Choice as a duty? The abolition of primary school catchment areas in North Rhine-Westphalia/Germany and its impact on parent choice strategies

In 2008, primary school catchment areas were abolished in the federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW)/Germany. Written several years later, this article’s main aim is to provide insights into the impact of the policy reform on parent choice practices and subsequently on educational segregation. Based on a mixed-methods approach, it seeks to understand how being raised in and accustomed to a catchment area system affects parents’ understanding of the policy reform and impacts their choice strategies. We demonstrate that the (socially selective) choice of a school outside the former catchment area increased significantly after 2008, leading to a higher level of school segregation, though affecting schools to very different extents. The study clearly reveals that the differences in choice strategies are shaped by the dissimilar conclusions parents from different educational backgrounds draw from the policy reform. While less-educated parents attribute less significance to this early stage of schooling, many well-educated ones interpret the introduction of free choice as an instigation to choose – a perception triggered and intensified by the policy reform. For them, choice is no longer only perceived as an opportunity; through its formalisation it rather seems to become a duty. Thus, by one-sidedly favouring well-educated parents’ interests and benefiting their abilities to play the game, the reform seems to perpetuate existing inequalities in choice rather than to alleviate them.

Parent choice: child or career?

The article deals with the issues of global challenges that determine the systemic risks of family and childhood. The main risks are identified gaps in child-adult relationships, the parents’ choice between career or family, ways to resolve personal and professional problems in a family. The models of parenting and the model of psychological and pedagogical support and family assistance to parents in questions of the professional implementation and upbringing of the child, the harmonization of parent-child relationships are described.

Charter schools, parent choice, and segregation: A longitudinal study of the growth of charters and changing enrollment patterns in five school districts over 26 years

In 1975, a court-ordered busing program was launched to desegregate the schools of New Castle County, Delaware. It was by many accounts one of the most significant and successful desegregation programs in the nation (Armor & Rossell, 2002; Orfield, 2014; Raffel, 1980). In 1995, the districts of the county were declared “unitary” and the court order was lifted. Shortly thereafter, new policies were enacted allowing school choice, charter schools, and neighborhood attendance zoning. This study draws on primary and secondary data, including geographic, census, and enrollment data, and provides an account of the policy changes and a 26-year longitudinal analysis of changing enrollment trends and patterns. Segregation by race and income among schools accelerated after the policy changes. While the policy changes created greater segregation, enrollment trends varied by district and over time; segregation growth was moderate in two of the districts, small in the others. Our study illuminates the complexity of explaining segregation patterns and disentangling the contributing role of choice, charters, attendance zones, and residential demographics in explaining segregation patterns in school systems.

The National Disability Insurance Scheme: Administrators' Perspectives of Agency Transition to ‘User Pay’ for Early Intervention Service Delivery

THE LAUNCH OF THE National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) in Australia announced changes to the ways people with disabilities and families access services. These changes cover delivery of early childhood early intervention to families with infants and young children with disabilities. In July 2013, the NDIS was rolled out nationally in three pilot sites. This funded phenomenological study was conducted in one pilot rollout site with administrators from two agencies delivering such services. Analysis of the data identified factors that challenged professional practice and personal philosophy. The findings suggest that the long-term financial viability of community agencies is at risk. A crucial dilemma emerged concerning parent choice: to what extent does a ‘user pay’ system impose limitations to services being delivered in a family centred way?

Pewarisan Sifat Ketahanan Cabai terhadap Infestasi Aphis gossypii Glover (Hemiptera: Aphididae)

<p>ABSTRACT<br />Aphis gossypii Glover is one of the major pests of chili pepper and can cause damage up to 65% when the population is not controlled. The objective of this research was to elucidate the genetic control of resistance inheritance character of chilli (Capsicum annuum L.) to A. gossypii. Set a population of six generations (P1, P2, F1, F2, BCP1, BCP2 was established from a cross between IPB C20 (resistant parent) with IPB C313 (susceptible parent). Choice test based experiments was applied with two aphids per leaf on a five-week-old seedlings. The results showed that based on number of individual aphids per plant, segregation of resistance and susceptibility characters in the F2 fitted to the normal distribution, indicated that resistance controlled by polygenic genes. Subsequently based of scaling test analysis, resistance characteristics based on the number of aphids per plant categorized overdominan against resistant parent and controlled by many genes. Genes effect for controlling resistance to A. gossypii infestation was recessive. Broad-sense heritability was relatively large for the infestation of aphids per plant, aphids per leaf, and winged aphids while the narrow sense heritability relatively very low on the infestation aphids per plant and per leaf, indicated by the dominant variance was greater than additive variance.<br />Keywords: action genes, Capsicum annuum, dominant varience, heritability</p><p><br />ABSTRAK<br />Kutudaun Aphis gossypii Glover adalah salah satu hama pengganggu penting dalam produksi tanaman cabai. Saat populasi kutudaun tidak terkendali dapat menyebabkan kerusakan tanaman cabai hingga 65%. Tujuan penelitian ini adalah mempelajari kendali genetik pewarisan sifat ketahanan cabai (Capsicum annuum L.) terhadap infestasi A. gossypii. Set populasi enam generasi (P1, P2, F1, F2, BCP1, BCP2) dibentuk dari persilangan tetua P1 (IPB C20) dengan nilai infestasi rendah dan tetua P2 (IPB C313) yang bernilai infestasi tinggi. Metode skrining yang digunakan adalah choice test. Jumlah kutudaun yang diinfestasikan adalah dua ekor per daun pada bibit berumur lima minggu. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa karakter ketahanan cabai terhadap infestasi kutudaun berdasarkan jumlah A. gossypii per tanaman ialah tetua rentan overdominan terhadap tetua tahan dan dikendalikan oleh banyak gen. Gen-gen pengendali ketahanan terhadap infestasi A. gossypii adalah resesif. Nilai heritabilitas arti luas tergolong besar untuk infestasi kutudaun per tanaman, kutudaun per daun, dan kutudaun bersayap, sedangkan heritabilitas arti sempit tergolong sangat rendah pada infestasi kutudaun per tanaman dan per daun yang ditunjukkan oleh proposi ragam dominan lebih besar dibandingkan ragam aditif.<br />Kata kunci: aksi gen, Capsicum annuum, heritabilitas, ragam dominan</p>

Social Networks and Parent Motivational Beliefs

Background: Despite devotion of substantial resources and effort to increase parent/school partnerships, gaps remain between policy rhetoric and practice, especially in high-poverty communities. Current research focuses on parent involvement or effects of parent motivational beliefs on parent choice for behavior; however, it does not address the formation of beliefs or social factors that influence parent motivation to become involved. To gain a better understanding of factors that influence parent motivational beliefs, we examined the effects of parent social network, school outreach, and neighborhood health on parent role construction and parent efficacy in an urban school district. Method/Analysis: Survey data were collected from a random sample of 30 fifth-grade parents from 56 elementary schools in a large urban district in the Midwest. Using a partially latent structural regression model, we tested the relationships between school outreach, neighborhood health, parent social network, and parent motivational beliefs. Findings: The theoretical specification of the hypothesized model was observed in the pattern of the relationships among school outreach, neighborhood health, parent network, and parent motivational beliefs. Results: The results of the structural model confirm the association between parent social network and parent motivational beliefs. Combined parent social network and school outreach accounted for 10% of the variance in parent motivational beliefs. Implications for Research and Practice: Results from this study provide a different lens through which to view parent–school partnerships. Understanding parents as social actors whose perceptions are influenced through connections with other parents can help schools facilitate motivational beliefs that lead to effective partnerships.