Lessons in Educational Equality

Successful Approaches to Intractable Problems Around the World

Edited by Jody Heymann and Adele Cassola

Focuses on the evidence of what works to promote educational equity
Addresses equity based on gender, disability, race, and income, from preschool to tertiary education, and in contexts that span the geographic and political spectrum
Uses global case studies to illuminate the vivid details of successful programs
For academics in education and public policy, as well as teachers, parents, principals,and policymakers concerned with improving education

Lessons in Educational Equality

Successful Approaches to Intractable Problems Around the World

Edited by Jody Heymann and Adele Cassola

Description

All children and youth, regardless of the situations into which they were born, deserve the opportunity to improve their life chances by acquiring the knowledge and skills that will help them thrive in the future. As the world lags far behind the Millennium Development and Education for All goals, swift, targeted, and effective action is needed to improve both access and quality in education.

Bringing together evidence-based recommendations and in-depth case studies of successful programs from around the world, this edited volume details effective educational equity initiatives and assesses how these models could be improved, expanded, and adapted to diverse contexts. Lessons in Educational Equality is uniquely comprehensive in its scope and its focus on how best to increase educational equality from early childhood to the tertiary level, and in contexts that span the geographic and political spectrum.

This volume offers concrete solutions to barriers based on gender, income, disability, race, ethnicity, and language. Chapters on gender address equity for female students in tertiary science and engineering programs, primary and secondary education for socially excluded girls, and equitable early childhood education for boys and girls. Socioeconomic equity is examined in chapters on promoting equal opportunities in secondary school across social class, quality primary education for the poor, and early childhood strategies for closing the achievement gap. Chapters on disability detail strategies for making inclusive education a part of the Millennium Development goals and for increasing access and achievement in tertiary education. Approaches to racial, ethnic, and linguistic equity are presented in chapters on bridging the gap in higher education, improving primary and secondary school quality and outcomes, and providing well-designed early childhood education.

Lessons in Educational Equality

Successful Approaches to Intractable Problems Around the World

Edited by Jody Heymann and Adele Cassola

Chapter 1
Ending Educational Exclusion
Jody Heymann and Adèle Cassola

Part 1
Tertiary Education and Transitions

Chapter 2
The Quest for Equity in Higher Education across Racial, Ethnic and Gender Groups
Mokubung Nkomo

Chapter 3
Increasing Gender Equity in Tertiary Science and Engineering Programs
Laura Pilozzi-Edmonds

Chapter 4
Achieving Equity in Secondary and Tertiary Education for Students with Disabilities and Learning Difficulties Peter Evans and Serge Ebersold

Part 2
Secondary Education and Transitions

Chapter 5
Leveling the Learning Bar in Secondary School across Social Class
Marie Duru-Bellat

Chapter 6
Addressing Primary and Secondary Education for Socially Excluded Girls
Marlaine Lockheed and Maureen Lewis

Chapter 7
Effective Approaches to Making Inclusive Education a Part of Education for All
Bob Prouty, Koli Banik, and Deepa Srikantaiah

Part 3
Primary Education and Transitions

Chapter 8
Achieving Quality Primary Education for the Poor through State-NGO Partnerships
Ebony Bertorelli and Aneel Brar

Chapter 9
The Role of Language of Instruction in Promoting Quality and Equity in Primary Education
Carol Benson

Chapter 10
Improving Indigenous Children's Educational Access and Outcomes through Intercultural Bilingual Education
Brittany Lambert

Part 4
Early Childhood Education and Transitions

Chapter 11
Early Childhood Strategies for Closing the Socioeconomic Gap in School Outcomes
Clyde Hertzman, Lori Irwin, Arjumand Siddiqi, Emily Hertzman, and Ziba Vaghri

Chapter 12
Improving Boys' Achievement in Early Childhood and Primary Education
Barbara Sprung and Merle Froschl

Chapter 13
Equity for Indigenous Children in Early Childhood Education
Jessica Ball

Part 5
Applying Lessons across Geography

Chapter 14
Adapting Innovations across Borders to Close Equity Gaps in Education
Fernando Reimers, North Cooc and Jodut Hashmi

Lessons in Educational Equality

Successful Approaches to Intractable Problems Around the World

Edited by Jody Heymann and Adele Cassola

Author Information

Jody Heymann is the Founding Director of the Institute for Health and Social Policy at McGill University. An internationally renowned researcher on public policy and equity, Heymann has authored more than 180 publications, including thirteen books. She has served as an advisor to policymakers around the world. Her work has been featured widely in Business Week, Inc. Magazine, Portfolio.com, Forbes, CNN, The Washington Post, The New York Times, The Financial Times, MSNBC, Good Morning America, and Fox News, among other leading national and international media outlets.

Adèle Cassola conducts comparative research at the Institute for Health and Social Policy at McGill University. There, she leads an initiative analyzing the protections established in the constitutions of all UN member states across a number of life contexts in which discrimination can occur, including education, work, health, family, and political and civic participation.

Contributors:

Jessica Ball
Professor
School of Child and Youth Care
University of Victoria
Victoria, Canada

Koli Banik
Education Specialist
Education for All - Fast Track Initiative Secretariat
Washington, DC

Carol Benson
Professor
Department of Education
Stockholm University

Ebony Bertorelli
Research Associate
McGill University

Aneel Brar
Policy Fellow
Institute for Health and Social Policy
McGill University

Adèle Cassola
Researcher
Institute for Health and Social Policy
McGill University

North Cooc
Doctoral Student
Harvard Graduate School of Education

Marie Duru-Bellat
Professor
Sociology of Education
Paris Institute of Political Science

Serge Ebersold
Education Analyst
Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development

Peter Evans
Senior Analyst
Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development
Professor Emeritus
Institute of Education
University of London

Merle Froschl
Co-Director
Educational Equity Center
Academy for Educational Development

Jodut Hashmi
Doctoral Student
Harvard Graduate School of Education

Clyde Hertzman
Director
Human Early Learning Partnership
University of British Columbia

Emily Hertzman
Doctoral Candidate
Department of Anthropology
University of Toronto

Jody Heymann
Founding Director
Institute for Health and Social Policy
McGill University

Lori Irwin
Deputy Director
Human Early Learning Partnership
University of British Columbia

Brittany Lambert
Researcher
Institute for Health and Social Policy
McGill University

Maureen Lewis
Chief Economist
The World Bank

Marlaine Lockheed
Lecturer
Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs
Princeton University

Laura Pilozzi-Edmonds
Medical Student
McGill University

Mokubung Nkomo
Professor
Department of Education Management and Policy Studies
University of Pretoria
Pretoria, South Africa

Robert Prouty
Head
Education for All - Fast Track Initiative Secretariat

Fernando Reimers
Ford Foundation Professor of International Education
Harvard Graduate School of Education

Arjumand Siddiqi
Assistant Professor
Dalla Lana School of Public Health
University of Toronto

Barbara Sprung
Co-Director
Educational Equity Center
Academy for Educational Development

Deepa Srikantaiah
Consultant
Education for All - Fast Track Initiative Secretariat

Ziba Vaghri
Director
International Research and Initiatives Program
University of British Columbia

Lessons in Educational Equality

Successful Approaches to Intractable Problems Around the World

Edited by Jody Heymann and Adele Cassola

Reviews and Awards

Lessons in Educational Equality is a rigorous, illuminating guide to very troubling inequities in educational opportunity that continue to plague large numbers of countries. But perhaps more importantly, it is a tour of hope, an examination of transferable solutions and initiatives in varied countries that are improving the prospects of girls, the disabled, and other historically disadvantaged groups. This is a crucial book that will make us much wiser about issues that demand all of our attention." -- Richard Weissbourd, Director, Human Development and Psychology Program, and Lecturer, Harvard Graduate School of Education; and Lecturer, Harvard Kennedy School of Government

"This admirably comprehensive overview of the many facets of educational inequalities is a 'must-read' for researchers, policy makers, and all those concerned about the opportunities denied to children, and the consequent loss of talent for societies. Covering many types of disparities, from within-country differences associated with wealth, income, and gender, to vast between-country differences, this book is unusual in its commitment not only to description and analysis, but also to identifying specific actions that can help to remedy the situation. An evidence-based approach to tough questions, it is an antidote to the facile opinions that sometimes dominate public discourse. It belongs on the bookshelf of anyone seriously concerned about the root causes of educational inequality, and what might be done about them." -- Daniel P. Keating, Professor of Psychology, Psychiatry, and Pediatrics, University of Michigan, and editor of Nature and Nurture in Early Child Development