This paper examines the effects of introducing compulsory attendance laws on the schooling of U.S. children for three overlapping time periods: 1880-1927, 1890-1927, and 1898-1927. The previous literature finds little effect of the laws, which is somewhat surprising given that the passage of these laws coincided with rising attendance. Using…

This article aims to revisit the relationship between school-level variables and students' educational opportunities through the lens of institutional habitus. This approach is particularly well suited to explore the notion of school culture because it brings to the forefront the impact of social context, avoiding some of the limitations typically…

The study presented is part of a work-in-progress project of developing a mobile application for smartphones, Talking Tools (TT). The first context TT is developed for and tested in is sloyd education [Swedish: slöjd], a compulsory subject taught in Finnish schools. In sloyd learners design and manufacture unique artifacts in various materials…

The present article has as its aim to illustrate and discuss the impacts of individualization strategies on equity educational policies through the analysis of individualized teaching strategies applied within the framework of educational priority policies in Sweden. The methodology used in our research work includes: (a) the study of research…

In this article, we experiment with the idea of combining path dependency, convergence and contingency in explaining Finnish distinctiveness in education policy and politics since the early 1990s. The focus of this article is on quality assurance and evaluation (QAE) in comprehensive schooling. We elaborate on and contextualise the Finnish QAE…

Recent government attention to the coherence between early childhood and compulsory school curricula in Aotearoa/New Zealand has led to debates regarding the educational aims of different education sectors. Concerns regarding a "push-down" of compulsory school aims are highlighted in this article, with reference to Nel Noddings's…

I present a unit on voting theory and social choice taught as the beginning of a liberal arts mathematics course for undergraduates. In this unit, students voted on the final grade calculation formula and topics to cover during the semester and then analyzed the results using various voting systems. I believe that by allowing my students to…

At the beginning of the 20th century, Tunali Hilmi Bey, who was not an educator, played an important part among the harsh debates on education surrounding Turkey. The current study analyzes Tunali Hilmi Bey's views on education that is a central point in his life and his sophisticated thoughts. Tunali Hilmi Bey launched a big effort to have social…

Background: Many students leave compulsory school without being qualified to apply for national upper secondary school programmes. Despite efforts, the number of unqualified students in Sweden has increased. Grades from compulsory school have direct implications for students' educational futures and the requirement to qualify for an upper…

World Bank's data indicate 70 per cent of the African population lives in rural areas. Additional evidence made available by the African Development Bank [Africa's own version of the World Bank] suggests 65 per cent of Africa's urban dwellers live in slums. This paper relies on these data to conceptualise Africa's global rurality and issues around…

After reviewing the evolution of attitudes to poverty and education we note how it influenced the early provision of schooling and the emergence of a global agenda for international development and universal education. At first, this agenda was grounded in the Enlightenment values that inspired the Universal Declaration of Human Rights but…

Research on early compulsory schooling laws finds minimal effects on attendance but fails to investigate heterogeneous effects. Similarly, research proposes limited contexts in which expansion policies can increase equality but has difficulty separating policy and cohort effects. Capitalizing on within-country variation in timing of early…

The involvement of business, including the engagement of employers, with the education sector, in particular across the secondary phase, has been a contested area for over 30 years. A recent example of employer engagement is the development of the new Diploma qualifications, introduced as part of the 14-19 education reform in England and…

The roots of teacher training in Finland extend to the 1860s. The evolution of teacher training was closely connected to the history of elementary education and changes in educational policy and the Finnish society. Recently, the Finnish educational system and its teacher education programs have fared extremely well in international comparisons.…

This article reviews the impact of discourses on "New Public Management" (NPM) on compulsory schooling in Switzerland during the last two decades and traces its implementation in the Canton of Bern. The analysis suggests that while NPM reformers initially promoted increased school autonomy, the introduction of market elements and school…