The purpose of this dissertation was to introduce the context and purpose of the research study. The study's focus was on the perception of the elementary education profession and the prestige ascribed to classroom teachers working in public education by individuals outside the education system. The research questions were as follows: (1) What…

Famous people can positively influence young people by serving as examples of how to be a good person, but very little is known about which famous people youth look up to and why they do so. We coded and analyzed open-response data from 596 adolescents (M[subscript age] = 14.09 years; 58.5% girls, 57.5% White) in the northeastern United States to…

Academic entrepreneurial behaviours are increasingly a research field paralleling processes of capitalist commodification. We mobilise Baudrillard's concepts to probe a school's strategic communication methods symbolising class neoliberalism, which aspirational parents may experience as a desired habitus of 'distinction'. We suggest their…

Under test-based accountability, side-effects--including practices to inflate test results, often seen as cheating--are usually associated to so-called high-stakes policies. However, the influence of different types of stakes in the generation of this type of practices has been overlooked in education research. Based on a survey experiment, our…

Elite private institutions, renowned for their exceptional academic offerings and rigorous selection processes, attract top-tier students and faculty; however exclusive private schooling has perpetuated social and economic disparities by granting unequal advantages to select groups, deepening educational gaps in society. This dissertation…

This study examines the relationship between reputational threat and altruistic behavior in children aged 6-11 and explores how social inhibition and group relationships affect this behavior. Study 1 involved 204 children and found that age and reputational threat influence altruism, with age 8 being a key turning point. Study 2 focused on 130…

A qualitative study was conducted to understand better how school principals respond in an environment of school choice and how this reform movement impacts their role as leaders. The principal is considered one of the most influential people in the development of the quality and character of a school. Reform policies have added to the traditional…

The paper investigates public and private primary school choice criteria in urban settings by taking an unconventional and supplementing perspective which scarcely has been taken up by research, despite being interconnected with the topic at hand. Instead of analyzing parents' criteria for schools deemed good, which would be the conventional way,…

This study used peer nominations to identify who students ask for help in class. We describe the level of friendship affiliation that students' share with their peer helpers, and their classroom behavior reputations. Participants were 1037 fifth (49%) and sixth (51%) graders with varied gender and ethnic-racial backgrounds (51% girls; 43% White,…

Purpose: The article deals with competition between primary schools in Berlin. The focus is on the perception of competition and the process of student selection -- despite school law restrictions for primary state schools. The aim is to find out whether and in what way primary school leaders perceive a competitive situation and how they act in…

The rise of teacher training in online interactive learning environments has contributed to teachers' professional development and brought new vitality to the informatisation of education. Many researchers have reported that there is a participation gap in online interactive learning environments. Research on the factors influencing this is very…

This research critically examines the efforts of the British State and the various churches to re-vision the character and status of elementary school teachers in Ireland between the 1830s and the 1920s. In a climate of regular political revolution and denominational hostility, the Westminster government and all churches were anxious to promote…

In social groups, such as school-based peer networks, youth often vie for power and dominance over others. Different strategies may be used to gain power (i.e., coercive and/or cooperative strategies), and with varying levels of success. Using a social networks approach, we examined whether and how social network centrality and social network…

In this article, we show how collaboration between Danish municipal primary and lower secondary schools ("folkeskoler") and elite sports clubs to establish SportsClasses enables schools to set parameters that align student-athletes' attitudes and behavior towards school and academic performance. Using neo-institutional theory, we show…

Historically, the Swedish school system has been designed to level out differences between pupils. There has also been scepticism about assessing pupils. However, new school reforms in Sweden centre on performance and tests. This article focuses on pupils (year 6) in Swedish elite schools and their perceptions of assessment. The pupils are in an…