Getting Students to (and Through) Advanced Math: Where Course Offerings and Content Are Not Adding Up. American Educator Panels. Research Report. RR-A827-10

This report uses Spring 2022 data from nationally representative surveys of principals and math teachers in kindergarten through grade 12 (K-12) to explore students' opportunities to prepare for and take advanced math. The authors found that small high schools, high schools in rural areas, and high schools that predominantly serve students from historically marginalized communities tend to offer fewer advanced math courses (e.g., precalculus, Advanced Placement math courses) and that uneven access to advanced math begins in middle school. K-12 teachers who work in schools that predominately serve students living in poverty are more likely to report skipping standards-aligned content and replacing the skipped content with concepts from previous grade levels. Also, more than half of K-12 math teachers said they need additional support for delivering high-quality math instruction, especially teachers who work in schools that serve predominantly high-poverty students. In the wake of the disproportionate impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on students living in poverty and students of color, these results highlight a critical need for resources to support teachers and to increase student access to advanced courses. [For technical information about the surveys and analysis in this report, see "Learn Together Surveys. 2022 Technical Documentation and Survey Results. Research Report. RR-A827-9" (ED626092).]

Exploring resilience: How five secondary schools resiliently shaped school-family partnerships with parents of disadvantaged students during the COVID-19 pandemic

This study investigated how Dutch secondary schools have shown resilience during the COVID-19 pandemic, by safeguarding and shaping school-family partnerships with parents of students who were at risk of educational disadvantage. We focused on three mechanisms of resilience (e.g., cognitive responding, behavioural responding, contextual reinforcement) and three dimensions of school -family partnerships (e.g., basic condition for learning, communication, home involvement). We applied a multiple case study design and collected data through group interviews with school board members, teachers, students, and parents in five schools. The results showed that schools responded resiliently in shaping basic conditions for learning and communication with parents of disadvantaged students in particular. However, it was difficult for schools to encourage parents of disadvantaged students to support their children in learning at home. Further, a strong cognitive response and a strong internal or external network of the school were important preconditions for shaping educational partnership with parents of disadvantaged students.

Teacher concerns about students during the COVID-19 school closure: characteristics, development and approach

Since the outbreak of the covid-19 crisis, many quantitative studies showed disproportionate learning loss for children in disadvantaged circumstances, as a result of the school closures (Schuurman et al., 2021;Engzell et al., 2021). In this qualitative study, we aim to gain a deeper understanding of these impacts, by studying teacher concerns about students during the first school closure in the covid-19 crisis. During interviews with elementary school teachers (n=20), working in schools that serve a population of children in disadvantaged circumstances, we constructed student-portraits. These shed light on what made teachers worry about children, how much they worried, and what they did to address these concerns. We found that teachers' concerns mostly related to four domains: students' school achievement, self-regulatory skills, vulnerable home environments, and parental capabilities for support. When addressing their concerns, teachers primarily focused on increasing contact with their students and their parents. After contact was (re)established, teachers differentiated in their approach, depending whether concerns diminished or increased. Teachers reported newly found ways of connecting with students and parents, which supports a sense of continuity between the two formerly distinct (learning) contexts. Findings provide promising avenues for sustaining school-parent partnerships in the future, irrespective of the covid-19 crisis.

Deficits in the Socio-Educational School Inclusion Strategy for Students with Social Difficulty in Spain during the Covid-19 Pandemic

Students with administrative care measures have historically faced difficulties in achieving school goals. The Covid-19 pandemic forced the declaration of a lockdown, which accelerated changes in the schools' pedagogical actions. This investigation analyses the strategies used by the educational system to promote the academic inclusion of students who have an open protection file in the child welfare system within the context of Covid-19. Two different phases are compared: Phase 1) from the March lockdown to the end of the 2019/20 school year;Phase 2) The first six weeks of the beginning of the 2020/21 school year. Longitudinal follow-ups were carried out with adolescents in care with a sample of N = 10 (Phase 1) and N = 11 (Phase 2). Based on the grounded theory, information is supplemented by case studies through interviews with educational professionals, N = 14 (Phase 1) and N = 11 (Phase 2). The results indicate deficits of schools' adaptability to the situation of the students suffering social exclusion and difficulties in monitoring when students do not attend school in person and do school activities at home. It is concluded that the design of the educational policy applied in the context of the pandemic does not take the social factor into account. © 2023, University of Ljubljana. All rights reserved.

The Contributions of MOOCs to Lifelong Learning

The quest for lifelong learning has been enacted in many forms over the years through online distance education and Open University programmes. These have subsequently led to newer innovations such as Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) run by a number of universities worldwide. MOOCs offer free or low-cost educational opportunities to millions worldwide. MOOCs are considered by many as having the potential to provide quality education, enhance social inclusion by including individuals who were traditionally excluded from higher education and provide equal access to learning. The onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, has further altered the nature of lifelong learning by facilitating greater use of MOOCs across the globe. Millions have used MOOCs for professional development, career transitioning and corporate training amongst several others. This chapter reviews the contributions of MOOCs to lifelong learning. It highlights the social, economic and pedagogical objectives of MOOCs and their role in transforming education through quality, scale and access. It expands the literature on the effectiveness of MOOCs in enhancing lifelong learning and contributes to the literature on adult education, training and lifelong learning. © 2023 by Nova Science Publishers, Inc. All rights reserved.

Strengthening the Bridge between Financial Aid and Study Abroad

This article features a case study from Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU), a large, public, urban, research university, in which challenges in administering financial aid for study abroad early in the COVID-19 pandemic led the Education Abroad and Student Financial Services teams to revisit practices and protocols. This article describes compliance concerns, student service, administrative optimization, and interdepartmental relationships. The outcomes emphasize the importance of a strong, sustained partnership between university study abroad and financial aid offices, provide a framework for administrative structures in managing financial aid for study abroad programs, and highlight strategies to provide equitable study abroad opportunities.

Teddy bears, citizenship and un/educational safety in Aotearoa New Zealand during Covid-19

In this article, we draw on qualitative data from the experiences of five schools during the Covid-19 crisis in Aotearoa, New Zealand, where the word 'safety' has become paramount in educational debates (Sullivan, 2014). The study explores the educational and political tensions created by concerns about safety at schools in these unprecedented times. Our methods for data collection included semi-structured interviews with nine teachers and principals, five focus groups with thirty senior students (16–18 years old), analysis of school public documents, and observational field notes of school settings. Our data shows that an ill-defined idea of safety entered into direct tension with the students' rights to schooling and citizenship. In the focus groups, participants pointed to the tensions between educators' good intentions —creating safer environments—and the imposed restrictions on students to express doubts, voice needs, and make their own decisions in the schools, resulting in fewer learning opportunities to understand a complex social world.

Digital Transformation in Education: From Vision to Practice during the Pandemic

This contribution addresses the challenges brought on by the pandemic and argues that a forced acceleration in online teaching and assessment practices can become a sustainable model for the post-COVID-19 world. Technology is a great asset that provides learning opportunities for the whole community and the education sector should seek to adopt an innovative approach that "firmly" integrates face-to-face with virtual interaction. The effort to make the most of an unforeseen and challenging situation has brought Jisc's prediction for future learning forward: our publication "Education 4.0 Transforming the future of education through advanced technology," offers suggestions on how this can be achieved in the current climate. [For the complete volume, "Languages at Work, Competent Multilinguals and the Pedagogical Challenges of COVID-19," see ED612070.]

Questioning Intercultural Communication Skills Absence in Five Algerian Universities Digital Challenge

COVID-19 pandemic has had a hard impact on all educational sectors where access to schools, educational institutions, and university campuses is forcibly halted. In this context, the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research urged teachers to move from face-to-face to online learning to mitigate the spread of the virus, keep up the regular schedule and save the academic year. This paper highlights the issues, perspectives, and pedagogical practices of the instructors' overnight change, switching pre-existing face-to-face learning to the online environment. It also refers to the challenge of those learners lacking intercultural communication skills needed to participate virtually. The researchers used the documentary research method to develop their leading research question and analyse existing research documents and other e-sources of information such as university and government reports, newspapers, PDF books, papers, and YouTube channels to collect relevant data for this study. As a result, we could illustrate the Algerian universities' response and analyse government and university sources such as newspaper articles and ministry decrees. Therefore, we believe that the emergency to digitalize teaching in our higher institutions is a significant opportunity to keep engaged in the online environment now and after the pandemic and take advantage of the universities' best pedagogical practices. Thus, prepare for the online shift to better address the digital divide by promoting equal opportunities for all students to access the Internet, possess and effectively use Information and Communication Technology (ICTs) to fully participate in the modern educational system.

Pandemic Repercussions: The Future of International Education at US Community Colleges

The disruptions of the COVID-19 pandemic have both short- and long-term repercussions on higher education. To crystallize these impacts in a sector that was particularly vulnerable to the economic effects of the pandemic, this mixed-methods study explores the intersection of international education and community college responses to the pandemic. Findings indicated that due to the pandemic, community college international education programs faced a reallocation of institutional resources, both financial and otherwise, which shapes the educational opportunities available to students and informs the institutional habitus of the US community college. This study's findings have implications in the areas of international student recruitment, limits to higher education access, and impacts on local and regional communities. [Note: The page range (88-103) shown on the PDF is incorrect. The correct page range is 88-104.]

Impact of extracurricular factors on the academic performance of university students during the COVID-19 pandemic

This article aims to study the incidence of extracurricular factors relating to (a) personal work situation and place of residence;(b) family finances;and (c) access to the virtual environment on the academic results of university students during the COVID-19 pandemic. Regression models were used to determine the impact of the different factors on academic performance in a sample of 138 students of the Primary Education Teaching Degree at a Spanish Public University. The results show that students who devote themselves wholly to studying without having to work obtain better academic results than those who have to combine study and work. Furthermore, internet access affects academic results, with students having ADSL and Wi-Fi via smartphones reporting the highest grades.

Education as an Opportunity for Integration: Assessing Colombia, Peru, and Chile's Educational Responses to the Venezuelan Migration Crisis

With over 5 million Venezuelans fleeing their home country, Latin America is facing the largest migration crisis in its history. Colombia, Peru, and Chile host the largest numbers of Venezuelan migrants in the region. Each country has responded differently to the crisis in terms of the provision of education. Venezuelan migrants attempting to enter the primary, secondary, and higher education systems encounter a variety of barriers, from struggles with documentation, to limited availability of spaces in schools, to cultural barriers and xenophobia.This paper examines the distinct educational policy responses to Venezuelan migrants in Colombia, Peru, and Chile. It begins by contextualizing the current crisis through a sociopolitical and economic analysis of the origins of the Venezuelan migration phenomenon. Venezuelans are not officially and legally recognized as refugees by the UNHCR. Refugee status is considered on a case-by-case basis at the country level. The regional coordinating bodies tasked with promoting safe, orderly, and legal migration of Venezuelans to host countries have given uneven attention to education.The paper examines each country's response to Venezuelan migrants from a human rights perspective. It provides sociopolitical context and discusses the specific educational offerings from the primary to tertiary levels in Colombia, Peru, and Chile. It considers alternative or flexible education models, second shift schools, access to school transportation and feeding programs, and teacher training opportunities that cater to the growing migrant population. It explores barriers to entry into the educational system, including documentation challenges due to legal and enrollment requirements, constraints on the host countries’ education systems, and discrimination due to lack of intercultural training and xenophobia. It also discusses challenges related to the quality of the educational opportunities for Venezuelan migrant children, and the specific needs of these children.The paper considers several ideas to protect Venezuelan migrants’ rights to an education and to strengthen their integration. Finally, it offers recommendations on sustainable education solutions for Venezuelan migrants at all levels in the three countries. These recommendations include improving information sharing, addressing structural bottlenecks to school enrollment, and expanding pathways (existing and complementary) to higher education.

Shifting tides: lessons learned from virtual plant clinics

Monroe County contains an archipelago of islands, which extend more than 110 miles offshore from the mainland of Florida. There is only one main coastal highway, the Overseas Highway (U.S. Route 1) that connects all of the islands from Key Largo to Key West. Traveling from the southernmost part of the county, where the main extension office is located, to the northern limits can take up to three hours. Due to these geographical restrictions, shifting programming efforts and plant clinics online in response to COVID-19 has presented new opportunities and opened extension's educational opportunities to a new and diverse audience. Through clientele feedback, we have been able to adapt our services and continue to see increases in participation for online events.

Community Wellbeing Under China-Pakistan Economic Corridor: Role of Social, Economic, Cultural, and Educational Factors in Improving Residents' Quality of Life.

This present article explores the effects of cultural value, economic prosperity, and community mental wellbeing through multi-sectoral infrastructure growth projects under the Belt and Road Initiative. The implications of the social exchange theory are applied to observe the support of the local community for the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). This study explores the CPEC initiative, it's direct social, cultural, economic development, and risk of environmental factors that affect residents' lives and the local community's wellbeing. CPEC is a multibillion-dollar project to uplift economic growth and free trade between Pakistan, China, and other regional stakeholders. Although CPEC is still in its initial phases with partial startups, policymakers and government officials claim this mega project as a "game-changer" in the region, mainly for Pakistan and China. This gigantic project offers the significant potential to generate business slews and employment opportunities with international outreach. Due to the term's newness, numerous studies have recently explored the macro and microeconomic benefits of the CPEC initiatives; still, these projects are theoretical. The existing literature insufficiently explored how helpful CPEC would be to a specific group and how residents perceive its advantages. This study fills in the literature gaps and explores the likely advantageous potential of the CPEC for the regional states. The study applied a convenient sampling technique for the data collection process. It used a mixed-method approach to gain scientific results, with a standardized questionnaire survey of 459 people (300 men and 159 women) from five major cities of Pakistan. The study results designate that residents believe that CPEC infrastructure projects will significantly improve residents' life quality through more job openings and community poverty reduction. Still, they raised their concerns regarding environmental protection issues in the region. The findings specified that residents had an optimistic approach to better educational productivity by adopting environment-oriented policies. Policymakers should establish new CPEC study centers in different areas, and investors should be encouraged to participate in the industrial sector. Officials can overwhelm community worries about environmental degradation. Government officials in both countries can utilize the findings to raise public awareness about CPEC's social, economic, cultural, mental wellbeing, and ecological implications.

Supporting theatre education through resources and policy

Theater educators, like their music, dance, and visual arts counterparts, had to pivot quickly to provide educational opportunities in theater for students during the COVID-19 pandemic. This article outlines how two national associations, the Educational Theater Association, and the American Alliance for Theater in Education, responded to the crisis and provided support to theater educators in the field during the pandemic. In addition, the article includes information on a brief survey conducted with theater educators in Fall, 2020, speaking to how they were teaching during the pandemic, and what they were teaching, including administrative and resource supports. The online curricular and instructional resources created by EdTA are of particular interest as the organization was just ramping up online professional development at the start of the pandemic. During the pandemic, EdTA came to the forefront in providing resources for all educators on how to create instructional content in a variety of platforms.

"You Cannot Be What You Cannot See"1: The Lived Experiences of Women Teaching Digital Literacy in Bosnia & Herzegovina and Germany

This timely paper provides empirical evidence on the lived experiences of ten women from eight nationalities in Bosnia & Herzegovina and Germany, who voluntarily taught girls and women digital skills in 2020. I situated this multi-case feminist study within the digital skills gender divide phenomenon. I collected qualitative data through surveys and interviews with the teachers, remote observations of their digital skills lessons, and analysis of programme documents, including curricula. In this paper, I discuss two research questions: (1) "What motivated the women to teach digital literacy?" and (2) "Why do the teachers think the digital skills gender divide exists?" The hybrid approach to data coding and thematic analysis indicated that the teachers were motivated to teach digital literacy to support their students' selfdevelopment and use digital skills in their daily lives. The teachers at the school in Germany were also motivated by advancing their social capital and societal integration, as six of the eight women teaching in Germany were migrants. The teachers from Bosnia & Herzegovina were motivated by overcoming the systemic gender inequality that the digital skills gender divide encapsulates. The teachers also identified various personal, community, and societal causes of the digital skills gender divide. On the micro-level, they noted that girls engage in risk avoidance behaviour from a young age, limiting their digital skills development. On the mesolevel, women lack exposure to Information and Communication Technology (ICT) within their families and communities. On the macro-level, the teachers in Bosnia & Herzegovina highlighted that girls living in urban areas could access ICT more often than those living in rural areas. This paper offers resolutions to the digital skills gender divide, concluded from the teachers' evidence, such as educational opportunities, gender diversity hiring in technical roles in the ICT sector, and policy development to underpin solutions and incentivise compliance. This paper is my contribution to centralising in the scholarship the lived experiences and perspectives of diverse women who are at the forefront of the digital skills gender divide.

A Strategic City-Based Framework for Effectively and Efficiently Educating Students with Disabilities

Charter schools' autonomy and flexibility provides them with the opportunity to find ways to close the performance gap between students with and without disabilities, but deep-seated, systemic challenges often cause individual charters to struggle to do so on their own. For cities with an established charter sector, a city-wide, collaborative strategy involving all stakeholders to overcome these systemic challenges is proposed. By working together, charter schools can fulfill their potential with regard to educating students with disabilities. In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, identifying effective strategies to accelerate learning for students with disabilities and optimize the flexibility extended to charter schools is essential. This brief introduces critical components of a strategic, city-based framework, along with details regarding how this multi-pronged approach can drive systemic and sustainable change that will lead to better access and outcomes for students with disabilities. Each component has value independently, but when combined in a coherent manner so that each augments the others, the framework has the potential to ensure that students with disabilities have access to a robust continuum of educational opportunities in districts that have widespread public school choice and, in particular, charter schools. If individual charter schools, regional government officials, authorizers, and funders work together to create a new system that spreads the responsibility, incentivizes schools to support students with disabilities, and nurtures talent to support these goals, charter schools can be agents of change for closing the gap between students with disabilities and the general education population. [This paper is the result of a collaboration with Pathway 2 Tomorrow: Local Visions for America's Future (P2T).]