PISA Education in Eastern Europe and Central Asia Findings from PISA


Book Description

Countries in Eastern Europe and Central Asia have clear aspirations to strengthen civic participation and increase prosperity for all. A highly skilled and knowledgeable population is critical to achieving these goals, which makes creating and maintaining high quality and equitable education systems a vital part of regional development efforts. Results from the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) show that learning outcomes in the region have generally improved, but that the improvement has not been equitable. While countries in the region are producing some of the top performing students in the world, many other students are being left behind. This report, jointly developed by OECD and UNICEF, analyses PISA data in detail to identify the strengths, challenges and unique features of education systems in Eastern Europe and Central Asia. Drawing upon a rich knowledge base of education policy and practice in the region, it makes recommendations about how systems in the region can provide an excellent education for all students. This report will be of interest to regional policy-makers as well as individuals who wish to learn more about education in Eastern Europe and Central Asia.




Skills, Not Just Diplomas


Book Description

Future growth in the countries in Eastern Europe and Central Asia (ECA) will increasingly depend on innovation. And innovation requires skills. This makes it important, as countries plan for recovery, to undertake reforms to reduce the skills shortages that the previous growth episode exposed. Education systems have a very important role to play in creating the right skills. But education systems in the region fall short of the demands of their economies in two major ways. The first is that despite high levels of enrollment they do not produce enough graduates with the right skills. Students graduate with diplomas, not with skills, because the quality of the education for many students is poor. In large part this is because education systems remain focused on providing an excellent education to a few at the expense of improving the quality of learning for the majority. Moreover, the systems are still making the transition from teaching the basics to inculcating higher order skills such as critical-thinking and problem solving. The second way in which education systems fall short is that outside of a few countries in the EU there are few opportunities for adults to retrain, or acquire new skills. This book argues that generating more of the right skills requires a fundamental change of approach in the education systems in the region so that they aim for, and deliver, higher quality education for the vast majority of students (“not just diplomas but skills”). To start with, education systems need to “turn the lights on” and take seriously the measurement of what students actually learn as opposed to measurement of the inputs into the education process on the implicit assumption that learning follows. Policy makers also need to move away from the focus on inputs and processes and increase the emphasis on incentives.




Education in Eastern Europe and Eurasia


Book Description

Education in Eastern Europe and Eurasia provides an essential reference resource to education development and key education issues in the region. Academics and researchers working closely in the field cover education and educational development in Belarus, Moldova, Russia, Turkey, Ukraine, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia and Israel. Each chapter provides an overview of the development of education in the particular country, focusing on contemporary education policies and some of the problems these countries face in implementing educational reform. The book also covers the social and political issues which impact on the education system and schooling and governments' responses to recent local, regional and global events.




Modernizing Jewish Education in Nineteenth Century Eastern Europe


Book Description

In Modernizing Jewish Education in Nineteenth Century Eastern Europe Mordechai Zalkin offers a new path through which the Eastern European traditional Jewish society underwent a rapid and significant process of modernization - the Maskilic system of education. Since the beginning of the nineteenth century a few local Jews, affected by the values and the principles of the European Enlightenment, established new private modern schools all around The Pale of Settlement, in which thousands Jewish boys and girls were exposed to different disciplines such as sciences and humanities, a process which changed the entire cultural structure of contemporary Jewish society.




Dialogues between Northern and Eastern Europe on the Development of Inclusion


Book Description

The concepts of inclusion and inclusive education for children with special education needs (SEN) have been widely accepted as imperative undertakings in the education spectrum. This book posits the practice of these ideas by scrutinizing the methodologies adopted by varied nations of the two regions towards inclusive education along with juxtaposing the dichotomous observations to enable a dialogue regarding the actualization of inclusive education. The book looks at the distinct approaches taken by Northern and Eastern European education systems to realize inclusive education for children with SEN and aims to enable a space for dialogue wherein the reader would be able to access the cultural context of each practice, expand their cognizance regarding the concept of inclusivity and develop a more nuanced and sensitive approach to inclusive education. In the act of exploring the myriad ways in which inclusivity is practiced in the two regions, the book thusly provides insights into the pluralities and significance of inclusion in the education sector across a global spectrum. The anthology will be of interest to a vast range of audience, videlicet, individuals, students, researchers, professionals, et al., invested in the education sector, special needs education and pedagogy. It further proposes appeal for individuals interested in performing scientific research on the subject. The book practically aims to be of interest for any individual invested in the discipline of education, development of community and the topics pertaining to education for children with SEN.




Explicit Direct Instruction (EDI)


Book Description

A proven method for better teaching, better learning, and better test scores! This teacher-friendly book presents a step-by-step approach for implementing the Explicit Direct Instruction (EDI) approach in diverse classrooms. Based on educational theory, brain research, and data analysis, EDI helps teachers deliver effective lessons that can significantly improve achievement all grade levels. The authors discuss characteristics of EDI, such as checking for understanding, lesson objectives, activating prior knowledge, concept and skills development, and guided practice, and provide: Clearly defined lesson design components Detailed sample lessons Easy-to-follow lesson delivery strategies Scenarios that illustrate what EDI techniques look like in the classroom




Educational Freedom in Eastern Europe


Book Description

The story of the Communist takeover of education and the




Student Migration from Eastern to Western Europe


Book Description

This book explores European student migration from the perspectives of Eastern European students moving to Western Europe for study. Whilst most research on student migration in Europe focuses on the experiences of Western European students, this book uniquely casts a light on Eastern European student migrants moving to the 'West'. Mette Ginnerskov-Dahlberg deploys a novel approach to the subject by drawing on insights gleaned from a longitudinal study of master's students pursuing an education abroad and their multifaceted journeys after graduation. Thereby, she brings their narratives to life and highlights the changes and continuities they experienced over a period of seven years, fostering an understanding of student mobility as an activity enmeshed with adult commitments and long-term aspirations. Using Denmark as a case study of a host country, Ginnerskov-Dahlberg analyses the trajectories of these students and situates their experiences within the wider socio-historical context of Eastern European post-socialism and the contemporary dynamics between EU and non-EU citizens in the welfare state of Denmark - reflecting issues playing out on the global stage today. This book will be a valuable resource for students and scholars of migration and mobility studies, as well as human geography, sociology, higher education, area studies and anthropology.




Captive University


Book Description

This comparative history of the higher education systems in Poland, East Germany, and the Czech lands reveals an unexpected diversity within East European stalinism. With information gleaned from archives in each of these places, John Connelly offers a valuable case study showing how totalitarian states adapt their policies to the contours of the societies they rule. The Communist dictum that universities be purged of "bourgeois elements" was accomplished most fully in East Germany, where more and more students came from worker and peasant backgrounds. But the Polish Party kept potentially disloyal professors on the job in the futile hope that they would train a new intelligentsia, and Czech stalinists failed to make worker and peasant students a majority at Czech universities. Connelly accounts for these differences by exploring the prestalinist heritage of these countries, and particularly their experiences in World War II. The failure of Polish and Czech leaders to transform their universities became particularly evident during the crises of 1968 and 1989, when university students spearheaded reform movements. In East Germany, by contrast, universities remained true to the state to the end, and students were notably absent from the revolution of 1989.




Christianity and Modernity in Eastern Europe


Book Description

Disgraceful collusion. Heroic resistance. Suppression of faith. Perseverance of convictions. The story of Christianity in twentieth-century Eastern Europe is often told in stark scenes of tragedy and triumph. Overlooked in the retelling of these dramas is how the region's clergy and lay believers lived their faith, acted within religious and political institutions, and adapted their traditions---while struggling to make sense of a changing world. The contributors to this volume, coming from the U.S. and Western and Eastern Europe, look beyond the narratives of resistance and collaboration. They offer surprising new evidence from archives and oral history interviews, and they provide fresh interpretations of Christianity as it was lived and expressed in modern Europe: from religiosity in the industrial cities of the late nineteenth century to current debates over immigration and European identity; from theological debates in East Germany to folk healing in post-socialist Bulgaria; and, counter-intuitively, from religious fervor among the Czechs to indifference among the Poles. Addressing Christianity in diverse forms---Orthodox, Protestant, Roman and Greek Catholic---as an integral part of the region's politics, society, and culture, this collection is a major addition to studies of both Eastern Europe and religion in the twentieth century. "A volume that specialists in the history of Christianity in other regions of the world will read with great interest, and a degree of envy. As an historian of religion in Western Europe, I can say that although there is a vast literature on the religious history of the nineteenth century and a growing literature on the twentieth century, there is nothing quite like this." From the Foreword by Hugh McLeod, author of The Religious Crisis of the 1960s. "This is a path-breaking book in two different ways. It contributes to the re-evaluation of the nature of modern European religion generally, and to the nature of religion in the modern world." Jeffrey Cox, University of Iowa, author of Imperial Fault Lines: Christianity and Colonial Power in India.