The 10 most-cited articles in Journal of Education, 2021

The two main purposes of the current meta-analysis were (a) to determine the relation between socioeconomic status (SES) of students and academic performance (AP) (b) and evaluate the effect of several potential moderating factors in this relation. Data covered the publications between 2010 and 2019, and the dataset consisted of 48 independent studies that included 62 different samples, and the total sample was 386.601. Findings revealed that the relation between SES and academic performance represented a moderate positive correlation. All moderators, type of SES measure, academic performance scale, location, grade level, subjects of academic performance, and year, produced significant effects, respectively. These findings were discussed for every category of moderators with the related literature.

This study aims to explore how higher education institutions respond to the challenge of incorporating soft skills into their curricula. It employs a mixed-methods approach in which the quantitative analysis of the disciplines addressing this issue is complemented by a thematic analysis of semi-structured interviews conducted with four higher education institutions in Portugal. The findings indicate that although the number of subjects specifically addressing soft skills is small, there is a growing concern to incorporate soft skills in pedagogical and evaluation methodologies in each course. Several challenges, good practices, and future perspectives are also explored in this work.

In recent years, the role of the leader in the effective operation of the school has been vastly debated in the international educational community. Through a historical study of educational leadership, this research discovered that the position of the leader is constantly being reshaped and adapted to the current social, cultural, and economic circumstances. During the last year, due to the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic, the educational leadership has had to be reshaped worldwide. The aim of this study is to investigate the issues that have arisen from the aforementioned situation, as well as to try to figure out how a school's principal might apply the basic principles of educational leadership, in a period of crisis. This investigation was focused on the use of the qualitative method. The study included 88 teachers and 5 principals from Cyprus, as well as teachers and parents. Based on the findings of the study, we discovered that the challenges faced by school principals and teachers are primarily linked to alienation, marginalization, time management, improving bureaucracy,…

This review presents the Universal Design Learning (UDL) approach to education. Classrooms have become increasingly diverse, with second language learners, students with disabilities, and students with differences in their perception and understanding information. Some students learn best through listening, while others learn best when presented with visual information. Given the increased number of new language learners across the world, the UDL approach allows successful learning for all students. UDL has allowed students to acquire information more effectively. UDL provides guidance to educators that is especially valuable for the diversity of classrooms and the diversity in modalities in learning,

More than half a century of educational efforts have focused on eliminating the Black–White achievement gap. Yet, racial disparities persist. In this article, we describe the issues with educational discourse focused on the achievement gap and the ways structural racism drives the educational experiences and outcomes of Black students. We include a discussion of Black children’s developmental competencies and the ways educators may use culturally relevant pedagogy to capitalize upon these competencies and support higher achievement among Black students. We conclude with suggestions for specific actions to foster systemic change for Black students.

Educational leaders are required to respond in real time to questions, quandaries, and cases that involve individuals in different contexts. They face an array of possible choices that exist in tension. Justice and fairness must coexist with mercy and compassion; in enforcing policy, compliance must make room for flexibility in special cases. School leaders are called to adjudicate competing goods and teach others to do the same. This article examines what practical wisdom is, why it matters, and introduces a theoretically grounded Practical Wisdom Framework (PWF) to help school leaders deliberate well to create and sustain formative institutions.

How teachers perform and react to the world-wide pandemic and how the epidemic affects an education system may also be used as new conditions to consider the way to enhance SDG4 in developing countries. Regarding that concern, this study investigated 294 teachers' perspective on their teaching effectiveness and satisfaction during COVID-19. The findings underlined the significant roles of support from various stakeholders, school readiness toward digital transformation, and teachers' anxiety over teacher satisfaction. Notably, teachers' newly absorbed technological and pedagogical skills do elevate their teaching effectiveness but do not lead to higher satisfaction during the pandemic.

The article discusses the importance of quantitative empirical character assessment for better understanding the formation of character and for promoting virtue and thereby also human flourishing. Attention is given to a number of challenges in developing character survey items along with criteria for evaluating items and examples of successes and failures in item development. Discussion is also given to future opportunities to include character assessments in large longitudinal cohort studies, to develop scalable character interventions, and to promote the formation of character through various communities.

It was observed from previous researches that Bloom’s Taxonomy action verbs (BTAVs) are overlapping in multiple cognitive levels, causing ambiguity about the real sense of the word. A data set of BTAVs was ranked using a statistical classification. Four categories of BTAVs were identified, out of which 153 BTAVs (86.44%) are classified into a single cognitive level. In the remaining 24 BTAVs, 21 follow a specific transition from one cognitive level to another. The proposed research reduced the cognitive level’s ambiguity and made the classification more robust, making it easier for teachers to create and set the cognitive levels.

Those who implement character education initiatives intend for those initiatives to be effective in promoting the development of character. To maximize this likelihood, it is important to consider common problems of implementation and assessment. This article addresses four challenges to effective implementation: (a) what counts as evidence of effectiveness, (b) how to know about such evidence, (c) how to implement with fidelity, and (d) how to align implementation with targeted outcomes. Assessment is critical to addressing the challenge of effective practice. Here, we examine three core areas of assessment in character education: (a) implementation (process evaluation), (b) school climate, and (c) character development (outcome assessment).