Although children's school success is a parental goal in most cultures, there is wide cultural variation in the qualities that parents most wish their children to develop for that purpose. A questionnaire contained forty-one child qualities was administered to 757 parents in seven cultural communities in Australia, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland,…

Education in Poland tries to keep up with the extremely dynamic civilisation changes in order to prepare students to face the challenges of the future. However, it must face the historical burden symbolically defined as "homo sovieticus"--a man giving up his own agency to the system and authority. The aim of the article is to evaluate…

The present study aims to determine the relative efficiency of 28 countries participated in PISA 2015 and TALIS 2013 based on student performance and teacher quality, and to sort the countries according to their efficiency scores by using a super efficiency model. Moreover, this study attempts to reveal important improvements countries must make…

The seven papers in this issue address a variety of challenges that parents in several different cultural places encounter as they do their best to ensure their children's safe, happy, and successful development from infancy through middle childhood: infant sleep, developmental agendas, temperament, preschools, academic success, and learning to be…

It is well-known that there are large disparities in academic achievement between children of different socio-economic status (SES) backgrounds. This study examines the evolution of disparities in literacy skills between adults of different SES backgrounds. It compares countries' patterns in the evolution of disparities in literacy by SES…

The purpose of the study was to explore school culture in radically different schools due to school achievement. The particular objectives of this study were to investigate: (1) the teachers' perceptions of school culture (2) the teachers' perceptions of principal behaviors, and additionally (3) to determine the relationship between principals'…

The article presents the Polish educational system, its constituent part - upper secondary education, in particular. Describing the qualitative changes in the upper secondary schools (secondary schools of the second extent) the author singles out one significant document that has changed the direction of education, created the conditions for…

This volume contains papers submitted to the 11th Annual International Conference of the Bulgarian Comparative Education Society (BCES), held in Plovdiv, Bulgaria, 14-17 May 2013, and papers submitted to the 1st International Distance Partner Conference, organized by the International Research Centre "Scientific Cooperation,"…

The 1999 International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA) Civic Education Study revealed that most countries having recently undergone political and social transformations had lower civic knowledge scores than more stable nations. However, Poland, which instituted policies aimed at educating citizens for democratic…

We are delighted to welcome you to the International Psychological Applications Conference and Trends (InPACT) 2016, taking place in Lisbon, Portugal, from 30 of April to 2 of May, 2016. Psychology, nowadays, offers a large range of scientific fields where it can be applied. The goal of understanding individuals and groups (mental functions and…

An effective system of education and training is important for both social and economic reasons. Its role in the Polish economy is to provide the current and future labour force with skills to facilitate both continuing productivity growth and reallocation of resources as structural adjustment proceeds. Important reforms to decentralise primary…

The International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA) tested the high school populations of a number of foreign countries in English as a foreign language. The test is described and results are reported. A variety of specific findings and their implications for curriculum development in English as a foreign language are…

This study sought to determine the causes of high or low attainment in preschool, focusing on 17 factors identified as having a significant influence on the development of children's abilities. The study focused on home factors influencing attainment among 30 high ability and 30 low ability children from preschools in Glowno, Poland.…

The function of schooling on different levels in the direction of the processes of social mobility which influence the development of rural areas in Poland were studied during 1967-71. Data was collected by means of a network of 35 permanent teacher correspondents, as well as 2 field stations which were operated for 3 years in 2 investigated…

In 1973, the Polish Minister of Education ordered objective competitions at the primary school level in the fields of Polish studies, Russian language, and math. In order to determine whether such subject competitions were justified and if they contributed equally to the development of interests and abilities among the rural and urban and…