Objections to the Principled Framework for Educational Equality : A Response

Focusing on the equity aspect of proposals for making opportunity-to-learn standards integral to an accountability system, this article discusses conceptual issues surrounding determination of equal educational opportunity and explores ways that these issues manifest themselves in empirical formulations of opportunity to learn (OTL). Using two databases, OTL measures are developed according to three alternative conceptions of equality—the Libertarian, Liberal, and Democratic Liberal conceptions—and the influence of these conceptions on the information provided is compared. This examination shows the intimate relation between values on equality and measures of equality and brings these issues to the fore for discussion by educators and policymakers.

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Bildungsgerechtigkeit in der Krise: Welche potenziellen Auswirkungen hat die Corona-Pandemie auf die frühe Bildung?

Sozialer Fortschritt ◽

10.3790/sfo.70.7-8.419 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 70 (7-8) ◽

pp. 419-435

Author(s):

Susanne Lochner ◽

Katharina Kopp

Keyword(s):

Early Childhood ◽

Ad Hoc ◽

Educational Inequality ◽

Educational Equality ◽

Long Term Effects ◽

Childhood Education ◽

Care Facilities ◽

Frühe Bildung ◽

The One

Die Maßnahmen zur Eindämmung der Covid-19-Pandemie trafen Familien mit kleinen Kindern besonders hart: Ausgangsbeschränkungen, die Abriegelung von Spielplätzen und allem voran die Schließungen von Kinderbetreuungseinrichtungen stellten nicht nur den familiären Alltag auf den Kopf, sondern haben möglicherweise auch langfristige Folgen für die altersgerechte Entwicklung und den Kompetenzerwerb von Kindern. Dieser Beitrag widmet sich der Frage, welche Auswirkungen sich aus den Einschränkungen des Kita-Betriebs in der Corona-Pandemie auf die Bildungsgerechtigkeit in der frühen Kindheit ergeben können. Da keine vergleichbaren historischen Ereignisse zur Prognose von potenziellen Auswirkungen herangezogen werden können, werden zum einen die Ergebnisse von Wirksamkeitsstudien zu institutionalisierter früher Bildung aufbereitet und zum anderen erste Befunde aus ad-hoc Erhebungen des ersten Lockdowns im Frühjahr 2020 analysiert. Bilanzierend werden aus den Befunden mögliche kurz-, mittel- und langfristige Auswirkungen abgeleitet, die Bildungsungerechtigkeit bereits in der frühen Kindheit verstärken können. Abstract: Educational Equality in the Crisis: What Impact does the Corona Pandemic have on Early Childhood Education? The actions taken to contain the Covid-19 pandemic hit families with young children particularly hard. Social restrictions, the closure of playgrounds and, above all, the lockdown of day-care facilities did not only turn everyday family life upside down, but could also have long-term consequences for child development and acquisition of skills. This article is devoted to the question of what effects the measures to contain the coronavirus pandemic can have on educational equality in early childhood. Since no comparable historical events can be used to forecast potential impacts, the results of efficacy studies on institutionalized early education are reported on the one hand and initial findings from ad-hoc surveys conducted during the first lockdown in spring 2020 are analyzed on the other. The findings suggest short, middle and long-term effects of the corona measures taken that can intensify educational inequality in early childhood.

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Privatization, School Choice and Educational Equality

Law & Ethics of Human Rights ◽

10.2202/1938-2545.1061 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 5 (2) ◽

Author(s):

Yossi Dahan

Keyword(s):

School Choice ◽

Low Cost ◽

Lower Class ◽

Educational Equality ◽

Educational Justice ◽

Students With Special Needs ◽

Market Mechanisms ◽

The Public ◽

Fair Equality Of Opportunity ◽

Ideological Background

This Article looks at aspects of the relationship between privatization in education and educational justice, examining these relationships from normative and empirical points of view. It explores different meanings of privatization in the realm of education and assesses underlying reasons for certain aspects of privatization in light of two educational justice: the adequacy approach and the fair equality of opportunity approach. The Article argues that given the competitive nature of the sphere of education, considerations of fairness, as well as utility, solidarity, and democracy supply strong reasons for rejecting various arguments that support the existence of private schools. In the last thirty years, vouchers and school choice schemes have constituted the main modes of privatization, importing market mechanisms and the logic of competition into the realm of education. Empirical evidence suggests that vouchers and school choice schemes have not fulfilled the promise of reducing educational inequalities, partly due to the political, social, economic and ideological background in which they were implemented. The introduction of competition in the realm of education has created a reality that encourages schools to prefer low cost studentsstudents from middle and upper classes familiesover high cost disadvantaged studentswho come mainly from the lower class, and students with special needs. Not only have marketization and privatization changed the way that society distributes educational services, they promote a social ethos that emphasizes self-interest over the advancement of the public good and erodes democratic public forums in which collective societal decisions should be resolved.

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