Intergovernmental Transfers and Elementary Education: Quasi-Experimental Evidence from Brazil

Whether providing additional resources to local communities leads to improved public services and better outcomes more generally, given existing management capacity and incentive and accountability structures, is an unresolved yet important question for public policy. This paper uses a regression-discontinuity design to evaluate the effect of unrestricted fiscal transfers on local spending (including on education), schooling and learning in Brazil. Results show that transfers increase local public spending almost one for one with no evidence of crowding out own revenue or other revenue sources. Extra per capita transfers of 1000 Reais lead to about 0.42 additional years of elementary schooling and student literacy rates increase by about 5.6 percentage points on average. Part of this effect arises through higher teacher-student ratios in municipal elementary school systems. Results also suggest that additional resources have stronger effects in more rural and less developed parts of Brazil.

The Search for Scholarly Teaching in Elementary Education

Elementary teachers are expected to prepare students to work efficiently with others, solve complex problems and self-regulate their own learning. Considering the importance of a solid educational foundation in the early years, students would benefit if elementary teachers engaged in scholarly teaching. The purpose of this study was to investigate Boyer’s (1990) four dimensions of scholarship, application, integration, teaching and discovery, to better understand if there is scholarly teaching in elementary education. Four professional teaching documents were analyzed using a hermeneutic orientation. A deductive analysis suggests that we do have scholarly teaching in elementary education, with strong evidence that elementary teachers are scholars of application and integration. An inductive analysis of latent and manifest content suggests that underlying humanistic values run deeply through elementary education driving current curricular, instructional and pedagogical practices.

Barreras en el acceso a la dirección escolar : diferencias entre profesoras y directoras de centros de Educación Infantil y Primaria. 'Barriers in the access to school management : differences between teachers and head-teachers from early childhood and elementary education schools'.

Resumen tomado de la publicación. Con el apoyo económico del departamento MIDE de la UNED

A new solution ... of the elementary education controversy together with a table of educational changes in England since A.D. 1547,

Mode of access: Internet.

Elementary education and the academically talented pupil /

Joint publication of the National Education Association Project on the Academically Talented Student and Department of Elementary School Principals.

A verbatim report, with indexes, of the debate in Parliament during the progress of the Elementary education bill, 1870, together with a reprint of the act. Prepared under the direction of the National education union.

At head of title: National education union.

Education (Ireland); speech in the House of Commons on Tuesday, May 19, 1835, on moving for leave to bring in a bill for the establishment of a Board of National Education, and the advancement of elementary education in Ireland.

"Extracted from the 'Mirror of Parliament'."

Schools in receipt of parliamentary grants. Grants paid to school boards under section 97, elementary education act, 1870. School board accounts and list of loans

Mode of access: Internet.

How firm a foundation? : an appraisal of threats to the quality of elementary education /

Mode of access: Internet.

The effect of a clinical practicum on elementary education preservice teachers' development of reading expertise

The purpose of the study was to measure gains in the development of elementary education teachers’ reading expertise, to determine if there was a differential gain in reading expertise, and last, to examine their perceptions of acquiring reading expertise. This research is needed in the field of teacher education, specifically in the field of reading. A quasi-experimental design with a comparison group using pretest-posttest mixed-method, repeated measures was utilized. Quantitative data analysis measured the development of reading expertise of elementary preservice teachers compared to early childhood preservice teachers; and, was used to examine the differential gains in reading expertise. A multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) was conducted on pre- and posttest responses on a Protocol of Questions. Further analysis was conducted on five variables (miscue analysis, fluency analysis, data analysis, inquiry orientation and intelligent action) using a univariate analysis of variance (ANOVA). A one-way ANOVA was carried out on gain scores of the low and middle groups of elementary education preservice teachers. Qualitative data analysis suggested by Merriam (1989) and Miles and Huberman (1994) was used to determine if the elementary education preservice teachers perceived they had acquired the expertise to teach reading. Elementary education preservice teachers who participated in a supervised clinical practicum made significant gains in their development of reading expertise as compared to early childhood preservice teachers who did not make significant gains. Elementary education preservice teachers who were in the low and middle third levels of expertise at pretest demonstrated significant gains in reading expertise. Last, elementary education preservice teachers perceived they had acquired the expertise to teach reading. The study concluded that reading expertise can be developed in elementary education preservice teachers through participation in a supervised clinical practicum. The findings support the idea that preservice teachers who will be teaching reading to elementary students would benefit from a supervised clinical practicum.

Information about the Office of Elementary and Secondary Education.

Shipping list no.: 90-693-P.

... Digest, survey staff report, elementary and secondary education.

Survey organization: The Division of field studies, Institute of educational research, Teachers' college, Columbia university, George D. Strayer, director of survey. cf. p. [3].