This paper explores how mandated literacy assessment is reorganising teachers' work in the context of Australia's National Assessment Program--Literacy and Numeracy, which was implemented in 2008. Students in Years 3, 5, 7 and 9 are tested annually, with school results publicly available. The wider policy context and the emergence of different…

There is a distinct class difference in the way that children are taught school behavior. Teachers in affluent schools use more implicit teaching techniques while teachers of low-income children are more explicit in their teaching of behavior. This stems largely from the alignment of the home culture of middle class children to school behavior and…

This critical case study of one, Somali Bantu male high school student illuminates the struggle for recently arrived refugees at the high school level. Few educational research studies describe how recently arrived refugee students and their families make their transition to US schools (Ngo et al. in "Hmong Stud J" 8:1-35, 2007; Hones and Cha in…

This article presents an interview with James H. Borland, Professor of Education in the Department of Curriculum and Teaching at Teachers College, Columbia University, where he directs the graduate programs in the education of gifted students. Dr. Borland is the author of numerous books, book chapters, journal articles, and miscellanea. He has won…

The tertiary preparation programme intensive school (TPPIS) for Year 12 school leavers offered young people from low socio-economic status (LSES) backgrounds an alternative pathway to university, a second chance at tertiary entrance and ultimately for some, a fast track to a better future. The intensive programme not only focuses on teaching…

The video "Wealth Inequality in America" sets forth a compelling animated chart depicting three ideas: (1) how Americans think wealth is distributed in the United States;(2) how they believe wealth ideally should be distributed; and (3) how the estimated $54 trillion of U.S. wealth is really divided. The hard-to-miss conclusion of the…

In this paper, I describe the academic dilemma experienced by Tamara (pseudonym), a mathematically high-achieving high school sophomore. Raised in an economically strapped neighborhood, Tamara had the opportunity to attend a prestigious private high school, tuition free. Confronted by being viewed as an affirmative action student Tamara uses this…

It is often taken for granted that teaching self-regulated learning pedagogy supports student empowerment and individual human agency. As a result, researchers are almost exclusively focused on improving self-regulated learning pedagogical interventions. There is little consideration of the ethical and ideological implications of such instruction.…

The AIDS pandemic has resulted in a dramatic rise in the number of orphans in South Africa. This study was designed to investigate the associations between family, peer, and community factors and resilience in orphaned adolescents. Self-report questionnaires were administered verbally to 159 parentally bereaved adolescents (aged 10-19) in an…

This dissertation examines teaching with the interactive whiteboard and its impact on student achievement outcomes for grade 5 students of economic disadvantage. It is a quantitative retrospective posttest only comparison group study. State assessment scores of low SES students at two grade 5 centers were compared. The scores that were compared…

Home Instruction for Parents of Preschool Youngsters (HIPPY) is a school readiness program that helps parents prepare their preschool child for academic success. This home-based, family-focused program targets parents from disadvantaged backgrounds to offer educational enrichment opportunities for their three, four, and five-year old children.…

Young people are increasingly required to demonstrate civic engagement in their communities and help deliver the aspirations of localism and Big Society. Using an ecological systems approach this paper explores the experiences of different groups of young people living in areas of socio-economic disadvantage. Using volunteering as an example of…

This study examines whether disconnection between educational aspirations and expectations is associated with socioeconomic status, academic performance, academic risk-related behaviors and related psychosocial factors in an ethnically and economically diverse sample of early adolescents from a public middle school (N = 761). Results suggest that…

An increasing body of literature documents considerable inequalities in the health of young children in the United States, though maternal depression is one important, yet often overlooked, determinant of children's health. In this article, the author uses data from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study (N = 4,048) and finds that maternal…

This author states that, since the civil rights movement, Americans have documented and decried--but done little to decrease--the achievement gap. This gulf, one of many that divide people by race and class, has festered in part because the larger question of inequitable investment in poor communities of color has long been neglected.…