This ethnographic study examines kindergarten teachers' perceptions and practices of "school readiness" in kindergartens in low-SES settings in northern Israel, with the aim of illuminating the ways in which global educational ideas are appropriated by teachers in their daily work. Data collection included participant observation,…

We take an innovative approach to estimating student mathematics learning in the sixth grade of three African countries. The study reinforces the notion that beyond the quality of the teaching process in classrooms, national contextual factors are important in understanding the contribution that schooling makes to student performance. Our approach…

The low literacy rates in developing countries have been repeatedly problematized as a major constraint to socioeconomic development by education planners and policy makers. In the 1950s and 1960s, the dominant rationale for literacy development was one of promoting economic growth. In more recent years, by contrast, literacy has increasingly come…

This article compares the changes in the determination of educational aspirations from the end of the communist period in 1989 to 2003, focusing on a single postcommunist country, the Czech Republic. The Czech case is particularly relevant for comparative research on educational inequality and aspirations, as previous studies have shown…

The main focus of the 1964 Greek educational reform policies was to make higher education more accessible to students of wider socioeconomic groups coming from all regions of the country. This study attempts to define the degree to which this reform objective has been achieved. (Author/RK)

Studied is the bureaucracy in Thailand, and access to an promotion within the system--or the "degree of openness" in the Thai public service. The key dependent variable is occupational attainment. Some key intervening variables include educational attainment, total job experience, sex, and regional remoteness of early schooling. (KC)

This article documents patterns of take-up of traditional religious and primary school education in Chefchaouen, one of the most disadvantaged provinces in Morocco located in the impoverished northwestern region of the country. First, the author provides some background on the socioeconomic and cultural characteristics of the province of…

Do patterns of access to "elite" institutions in developing nations become more or less restricted and biased toward high-status population groups as the educational system expands? This article addresses this question through careful examination of the social background characteristics of Ghanian secondary students in 1961 and 1974.…

Study conducted to ascertain relationship between education and occupational attainment in Zaire included specific Zaire historical/cultural factors. Sample included persons who matured in preindependence (N=208) and postindependence (N=494) periods. Variables were socioeconomic background, tribe, religion, urban experience, type of school,…