就近入学与择校:两难问题何去何从

就近入学与择校是一个两难问题,尽管多数西方国家和少数发展中国家在20世纪80年代后尝试推行择校政策,但择校带来的问题也不少,引起的争议依然存在,没有一个国家找到了比较好的方法解决。在我国,就近入学是我国义务教育阶段的主要政策,但现实中择校广泛存在。解决这个两难问题,可以让部分地区先制定择校政策,待成熟后逐步推广。     

The Institutional Landscape of Interest Group Politics and School Choice

This article provides an updated analysis of the institutional and organizational landscape surrounding the advocacy of and opposition to vouchers and other forms of school choice over the past decade at federal/national, state, and local levels. The politics of choice grew far more complex during the 1990s, with Republican control of Congress and the White House, the growth of the national charter school movement, congressional passage of pilot voucher programs, and the Supreme Court's 2002 Zelman v. Simmons-Harris ruling. Utilizing an Advocacy Coalition Framework, questions about the ideological motivations behind different forms of school choice, the particular programs that certain groups are likely to support or oppose, and the strategies—including the potential alliances and coalitions—that are increasingly employed around school choice policy are explored. A framework for understanding and analyzing policymaking in this area is offered, extending existing thinking on both school choice issues and education policy more generally.     

Dewey,Interest, and Well-Being: Prospects for Improving the Educational Value of Physical Education

Despite the current policy prominence of physical education, there is still unease about the subject's educational contribution. In this respect, we are surprised by how seldom John Dewey's writings inform contemporary reviews of aims and values. We outline how his writings on connecting the child and the curriculum and schools with society are relevant to deliberations on how students could derive enhanced meaning from physical education. We address criticisms by Richard Peters of Dewey and discuss related issues on: interest and engagement, problem solving and criteria for personal growth. We discuss how the thinking of Dewey and Valerie Tiberius might inform the development of physical education curricular that are more deeply connected with the lives of students and which promote well-being. In particular, we argue there is a need for future curriculum to be designed in ways that invite students to cultivate informed and stable physical activity habits and values.     

兴趣教育思想发展的“三部曲”——卢梭、赫尔巴特和杜威的兴趣说

兴趣学说是探讨儿童兴趣及其与教育教学密切关系理论,它是西方近现代以心理学为取向的一种重要的教育学说,一百年前就已流行于欧美乃至东方。就其形成过程而言,初见于18世纪的卢梭,创建于19世纪的赫尔巴特,发展于20世纪的杜威,不仅具有广深的时代背景和理论基础,而且在教育学史中有着重要的地位和影响。     

The Chimera of Choice: Gentrification,School Choice,and Community

This study investigates school choice in a gentrified urban context and examines the ways in which school choice as rhetoric creates false perceptions, how school-choice policies can betray the very principle they espouse, and how choice (while sought after by many) can undermine community. As school choice continues to expand and gain traction politically, it is increasingly important to understand the effects it has on a variety of populations and how the rhetoric surrounding the policy does not correspond with the lived realities on the ground. This research borrows the concept from psychology and economics of “the paradox of choice” (Schwartz, 2004 Schwartz, B. (2004). The paradox of choice: Why more is less. New York, NY: Ecco. [Google Scholar]) and applies it to school choice to demonstrate some of the negative influences of choice on parents and their views of schooling. This research calls into question one of the major arguments for the expansion of school choice—that it provides all parents the opportunity to choose the best fit for their child—by demonstrating that in actual practice choice does not meet parents’ expectation that they are in control of their child’s educational options, regardless of their class background. In this case study the choice system results in a lack of agency, anger and hostility, discontent with schooling options, and an undermining of community connections. Although a number of families do believe they had a choice and were satisfied with their child's school options, or became staunch advocates for their local district schools, the choice landscape still creates tensions.     

Student Interest,Grading Leniency,and Teacher Ratings: A Conceptual Analysis

This study explored the extent to which student interest and grading leniency were predictive of teacher ratings. Unlike other teacher rating research, however, this study measured student interest at the beginning and end of seven sections of two courses; further, grading leniency was explicitly defined and measured, not inferred from expected grade and workload. Data indicate that precourse interest was positively associated with expected grade, but was not predictive of ratings, nor did it moderate the expected grade–rating association. Rather, interest change was positively associated with expected grade and predictive of ratings. Further, interest change and grading leniency provided incremental variance in ratings, beyond that provided by expected grade.     

从学习兴趣看赫尔巴特与杜威教育思想的相通性

从其对学生兴趣的重视、对学生主动性、经验和交际的重视来看,赫尔巴特的教育思想不但不能简单地称为教师中心论,而且更接近学生中心论.他关于教学阶段的论述不但表明了兴趣具有好坏高下之分,而且具有重大的教育教学功能.撇开先入为主的各种看法,从赫尔巴特与杜威的原著来看,二者的教育思想,共识多于分歧.     

The Conceptual Nature of Gain in Vocabulary Research: An Analysis of Vocabulary Data from Schoolchildren

Two ways of measuring change are presented and compared: A conventional “change score”, defined as the difference between scores before and after an interim period, and a process-oriented approach focusing on detailed analysis of conceptually defined response patterns. The validity of the two approaches was investigated. Vocabulary knowledge was assessed by means of equivalent multiple-choice tests administered before and after an intervention, and four characteristic responses were observed: Words consistently not understood; words inconsistently understood; learned words; and words consistently understood. The results showed that inclusion of the category “words consistently not understood” offered a “truer” gain score than did the conventional change score. It captured more variance from age and cognitive constraints and appeared educationally more reliable from an assessment-for-teaching-perspective.     

School Choice Policies Shaping Neighborhoods,School Locations,and Destinies

ABSTRACT

In this article, we introduce a special collection of research articles that consider the processes and consequences of school choice across different social and spatial contexts in order to better understand the relationship between school choice and stratification in educational opportunity. This special issue presents a wide range of studies that examine geographical configurations, locations, scales, and relationships, all of which shape and are shaped by school choice. We summarize the diverse theoretical perspectives and themes. We also highlight the articles’ key results and new contributions related to issues such as inter-district school choice, open enrollment school choice programs, diversification of curricular-related activities among EMO-operated schools, and geographic variation in achievement of the charter school sector     

学校变革中的利益冲突:表现、成因及化解

对于处于变革中的学校组织来说,冲突无处不在,但利益冲突却是学校变革中冲突的焦点。学校变革的利益冲突表现为多种形式,而产生利益冲突的主要原因是由于权威及权力结构分配的不平等,以及"集体行动"逻辑所导致的"囚徒困境"。基于此,化解学校变革利益冲突的策略主要包括利益冲突管理以及实现不同主体间的"利益共享",而后者则需从达成"经济人"和"道德人"之间的契合、实现异质合作以及激发主体的道德使命感三方面切入来实现学校变革中的利益共享。     

School Choice in Sweden: Effects on Student Performance,School Costs,and Segregation

This article presents empirical analyses of the effects of independent schools in Sweden. The most important result is that the impact—both the positive and the negative—is relatively marginal. This said, there are now a number of studies that show that when independent schools are established the pupils in municipal schools perform better. Municipal school costs will, however, tend to rise marginally. The effects on school segregation are complex, but the tentative overall result is that independent schools may have added somewhat to the much more significant effect of increasing residential segregation.     

School Choice: The Personal and the Political

Enrollment in school choice programs is growing, so is overall support for school choice. Many have analyzed what demographic characteristics impact attitudes towards school choice. This article adds to the literature by exploring the interaction between personal decisions regarding school choice and broader support for school choice programs. Focus groups were conducted in St. Louis and Kansas City with 35 parents of school-age children. Participant responses indicate that school choice programs illicit mixed emotions from parents. Most participants personally support school choice and exercise choice themselves by sending their children to magnet, charter, or private schools. At the same time, they have reservations about broader school choice programs. As Schelling (1978) suggests, these individuals act in their own self-interest despite the impact it might have on the aggregate. More to the point, they are willing to express choice themselves, but deny it to others.     

Effects of Example Choice on Interest,Control, and Learning

We investigated example choice as a new method for the teaching of formal theoretical principles. Formal principles are presented with several examples from different topics, and students choose the one that interests them most. Example choice might be related to prior knowledge, interest, or perceived control. In an experimental study, we examined the effects of degree of example choice and degree of prior knowledge on interest, perceived control, and learning outcomes in a presentation on confirmation bias. The main finding was that participants who could choose an example showed more interest in the presentation of the formal principle than participants who either were given an example by the experimenter or only saw the presentation. Control was lowest for the group without example choice and without prior knowledge. Finally, prior knowledge, but not example choice, increased performance on a transfer of knowledge task. Example choice thus offers a new approach for closing the gap between formal principles as presented at school and a student's interests.     

John Dewey as administrator: the inglorious end of the Laboratory School in Chicago

The Laboratory School of the University of Chicago founded by John Dewey in 1896 is considered as one of the most innovative schools of progressive education. Its history, and specifically its sudden end, is still of general interest. In sympathy with Dewey, most historians tend to put the main blame for the tragedy on University President William R. Harper who—by refusing financial and organizational support—seemingly harassed Dewey out of office. A new look at archival sources reveals a different picture. The main point of contention was not bureaucratic matters between Dewey and Harper but irreconcilable differences between Dewey’s wife Alice and the faculty of the school who complained bitterly about her social and administrative incompetence as principal pushing the school on to the brink of disaster. Because of the extreme pressure exerted by trustees, colleagues and faculties, Harper could not help but ask Alice Dewey for her resignation. Given his own inability to manage business affairs, Dewey quit his job, too, in April 1904. Without his wife as principal, he saw no chance of realizing his educational ideas and left Chicago with a sigh of relief, freeing him forever from the unloved burden of administrative duties.     

Reconsidering School Readiness: Conceptual and Applied Perspectives

This paper was prepared with the support of the Bureau of Maternal and Child Health, USPHS, DHHS for presentation at the conference entitled "School Readiness: Scientific Perspectives," January, 1992. This conference was jointly sponsored by the Maternal and Child Health Bureau in cooperation with the Office of the Surgeon General and the Department of Psychology of the Pennsylvania State University.     

Reconsidering School Readiness: Conceptual and Applied Perspectives

This paper was prepared with the support of the Bureau of Maternal and Child Health, USPHS, DHHS for presentation at the conference entitled "School Readiness: Scientific Perspectives," January, 1992. This conference was jointly sponsored by the Maternal and Child Health Bureau in cooperation with the Office of the Surgeon General and the Department of Psychology of the Pennsylvania State University.     

Measuring School Readiness: Conceptual and Practical Considerations

Recent interest and investment in early childhood education as a means of promoting children's school readiness has prompted the need for clear definitions of school readiness. Traditionally school readiness has been viewed within a maturationist frame, based on a chronological set-point, which led to the emergence of readiness testing. Following a brief review of this literature, this article provides an overview of the conceptual and practical considerations that must be given to such a definition. Among conceptual concerns are the lack of agreement about the key components of school readiness and theoretical models to connect them. Also of concern is the need to consider multiple purposes of assessment, and the appropriate use of assessments. Practical considerations include the need to incorporate multiple stakeholders' views in a definition, the availability of adequate measurement tools and how resultant data can be used. The article closes with a discussion of possible future directions by laying out a series of assumptions about the nature of school readiness.