Gender Gap and School Differential Effects in Mathematics in Chilean Primary Schools

Despite the systematic recognition of large gender gaps against girls in mathematics performance in Chile, the role of schools in explaining this gap has been comparatively unexplored. This paper analyses a longitudinal dataset to explore within and between school variation of Chilean primary schools in promoting attainment and progress of girls and boys. In order to reflect the hierarchical nature of the educational data, Multilevel modelling is used, with 163,044 students, nested within 3,355 schools, within 310 Municipalities to fit Raw, Contextualised Attainment and Value-Added models. The results indicate a small but significant gender differential school effect in progress in Chilean primary schools. Moreover, differences in effectiveness played a significant role, as girls over performed boys in less effective schools, but the opposite was true in more effective schools. Finally, the study concludes that the Chilean gender gap needs to be addressed within, but mainly beyond schools

Agregar o no agregar valor contextual en lenguaje: un estudio de caso instrumental en dos establecimientos chilenos de educación media

Este artículo reporta un estudio de caso cualitativo (Stake, 1995) en dos establecimientos secundarios chilenos orientado a examinar los procesos y/o dimensiones que pueden explicar las diferencias observadas en las puntuaciones de Valor Agregado Contextual (VAC) en el sector de lenguaje, ámbito poco estudiado en Chile y más ligado a la efectividad general que las matemáticas (Sammons, Thomas & Mortimore, 1997). Tras el análisis estadístico multinivel (Goldstein, 1995) de una muestra longitudinal de una cohorte de 176.896 estudiantes anidados en 2.283 establecimientos que rindieron el SIMCE en 8º básico y 2º medio en 2004-2006 y sus respectivos cuestionarios familiares, se utilizaron las puntuaciones del VAC para seleccionar un establecimiento que agregó valor y otro que no. Complementando un marco analítico-conceptual preexistente (Scheerens, Glas, & Thomas, 2003), el estudio identificó 11 dimensiones diferentes y 5 similarmente problemáticas en los establecimientos. Estas dimensiones complementan y extienden las conclusiones de un estudio seminal de escuelas efectivas en Chile (Belleï, Muñoz-Stuardo, Pérez, & Raczynski, 2004). Esta nueva evidencia, tentativa y exploratoria, inscribe las características de los establecimientos secundarios chilenos dentro de la literatura más amplia sobre efectividad educacional, buscando contribuir al nuevo marco de evaluación vigente en Chile con el potencial de informar y mejorar las políticas y prácticas educativas

Girl protagonists of Chilean dictatorship novels for the young

Narratives for children about Augusto Pinochet's dictatorship in Chile (1973–89) written by the sons and daughters of that era constitute a recognised genre. For the most part the genre features boy characters who not only have voice and choice, but also unrealistically win the fight against the oppressors. This paper examines two of the rare works with girl protagonists, paying attention to how their voices are constructed: Mariana Osorio Gumá's Tal vez vuelvan los pájaros [Maybe the birds will return] (Mexico, 2013) and Matilde by Carola Martínez Arroyo (Argentina, 2016). I apply Deleuze's theories about the gaze to girls to identify patterns that afford the construction of ‘lucid’ protagonists in terms of recurring modes of language production (silence, ordered discourse, invention), giving rise to inquisitive girls. Through the construction of a girl's lucid gaze, which can withstand and narrate the horrors of the dictatorship, these novels offer young audiences a powerful space for historic and collective memory

Inspection Across the UK: how the four nations intend to contribute to school improvement

Exploring and comparing the inspection regimes in the four nations of the UK is timely because whilst each country has its own system, new inspection frameworks have been recently introduced in England and will shortly be implemented in other nations such as Wales. Hence, this study critically examines how and under what conditions longstanding and new inspection regimes intend to lead to school improvement. The research questions that guided the study included: 1. What is the theory of change of each of the four inspectorates of education in the four nations of the UK (England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland (NI))? 2. What are stakeholders’ views of, and experiences with, inspections? The methodology comprised of three phases. Phase 1 reconstructed the programme theory of the inspection framework of each inspectorate of education (Ofsted in England, The Education Training Inspectorate (ETI) in Northern Ireland, Education Scotland (ES) in Scotland and Estyn in Wales) through the analysis of 60 policy documents. Phase 2 validated Phase 1 through engagement with 12 experts. Phase 3 explored the views of, and experiences with, inspections through fieldwork (24 survey and 7 semi-structured interviews) with 31 stakeholders (headteachers, governors, local authority school improvement staff and teachers).The findings capture the similarities and differences across the four inspection frameworks in the UK. The analysis of the four programme theories revealed substantive differences between school inspection regimes across the UK. This study found some convergence in the UK inspectorates’ intended mechanisms or engines through which inspections are supposed to contribute to school improvement, but mostly divergences not only in the mechanisms, but also intended effects (or desired aims) at both the school and system levels. Regarding the system level intended effects, while England promotes social mobility and allows young people to reach their potential, the other regimes put explicit emphasis on all learners or equity: NI fosters an inclusive learning environment where all learners have access to high quality provision; Scotland’s inspection framework aims to promote the highest standards of learning leading to better outcomes for all learners; and Wales aims to create the conditions to support all learners to achieve high standards and strong levels of wellbeing. When school-level intended effects are considered, each inspectorate has a different combination of quality indicators leading to the ‘good’ or above judgement of schools in their nations. The key similarities were that all inspectorates judge school performance focusing on the quality of education/provision/teaching and learning, as well as leadership and management, however with varied emphasis such as Scotland’s ‘leadership of change’. The key difference is the extent to which other indicators are considered (beyond academic performance and leadership) by inspectorates when judging school performance. For example: Scotland’s ‘success and achievement’ considers the progress in raising attainment and achievement by ensuring at the same time wellbeing, equality, and inclusion. Wales focuses explicitly on wellbeing. Wales and NI put a special emphasis on care and support. England addresses ‘personal development’, ‘behaviour and attitudes,’ and is the only inspectorate that explicitly aims to reduce the unintended consequences of inspections, such as gaming and off-rolling. Although every nation wants to strike the right balance between external evaluation and self-evaluation to ultimately enhance school improvement through inspection, there are also clear differences in the intended mechanisms (or how) to improve schools across the UK. We found that the main similarities to support school improvement were: Giving feedback through inspection in England, Wales, and NI Promoting school self-evaluation in Scotland, Wales, and NI Enhancing professional dialogue/in-depth professional discussions/school self-reflection culture in Scotland and NI The main differences in how inspectorates are expected to support school improvement were: Preventing bad practice from becoming entrenched in England Promoting openness and transparency about the processes and instruments in NI Focusing on the mechanisms (or engines) that the inspectorates implement in order to improve the system level, the main similarities were: Providing system level feedback to inform national policy planning in the four nations Delivering public accountability/assurance and report to different stakeholders (i.e. parents) in the four nations Building capacity by including practitioners in inspection teams in England, Scotland and Wales Enhancing system-wide learning from good practice in England and Wales The main differences in how inspectorates expect to support system level improvement were: Promoting collective engagement, learning and collaboration in Scotland Reducing regulatory burdens in England The main findings from the fieldwork conducted with 31 stakeholders (headteachers, governors, LA, school improvement staff and teachers) showed: More compliance than innovation: Stakeholders in the four nations recognised that inspections encouraged more compliance than innovation. They believed that going beyond inspection frameworks held little value, especially when doing so risked taking away time from the quality of education provision/teaching and learning. They prioritised their resources and actions according to the hierarchy communicated through the frameworks, so the main sections were interpreted as areas of policy enforcement, whereas statements (communicated for example in bullet points), were interpreted as less relevant. Pervasive inspection readiness: The four UK inspection frameworks were effectively enacted by stakeholders to such an extent that they were pervasive in the sense that they constrained pedagogical and curriculum innovations beyond the framework. Examples of ‘inspection readiness’ abounded. A two-way ‘contract’ Stakeholders interpreted inspection frameworks as a two-way ‘contract,’ in the sense that they guided the micropolitics of schools, but also applied them to evaluate inspectorates, inspectors, and inspections. Negative experiences tended to be associated with inspectors departing from the inspection framework to follow their own agenda, and vice versa. A gap remains between how inspectorates intend to improve schools, and the way stakeholders interpret frameworks and experience inspections

How are the 'losers' of the school accountability system constructed in Chile, the USA and England?

Performance-based accountability systems that rank schools based on their effectiveness produce ‘winners’ and ‘losers’. Substantial evidence has pointed to the (side)effects of these classifications, particularly in the most disadvantaged communities. Whilst previous studies have compared schools under different effectiveness categories within and between countries, this qualitative study takes a cross-case comparison approach to analyse education policies, grey literature and previous research evidence to explore the mechanisms that construct ‘failing’ schools in three notable high-stakes accountability systems worldwide: Chile, the USA and England. After describing (1) the identification and classification of ‘failing’ schools; (2) the instruments used to justify these classifications; and (3) who make these judgements, we conclude that the construction of ‘failing’ schools serves the competition and differentiation required for maintaining neoliberal hierarchical and unequal market-oriented regimes. Instead of disciplining only ‘failing’ schools, these labels also provide a caution for the whole school system

Translational Research in Early Childhood Education: A Systematic Review and Framework for Researchers

This work undertook a systematic review of the research evidence to explore what processes have been employed to translate research into early education practice and to identify key features of academic work that have successfully translated into education settings. There is no shortage of literature which discusses the translation of research to practice. However, translational research or research that examines the processes and methods for promoting the use of research findings (Trivette & Dunst, 2013), is less abundant in the field of education compared to medicine and social care. This is important because successful translation of research to practice will have potentially positive impacts on children’s learning and education professionals’ expertise. To identify what processes have successfully been employed to translate research findings to practice in early education settings, the reseachers reviewed 231 articles, identified by systematic searches of the peer-reviewed literature databases. From progressively excluding non-relevant or low-quality articles, they conducted a full review of 35 articles. They used a meta-narrative review to analyse the data by mapping and qualitatively coding each study with attention to the processes identified by researchers as vital in translating research to practice

Measuring Early Child Development across Low and Middle-Income Countries: A Systematic Review

The Sustainable Development Goals mandate that by 2030, all children should have access to quality early child development opportunities, healthcare and pre-primary education (United Nations, 2015). Yet validated measures of ECD in low and middle income countries (LMICs) are rare. To address this gap, a Systematic Review (SR) of measures available to profile the development of children between the ages of 0-5 years in LMICs was undertaken. Drawing on education, psychology and health databases, we identified reliable, valid or measures adapted for use in LMICs for either assessments of children’s development or their learning environments. The inclusion criteria were (1) peer reviewed papers published between January 2009 and May 2019; (2) assessment tools used to measure cognitive/language development or the early years or home environment in at least one LMIC; (3) report of the psychometric properties (validity and reliability) of the tool, and/or description of the cultural adaptability/translation process undertaken before applying it to a LMIC. Two hundred and forty-nine available records published in the last decade in peer-review journals and nine relevant systematic literature reviews were identified. Fifty-seven records were qualitatively synthesized based on their psychometric properties and cultural adaptation. Forty-three tools were reviewed utilising twelve criteria. Five elements of analysis present in Table 2 and 3 (study, population tested, validity, reliability and cultural adaptability/translation) focused on the tools’ psychometric properties and previous application in LMICs. A further seven dimensions outlined in Tables 4 and 5 identified specific characteristics of the tools from target age, administration method, domains, battery, accessibility, language and country/institution. We suggest these twelve key considerations for the selection of measurement tools that are applicable to effectively assess ECD in LMICs

Significance of vascular endothelial growth factor in growth and peritoneal dissemination of ovarian cancer

Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) is a key regulator of angiogenesis which drives endothelial cell survival, proliferation, and migration while increasing vascular permeability. Playing an important role in the physiology of normal ovaries, VEGF has also been implicated in the pathogenesis of ovarian cancer. Essentially by promoting tumor angiogenesis and enhancing vascular permeability, VEGF contributes to the development of peritoneal carcinomatosis associated with malignant ascites formation, the characteristic feature of advanced ovarian cancer at diagnosis. In both experimental and clinical studies, VEGF levels have been inversely correlated with survival. Moreover, VEGF inhibition has been shown to inhibit tumor growth and ascites production and to suppress tumor invasion and metastasis. These findings have laid the basis for the clinical evaluation of agents targeting VEGF signaling pathway in patients with ovarian cancer. In this review, we will focus on VEGF involvement in the pathophysiology of ovarian cancer and its contribution to the disease progression and dissemination