Gender differences in mathematical performance have received considerable scrutiny in the fields of sociology, economics and psychology. We analyse a large data-set of high school graduates who took a standardised mathematical test in Russia in 2011 (n = 738,456) and find no substantial difference in mean test scores across boys and girls.…

Relying on the results of the achievement tests in mathematics, science, native language (Hebrew/Arabic) and English, administered to 1430 5th-grade co-educational classes in Israel, this study examines the between-class variability of the within-class mean score gender differences and its class and school correlates. The four main results of the…

This article explores the influence of relationships on student achievement by examining empirical evidence and by adopting a social psychological theory. Initially, the issue is addressed from a national, Swedish context. Thereafter, two general questions are raised: (1) What is the influence of relationships on student achievement, according to…

It is widely recognised that higher education is crucial for socio-economic growth in developing countries. Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) is lagging behind in this regard in spite of a strong expansion of universities in the last decades. However, this growth may have led to a deterioration of the quality of higher education. There is no dearth of…

This paper explores the leadership cultivation practices of one elite school in Singapore. We point to the links between the habitus of the Singapore state and that of the school showing how different components of the school's leadership curriculum deploy the transnational in order to produce leaders for the nation. In essence, we argue that the…

The paper focuses on the auditing and accountancy paradigm that has dominated educational measurement of pupil performance for the last 20 years in England. The advocates of this minimum competency paradigm do not take account of the results of its dominance. These results include ignoring the heterogeneous complexity of groups within societies…

The scientific community has provided a wide range of evidence that family and community involvement in schools benefits not only students' learning but also their surrounding community. The INCLUD-ED project has conducted case studies of successful schools around Europe that have strong community participation. Some of them are engaged in the…

The growth of surveillance in UK schools in recent years has resulted in the development of what can be labelled as the surveillance curriculum. Operating through the overt and hidden curricula, contemporary surveillance practices and technologies not only engage students in a discourse of control, but also increasingly socialise them into a…

Based mainly on my own ethnographic research, which is committed to uncovering the constructed or "practiced" nature of social life, I seek to demonstrate the ways in which Australian school teachers, administrators, students and parents are engaged in a re-productive process that simultaneously reinforces and reinvents schools and schooling. Set…

With reference to an ESRC/TLRP project conducted across two academic years with working-class students in higher education (HE), this paper explores the relationship between geographies of home and those of university at two UK HE institutions. It addresses how social relations inflected by class influence the experience of students as they adapt…

The article aims to reveal teachers' dispositions concerning stability and change in the field of schooling and to suggest some possible connection to the social space. Forty teachers who attended a principals' training course were asked to write educational fantasies regarding their "dream school". A content analysis of the fantasies showed…

Examines the relationship between English primary teachers' professional autonomy and the increasing managerial control over teachers' work. Explores how teachers develop an understanding of the managerial culture in education and how they reconciled it with their ideas on teaching and learning, professional interest, and career aspirations.…

Presents the results of a study on the Mofet system (Israel), founded by immigrant teachers in 1991 as an effort to educate Russian immigrant children. Argues that although the success of the system is linked to the general education system's failure to meet immigrants' needs, it does not express Russian immigrant's desire for socio-cultural…

Presents a case study on the responses of parents, teachers, and headteachers of two English lower schools to an opening up of schools through increased parental involvement. Reports that the idea of the "open" school dominates the data. Explores rationales for and limits to openness. (CMK)

Explores the multiplicity of ways in which lesbian physical education students and teachers construct and manage their respective identities within higher education and the schooling system in England. Analyzes in-depth interviews and questionnaires to reveal how many are forced to comply with dominant discourses of hegemonic heterosexuality. (MJP)