Since 1990, the Australian higher education system has experienced ongoing reform resulting in the number of universities and student populations more than doubling. Despite this expansion, inequalities in access to higher education related to family background and location persist. Due to the concentration of higher education campuses in the…

Retaining teachers is a problem in all districts but is especially difficult in rural areas. This survey research asked teachers in a western state to respond to open ended questions regarding their choice for teaching in a rural or urban area. Results indicate teachers work in a rural locale because they grew up in the area, already lived there…

Background: Urban and rural areas have been experiencing major demographic and structural changes, characterized by an aging population in rural areas and a growth of cities in number and size. However, it is poorly researched how children's physical activity and screen time developed in urban and rural areas. To address this deficit, we…

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is reportedly more prevalent in urban areas partly because of better accessibility and affordability to healthcare. With universal health insurance coverage in Taiwan, a previous study has shown no urban-rural disparity in the utilization rate of a child's preventive healthcare. Under this circumstance, we followed a…

China's higher education expansion policy implemented in 1999 has substantially increased higher education opportunities. This paper investigates whether rural students do benefit more from the expansion policy and achieve educational equity between urban and rural areas. Based on the four waves of nationwide micro survey data, collected in 2000,…

In response to the COVID-19 epidemic, many education systems have relied on distance learning and educational technologies to an unprecedented degree. However, rigorous empirical research on the impacts on learning under these conditions is still scarce. We present the first large-scale, quantitative evidence detailing how school closures affected…

There is nearly universal consensus that child labour is harmful to the development of the child, however, widespread contention exists on whether child labour is cultural or economic necessity. This paper aimed to ascertain parental perceptions of the nature of child labour in rural and urban Ghana. The sample size of this study was 60…

In the formal education system, teaching-learning is a process where teacher is actively engaged in providing quality education to the learners. Teacher is the only one who can recognize and identify the unique capabilities of the students. In a diverse classroom, every student is different from others, keeping this in mind, a teacher has to…

The digital skills divide has been raised as a serious issue during the COVID-19. However, few studies explored the predictive influence of personality traits on college students' digital skills in online learning. To address this gap, this study took the second-level digital divide as the focus to conduct a two-round survey of college students…

As complex global challenges threaten our children's future, there is little international debate that schools must foster education for sustainable development (ESD) by unpacking sustainable development (SD) themes and stimulating (meta)cognitive growth towards higher-order epistemological stances conducive of innovation and transformation.…

Special education policy impacts education equity. More specifically, special education policy surrounding the identification of students with disabilities and the provision of instructional support services to students identified as having a disability has experienced critical public attention and landmark federal and state mandates for reform…

The rural-urban learning achievements gap is a persistent issue to be addressed from a different approach. This study employed re-centered influence function decomposition with Young Lives data to estimate the rural-urban education production function and decompose the rural-urban learning achievements gap in Ethiopia. Results revealed that the…

Background: Providing quality and equitable professional development (PD) to early care and education (ECE) providers can support high-quality care for young children. Coaching is a common way of delivering PD that has demonstrated positive impacts on teacher practices, however the field has yet to summarize which providers receive coaching, who…

Autism spectrum disorder is a developmental disorder that includes deficits in social communication and interaction, and restricted and repetitive behaviours, interests, or activities. This survey was done to assess autism spectrum disorder prevalence in 16- to 30-month-old children at an urban-rural distribution and determine the association of…

Education systems worldwide have shown much interest in "21st Century Competencies." In response to the call for better assessment of these competencies, we draw on a 4Cs framework (Communication, Collaboration, Creativity, and Critical Thinking) and develop the 21st Century Competencies Scale-4C on a sample of 5857 Grades Four to Nine…