within education offers needed vantage points on contemporary pressing global policy problems. Future studies would do well to keep the footprint of existing frameworks, which emphasize policy networks and mobilities, power dynamics within these flows, and the focus on doing research that speaks to concerns of stakeholders. The next generation of policy sociologists can further strengthen the relevance and rigor of the analytic scheme by leaning into methodologies that further attend empirically and descriptively to power asymmetries within policy networks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Empirically rigorous research on teacher education entry is extremely limited. Evidence on who enters teacher education and why is crucial for identifying undesired gaps in entry and can assist with teacher recruitment. Grounded in prior research, we identified four primary groups of relevant individual-level variables: student/family background, achievement/abilities, personality, and motivation. We empirically tested this conceptual model using rich data from a national cohort of German ninth-graders followed to college/university and their parents. Our study is the first to predict eventual teacher education entry early in secondary school. Although those students who eventually entered teacher education were significantly different from their counterparts across most variables, fewer were conditionally predictive. Social interests, desired working conditions, desire to have children, and students' parents were particularly influential. Implications for research and teacher recruitment are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The estimation of high-dimensional latent regression item response theory (IRT) models is difficult because of the need to approximate integrals in the likelihood function. Proposed solutions in the literature include using stochastic approximations, adaptive quadrature, and Laplace approximations. We propose using a second-order Laplace approximation of the likelihood to estimate IRT latent regression models with categorical observed variables and fixed covariates where all parameters are estimated simultaneously. The method applies when the IRT model has a simple structure, meaning that each observed variable loads on only one latent variable. Through simulations using a latent regression model with binary and ordinal observed variables, we show that the proposed method is a substantial improvement over the first-order Laplace approximation with respect to the bias. In addition, the approach is equally or more precise to alternative methods for estimation of multidimensional IRT models when the number of items per dimension is moderately high. Simultaneously, the method is highly computationally efficient in the high-dimensional settings investigated. The results imply that estimation of simple-structure IRT models with very high dimensions is feasible in practice and that the direct estimation of high-dimensional latent regression IRT models is tractable even with large sample sizes and large numbers of items. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study contributes to the literature on long-term effects of relative age (i.e. age differences between classmates in compulsory school) by examining tertiary education outcomes. We investigate whether there is evidence of relative age effects on university students enrolled in the Erasmus exchange program. We use administrative data on all exchange students who visited the Linnaeus University, in Sweden, in the four years since its founding. We find long-term evidence of RAEs—the youngest cohort students participate less often to the Erasmus exchange program than older cohort members. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This is one of the first evaluations of a "growth-mindset" intervention at scale in a developing country. I randomly assigned 202 public secondary schools in Salta, Argentina, to a treatment group in which Grade 12 students were asked to read about the malleability of intelligence, write a letter to a classmate, and post their letters in their classroom, or to a control group. The intervention was implemented as intended. Yet, I find no evidence that it affected students' propensity to find tasks less intimidating, school climate, school performance, achievement, or post-secondary plans. I rule out small effects and find little evidence of heterogeneity. This study suggests that the intervention may be more challenging to replicate and scale than anticipated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present results from the first randomized experiment of a remedial inquiry-based science education program for low-performing elementary students in a developing country. Among third-grade students in 48 low-income public elementary schools in Metropolitan Lima who score in the bottom 50% of their school baseline science distribution, half are randomly assigned to receive remedial inquiry-based science education in after-school sessions, and the remaining half to business as usual control conditions. Assignment to treatment increased endline science achievement by 3 percentiles (0.12 SD) with greater gains for students who attended at least one remedial session, and a concentration of gains among boys. We cannot reject the null hypothesis of no indirect science achievement gains among nonparticipants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Teacher professional development and in-class mentors were used to support structured inquiry with math manipulatives. Twenty-four primary schools (n = 6,628 students) were randomly assigned to treatment and control groups as an experimental field trial to examine the effectiveness of this instructional approach in a scaled-up application in Belize for the duration of a school year. Implementation fidelity measures were collected permitting evaluation of two separate multilevel models: intention-to-treat and test-of-treatment. Both quantitative and qualitative evidence suggest students within this culture respond well to this relatively simple and inexpensive intervention that departs from traditional, expository math instruction in many developing countries. Policy implications are discussed that supported nationwide rollout of the intervention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We have observed a global focus on improving teacher quality through reforming teacher education, certification, recruitment, and evaluation during the past two decades. Previous single country studies have documented the focus, design, and implementation of teacher reforms in various national contexts, yet few studies systematically analyzed what explains the cross-national difference in how a national, federal, or state government develops and implements a teacher reform influenced by global dynamics. This article presents a conceptual framework to understand how this cross-national divergence emerges within a global convergence on reforming teachers and their work to guide the future research. The author argues that this divergence is a result of collective sensemaking, negotiation, and contestation over a “teacher quality” problem and the solution among policy actors at national and local levels, which are influenced by global dynamics but occur within nation-specific teaching and policy environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the current article, we consider the influential position of the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) and discuss several methodological areas that demonstrate the need for caution when using and interpreting PISA results. We motivate our argument by briefly describing the program’s increased influence in educational policy over time. Subsequently, we describe the methodological areas of interest, including sampling participants, the achievement estimation model, and measuring trends. We also offer our perspectives on how the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development might productively and more clearly communicate PISA’s limitations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This essay is a critique of the scientific and policy rationales for transnational standardization. It analyzes two examples of policy export: early childhood standards in one of North America’s oldest Indigenous communities and the ongoing development of international standards for university teaching. It examines calls for American education to look to Finland, Canada, and Singapore for models of reform and innovation, focusing on the complex historical, cultural, and political settlements at work in these countries. The author addresses two affiliated challenges: first, the possibility of a principled understanding of evidence and policy in cultural and political-economic context, and second, the possibility of a mediative educational science that might guide policy formation. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

For more than two decades, three components of teacher knowledge have been discussed, namely, content knowledge (CK), pedagogical content knowledge (PCK), and general pedagogical knowledge (GPK). Although there is a growing body of analytic clarification and empirical testing with regard to CK and PCK, especially with a focus on mathematics teachers, hardly any attempt has been made to learn more about teachers’ GPK. In the context of the Teacher Education and Development Study in Mathematics (TEDS-M), Germany, Taiwan, and the United States worked on closing this research gap by conceptualizing a theoretical framework and developing a standardized test of GPK, which was taken by representative samples of future middle school teachers in these countries. Four task-based subdimensions of GPK and three cognitive subdimensions of GPK were distinguished in this test. TEDS-M data are used (a) to test the hypothesis that GPK is not homogenous but multidimensional and (b) to compare the achievement of U.S. future middle school teachers with future middle school teachers from Germany and Taiwan. The data revealed that U.S. future teachers were outperformed by both the other groups. They showed a relative strength in one of the cognitive subdimensions, generating strategies to perform in the classroom, indicating that in particular they had acquired procedural GPK during teacher education. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The Teacher Education and Development Study in Mathematics, sponsored by the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement, is the first data-based study about mathematics teacher education with large-scale samples; this article is based on its data but develops a stand-alone conceptual framework to investigate the quality of teacher education among various countries. The framework includes five indicators: future teacher achievement, instructor effectiveness, coherence between universities and schools, courses/content arrangement, and overall effectiveness of teacher education programs. One of the findings provides indications that it is necessary to combine theoretical knowledge with practical teaching into teacher education; another finding is that for all countries involved, future teachers are less approving of the courses/content arrangement of teacher education programs than are program educators, thus perhaps lowering educators’ motivation to improve the arrangement. The data also indicate that there is a high degree of synchronization and organization in teacher education programs in the United States; however, these programs still require further development and promotion of their future teachers’ knowledge achievements. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Seeking to deepen our understandings of the ways international study abroad programs may enhance efforts to prepare culturally responsive teachers, the purpose of this case study was to explore a preservice teacher’s intercultural development during a semester-long teacher education program in London, England. Such study abroad teacher education programs are offered as an innovative means to promote preservice teachers’ intercultural development, providing unique opportunities for these students to confront their ethnocentric worldviews and begin to consider the ways culture influences teaching and learning. Findings from this study reveal that participation in the program positively influenced intercultural development. Themes that illuminate aspects of the participant’s study abroad experience that both challenged and supported intercultural development included immersion within both a culture and school along with the essential role of an intercultural guide who promoted reflective practices around issues of culture and self. Implications for preservice teacher education program design are addressed. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The author's primary aims are to clarify the differing rationales for affirmative action that have emerged in five nations--France, India, South Africa, the United States, and Brazil--and to make the case for the most compelling rationales, whether instrumentally or morally based. She examines the different social contexts surrounding the establishment and public discussion of each nation's policy. Next, she examines four justifications for affirmative action in these nations: remediation, economics, diversity, and social justice. She offers philosophical analysis of the justifications for affirmative action in each country and synthesizes federal and state legislation, court decisions, news media sources, and research-based scholarship. She argues that the social justice rationale ought to be invoked more centrally, underscoring affirmative action's role in fostering a democratic society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The technical complexities and sheer size of international large-scale assessment (LSA) databases often cause hesitation on the part of the applied researcher interested in analyzing them. Further, inappropriate choice or application of statistical methods is a common problem in applied research using these databases. This article serves as a primer for researchers on the issues and methods necessary for obtaining unbiased results from LSA data. The authors outline the issues surrounding the analysis and reporting of LSA data, with a particular focus on three prominent international surveys. In addition, they make recommendations targeted at applied researchers regarding best analysis and reporting practices when using these databases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Until recently, international education has existed at the margins of educational research. However, in the current context of globalization, international education has moved closer to the center of educational research throughout the world. In this article, the authors identify, describe, and analyze six distinct research approaches to international education: comparative and international education, internationalization of higher education, international schools, international research on teaching and teacher education, internationalization of K-12 education, and globalization of education. Within each approach, the authors discuss the historical context and the global political, economic, social, and cultural shifts that have shaped the research approach, map the major research trajectories that have developed; discuss the audience and research community; and analyze strengths and weaknesses. The authors conclude with a discussion of emergent trends within research in international education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research on globalization and education involves the study of intertwined worldwide discourses, processes, and institutions affecting local educational practices and policies. The four major theoretical perspectives concerning globalization and education are world culture, world systems, postcolonial, and culturalist. The major global educational discourses are about the knowledge economy and technology, lifelong learning, global migration or brain circulation, and neoliberalism. The major institutions contributing to global educational discourses and actions are the World Bank, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, the World Trade Organization, the United Nations, and UNESCO. International testing, in particular the Trends in Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) and Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), and instruction in English as the language of commerce are contributing to global uniformity of national curricula. Critics of current global trends support educational alternatives that will preserve local languages and cultures, ensure progressive educational practices that will protect the poor against the rich, and protect the environment and human rights. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In a seminal article, Hanushek and Woessmann explained economic growth as a function of the quality of education. While they did not find evidence of the importance of years of schooling, they argued for the relevance of cognitive skills and a basic literacy ratio for economic growth. However, this result was based on cross-country data limited to 23 observations. In this study, we extended and modified their approach based on the results of PISA (Programme for International Student Assessment) tests to explain the GDP changes over the last 50 years. Using panel data, we considered the possible lag that characterizes this relationship, used statistical methods to address the risk of reversed causality of economic performance affecting the quality of education, and extended the model by the inclusion of other potential growth factors. The results, which also included several robustness checks, confirmed the relevance of earlier education quality as a significant growth factor. Our results suggest the significance of educational skills for GDP growth, which might be treated as a confirmation of the importance of quality primary and secondary education for economic development. We showed that our results are robust to changes in the order of lags and confirmed the validity of the conclusion with the use of specification-robust Bayesian model averaging. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]