Explore the vast range of titles available.

Attendance in U.S. preschools has risen substantially in recent decades, but gaps in enrolment between children from advantaged and disadvantaged families remain. Using data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Kindergarten Class of 1998-1999, the authors analyze the effect of participation in child care and early education on children's school readiness as measured by early reading and math skills in kindergarten and first grade. They find that children who attended a center or school-based preschool program in the year before school entry perform better on assessments of reading and math skills upon beginning kindergarten, after controlling for a host of family background and other factors that might be associated with selection into early education programs and relatively high academic skills. This advantage persists when children's skills are measured in the spring of kindergarten and first grade, and children who attended early education programs are also less likely to be retained in kindergarten. In most instances, the effects are largest for disadvantaged groups, raising the possibility that policies promoting preschool enrolment of children from disadvantaged families might help to narrow the school gap. (DIPF/Orig.).

The authors examine the effects of participation in extracurricular school activities (ESAs) on grade-twelfe and post-secondary outcomes (e.g. school grades, coursework selection, homework, educational and occupational aspirations, self-esteem, freedom from substance abuse, number of university applications, and highest educational level). Their analyses are grounded in three theoretical models ... They find that ... there were some small nonlinear effects - monotonic increases over most of the ESA range, but diminishing returns for extremely high levels of ESA. ... School-based ESAs were more beneficial than out-of-school activities, and the most beneficial ESAs included both non-academic (sports, student government, school publications, and performing arts) and academic activities. Finally. ... ESAs benefited socioeconomically disadvantaged students as much or more than advantaged students. In summary, the authors' findings support the conclusion that ESAs foster school identification / commitment that benefits diverse academic outcomes, particularly for socioeconomically disadvantaged students who are least well served by the traditional educational curriculum. (DIPF/Orig.)

As an attempt to promote educational success in socio-economically disadvantaged contexts, area-based initiatives are often launched in Europe, such as the programme Territórios Educativos de ntervenção Prioritária in Portugal. Given the importance of teaching quality to enhance student learning and considerable student diversity in the schools included in this initiative, this article explores opportunities for teacher learning for diversity within the programme. Documentary analysis was conducted on 188 school documents from 95 school clusters in the programme. The following research questions were asked: Does the programme promote teacher learning? In what ways is teacher learning promoted? Does teacher learning address diversity? The findings suggest that some interventions provide the possibility of teacher learning, such as the processes of learning together, pedagogical supervision, reflection, and attending professional development courses. However, diversity seemed to be largely missing from these initiatives. Furthermore, two cornerstones of teacher learning for diversity were absent: teachers' critical reflection on students' inclusion/exclusion; and learning from/with students, families, and communities. Additionally, most professional development opportunities were organised around and measured by students' academic results, thus positioning teacher learning as instrumental in raising school success, rather than a core of transforming education for diversity. These results call for policies within the Territórios Educativos de Intervenção Prioritária programme to include teacher learning that engages with and fosters critical thinking around diversity and to involve communities' and students' voices in order to truly tackle social exclusion. The findings can contribute to the debate on the approach to diversity in area-based initiatives in Europe. (DIPF/Orig.).

Educators have become increasingly interested in the diverse learning environments of young children and the ways in which children and childhood are positioned within those environments. The documentation and analysis of processes of pathologization and de-pathologization in early childhood may provide scholars with the understanding needed to develop more responsive educational approaches. Early Childhood Curricula and the De-pathologization of Childhood examines what is possible for young children when their education addresses their assets and is organized in ways that expand their identity options. Adopting an interdisciplinary approach, Rachel M. Heydon and Luigi Iannacci shed light on the ways in which joint notions of normality and abnormality are used to pathologize childhood. As teachers and educational researchers, they offer first-hand accounts of processes that take individual children and turn them into ‘others’ who are seen as deficient or ‘at risk.’ Through a variety of critical, qualitative case studies that examine general literacy education, special education, early childhood education, and intergenerational learning environments, this book highlights the theoretical underpinnings of asset-oriented curricular practices and suggests what is possible for young children when their education begins from and cultivates their funds of knowledge. Written for those interested in improving the lives of children through interdisciplinary studies, this volume offers sustained theoretical engagement that will appeal to educators around the world.

Vor einem Jahr wurden Kitas und Schulen in Deutschland pandemiebedingt geschlossen. Nur in einigen Wochen im Sommer fand regelhafter Präsenzunterricht statt. Der stattdessen angebotene Fern-, Hybrid- und Wechselunterricht hat erhebliche Auswirkungen für Schüler*innen, Lehrkräfte, Eltern und Familien mit sich gebracht und hat zu Lernrückständen geführt; soziale Kontakte wurden reduziert und psychische und gesundheitliche Belastungen der an Schule direkt oder indirekt Beteiligten haben zugenommen. Die schon vor den coronabedingten Schulschließungen bestehenden Bildungsungerechtigkeiten haben sich pandemiebedingt weiter vergrößert. Damit sie nicht noch größer werden und sich auf lange Sicht weiter verfestigen, ist zügiges Handeln erforderlich. Im vorliegenden Beitrag werden zum einen gesicherte Erkenntnisse über die kognitiven, sozialen und psychischen Auswirkungen der pandemiebedingten Schulschließungen und zum anderen diagnosebasierte und wissenschaftlich fundierte Förderkonzepte sowie ein umfassendes Förderprogramm gefordert und zur Diskussion gestellt, um gestärkt die Pandemie überwinden zu können.

The concept of equal opportunity for all students is deeply embedded in the Serbian constitution and in education laws. On that level, there is no doubt that everyone is ensured an opportunity to receive quality education. Many measures in education policy have been created specifically to achieve this objective and make the system fair and inclusive. The Coleman Report was linked to a wave of optimism that certain educational measures would help in achieving these noble goals. This aim is a high priority in education in a democratic country, and due to its importance needs to be re-examined. Thus, the present research examines the equity of students in the Serbian education system, detecting areas on all educational levels that could be (or already are) systemic sources of inequity (e.g., criteria for preschool institution enrolment, the system of student awards, rationalisation of the school network, the concept of entrance exams to secondary school or university, etc.). A number of measures have already been taken in the system specifically to deal with inequity (e.g., the Preschool Preparatory Programme, dropout measures, inclusion, scholarships, etc.). The effects of these measures in particular are analysed in the present work. In addition to an analysis of the systemic sources of inequity in the Serbian education system, the article also makes recommendations for their overcoming. (DIPF/Orig.).

Hinsichtlich des Angebots außerschulischer Aktivitäten blickt England auf eine lange Tradition zurück. In den letzten Jahren fand ein bemerkenswertes Experiment statt, in dessen Rahmen all diese Aktivitäten unter dem weiten Feld der, Ganztagsangebote' zusammengefasst wurden. Dabei wurde von allen Schulen erwartet, diese erweiterten Angebote ihren Schülern und Schülerinnen, deren Familien sowie den örtlichen Gemeinden zur Verfügung zu stellen. Diese Initiative weist Parallelen zu Initiativen wie Full Service Schools und Community Schools in den USA und anderen Staaten auf. Das Ziel dieses Beitrags ist es, einen Überblick über diese Entwicklungen zu geben und Fragestellungen und Themenfelder zu betrachten, die sie aufwerfen. Im Artikel wird somit die Entwicklung von Ganztagsangeboten beschrieben, es werden die Probleme von Evaluationen dieses Feldes erläutert und es wird ein kurzer Überblick über vorhandene Evidenz für die Wirksamkeit dieser Angebote geboten. Die Autoren argumentieren, dass insbesondere die Auswirkungen von Ganztagsangeboten auf benachteiligte Kinder und Erwachsene evident sind und dass sich Anhaltspunkte für weiterreichende Auswirkungen auf das Schulethos, den Stand der Schule in der Gemeinde sowie das Wohlergehen der Gemeinde zeigen. Die Evidenz für Auswirkungen auf globale Leistungsniveaus in Schulen ist jedoch weniger eindeutig. Die Autoren weisen zudem darauf hin, dass die Ziele und Zwecke der Ganztagsangebote nicht adäquat ausformuliert wurden, außer in Form der Annahme, dass diese Angebote ein Mittel darstellen, um das Problem der Benachteiligung anzugehen. Es wird dargelegt, dass diese Annahme problematisch ist, und dass die Ziele von Ganztagsangeboten nicht getrennt von grundsätzlicheren Fragen über die Ursachen von Benachteiligung und die Beschaffenheiten eines fairen Bildungssystems und einer gerechten Gesellschaft betrachtet werden können. (DIPF/Orig.). England has a long tradition of schools offering extracurricular activities outside of normal school time. In recent years, however, a remarkable experiment has taken place through which these activities have been subsumed within a wide array of 'extended services'. All schools have been expected to make these services available to their students, to families and to local communities. This initiative has similarities to the full service and community schools initiatives in countries such as the USA. The purpose of this paper is to present an overview of these developments and to consider the issues that they raise. It therefore describes the development of extended services, explains the problems of evaluation in this field, and offers a brief overview of the evidence currently available for the impacts of these services. It argues that the evidence is particularly promising in terms of impacts on children and adults experiencing disadvantage, and that there are indications of wider impacts on school ethos, school standing in the community, and community well-being. However, the evidence for impacts on overall levels of attainment in schools is more ambiguous. The paper also points out that the purposes of extended services are not well-articulated, other than through an assumption that they constitute a means of tackling disadvantage. It argues that this assumption is problematic, and that the purposes of extended services cannot be considered separately from more fundamental questions about the origins of disadvantage, and the nature of an equitable education system and an equitable society. (DIPF/Orig.).

The term \"vulnerable families\" refers to familial living situations that are considered problematic, with a particular need for socially responsible, professionally provided support. This means of categorising families is extremely ambivalent, indicating not only a need for society to support forms of family life and family achievements, but also a particular need to protect children growing up within the family. It also has implications for an understanding of interventions geared to the riskiness of family living situations and their standardisation, an understanding that risks losing sight of families' variety and individual peculiarities. Families in need of support have a fundamental right for their individuality and parenthood to be recognised. A detailed case analysis of a social worker who is working with a family in which a child's wellbeing is at risk shows how transferring standardising ideas about the family can damage that basic right. The article thus calls for the category of vulnerability to be applied to families with reflection on the specific case and on implicit normative leanings. (DIPF/Orig.).

Die Studie untersucht, ob vorliegende Daten der kommunalen Sozialberichterstattung sinnvoll eingesetzt werden können, um Kindertageseinrichtungenbedarfs orientiert zu finanzieren. Vor dem Hintergrund begrenzter öffentlicher Finanzmittel und der Herausforderung, bestehende Bildungsungleichheiten abzubauen, erscheint akademischen und politischen Diskussionen zufolge eine bedarfsorientierte Finanzierung von Bildungseinrichtungen als geeignete Strategie, beide Anforderungen gleichermaßen zu erfüllen. Eine solche Ressourcenallokation erfordert den Einsatz von Indikatoren, die den Mittelbedarf der Einrichtungen hinreichend genau erfassen. Häufig ist die Suche nach Indikatoren durch ein Spannungsverhältnis zwischen einer ausreichenden Datenverfügbarkeit und -qualität gekennzeichnet. Ein möglicher Ausweg könnte die Verwendung von statistischen Daten auf Stadtteilebene sein, die im Rahmen der kommunalen Sozialberichterstattung vorliegen und zugleich objektiv und nicht-manipulativ sind. Dies setzt voraus, dass die in der Sozialraumstatistik berichtete soziale Komposition der Stadtteile ausreichend genau die Komposition in den Einrichtungen widerspiegelt. Um dies zu überprüfen, werden verschiedene Bedarfsindikatoren auf beiden Analyseebenen mit Hilfe von Korrelationsanalysen zueinander in Beziehung gesetzt. Die Ergebnisse verweisen darauf, dass die Eigenschaften der Stadtteile und der in diesen liegenden Kindertageseinrichtungen nicht ausreichend übereinstimmen. (DIPF/Orig.). The main purpose of the study is to investigate whether regional data are able to finance early childhood education settings according to their need. Against the background of constraints in public resources on the one hand and the challenge to tackle educational inequality on the other hand, the current academic and political discussion regards needs-based resource allocation to be a promising answer to both demands. This requires the indicators used to allocate resources to accurately capture the characteristics that result in a greater financial need of educational institutions with respect to educational inequalities. In this regard, policy makers often face a dilemma between available data on the one hand and the quality of these data on the other hand. A possible solution to this dilemma could be the use of statistical data on the level of city districts as an objective and non-manipulable indicator that is easily at hand. However, the employment of these data is only valid if the districts' social composition is similar to the composition of the settings in those districts. I employ data on different needs indicators on both levels in one municipality and analyze their correlation. The results indicate that the characteristics of the districts and their respective preschool settings do not match sufficiently to be an adequate indicator in needs-based resource allocation. (DIPF/Orig.).