The academic literature pertaining to the discipline of international education acknowledges that the International Baccalaureate (IB) programme is expanding globally. Given the growing influence of the IB on international schooling, our study seeks to map the field of IB research drawing on a systematic review of 295 documents published from…

Understanding by Design (UbD) is a well-known curricular methodology aiming at leading students to develop a deep understanding of the arguments proposed by teachers. Through a path including stimulating questions, student motivation, deepening of the argument, reflection, design and assessment of authentic performances, the students develop a…

Thriving is a developmental process that is shaped by previous and current interactions within developmental contexts. We hypothesized that academic performance in the school context will positively predict thriving in young adulthood. Data of N = 2,043 students from Zurich were assessed with standardized tests in Grades 1, 3, 6, and 9. Results…

It is only in recent years that extended education has been a topic of broader public interest in Switzerland. The impetuses for extended education were changes in social and family conditions, and PISA 2000. In 2007 under the HarmoS Intercantonal Agreement on Harmonization of Compulsory Schooling in Switzerland, all cantons that adopted the…

The purpose of this article is to give an overview of research on extended education in Switzerland and to point out the gaps in the field. In Switzerland official education statistics and research on extended education are still in their infancy. This is directly associated with the fact that extended education has only been widely discussed…

In Switzerland there are a lot of different expectations connected with the development of extended education. However, it is largely unclear whether or not the expectations concerning an extended learning culture -- and thus concerning diverse support measures in extended education offerings -- are being met. This paper takes up this point and…

In this study, we examined the development of mathematics achievement in children attending extracurricular activities intensively in comparison with the development in a control group of children attending only the obligatory hours of school instruction. In addition, we investigated the question of possible effects of intensity of attendance and…

A nation's culture, competitiveness and economic performance explain academic performance. Partial Least Squares (PLS) testing of 2252 students shows culture affects competitiveness and academic performance. Culture and economic performance each explain 32%; competitiveness 36%. The model predicts academic performance when culture, competitiveness…

In recent years a number of policy and practice initiatives concerning pastoral care in schools in England have led to schools increasingly being expected to take a leading role in addressing a widening range of concerns regarding the welfare, care and education of children, and in working more closely with parents and other professional agencies…

This article presents a summary of results from a Swiss nationwide empirical study of the determinants of grade retention, its effects on learning, and its social and emotional consequences. Results show that the decision for grade retention does not rest only on the pupil's actual academic performance but also on the teacher's attitudes and…

This paper outlines the results of a survey into the effects, during the 2 years following publication, of an official report--"Improving Mathematics Education 5-14"--on teaching and learning mathematics in Scottish schools. The purpose of the survey was to examine how the process of implementation worked its way down to the classroom…

A Swedish Research on Higher Education project to investigate relationships between knowledge and educational certification is described. The first study involves several cohorts of engineering students from technological universities in Paris, Stockholm, Zurich, and Berlin for the period 1880-1960. Attention is directed to students' educational…

Describes an empirical study of students in a Swiss secondary school that was conducted to investigate whether courseware and student characteristics have an impact on learning achievement. Factors to be considered in the design and evaluation of courseware are discussed, students' computer attitudes are considered, and recommendations for further…