This paper investigates a unique feature of the English educational system to estimate the causal effect of compulsory schooling on labour market outcomes. We examine school leaving rules that allow for discrete variation in exit dates by date of birth within school cohorts. This natural experiment enables a regression discontinuity design that…

This study focussed on how secondary school students construct and use mathematical models as conceptual tools when solving word problems. The participants were 511 secondary-school students who were in the final year of compulsory education (15-16 years old). Four levels of the development of constructing and using mathematical models were…

If education is an inalienable right for children and young people with disabilities, securing employment plays a key role in their inclusion into adult life. A broad study was conducted to analyse the transition between the end of compulsory education and the beginning of employment in young people with disabilities in the Autonomous Community of…

Opinion surrounding Western Australia's provision of compulsory education via an outcomes-based education (OBE) paradigm is severely divided. At the centre of debate is an attempt by authorities to extend OBE into the final years of secondary schooling, Years 11 and 12. In this paper an examination is made of OBE as a curriculum paradigm.…

This essay explores factors creating Missouri's minimum attendance laws for black students from the end of the Civil War to the enactment of compulsory education in the state in 1905. It argues that, although blacks made notable efforts at educational advancement, they were caught in a crossfire of opposing forces stemming from wartime…

According to records from 2002, there will be a continuous increase in the number of classes, full-time teachers and teaching staff in urban primary and junior secondary schools during the period 2005-2020. At the same time, the demand for classes and teachers of non-compulsory education will decrease yearly. It is estimated that the budgetary…

The study reported here aimed to establish whether the stakes of examinations taken by students in the final two years of compulsory education in the UK were associated with degree of self-reported examination anxiety, and whether examination stakes moderated the anxiety-examination grade relationship. Data were collected from 615 students who…

The importance of school attendance in relation to achievement, engagement, and educational success has been well researched and documented. As a result, the general philosophy is that the more time students are in school, the better chance they have to be personally and academically successful. Students miss school for myriad reasons. While some…

This paper derives from the author's recent research into disadvantaged children's access to compulsory education in England. Examining the national attendance strategies and practice, the author interrogates the current trend towards a more punitive approach to addressing the problem of school absenteeism while debating the issue of irresponsible…

The guiding principles and procedures for pupil assessment in Portuguese compulsory education were established by the Implementing Order No. 1/2005, 5th January, with amendments introduced by the Implementing Orders No. 18/2006, 14th March and No. 5/2007, 10th January, and apply to the learning objectives and competencies defined for the various…

We estimate the impact of compulsory schooling on earnings using the changes in compulsory schooling laws for secondary schools in West German states during the period from 1948 to 1970. The German school system streams students into three separate types of secondary schools and the change in compulsory schooling laws affected students in the…

This paper tests for the impact of school size, measured by number of pupils, on academic performance at age 16 controlling for exam scores 2 years earlier. Schools of more than at the most 600 pupils tend to achieve poorer public exam results in the long run and a higher proportion fail to gain any qualifications. School size affects attendance…

Background: Early school leaving and dropout are widely recognized as problems, leading to further marginalization and exclusion of young people from society at large. The Finnish government has set a target that, by the year 2008, 96% of those who complete compulsory education will continue without interruption in secondary education or in the…

This report seeks to address critical issues such as these by synthesising the evidence on innovations in more market-driven education systems. The analysis draws on data from over 20 OECD and non-OECD countries, including both developed nations that seek to move beyond established systems of state-run schools, and developing nations where formal…

This study examines Soviet strategies for education during its first four decades as they may be deduced from the resources put at its disposal. Despite the political importance for education and for proletarian empowerment at the workplace ("vydvizhenie"), the total enrolment ratio was only one-third higher than in the Tsarist period,…