This text covers the range of equality issues in school level education from the perspective and needs of educators, trainee teachers and students of education. It uses a blend of issues, concepts, facts and research to open up key issues and consider policy developments in the field.

First published in 2000. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

Draws together a wealth of knowledge from a varied list of contributors all of whom recognise the importance of promoting equality in primary schools. >

This volume will introduce the readers to an alternative nexus of education, equity and economy, pointing to economies and educations that promote a less stratified and exploitive world, and as the chapter authors demonstrate, this view has a wide range of applications, from technology, mathematics, to environmental catastrophes and indigenous cultures. This first volume in the new book series not only introduces the series itself, but also several authors whose chapters that appear here presage the in-depth analysis that will be offered by their volumes in the series. Education is invoked repeatedly in the ‘class warfare’ that pits the population against the elites as the investment that makes the difference, in terms of both policy and individual commitment, in the economy. The economy in this scenario is competitive, accumulative, exploitive and stratifying, implying education should mirror this and prepare people to fit this economy. However, education has other historic goals of developing common cultures, national identities, and civic engagement that belie this form of economic determinism. This volume and the series will explore this new nexus of economy and education with equity.

This book is designed to be the definitive statement on social equity theory and practice in public administration. Social equity is often referred to as the "third pillar" in PA, after efficiency and economy. It concerns itself with the fairness of the organization, its management, and its delivery of public services. H. George Frederickson is widely recognized as the originator of the concept and the person most associated with its development and application. The book's introduction and chapters 1-4 offer general descriptions of social equity in terms of its arguments and claims in changing political, economic, and social circumstances, and trace the development of the concept over the past forty years. Chapters 5-9 provide applications of social equity theory to particular policy arenas such as education, or to specific public administration issues such as the range of administrative discretion, the legal context, the research challenges, and social equity in the context of time and generations. Chapters 10 and 11 describe the current state of social equity and look towards the future.

Draws together a wealth of knowledge from a varied list of contributors all of whom recognise the importance of promoting equality in secondary schools.

Foundations of Education: Essential Texts and New Directions helps aspiring teachers interpret the craft of teaching within the historical, philosophical, cultural, and social contexts of education, inside and outside of schools. As a traditional social foundations reader, it focuses on the origins of the social foundations’ disciplines, but it also includes contemporary pieces that directly impact students' lives today. Through these carefully curated readings, students will grasp the complexity and connection between contemporary issues in education. Part I contains "essential texts," selections from works widely regarded as central to the development of the field, which lay the basis of further study for any serious student of education. Part II looks at multidisciplinary directions of current foundations of education scholarship. An introductory essay by the editors and discussion questions at the conclusion of the text further highlight the selections’ continued importance and application to today’s most pressing educational issues. By addressing the past, present, and future of social foundations, this volume contends skillfully with ever-shifting education policies and school demographics.

This book addresses the complications and implications of parental involvement as a policy, through an exploratory theoretical approach, including historical and sociological accounts and personal reflection. This approach represents the author's effort to understand the origins, meanings, and effects of parental involvement as a prerequisite of schooling and particularly as a policy 'solution' for low achievement and even inequity in the American educational system. Most of the policy and research discourse on school-family relations exalts the partnership ideal, taking for granted its desirability and viability, the perspective of parents on specific involvement in instruction, and the conditions of diverse families in fulfilling their appointed role in the partnership. De Carvalho takes a distinct stance. She argues that the partnership-parental ideal neglects several major factors: It proclaims parental involvement as a means to enhance (and perhaps equalize) school outcomes, but disregards how family material and cultural conditions, and feelings about schooling, differ according to social class; thus, the partnership-parental involvement ideal is more likely to be a projection of the model of upper-middle class, suburban community schooling than an open invitation for diverse families to recreate schooling. Although it appeals to the image of the traditional community school, the pressure for more family educational accountability really overlooks history as well as present social conditions. Finally, family-school relations are relations of power, but most families are powerless. De Carvalho makes the case that two linked effects of this policy are the gravest: the imposition of a particular parenting style and intrusion into family life, and the escalation of educational inequality. Rethinking Family-School Relations: A Critique of Parental Involvement in Schooling--a carefully researched and persuasively argued work--is essential reading for all school professionals, parents, and individuals concerned with public schooling and educational equality.

Thousands of children from minority and disadvantaged groups will never cross the threshold of a classroom. What can human rights contribute to the struggle to ensure that every learner is able to access high quality education? This brilliant interdisciplinary collection explores how a human rights perspective offers new insights and tools into the current obstacles to education. It examines the role of private actors, the need to hold states to account for the quality of education, how to strike a balance between religion, culture and education, the innovative responses needed to guarantee girls’ right to education and the role of courts. This unique book draws together contributors who have been deeply involved in this field from both developing and developed countries which enriches the understanding and remedial approaches to tackle current obstacles to universal education.

An enduring educational concern that has plagued researchers and policy makers in a number of affluent countries is the endemic nature of educational inequalities. These inequalities highlight distinct differences in the educational skills, knowledge, capabilities and credentials between learners’ demographic characteristics. They also point to issues of educational disadvantage that emanate from a combination of factors including family life, communities, the geographies of space and place, gender and ethnicity. This book examines some of the causes and responses to educational inequalities, and focuses upon poor urban contexts where educational disadvantage is at its most concentrated, and where educational policy and practice has, over time, proliferated. It questions how wider inequities experienced by young people in urban contexts generate educational inequalities and disadvantage, detailing explicitly what an equitable approach to education might look like. Included in the book is an innovative educational equity framework and toolkit with illustrative policy and practice case studies, bringing together unique scholarship and analysis to examine future educational policy in a holistic, comprehensive and equitable way. It will be valuable reading for postgraduate students, researchers and policy makers with an interest in education and educational equity.