Unmet goals of tracking: within-track heterogeneity of students' expectations for

Educational systems are often characterized by some form(s) of ability grouping, like tracking. Although substantial variation in the implementation of these practices exists, it is always the aim to improve teaching efficiency by creating homogeneous groups of students in terms of capabilities and performances as well as expected pathways. If students’ expected pathways (university, graduate school, or working) are in line with the goals of tracking, one might presume that these expectations are rather homogeneous within tracks and heterogeneous between tracks. In Flanders (the northern region of Belgium), the educational system consists of four tracks. Many students start out in the most prestigious, academic track. If they fail to gain the necessary credentials, they move to the less esteemed technical and vocational tracks. Therefore, the educational system has been called a 'cascade system'. We presume that this cascade system creates homogeneous expectations in the academic track, though heterogeneous expectations in the technical and vocational tracks. We use data from the International Study of City Youth (ISCY), gathered during the 2013-2014 school year from 2354 pupils of the tenth grade across 30 secondary schools in the city of Ghent, Flanders. Preliminary results suggest that the technical and vocational tracks show more heterogeneity in student’s expectations than the academic track. If tracking does not fulfill the desired goals in some tracks, tracking practices should be questioned as tracking occurs along social and ethnic lines, causing social inequality

The Falcon 1989-1990

https://digitalcommons.spu.edu/archives_newspapers/1060/thumbnail.jp

A development model for the internationalization of SME agro-food of Puglia: the ISCI project

The project targets the Axis 1 of the European territorial cooperation INTERREG program Greece-Italy 2007-2013. The project was born with the aim of strengthen the presence of the local agri-food SMEs on the foreign markets, enhancing innovation processes through an economic and coordinated cooperation so to ease the internationalization processes of the two targeted areas. After a literature review, we analyzed the economic context of Apulia Region; then we proceed to the definition of a model for the internationalization of SMEs Agro-food of Puglia through the constitution of scientific and technological incubators that will network to deliver innovative services for the internationalization of the agri-food system. The final aim is to develop innovative services of marketing intelligence (MI) to spread knowledge and information about the international markets and the creation and implementation of databases for the search and classification of informative sources

The Falcon 2004-2005

https://digitalcommons.spu.edu/archives_newspapers/1075/thumbnail.jp

Ethnicity maintenance : its contingent nature and impact on health : case studies of second generation Poles in the West Midlands (UK) and South Michigan (US)

OBJECTIVES My topic of research is a comparative study of ethnicity and (selected) health patterns among second generation Poles (and to a lesser extent, first generation Poles), looked at by means of two case studies, one in the UK and one in the USA. I examine the level of ethnicity (cultural) maintenance in a white - assumed assimilated - minority ethnic group in two specific geographic locations and therefore the context specific nature of ethnicity maintenance. I also examine whether it is possible to assess the impact of such maintenance on their personal health, well-being, and quality of life. METHODS My research design includes a (smaller, post WWII) selection of first generation UK and USA Polish respondents who act as point of reference, and allow me to define within this study, the parameters of the cultural 'nuances' in question. My design allows for the assessment of any evidence of ethnic self-identity and a common sub-cultural identity, as well as any differences between the two groups of respondents in relation to their respective degrees of co-operation, and accommodation problems, with host groups. The collection of data is operationalized via multiple methods, including questionnaires. I employ the use of qualitative, quantitative, and ethnographic elements, thus allowing for multidimensional analysis of selected issues. Comparisons are made with extant data from both the host ( indigenous) communities. RESULTS/CONCLUSION Empirical results bore out variations in the degree of maintained ethnic lifestyles, across a range of social groups. Some of the differences can be explained by the different environments (UK and USA), as well as the diasporic nature of the first generation's immigration experiences. Qualitative and ethnographic evidence was found to be crucial in explaining the various affective ethnic nuances that quantitative methods are unable to reveal, such as the pervasive impact that the first generation's diasporic experiences, as well as the nature of the Polish exiled community, have had on the second generation, both in the UK and the USA, and their respective qualities of life. This study has indicated that maintaining one's ethnic roots can for these individuals be just as problematic, although in differing ways, as for members of non-white ethnic minorities