The Effects of Reducing Tracking in Upper Secondary School: Evidence from a Large-Scale Pilot Scheme

2012 ◽  
Vol 47 (1) ◽  
pp. 237-269 ◽  
Author(s):  
Caroline Hall
Keyword(s):  
Secondary School ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Upper Secondary School ◽  
Pilot Scheme ◽  
Upper Secondary

scholarly journals Is TIMSS Advanced an appropriate instrument for evaluating mathematical performance at the advanced level of Norwegian upper secondary school? An analysis of curriculum documents and assessment items

2013 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ida Friestad Pedersen
Keyword(s):  
Secondary School ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Mathematics Curriculum ◽  
Additional Contribution ◽  
Upper Secondary School ◽  
School Students ◽  
Mathematical Performance ◽  
Mathematics Tests ◽  
Upper Secondary ◽  
Timss Advanced

Given that the results of international large-scale achievement studies attract a lot of attention and may affect educational policies, the primary aim of the present study is to discuss the appropriateness of the mathematics tests developed for the two cycles of TIMSS Advanced for evaluating the mathematical performance of Norwegian upper secondary school students. This will here be done by employing a methodology for alignment studies developed by Porter (2002), which entails analyzing and describing the mathematical content of the Norwegian curriculum documents and the TIMSS Advanced assessment items, and calculating the agreement between these. The analyses show a moderate alignment between the different iterations of TIMSS Advanced and the curriculum followed by the participating students, implying that the emphasis in the Norwegian mathematics curriculum differs somewhat from that of the TIMSS Advanced tests. These analyses do not warrant the conclusion that the TIMSS Advanced tests were inappropriate instruments for assessing the mathematical performance of Norwegian students. They do, however, imply that the differences in emphasis between the different iterations of TIMSS Advanced and the curriculum followed by the participating students should be taken into account in order to make valid interpretations of the results of this large-scale survey. Finally, as alignment is evaluated by contrasting alignment indices calculated for different combinations of the intended and assessed curriculum, additional research is needed if one is to make more firm judgments. One additional contribution of the present study is demonstrating a powerful methodology for conducting this kind of research.

Perceptions of the relationships between science and religion held by upper-secondary school students in Church of England schools

2020 ◽  
Vol 24 (2) ◽  
pp. 153-178
Author(s):  
Berry Billingsley ◽  
Mehdi Nassaji
Keyword(s):  
Secondary School ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Secondary School Students ◽  
Church Of England ◽  
Science And Religion ◽  
Upper Secondary School ◽  
School Students ◽  
Upper Secondary ◽  
Interview Studies ◽  
Epistemic Insight

We report on a large-scale survey of 1,772 upper-secondary school students in 16 Church of England schools to discover their perceptions of how science and religion relate. We found that students who attend Church schools are pedagogically, socially and cognitively confined to the view that science and religion conflict. The findings are discussed alongside interview studies with students which sought to discover the extent to which they have the epistemic insight they need to access a range of views about the relationships between science and religion.

scholarly journals Mathematical competencies and the role of mathematics in physics education: A trend analysis of TIMSS Advanced 1995 and 2008

2013 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Trude Nilsen ◽  
Carl Angell ◽  
Liv Sissel Grønmo
Keyword(s):  
Secondary School ◽  
Physics Education ◽  
Conceptual Knowledge ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Empirical Work ◽  
Upper Secondary School ◽  
Mathematical Competencies ◽  
Upper Secondary ◽  
Timss Advanced ◽  
Mathematics And Physics

As students advance in their learning of physics over the course of their education, the requirement of mathematical applications in physics-related tasks increases, especially so in upper secondary school and in higher education. Yet there is little empirical work (particularly large-scale or longitudinal) on the application of mathematics in physics education compared with the research related to the conceptual knowledge of physics. In order to clarify the nature of mathematics in physics education, we developed a theoretical framework for mathematical competencies pertinent to various physics tasks based on theoretical frameworks from mathematics and physics education. We used this synthesis of frameworks as a basis to create a model for physics competence. The framework also served as a tool for analyzing and categorizing trend items from the international large-scale survey, TIMSS Advanced 1995 and 2008. TIMSS Advanced assessed students in upper secondary school with special preparation in advanced physics and mathematics. We then investigated the changes in achievements on these categorized items across time for nations who participated in both surveys. The results from our analysis indicate that students whose overall physics achievement declined struggled the most with items requiring mathematics, especially items requiring them to handle symbols, such as manipulating equations. This finding suggests the importance of collaboration between mathematics and physics education as well as the importance of traditional algebra for physics education.

scholarly journals Being Able to Stay or Learning to Stay: a Study of Rural Boys’ Educational Orientations and Transitions

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anna-Maria Stenseth ◽  
Unn-Doris K. Bæck
Keyword(s):  
Secondary Education ◽  
Secondary School ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
Qualitative Interviews ◽  
Geographical Location ◽  
Further Education ◽  
Upper Secondary School ◽  
Upper Secondary Education ◽  
Upper Secondary ◽  
Educational Orientations

AbstractThis study explores the influence of geographical location on young pupils’ educational orientations and their transition from lower to upper secondary school; it pays particular attention to the voices of male youths from a rural area. More specifically, it investigates the interplay between gender and geographical contexts and the significance of these factors in understanding the processes associated with educational orientations. Margaret Archer’s framework is used to analyse how pupils’ agency is constrained and/or enabled by objective structures. The data material consists of qualitative interviews with 18 pupils transitioning from lower to upper secondary school in Norway. Each of the pupils was interviewed twice: first when they were in their last year of lower secondary education, and then during their first year of upper secondary education. The findings show that pupils consider geographical locations when making decisions about further education and work. In addition, they believe that education beyond compulsory schooling benefits their life in the rural areas. However, unlike their urban counterparts, pupils from rural areas appear to have a more constraining transition to upper secondary education. Through the analyses in this article, it becomes clear that both geographical location and gender are key factors for understanding processes connected to education.

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