This book explores an under-researched but vital part of education: the first year at primary/elementary school. The work shows that children’s progress varies enormously from school to school, class to class and child to child. This variation is important because the more progress that children make in that first year of school, the higher their academic attainment at the end of compulsory schooling. The iPIPS (international Performance Indicators in Primary Schools) project, upon which this book is based, has been able to provide deeper insights into some of the key issues within and across different contexts whilst highlighting new and some ongoing issues. Despite all the work there remain unanswered or new puzzling issues which are also explored. We need to know how to improve the education at that stage and, more broadly, we need greater clarity about when children should be taught to read and be introduced to formal arithmetic, in other words, when they should start school. We also need to be clearer about whether, when and how young children should be assessed. The book will suggest some answers but it will raise important questions and dilemmas for which we do not, as yet, have answers.

The Education in Brazil: An International Perspective report was developed drawing on internationally comparative data on education in Brazil, in particular the extensive range of data collected by the OECD through its surveys. The experiences of other countries and how they have tackled challenges similar to those now faced by Brazil, along with the insights from consultations with key national experts, also inform the analysis.

Otto Hüther and Georg Krücken analyze the developments of the last 20 years in their new book on German higher education. The foreign observer of German higher education, even the informed foreign observer, struggles to find denominators, not to mention common denominators of a bewildering array of approaches. Otto Hüther and Georg Krücken, in this book, do an absolutely splendid job of offering theoretical perspectives, qualitative and quantitative data, and comparative assessments This book discusses the main higher education structures in Germany, both conceptually and with a particular emphasis on recent developments like, e.g., the growth and differentiation of the system, governance reforms, and the Excellence Initiative. It analyses recent developments from an international perspective, as the German system is clearly embedded in broader, transnational trends. As such, the book provides a comprehensive and detailed account of both new dynamics and stable paths in the German higher education system. This book will be of interest to scholars and students dealing with higher education or Germany as an object of study (e.g. in education research, science studies, organization studies, sociology, psychology, political science), and to higher education managers, leaders, and policymakers who are interested in recent trends in German higher education

The first cross-national comparative study on school choice policies, this volume features prominent scholars who analyze experiences in countries around the world, England, Chile, South Africa, the Czech Republic, China, Australia, New Zealand, and Sweden. Together, they answer such important questions as: Why are policies that expand educational options being adopted in such a diverse set of countries? Why have governments in widely varying circumstances come to view school choice as an apt response to educational dilemmas? What have we learned about the impacts of these policies on existing educational systems and the quality of teaching and learning in the classroom? The analyses presented here illuminate school choice policies as a critical worldwide development in education, noting both similarities and differences across countries. This volume broadens our understanding of school choice on the world stage while exploring implications for education policy in the United States.

In the chapters that follow, the history and current status of early childhood education in selected countries, along with a review of current research that is being conducted in these countries will be presented. In essence this will provide a glimpse of the intellectual base of early childhood education in many parts of the world.

With increasing attention given by governments and policy makers to children’s transition to school, and the associated need for educators, families and communities to be supported in the process, changes are often required to existing structures and pedagogy. This book is framed around the notion of transition as a time of change for those involved in the transition process and as a time for reconceptualising beliefs, policy and practice. It explores transition from a number of international perspectives and raises issues around the coherence of: how children perceive and respond to starting school; the roles and expectations of parents; developmental changes for parents; supporting children with diverse learning needs; how policy, curriculum and pedagogy are conceived and implemented. Readers will be informed about current practices and issues arising out of research in Europe, Scandinavia, the United Kingdom and Australia and will be stimulated to consider how they can change their own transition beliefs, policies and practices. Transition to school: Contemporary Perspectives and Change is essential reading for researchers and educators and anyone wanting to know more about the transition to school and how to support young children, their families and schools.

Why a book on gender issues in mathematics in the 21st century? Several factors have influenced the undertaking of this project by the editors. First, an international volume focusing on gender and mathematics has not appeared since publication of papers emerging from the 1996 International Congress on Mathematical Education (Keitel, 1998). Surely it was time for an updated look at this critical area of mathematics education. Second, we have had lively discussion and working groups on gender issues at conferences of the International Group for the Psychology of Mathematics Education [PME] for the past four years, sessions at which stimulating and ground-breaking research has been discussed by participants from many different countries. Some publication seemed essential to share this new knowledge emerging from a wider variety of countries and from different cultural perspectives. Third, some western countries such as Australia and the USA have experienced in recent years a focus on the “boy problem,” with an underlying assumption that issues of females and mathematics have been solved and are no longer worthy of interest. Thus it seemed timely to look more closely at the issue of gender and mathematics internationally. When the idea for this volume first emerged, invitations were issued to those regularly attending the working and discussion groups at PME. Potential authors were charged to focus on gender issues in mathematics and were given wide scope to hone in on the issues that were central to their own research efforts, or were in receipt or in need of close attention in their own national or regional contexts.

Many countries are struggling to reconcile greater flexibility in school choice with the need to ensure quality, equity and coherence in their school systems. This report provides an international perspective on issues related to school choice, especially how certain aspects of school-choice policies may be associated with sorting students into different schools.

In recent years there has been increased attention paid to the importance of assessment in Geographical Education, the chosen subject for this book. Assessment is an important tool for collecting information about student learning and for providing timely data to inform key stakeholders including students, teachers, parents and policymakers. To be effective, assessment needs to be valid, reliable and fair. Validity is about ensuring that we assess what we claim we are assessing. Reliability is about measuring performance and understanding in a consistent way. Without validity and reliability, assessment is unlikely to provide equitable opportunities for students to demonstrate what they know and can do. As geography educators it is therefore important that we identify the core concepts and skills in geography that we want students to master. We need a clear understanding of what the progression of learning looks like for each concept and skill so we can develop fit for purpose assessments that track and improve student learning. While there is a substantial literature on evidence-based assessment in secondary school contexts, research exploring best-practice assessment in geography is rare. This is a concern given the distinctive nature of geography and the important role of assessment in the learning process. This scholarly collection seeks to address this issue by connecting research in educational assessment with the domain of geography. The chapters are written by leading researchers in Geographical Education from across the globe. These chapters provide examples of innovation through the collective voices of geography teacher educator scholars from across Australia, USA, South Korea, Germany, Switzerland and Singapore. What unifies the work in this book, is that each chapter focuses on a key feature of the discipline of geography, providing scholarly examples of evidence-based practices for assessing student’s knowledge and skills.

Economics is taught in some form in the secondary schools of nations throughout the world. The subject is rarely taught in elementary schools, and while economics courses are offered in universities, the majority of students end their formal education with secondary school. Thus, the best opportunity for the economic education of the youth of a nation occurs in secondary schools. This book examines economic education at this critical level of the educational system. The teaching of economics in secondary schools varies across countries. These differences occur because of history, the structure of education, and other national factors. At the same time, there are common elements in the economic education of many countries, especially in content coverage. This contrast between the common features and the uniqueness of economic education in secondary schools of major industrial nations exemplifies the international perspective presented in this book. The international perspective is developed in the six sections of the volume. The first section discusses why nations should include economics in school curricula, and presents a framework for teaching economics that should have global appeal. Dissension and consensus on economic issues among North American and European economists are examined in the second section. The third section surveys the U.S. research literature on precollege economic education and assesses the current state of economics instruction in U.S. schools. The economics curricula and educational practices in seven other nations -- the U.K., Canada, Japan, Germany, Austria, Korea, and Australia -- are described in the fourth and fifth sections. The fifth section also presents international comparisons of economic understanding based on national testing in six of those nations. The sixth and final section explores the role of economic education in centrally planned economies, and its effects on the transition to a market economy, using Russia, Bulgaria, and China as case studies.