Equity through PISA: results and discourses

Equitable Schools: uncovering the distinctive features of schools that systematically diminish educational inequalities in the Portuguese Context

O projeto, intitulado 'Equitable Schools: uncovering the distinctive features of schools that systematically diminish educational inequalities in the Portuguese Context' (Escolas equitativas: sistematização das características das escolas que mostram conseguir uma diminuição das desigualdades educativas ao longo do tempo), procura, num primeiro momento e através de análises quantitativas (complexas), identificar escolas que sistematicamente se mostram mais equitativas. Seguidamente, num segundo momento, as escolas identificadas serão estudadas em profundidade, com recurso a entrevistas aprofundadas aos diretores das escolas, focus-groups com os professores, focus-groups com os alunos, focus-groups com os pais, observação direta, e análise documental, com o objetivo de identificar as características distintivas destas escolas em áreas chave, designadamente: organização e gestão, visão e liderança, mecanismos de autorregulação, projeto educativo da escola, clima da escola, atividades extracurriculares, plano de atividades, práticas curriculares e pedagógico-didáticas, assim como a interação entre os contextos locais e as famílias. Por último, o projeto prevê uma intervenção em escolas identificadas como pouco equitativas (com desenho quasi-experimental), que procure testar a eficácia e transferibilidade das características identificadas no momento anterior.

Grow up in border regions in Portugal: young people, educational pathways and agendas / Crescer em Regiões de Fronteira em Portugal: jovens, percursos educativos e agendas

Regional development of peripheral regions is a persistent challenge. Border regions in Portugal, often overlapping with rural and remote areas, suffer from a spatial differentiation. These are places with structural inequalities together with a perception gap on regions prospects and resources. Accordingly to the Agency for Development and Cohesion, Portugal has ?territorial asymmetries and potentialities? with impact in individual, institutions and regions development, with challenges for multilevel governance. Unequal access to local services and opportunities among vulnerable groups and a combination of exclusion and poverty are concentrated in specific territories with low access to educational opportunities or qualified jobs [5].
Young people growing up in those regions are particularly affected by this situation in their trajectories and future plans [6, 7]. Do young people consider border regions as spaces to leave? An exploratory case study in a Portuguese border region indicated that young people express apprehension when imagine leaving their regions, reveling a positive connectedness with their homeland identifying, however, constrains [4, 8, 9].
GROW:UP proposes to investigate in border regions contexts the mutually influential relations between individual, contextual/institutional and systemic factors in young people biographies, and to analyse how communities are proactively counteracting inequalities, fostering young people engagement in positive pathways.
This project aims to investigate communities promising approaches to support young people pathways, preventing risk factors, such as school disengagement, lack of participation or life prospects.
GROW.UP will analyze European and national policies and its territorial articulation with programs and practices at local level, understanding the stability and strengths of initiatives to support young people and identifying potential indicators and key competences of resilient communities.
GROW.UP is engaged in a comprehensive approach and will bring together theoretical contributions from Sociology of Education, Youth Studies, Border Studies and Network Analysis. It will use a methodology that combines policy analysis and local experts interviews to understand levels of integration of formal policies into local programmes; a survey to understand the key role of sense of belonging, resilience and engagement in young people biographies; case studies (i) to develop and in depth understanding on processes and dynamics influencing young people pathways design, (ii) to analyse how communities are proactively addressing challenges affecting young people in border regions, either encouraging young people positive pathways or equipping them to amplify opportunities.
A mobile app, an auditing programme and youth agendas are participatory-based activities, empirically supported, aiming to promote capacity building of young people and communities.

Inclusive Education and Social Support to Tackle Inequalities in Society

ISOTIS addresses the nature, causes and impact of early emerging social and educational inequalities in the context of socioeconomic, cultural and institutional processes. The aim is to contribute to effective policy and practice development to combat inequalities. Quasi-panels and pooled longitudinal datasets will be used to examine the variation in early educational gaps and developmental trajectories across countries, systems and time. To disentangle the complex interactions between characteristics of systems and target groups, ISOTIS will study significant immigrant, indigenous ethnic-cultural and low-income native groups, associated with persistent educational disadvantages. ISOTIS will examine current resources, experiences, aspirations, needs and well-being of children and parents in these groups in the context of acculturation and integration, and in relation to local and national policies. ISOTIS aims to contribute to effective policy and practice development by generating recommendations and concrete tools for (1) supporting disadvantaged families and communities in using their own cultural and linguistic resources to create safe and stimulating home environments for their children; for (2) creating effective and inclusive pedagogies in early childhood education and care centres and primary schools; for (3) professionalization of staff, centres and schools to improve quality and inclusiveness; for (4) establishing inter-agency coordination of support services to children and families; and for (5) developing policies to combat educational inequalities. ISOTIS will develop inter-linked programmes for parents, classrooms and professionals using Virtual Learning Environments for working in linguistically diverse contexts. All this work together is expected to support the education practice and policy field in Europe in meeting the challenges of reducing social and educational inequalities.

O Peso Escondido das Desigualdades Sociais nos Rankings Escolares [The hidden weight of social inequalities in school rankings]

RankDes — Rankings Escolares e Desigualdades

CIDADANIA ACTIVA E TOLERÂNCIA FACE A GRUPOS MINORITÁRIOS: O PAPEL DA PARTICIPAÇÃO EM ASSOCIAÇÕES, DA CONFIANÇA INTERPESSOAL E DA PERCEPÇÃO DE AMEAÇA NA CONSOLIDAÇÃO DA DEMOCRACIA