School's Out

The debate over the future direction of elementary and secondary education in the United States is fractious and contentious. Many of these are rooted in concerns over disparities in financial circumstances and race. While the full extent of the gaps, in addition to the United States' mediocre education system relative to other industrialized nations, has been a subject of frequent research and heated debate, one crucial component of this divide has yet to be analyzed: summer learning loss. This paper will closely analyze published literature in order to analyze the impact of summer education loss. Additionally, this paper will argue that summer learning varies by socioeconomic status (SES), with low-income populations gradually regressing over the years. This phenomenon has ramifications on students' achievement and explains the disparities that accumulate over a student's educational career. Finally, based on current evidence, this paper will make policy recommendations on how to change the current education system to better address summer's inherent inequities.

Pengaruh Kepemimpinan Kepala Sekolah dan Kinerja Guru terhadap Efektivitas Pelaksanaan Standar Pelayanan Minimal SMP di Kota Sukabumi

Minimum Service Standard (MSS) for the implementation of elementary and secondary education schools is a technical specification as a benchmark of minimum services that must be done by the district / city government in organizing schooling activities in the field of primary and secondary education.A measure of the success of the performance of the national education system is the guarantee of education accountability, one of the indicators is the enactment of an effective quality assurance management system in education to protect the community. The purpose of this study is to find out: 1) The influence of the leadership of the principal on the effectiveness of the implementation of Minimum Service Standards (SPM) of junior high schools in Sukabumi City.2) Influence of teacher performance on the effectiveness of the implementation of Minimum Service Standards (MSS) of junior high schools in Sukabumi City.The method used in this study is quanttif, with the data analysis technique using inferential descriptive statics. The results of the study showed that the principal's leadership variable (X1) directly affects the effectiveness of the implementation of junior high school SPM in Sukabumi City by 4.5%, and indirectly (through teacher performance) by 1.6%.While the influence of teacher performance (X2) on the effectiveness of junior high school implementation in Sukabumi City by 15.4%.Therefore, it can be concluded that 1) There is an influence between the leadership of the principal on the effectiveness of the implementation of junior high school in Sukabumi City.2) There is an influence between the performance of teachers on the effectiveness of the implementation of junior high school in Sukabumi City.3) There is the influence of the principal's leadership and teacher performance together on the effectiveness of the implementation of Minimum Service Standards (MSS) of junior high schools in Sukabumi City.

Supporting Elementary and Secondary Education During the Pandemic: A Case Study from the National Research University Higher School of Economics

The COVID-19 pandemic has presented a formidable challenge to the Russian school system. Such global challenges and crises highlight the significance of the National Research University Higher School of Economics (HSE)’s third mission: responsibility for the well-being of the community.As one of the first universities to offer support to elementary and secondary education systems in Russia during the pandemic, the HSE relied on its ability to create new scientific knowledge and make it useful in practice to provide versatile and targeted aid for students, teachers, regional administrators, and parents across the country. There were two main vectors of HSE activity at the time of the pandemic: (1) promoting the development of the Russian education system through research, monitoring, and coordination of scholars and analysts and (2) direct work with secondary and high school stakeholders using contemporary approaches for talent development and digital tools.The pandemic revealed the importance of developing new areas of research and analysis. In line with the first vector, the HSE focused on: Monitoring and studying the situation and collecting and promoting university and school case studies on organizing work during a pandemic Leading and participating in professional reflections and discussions regarding experiences and training practices in the context of a lockdown The institution organized an array of surveys with students, teachers, parents, and representatives from regional and municipal education organizations and analyzed the results as quickly as possible. The main areas of research were problems of educational inequality and digital transformation. Based on the collected data, the Institute of Education managed to publish more than 30 analytical works between April and June of 2020.For the second vector, the HSE developed programs that seek to expand its geographic reach, implement flexible recruitment, and digitize communication with school students. Such programs aimed at: Training personnel while consulting with administrators and educators on the technological and legal aspects of the work of schools. Providing online instruction and assistance for students learning software tools and preparing for exams. Helping parents arrange support for children in the transition to distance learning. For this period, the HSE quickly and effectively expanded cooperation with schools in Moscow and regions around Russia that the institution developed over the last 15 years. Key current projects working in this direction are: The HSE School District The Lyceum Distributed Schools The Higher Students Academy The Higher School for Parents

TEACHERS' DIGITAL COMPETENCE DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC: AN ANALYSIS OF PERCEPTIONS OF LEARNING STAGES

This article examines educators' perceptions of their work when they were forced to conduct emergency distance learning because of the COVID-19 pandemic. A sample of closed-ended responses from educators at all levels of education (preschool, elementary and secondary education, vocational training, and higher education) is examined. Statistical analysis of the data shows that the greatest difficulties reported by educators are related to deficiencies in their digital skills training, causing them to perceive a higher workload during isolation along with negative emotions. Another finding is the existing digital divide between educators based on their gender, age, and type of educational organization. Another troubling finding is lower technological competence at lower levels of education, which are most vulnerable to distance learning. These results encourage us to think about the measures that need to be taken to improve the quality of educators' digital competence, social justice, and educational system sustainability that are consistent with the Sustainable Development Goals.

Continuing education: indications for distance learning of biological sciences in elementary and secondary education

Although discussions about the possibility of online education in elementary and high school in Brazil have entered the wake of the theoretical debate, there is still great resistance. However, the pandemic context brought no alternatives, leading thousands of students to social isolation for more than a year. This context caused elementary and high school teachers to adapt to new technologies, thus demonstrating the need to prepare to work in remote learning teaching. The guide question of this material was: How can life science teachers prepare and what basic tools should they know to prepare their online classes? Thus, the general objective was to carry out indications that teachers should know to prepare their online classes. The methodology adopted was exploratory through literature review. The main indications were that teachers need to seek diversified content in the preparation of classes to adopt motivation strategies with their students, adopting care with the issue of language, audio and light in the production of classes. Finally, it will be up to the teacher to recognize the various tools and resources such as: Youtube, Instagram, Movies, Games, and other subsidies, so that there is an approximation between the teaching of biology and the reality of the student.

The impact of M. O. Menshikov's childhood upon the formation of his publicistic interests

The subject of this research is the early life of M. O. Menshikov – one of the ideologists of the Russian nationalism of the early XX century and leading publicist of the largest all-Russian newspaper “Novoe Vremya”. The goal consists in full reconstruction of the conditions of his childhood and early youth. The methods of deduction, induction, comparative and prospective analysis were used for reconstructing separate circumstances of the initial stage of development of Menshikov’s personality and holistic biographical picture. The synthesis of objective analysis of the facts with subjective assessments of the events described by Menshikov himself in his diaries and articles allowed depicting the external circumstances of his youth, as well as reconstruct the peculiarities of development of his inner world and social reflection. The conclusion is made that a range of the core themes of Menshikov's publicistic writing, which were covered in the newspaper “Nedelya” and later in “Novoe Vremya”, and ultimately brought him popularity, take roots in his childhood and early youth: “family relations”, “upbringing and education”, “pursuit of belonging”, “finding  happiness through harmony with the world”. These topics were covered by Menshikov based on the rich life experience, a long path from the poor peasant family to the cadet of Naval Engineering School in Kronstadt. The fact that he was able to understand the problems  of the commoners made him closer to the reader. The provided biography is currently the most detailed study of the early life of M. O. Menshikov's; many facts are introduced for the first time. The article also presents additional empirical material on the history of childhood, elementary and secondary education in Russia of the late XIX century.

Educating prospective teachers for a sustainable gender equality practice: survey design and validation of a self-efficacy scale

Purpose This study aims to assess future teachers’ beliefs in their capabilities for sustainable gender equality (GE) practice after graduation and to analyze differences across degree and sex using a self-efficacy scale specifically designed and validated for this study. Design/methodology/approach A survey was administered to three cohorts of undergraduate and graduate student teachers at the University of Alicante, Spain. Using a convenience sample that represented the three teacher majors in early childhood, elementary and secondary education, 610 students were asked to rate their confidence in gender knowledge, skills and awareness using a six-point Likert scale. Findings Upon graduation, teachers reported unrealistic perceptions of their ability to practice a sustainable GE. The level of self-efficacy was found moderate in the three teacher cohorts with no statistically significant differences across degrees in any of the three efficacy components but gender attitudes were rated significantly higher by female students. Originality/value This study provides a reliable and valid instrument specifically helpful for guiding the education for the sustainable development (SD) of GE in instructional settings. Because there is no systemic approach to teaching sustainability nor valid and reliable instruments to assess gender competence for practicing a gender pedagogy, this tool will hopefully provide teacher education institutions a conceptual and practical framework on how GE can successfully be mainstreamed into the curriculum. Infusing SD of GE in curricula and assessing interventions as a habitual practice could be useful to monitor sustainability performance over time and assess contributions to SDG5.

Ethical Leadership Role and Behaviors of Teachers in the Context of Effective Classroom Management

This research is a qualitative study carried out for determining the views of teachers carrying on their duties in elementary and secondary education institutions towards the effect of ethical leadership behaviours upon classroom management. The data related to the research was collected through the interviews with the teachers who participated into the research in a period from October 2019 to October 2020 in Turkey. It was noticed that definitions of the teachers who participated into the research related to teacher leadership were shaped in accordance with their personal attitudes and traits. The participants mostly defined teacher leadership as being a role model and orienting the students. Namely, the participants considered that teacher leadership in classroom should be there for being a guide for the students and orienting them, and teachers should present model behaviours. The teachers who participated into the research also considered that teacher leadership in the classroom should be ethical. The participants especially emphasized that this leadership should have an ethical property related to mutual role balance, leadership shared with the students in the classroom, democratic attitude and respect to individuals. When teachers’ ways of using their leadership roles in the classroom were analyzed, it was noticed that the teachers mostly presented behaviours for orientation, and focused mostly on student-cantered educational activities. The ethical behaviours participant teachers used mostly in classroom management were concluded to be behaving equally to the students, determining and practicing the classroom rules together, and regarding the individual differences.