The aim of this research is to assess the opinions of students in a variety of high schools at different class levels who received disciplinary punishment for violence. The research comprised 35 boys and 10 girls, for a total of 45 students. The data for the research were obtained with semi-structured interviews. The results show that the students…

The OECD Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) examines what students know in reading, mathematics and science, and what they can do with what they know. It provides the most comprehensive and rigorous international assessment of student learning outcomes to date. Results from PISA indicate the quality and equity of learning…

PIRLS (Progress in International Reading Literacy Study) was inaugurated in 2001 as a follow-up to International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement's 1991 Reading Literacy Study. Conducted every five years, PIRLS assesses the reading achievement of young students in their fourth year of schooling--an important transition…

Socially problematic and violent behaviour of pupils in and around schools is undesirable from pedagogical, social and societal perspectives. The motives underlying violence between different social actors in school may help explain and improve this behaviour. The aim is to investigate the relationship patterns between characteristics of secondary…

This paper describes staff perceptions of the implementation of an alternative curriculum, Skill Force, for disaffected pupils in the UK. The perceptions of Skill Force and school staff were compared based on data from questionnaires completed by 62 Skill Force and 84 school staff, and interviews with representative samples of each. While the data…

This paper examines the issue of school dropout in six communities in the Savelugu-Nanton District in the Northern Region of Ghana. The study focused on 89 children (64 boys and 25 girls) aged 7-16 years, who had dropped out of school. A snowballing sampling method was employed to recruit participants to the study. Two researchers interviewed the…

This paper derives from the author's recent research into disadvantaged children's access to compulsory education in England. Examining the national attendance strategies and practice, the author interrogates the current trend towards a more punitive approach to addressing the problem of school absenteeism while debating the issue of irresponsible…

Examined the educational exclusion and inclusion of Gypsy Traveller students, exploring how some Scottish schools responded to Traveller student culture and how this led to exclusion. Interviews with school staff, Traveller students, and parents indicated that continuing prejudice and harassment promoted inappropriate school placement and…

The formulation of effective compulsory attendance laws has been one of the problems confronting legislators and school officials for the past 70 years. The most marked advance in enacting such laws has been made since 1890. Prior to that date only 27 States and the District of Columbia had compulsory laws, and many of these were inoperative. Now…