| 11. |
- Cars, Mikiko, 1970-
(författare)
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Project Evaluation in Development Cooperation : A Meta-Evaluative Case Study in Tanzania
- 2006
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The research reported here is a meta-evaluative case study of project evaluation in the context of Official Development Cooperation (ODC) in the education sector in Tanzania, where the particular focus is on capturing the relative values attached to evaluation by various stakeholder groups.Perspectives from the constructivist paradigm are adopted, implying relativist ontology, subjectivist epistemology, and naturalistic interpretive methodology. Based on these perspectives, a review is provided of development theories and evaluation theories, including the actor-oriented approach to development, participatory monitoring & evaluation, utilization-focused evaluation, and responsive-constructivist evaluation. An exploratory qualitative case study strategy is taken, combining several complementary methods e.g. in-depth interviews, questionnaires, document analysis, and observations.Evaluation is considered as an applied social research, implying a managerial and political purpose. It is a reflective interactive process, where the relevance, effectiveness and impact of an intervention in pursuit of certain objectives are assessed, adding value in order to construct knowledge for the enhancement of decision-making. In order to facilitate understanding of the cases under study, their structural contexts are investigated: 1) ODC evaluation systems and strategies (international/ macro context); and 2) ODC in the education sector in Tanzania (national/meso context). Each case (at local/micro level) is located within these contexts and analyzed applying a meta-evaluative framework.Integrating the perspectives of the stakeholders, the study demonstrates the strengths of, and constraints on, each case, factors which are to some extent determined by their respective time-frames. A number of significant discrepancies between theory and practice in ODC evaluation are reported. Findings indicate the significance of constructing consensus values that are based on a synthesis of multiple stakeholders’ values and perspectives complementing each others. The study also find that evaluation ought to be used as a powerful tool in which the values, needs and aspirations of various stakeholder groups can be reflected, especially those of local communities, who are now too often powerless in ODC projects in the education sector.
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| 12. |
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| 13. |
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| 14. |
- Chinapah, Vinayagum, 1950-
(författare)
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Participation and performance in primary schooling : a study of equality of educational opportunity in Mauritius
- 1983
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The aim of the study is to examine the extent to which policies formulated to ensure equality of educational opportunity have been implemented at the primary school level in Mauritius.Universal free primary education was achieved during the early 1970s. The most immediate problem at the primary education level today is to find ways to reduce the gap in scholastic performance between the few pupils who excel, and the majority, who cannot even reach a minimum level of knowledge required from six years of education.Educational success requires educationally supportive environments at home and in school. This is not the case for the majority of primary school pupils. Schooling benefits the most the already priviledged: children from advantaged socioeconomic, cultural, linguistic, and regional backgrounds. The school acts as a stratifier, it maintains and reproduces social inequalities existing already in society as a whole.The division of the school system into four separate sectors - government rural, government urban, aided rural, and aided urban - and a combination of various analytical techniques, from simple univariate analyses to complex path analyses with latent variables based on PLS and LISREL methods, are used to increase the understanding of how schools operate in various settings and for various groups of children.
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| 15. |
- Dedze, Indra
(författare)
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Reading ability of Latvian students : results from an international study
- 1999
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Reading literacy is becoming a crucial skill for the success in the modern society. Since Latvia is an industrialized country, with a relatively small population, it is of a crucial importance that the educational system produces well literate people. This is important both in order to sustain and to improve country's social and economic development.The International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA) was organized in the 1960's as a non-governmental and cooperative organization to conduct comparative studies concentrating on educational policies and practices in order to improve learning within and across systems of education. The IEA Reading Literacy Study was the first national study in the field of comparative education carried out in Latvia in early 90's. About 1000 nine-year-old students from 54 classrooms and 800 fourteen-year-old students from 53 schools participated in the study. The study provides us with important information about student reading habits, home background, as well as about teaching strategies. Whenever it is possible, an international comparison is given.Two-level structural equation modeling is applied in a reanalysis of the IEA Reading Literacy Study data from Latvia. The aim is to present the relations between the factors derived from student home conditions and reading performance factors at the individual level and at the classroom level. The results shows that at the nine-year-old student classroom level a general socioeconomic factor has rather high connection with the reading performance, while at the individual level factors called "good reader" and "reading resources" had a strong effect upon student reading achievement. In the fourteen-year-old students group the factors "liking school" and "good reader" have influence upon reading achievement on student level, and the factors "liking school" and "reading resources" - on the classroom level.Since the current situation in beginning reading instruction in Latvia is still influenced by the educational policies and practices that were in use during the Soviet era, the analyses on the beginning reading instruction in Latvia is given. Basic terms and categories such as the definition of reading, reading models, and goals of reading instruction are presented as they are used and understood in Latvia and compared with those described in Russia and the literature on reading research in other countries.The study has notable implications for teachers and policy makers, as well as for future research.
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| 16. |
- Desjardins, Richard, 1974-
(författare)
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Learning for well being : Studies using the International Adult Literacy Survey
- 2004
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- This thesis is a collection of five independent but closely related studies. The overall purpose is to approach the analysis of learning outcomes from a perspective that combines three major elements, namely lifelonglifewide learning, human capital, and the benefits of learning. The approach is based on an interdisciplinary perspective of the human capital paradigm. It considers the multiple learning contexts that are responsible for the development of embodied potential – including formal, nonformal and informal learning – and the multiple outcomes – including knowledge, skills, economic, social and others– that result from learning. The studies also seek to examine the extent and relative influence of learning in different contexts on the formation of embodied potential and how in turn that affects economic and social well being. The first study combines the three major elements, lifelonglifewidelearning, human capital, and the benefits of learning into one common conceptual framework. This study forms a common basis for the four empirical studies that follow. All four empirical studies use data from the International Adult Literacy Survey (IALS) to investigate the relationships among the major elements of the conceptual framework presented in the first study.Study I. A conceptual framework for the analysis of learning outcomesThis study brings together some key concepts and theories that are relevant for the analysis of learning outcomes. Many of the concepts and theories have emerged from varied disciplines including economics, educational psychology, cognitive science and sociology, to name only a few. Accordingly, some of the research questions inherent in the framework relate to different disciplinary perspectives. The primary purpose is to create a common basis for formulating and testing hypotheses as well as to interpret the findings in the empirical studies that follow. In particular, the framework facilitates the process of theorizing and hypothesizing on the relationships and processes concerning lifelong learning as well as their antecedents and consequences.Study II. Determinants of literacy proficiency: A lifelong-lifewide learning perspectiveThis study investigates lifelong and lifewide processes of skill formation. In particular, it seeks to estimate the substitutability and complementarity effects of learning in multiple settings over the lifespan on literacy skill formation. This is done by investigating the predictive capacity of major determinants of literacy proficiency that are associated with a variety of learning contexts including school, home, work, community and leisure. An identical structural model based on previous research is fitted to the IALS data for 18 countries. The results show that even after accounting for all factors, education remains the most important predictor of literacy proficiency. In all countries, however, the total effect of education is significantly mediated through further learning occurring at work, at home and in the community. Therefore, the job and other literacy related factors complement education in predicting literacy proficiency. This result points to a virtual cycle of lifelong learning, particularly to how educational attainment influences other learning behaviours throughout life. In addition, results show that home background as measured by parents’ education is also a strong predictor of literacy proficiency, but in many countries this occurs only if a favourable home background is complemented with some post-secondary education.Study III. The effect of literacy proficiency on earnings: An aggregated occupational approach using the Canadian IALS dataThis study uses data from the Canadian Adult Literacy Survey to estimate the earnings return to literacy skills. The approach adapts a labour segmented view of the labour market by aggregating occupations into seven types, enabling the estimation of the variable impact of literacy proficiency on earnings, both within and between different types of occupations. This is done using Hierarchical Linear Modeling (HLM). The method used to construct the aggregated occupational classification is based on analysis that considers the role of cognitive and other skills in relation to the nature of occupational tasks. Substantial premiums are found to be associated with some occupational types even after adjusting for within occupational differences in individual characteristics such as schooling, literacy proficiency, labour force experience and gender. Average years of schooling and average levels of literacy proficiency at the between level account for over two-thirds of the premiums. Within occupations, there are significant returns to schooling but they vary depending on the type of occupations. In contrast, the within occupational return of literacy proficiency is not necessarily significant. The latter depends on the type of occupation.Study IV: Determinants of economic and social outcomes from a lifewide learning perspective in CanadaIn this study the relationship between learning in different contexts, which span the lifewide learning dimension, and individual earnings on the one hand and community participation on the other are examined in separate but comparable models. Data from the Canadian Adult Literacy Survey are used to estimate structural models, which correspond closely to the common conceptual framework outlined in Study I. The findings suggest that the relationship between formal education and economic and social outcomes is complex with confounding effects. The results indicate that learning occurring in different contexts and for different reasons leads to different kinds of benefits. The latter finding suggests a potential trade-off between realizing economic and social benefits through learning that are taken for either job-related or personal-interest related reasons.Study V: The effects of learning on economic and social well being: A comparative analysisUsing the same structural model as in Study IV, hypotheses are comparatively examined using the International Adult Literacy Survey data for Canada, Denmark, the Netherlands, Norway, the United Kingdom, and the United States. The main finding from Study IV is confirmed for an additional five countries, namely that the effect of initial schooling on well being is more complex than a direct one and it is significantly mediated by subsequent learning. Additionally, findings suggest that people who devote more time to learning for job-related reasons than learning for personal-interest related reasons experience higher levels of economic well being. Moreover, devoting too much time to learning for personal-interest related reasons has a negative effect on earnings except in Denmark. But the more time people devote to learning for personal-interest related reasons tends to contribute to higher levels of social well being. These results again suggest a trade-off in learning for different reasons and in different contexts.
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| 17. |
- Duberg, Roland, 1935-
(författare)
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Schooling, work experience and earnings : a study of determinants of earnings in a Third World corporate setting
- 1982
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The aim of the study is: (1) to investigate determinants of earnings in a Third World corporate setting; (2) to estimate the relative importance of these determinants; (3) to compare the determinants between different sectors; and (4) to provide some evidence concerning the validity of a number of economic theories. A Third World country (Liberia) and a corporate setting (LAMCO) are described. A synopsis of economic theories relevant in studying personal income distribution an determinants of earnings is made. A data-analytical study of determinants of earnings in this setting is carried out. A basic model and a segmented model are specified. The basic model, which includes eight variables, suggests nineteen hypotheses. Log Annual Earnings is the criterion variable. Key theoretical constructs in orthodox theory include Region, Sex, Age, Formal Education, Family Size, Work Experience, and Job Level. In segmentation theories, key theoretical constructs include the effect of labor market segmentation, group characteristics and membership, technology and micro-economic policies. The analysis involved descriptive and analytical statistics including path analysis. The significant features of the study are reported under three major headings: (1) the issue of group differences, and development; (2) the use of education and training as means for industrial and national development; and (3) policy implications serving equality and efficiency objectives. It was found that workers in the secondary labor sector (lower level jobs) face lower rewards to schooling (lower slope) than workers in the independent (higher level jobs) labor sector. At the departmental level, it was found that the marginal returns to an increase in the mean level of education are higher in the industrial departments with the lowest mean education. Finally, the study gives evidence of (1) a threshold effect of education, with an extremely limited payoff to primary education; and (2) that work experience and specific on-the-job training is a much more powerful predictor of earnings than formal education.
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| 18. |
- Dutt, Khaleda Gani, 1968-
(författare)
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The Role of Adult Literacy in Transforming the Lives of Women in Rural India: Overcoming Gender Inequalities : Comparative case studies in Bhilwara District Rajasthan & Howrah District West Bengal India
- 2017
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The Indian diaspora is woven around castes, languages, dialects, religions- a young nation boasting of an ancient civilization in which inequalities are deeply ingrained in its culture and traditions. Although vital government interventions have succeeded in increasing the literacy rate of women in both urban and rural areas general household characteristics such as income, caste, occupation and education attainments of parents still continue to determine access, attendance, completion and learning outcomes of girls and women from severely disadvantaged communities. The critical issue investigated in the comparative case study is why and how established hegemonic roles changed because of the catalytic role of adult literacy. The research was conducted in Bhilwara District, Rajasthan and Howrah District, West Bengal, India where literacy has played an intrinsic role in transforming the lives of the rural and marginalized women. In Indian society social norms often prevent women from exercising their free choice and from taking full and equal advantage of opportunities for individual development, contribution and reward. So assessing empowerment/transformation would mean identifying the constraints to empowerment, how women’s agency has developed and finally looking if ‘agency’ was able to address the constraints to women’s access to adult literacy. This would also entail seeking answers to questions such as ‘How is transformation represented in their narratives? What was the impact of literacy upon their lives?
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| 20. |
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