فصلنامه تعلیم و تربیت
سال سی‌ام شماره 3 (پیاپی 119، پاییز 1393)

To assess the status of Iranian educational system within a special conceptual framework of economic development, a number of existing documents related to the expenditure of oil revenues on education were critically reviewed. The results show that within any economic framework in which sustainable development is sought, the oil revenues can be utilized for the development of human resources. Utilizing oil revenues through education to improve people's capabilities can lead to more freedom and a better life. Doing so is a just act and compatible with the implicit social contract between people and government. However, the existing documents show that the Iranian government's performance in this area has not been adequate, hence, it is suggested that decisions on apportioning the oil revenues should be left to a governmental body other than the administration and parliament.

The performance of Iranian students on the international reading tests (PIRLS) is indicative of a major problem in reading comprehension. From a constructivist perspective, there are strategies that can be learned and used in order to improve reading comprehension. To this end, a short course was designed and implemented experimentally. Pre-tests and post-tests on reading comprehension, consisting of the latest tests used in PIRLS 2011, were given to both the experimental and control groups, each consisting of 70 female students selected randomly from among all 9-10 year-old girls in two districts in Tehran. Data analyses show that the experimental group's strategies and comprehension improved significantly. Therefore, with the use of such courses a better performance of Iranian students in the international arena can be achieved.

To assess the status of curriculum planning in the Iranian educational system, a sample of 35 elementary school curriculum experts, willing to cooperate, was given a questionnaire containing ten indices of quality for the elementary school curriculum, with a reliability of 0.81. The analysis of the collected data revealed that although the said curriculum is rather coherent and balanced, it cannot be considered efficient.

To evaluate the student-teacher interactions in the classroom along the psychological and moral dimensions, and deduce any relationship between such interactions and the student's performance on PIRLS, a sample of five schools that had participated in PIRLS 2006 and TIMSS 2007 was selected. One of these schools had failed the said study. The classes in all five schools were observed and the related documents perused. The analysis of the collected data revealed that the classroom atmosphere at the successful schools was warm and friendly while respectful, providing support and attention for the students by the teacher. At the failed school, the atmosphere was dry, the communication one-sided, and the interaction void of any respect to the individuality of the students. In all schools teacher's main concern was discipline in the classroom, followed by giving feedback in the successful schools. All teachers had problems in providing psychologically and morally correct responses to the students, especially in response to the weaker students having behavioral problems.

To see the effects of learning self-regulated learning strategies on math problem-solving skills among high school students, a sample of 271 randomly selected high school male and female freshman students was given a motivational questionnaire and a math test. Another sample of 58 purposefully selected students were also tested and questioned. The results show that those students with better performance on the math test were more self-regulated in their learning. Furthermore, those who were lower on self-regulated learning benefitted from learning how to use such strategies in order to improve their math performance.

To compare the effectiveness of three learning styles in physical education, a sample of 120 male sixth graders was randomly selected using cluster sampling method and then randomly assigned to three experimental groups differing in learning style. All students were tested on physical fitness including running endurance, muscle flexibility, and cardio-vascular strength, and then participated in 20 training sessions learning and doing exercises aimed at improving the tested qualities. The results of post-test comparisons revealed that the group using the cooperative style of learning was superior in terms of the observed improvement.

Given the fact that Iranian educational system is mostly teacher-based and the student's development is owed mostly to teacher's interactions with them, a question can be asked on the relationship between teacher's classroom management and student's self-efficacy. A sample of 88 teachers and 352 students was given two questionnaires on the two constructs. Results showed no relationship between the two variables. However, a significant difference in self-efficacy was observed between girls and boys, with girls scoring higher.