Jana Straková

 

Jana Straková received her MSc. in physics from Faculty of Mathematics and Physics of Charles University in Prague, and her Ph.D. in education from Masaryk University in Brno. In 2016 she received habilitation in the field of education at the Faculty of Education at the Charles University. She is currently employed at the Institute for Research and Development of Education at Charles University in Prague, where she co-operates on the Czech Longitudinal Study in Education: she is responsible for the data collection in the pre-school cohort. In 1990s and early 2000s, Jana Straková was responsible for co-ordination of most of the international large-scale assessment surveys in education carried out in the Czech Republic (IEA studies and OECD PISA), and served in several international boards, related to these studies. In 2009-2013, she co-ordinated the Czech implementation of the OECD Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies.

Her main research interests are assessment of students´ knowledge and skills, and educational inequalities in primary and secondary education. She is also engaged in educational research leading to recommendations for education policy. In 2006 – 2010, she served as an advisor to the ministers of education. In 2008 – 2009, she chaired an expert team that evaluated the implementation of the Czech Educational White Paper. In 2009-2011, she co-ordinated the Czech implementation of the OECD projects Evaluation and Assessment Frameworks for Improving School Outcomes, and Overcoming School Failure: Policies that work. She compiled several reports for the European Commission in the area of education inequalities, as well as evaluation and assessment in education in the Czech Republic.

Qualifications

  • 1983 M.Sc.  
    Faculty of Mathematics and Physics, Charles University in Prague, Prague (Czech Republic)
  • 1983 RNDr.  
    Faculty of Mathematics and Physics, Charles University in Prague, Prague (Czech Republic)
  • 2008 Ph.D.   
    Masaryk University, Brno (Czech Republic)
  • 2016 Associate Professor    
    Faculty of Education, Charles University

Projects

  • 2018-2020
    Factors related to the cognitive and non-cognitive outcomes of vocational students. The role of the sense of academic futility and school culture (project n. 18-19056S)
    Grant Agency of the Czech Republic (GAČR)
    principal investigator

Publications

Selected publications in English

  • Straková, J. 1997. The schools. In: Vári, P. (Ed.) Are we similar in math and science?. International Association for Evaluation of Educational Achievement, 77-98.
  • Straková, J., Palečková, J., Tomášek, V. 2000. The Czech Republic. In: Robitaille, D. F., Beaton, A. E., Plomp, T. The Impact of TIMSS on the Teaching and Learning of Mathematics and Science. Vacouver, Canada: Pacific Educational Press, 41-44.
  • Palečková, J., Straková, J. 2002. Science Achievement – The Czech Perspective. In: Robitaille, D. F., Beaton, A. E. Secondary Analysis of the TIMSS Data. Dordrecht, The Netherlands: Kluwer Academic Publishers, 145-155.
  • Matějů, P., Straková, J. The role of the family and the school in the reproduction of educational inequalities in the post-Communist Czech Republic, British Journal of Sociology of Education, 26,1, 17-37.
  • Straková, J., Tomášek, V., Willms, J., D. 2006. Educational Inequalities in the Czech Republic. Prospects, vol. XXXVI, 4, 517 – 528.
  • Straková, J. 2007. The Impact of the Structure of the Education System on the Development of Educational Inequalities in the Czech Republic. In: Sociologický časopis/Czech Sociological review. 43, 3, 589-609.
  • Straková, J. 2008. The Czech educational system and the evaluation of the ISCED implementation in the Czech Republic. In: SCHNEIDER, S.L.: The International Standard Classification of Education (ISCED-97). An Evaluation of Content and Criterion Validity for 15 European Countries. Mannheim: MZES, 216-226.
  • Straková, J. 2008. The Czech Republic. In: KOGAN, I., GEBEL, M., NOELKE, C. (Eds.): Europe enlarged: A handbook of education, labour and welfare regimes in Central and Eastern Europe. Mannheim: MZES, 123 – 150.
  • Straková, J. 2010. Monitoring Educational Inequalities in the Czech Republic: Resources, Data and Findings. Pp 139-158 in Heinrich Best & Agnieszka Wenninger (eds): Landmark 1989. Central and Eastern European societies twenty years after system change. Berlin: LIT Verlag.
  • Straková, J. 2010. Development of achievement disparities in Czech primary and secondary education. Journal for Educational Research Online/ Journal für Bildungsforschung Online, 2, 1, 53-71.
  • Straková, J., Simonová, J., Polechová, J. 2011. Overcoming School Failure. Background report for the Czech Republic. Praha: ÚIV, 2011.
  • Straková, J. 2012. Early tracking in the Czech Education System. Pp. 181-206 In Pop, D. (Ed.) Education Policy and Equal Education Opportunities. Open Society Foundations: New York.
  • Straková, J., Simonová, J. 2013. Assessment in the school systems of the Czech Republic, Assessment in Education: Principles, Policy & Practice, DOI:10.1080/0969594X.2013.787970,http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/0969594X.2013.787970
  • Straková, J. 2015. Strong vocational education – a safe way to the labour market? A case study of the Czech Republic, Educational Research, 57, 2, 168-181.
  • Straková, J., Simonová, J. 2015. Beliefs of Czech Teachers as a Prerequisite for Effective Teaching, Studia paedagogica, 4/20, 53-70.
  • Ivatts, A., Čada, K., Felcmanová, L., Greger, D., Straková, J. 2015. Special Report on Roma Inclusion in Early Childhood Education and Care. Czech Republic. Praha: OSF.
  • Münich, D., Matějů, P., Straková, J., Smith, M., L. 2016. Structural embeddedness of students’ professional expectations: the Czech Republic and Taiwan in comparative perspective. Compare: A Journal of Comparative and International Education, DOI: 10.10 80/03057925.2017.1377059.
  • Straková, J., Greger, D.,  Soukup, P. 2017. Factors affecting the transition of fifth graders to the academic track in the Czech Republic. International Studies in Sociology of Education, 26, 2, 288-309.
  • Straková, J., Simonová, J., Greger, D. 2018. Improving mathematics results: does teachers’ academic optimism matter? A study of lower secondary schools. School Effectiveness and School Improvement, 29, 3, 446-463.

Other

Other