Argomenti: Equità e Inclusione

How can assessment and evaluation policies work together more effectively to improve student outcomes in primary and secondary schools? Countries increasingly use a range of techniques for student assessment, teacher appraisal, school evaluation, school leader appraisal and education system evaluation. However, they often face difficulties in implementing evaluation and assessment policies. This may arise as a result of poor policy design, lack of analysis of unintended consequences, little capacity for school agents to put evaluation procedures into practice, lack of an evaluation culture, or deficient use of evaluation results. This report provides an international comparative analysis and policy advice to countries on how evaluation and assessment arrangements can be embedded within a consistent framework to improve the quality, equity and efficiency of school education. It builds upon a major 3-year review of evaluation and assessment policies in 28 countries, the OECD Review on Evaluation and Assessment Frameworks for Improving School Outcomes. As well as analysing strengths and weaknesses of different approaches, the report provides recommendations for improvement including how results should be incorporated into policy and practice.

This book explores an approach to school improvement that merges the traditions of educational effectiveness research and school improvement efforts. It displays how the dynamic model, which is theoretical and empirically validated, can be used in both traditions. Each chapter integrates evidence from international and national studies, showing how the knowledge-base of educational effectiveness research can be used for improvement purposes. In a clear and practicable manner it outlines: (1) Foundations of the improvement approach; (2) Research projects investigating the impact of the dynamic approach; (3) Guidelines and practical solutions to translating the approach into action; and (4) Further developments for school improvement. Exploring the crucial factors in the establishment of this environment, the authors outline a dynamic framework that helps schools collect data, through self-evaluation mechanisms, taking decisions about priorities for improvement, and developing appropriate policies and action plans. This approach emphasises educational targets and provides means to achieve them that are flexible enough to fit in with the circumstances of the individual school. The book draws upon research across the world, conducted especially in the United States, Europe, and Australasia, expertly showcasing how the dynamic approach can be used in a wide variety of educational settings. A key book for all professionals working in education; academics, researchers, policy-makers, school advisors and practitioners will find it invaluable. Not only it is a must for graduate students, university libraries, and individual academics but also for school management teams, school support agencies and officials in educational policy.

A trent’anni dalla pubblicazione di Una teoria della giustizia, forse il libro più importante, influente e discusso in ambito filosofico di questi tre decenni, John Rawls presenta la versione definitiva della sua teoria, in un’esposizione insieme più accessibile e rifinita. Giustizia come equità è, come scrive Salvatore Veca nella sua Nota introduttiva, “il frutto maturo della lunga e tenace ricerca filosofica di Rawls che dalla metà degli anni Settanta alla fine del secolo appena concluso si è impegnato puntigliosamente nel riformulare ed esplicitare aspetti importanti della teoria della giustizia, rispondendo ai suoi critici e rivedendo in particolare alcuni errori presenti nella prima formulazione della teoria. La riformulazione della giustizia come equità mira in primo luogo a rendere coerente la teoria normativa e i suoi principi di giustizia per l’assetto delle istituzioni di base della società con la questione del pluralismo come tratto persistente delle società democratiche […]. Ancora una volta la filosofia politica di Rawls, nella sua riformulazione, chiama in causa la responsabilità intellettuale di chiunque abbia a cuore la qualità della forma di vita democratica”.

The product of an extensive survey requested by the civil rights act of 1964, this report documents the availability of equal educational opportunities in the public schools for minority group negroes, puerto ricans, mexican-americans, oriental-americans, and american indians, as compared with opportunities for majority group whites. comparative estimates are made on a regional as well as on a national basis. Specifically, the report details the degree of segregation of minority group pupils and teachers in the schools and the relationship between students’ achievement, as measured by achievement tests, and the kinds of schools they attend. Educational quality is assessed in terms of curriculums offered, school facilities such as textbooks, laboratories, and libraries, such academic practices as testing for aptitude and achievement, and the personal, social, and academic characteristics of the teachers and the student bodies in the schools. Also in the report is a discussion of future teachers of minority group children, case studies of school integration, and sections on higher education of minorities and school nonenrollment rates. Information relevant to the survey’s research procedures is appended. Notable among the findings on the survey are that negro students and teachers are largely and unequally segregated from their white counterparts, and that the average minority pupil achieves less and is more affected by the quality of his school than the average white pupil.