Lessons in Educational Equality: Successful Approaches to Intractable Problems Around the World

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.

Table of Contents:
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

About the Author :
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.

Review :
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