Follow‐up of a Cohort of Risk Children from Birth into Adolescence‐‐The Rostock Longitudinal Study

THE ROSTOCK Longitudinal Study commenced in 1970 and has prospectively monitored the development of children identified in the perinatal period as “at risk”. The aims of the study are to identify some of the factors contributing to inter‐individual differences in their development and to evaluate the prognostic significance of these factors. The results reported in the present paper underscore the limited prognostic value of single risk factors, the diminishing impact of organic perinatal risk factors over time, and the increasing importance of the psychosocial context in influencing developmental outcomes in childhood and adolescence.     

出生时段、相对年龄与学校生活质量：来自PISA-上海的经验证据

利用PISA-上海(2012)的数据,基于教育生产函数的解释框架,本文检验了学校生活中的相对年龄效应。研究发现,在严格遵守入学政策并正常升级的情况下,同一年级中相对年龄较大的学生在认知(数学、阅读和科学)和非认知(未来教育期望)等若干身心发展指标上均表现更优秀。IV估计结果表明,学校生活质量的“相对年龄效应”具有内生性,OLS/MLE低估了年龄的实际影响。     

The Precursors of Reading Ability in Young Readers: Evidence From a Four-Year Longitudinal Study

We report a longitudinal study investigating the predictors of reading comprehension and word reading accuracy between the ages of 7 to 8 (UK Year 3) and 10 to 11 years (Year 6). We found that different skills predicted the development of each. Reading comprehension skill measured in Year 3 was a strong predictor of comprehension in Year 6; vocabulary and verbal IQ also made significant unique contributions to the prediction of comprehension ability across time. Three comprehension components (inference, comprehension monitoring, and knowledge and use of story structure) emerged as distinct predictors of reading comprehension in Year 6, even after the autoregressive effect of comprehension was controlled. For word reading accuracy, early measures of word reading accuracy and phonemic awareness predicted later performance.     

Socio-Economic Gradients and Disability During The Transition to Young Adulthood: A Longitudinal Survey and Register Study in Norway

The study aimed to investigate trends and explanatory factors for socio-economic inequalities associated with disability during the transition to young adulthood. A sample of 2606 participants (56% females and 44% males) was prospectively followed from adolescence to young adulthood. Disability status, age, gender, mental health problems, scholastic competence and social acceptance were measured from the longitudinal survey Young in Norway, while socio-economic indicators such as participants’ and their parents’ levels of education, annual income, unemployment and welfare benefits were extracted from the National Population Register in Norway. Regression models were applied to estimate associations between disability and socio-economic outcomes. The findings show that disabled adolescents have a significantly greater risk of achieving lower levels of education and are unemployed and over-represented in welfare benefits during the transition to young adulthood. Most of these associations between disability and socio-economic outcomes were explained by mental wellbeing and self-perceptions. The study suggests that interventions addressing mental wellbeing and social competence might reduce the development of socio-economic inequalities among young people with disability.     

Cohort changes in the transition from school to work: Evidence from three NLS surveys

This study examines the changes in the school-to-work transition of young adults in the United States over the latter part of the twentieth century. Their transition is portrayed using data from National Longitudinal Surveys of Young Women, Young Men, and Youth 1979. In general, we find that indicators of educational attainment, working while in school and non-school related work increased across cohorts for almost all racial/ethnic and gender groups. This was especially true for young women. Furthermore, various indicators of personal and family backgrounds changed in ways consistent with an improvement across cohorts in the preparation of young men and women for their attainment of schooling and work experience and their success in the labor market. The one exception to this general picture of improvement across cohorts was Hispanic men, who experienced a notable decline in educational attainment and in a variety of personal and family background characteristics. With respect to hourly wage rates, we find that wages over the ages 16 through 27 declined across cohorts. However, the rate of growth of wages with age, particularly over adult ages, increased across cohorts, except Hispanic men. Our findings highlight the need for accounting for the endogeneity and selectivity of early skill acquisition.     

A Test of Leading Explanations for the College Racial-Ethnic Achievement Gap: Evidence from a Longitudinal Case Study

In this study, we examined racial/ethnic differences in grade point average (GPA) among students at a highly selective, private university who were surveyed before matriculation and during the first, second and fourth college years, and assessed prominent explanations for the Black-White and Latino-White college achievement gap. We found that roughly half of the observed gap was attributable to family background characteristics and pre-college academic preparation. Of the within-college factors we considered, perceptions of campus climate and selection of major field of study were most important in explaining racial/ethnic differences in GPA. Personal resources, such as academic effort, self-esteem and academic identification, and patterns of involvement in campus life were significantly associated with GPA, but these factors did not account for racial/ethnic differences in academic performance. Overall, our results suggest that efforts to reduce the college achievement gap should focus on assisting students with the process of selecting major fields of study and on fostering a welcoming and inclusive campus environment.     

Selection on the Road to a Career: Evidence of Personality Sorting in Educational Choice

In this study we investigate whether the process of Attraction, Selection and Attrition as described by Schneider (1987) is already operative prior to labor market entry, i.e., in the educational phase of careers. We focused on selection with regard to the locus of control personality trait because of its firm conceptual and empirical relevance in both content and process of choice. Specific hypotheses were proposed as to the sorting of different personality types in study programs leading to different prospective professional careers. The study was carried out in a sample of 158 Austrian students. We found strong support for our hypotheses in that (1) personality predicted specific study choices and (2) personality predicted different levels of rationality in the choice process. In addition, the findings also suggest that tighter matches between personality and study programs could be observed for students making rational choices. The results indicate support for the validity of the ASA model in educational choice, provided the use of meaningful individual differences. Several promising avenues for future research are identified.     

The Reliability of Free School Meal Eligibility as a Measure of Socio-Economic Disadvantage: Evidence from the Millennium Cohort Study in Wales

Over the last 20 years, the use of administrative data has become central to understanding pupil attainment and school performance. Of most importance has been its use to robustly demonstrate the impact of socio-economic status (SES) on pupil attainment. Much of this analysis in England and Wales has relied on whether pupils are eligible for free school meals (eFSM). However, very little is known about the validity of this measure as a proxy for SES. Using a recent major birth cohort study, this paper examines the relationship between pupils’ eFSM and their more detailed socio-economic circumstances.     

Birth control,family size and educational stratification: Evidence from the Han and ethnic minorities in China

This paper investigates the unexpected impact that enforcing birth control policies in China has upon the educational stratification between the Han majority, the policy target group, and ethnic minorities, a partially excluded group. Exploring county-level variation in the value of fines levied for unsanctioned births, we find that a stricter enforcement of the birth control policy leads to a larger educational gap between ethnic minorities and the Han majority in both rural and urban areas. More specifically, we find that higher fines lead to a larger improvement in the educational attainment of the Han majority and that this is principally due to the greater effect of these fines upon the reduction of family size and the subsequent concentration of family resources (among this population). Our findings indicate that the birth control policy has substantially contributed to the rising Han-minority educational gap in China.     

Self-Recognition in Young Children Using Delayed versus Live Feedback: Evidence of a Developmental Asynchrony

The ability of young children to recognize themselves in delayed videotapes and recent photographs was investigated using a delayed analog of the mirror mark test, as well as verbal reports. In Experiment 1, 42 2–4-year-old children were videotaped while playing an unusual game. During the game an experimenter covertly placed a large sticker on the child's head. The videotape was played back 3 min later to the children. Older, but not younger, children reached up to remove the sticker when the tape revealed it being placed on their heads. In Experiment 2, a similar procedure was used with 60 3- and 4-year-olds where Polaroid photographs were taken during and after the act of the sticker being placed on the child's head. When allowed to look at the photographs, young 3-year-olds did not reach up to search for the sticker, whereas older 3- and 4-year-olds did. Almost all of the children who did not appear to realize that there was a sticker on their head from the information provided by the photographs did provide a correct verbal label for the image, and reached up to remove the sticker when presented with a mirror. Experiment 3 compared the reaction of 48 21/2–31/2-year-olds to live versus delayed video feedback and indicated an effect of the temporal aspect of the stimulus. The results are discussed in the context of the different forms of self-conception that may underwrite the 2 manifestations of self-recognition.     

谈教学副校长要提高三个素质处理好八个关系

要想做好学校教学副校长工作，提高政治思想素质是前提，提高业务素质是基础，提高管理素质是保证，处理好几种关系是途径。     

Restricting a Familiar Name in Response to Learning a New One: Evidence for the Mutual Exclusivity Bias in Young Two-Year-Olds

Children under 2¹/₂ years old tend to interpret novel words in accordance with the Mutual Exclusivity Principle, but tend not to reinterpret familiar words this way. Because alternative principle have been proposed that only predict the novel word effects, and because tests of the familiar word effects may have been flawed, a new test was administered. In Experiment 1 ( N = 32), 24- to 25-month-olds heard stories in which a novel noun was used for an atypical exemplar of a familiar noun. When asked to select exemplars of the familiar noun, they showed a small but reliable tendency to avoid the object from the story. In Experiment 2 ( N = 16), the novel nouns in the stories were replaced by pronouns and proper names, and the children did not avoid the story object in the test of the familiar noun. Thus, the aversion to this object that was observed in Experiment I was not due to its greater exposure or its being referenced immediately before testing, but to toddlers' Mutual Exclusivity bias. Their bias is hypothesized to be a form of implicit probabilistic knowledge that derives from the competitive nature of category retrieval.     

Gender peer effects in university: Evidence from a randomized experiment

Recent studies for primary and secondary education find positive effects of the share of females in the classroom on achievement of males and females. This study examines whether these results can be extrapolated to higher education. We conduct an experiment in which the shares of females in workgroups for first year students in economics and business are manipulated and students are randomly assigned to these groups. Males tend to postpone, but not abandon, their dropout decision when surrounded by more females and perform worse on courses with high math content. There is also a modest reduction in absenteeism early in the year. Overall, however, we find no substantial gender peer effects on achievement. This in spite of the fact that according to students’ perceptions, both their own, and their peers’ behavior are influenced by the share of females.     

Attachment Patterns at Age Six in South Germany: Predictability from Infancy and Implications for Preschool Behavior

A cross-cultural replication of concordance between attachment patterns to mother in infancy and patterns of reunion responses to mother at age 6 was tested for 40 children in Regensburg, South Germany. Concordance between the 4 types of attachment status (A, B, C, D) in infancy and at age 6 was 82%. When observed in preschool at age 5, children classified securely attached (B) at age 6 were more competent in their play quality and conflict resolution, showed fewer behavior problems, and attributed less hostility in a social perception picture test compared to the insecurely attached (A, D) children. Children classified disorganized (D) at age 6 were found almost as often in the incompetent preschool behavior groups as the avoidantly attached (A) children, independent of best-fitting alternative attachment pattern. Thus, disorganization at age 6 may be considered as an insecure attachment.     

Effects of remedial numeracy instruction throughout kindergarten starting at different ages: Evidence from a large-scale longitudinal study

The aims of this study are to investigate the effects of remedial numeracy support throughout kindergarten, and to compare the effects of interventions from different lengths. Support occurred two times per week for either 1.5 (90 sessions: complete condition) or 0.5 school years (28 sessions: short condition). Below-average students were randomly assigned to complete intervention (N = 155), short intervention (N = 105), or control (systematically offered education-as-usual; N = 150). Accounting for achievements at pretest, children who received one of the interventions outperformed the control children in early numeracy at post-test and follow-up, suggesting that children internalized the learned knowledge. Transfer effects on simple arithmetic were only found in the complete support group, whereas both interventions were effective for complex mathematics.     

Interdependence, Garbage Dumping, and Feral Dogs: Exploring Three Lifeworld Resources of Young Children in a Rural School

In this article, we concentrate upon the lifeworld resources that comprise the funds of knowledge for children living in a rural community in the southeastern United States. Through interview conversations with a group of third grade children, we identified three lifeworld resources—interdependence, garbage dumping, and feral dogs—that rural teachers might draw on to generate curriculum that is connected to the community in which they teach. Through such connections rural teachers may increase the likelihood that they will remain teaching in rural schools.

Motivation and incentives in education: Evidence from a summer reading experiment

Policymakers and economists have expressed support for the use of incentives in educational settings. In this paper, rather than asking whether incentives work, we focus on a different question: For whom and under what conditions do incentives work? This question is particularly important because incentives’ promise relies on the idea that they might take the place of some cognitive failing or set of preferences that otherwise would have led students to make choices with large long-term benefits. In this paper, we explore whether that is the case. In the context of a summer reading program called Project READS, we test whether responsiveness to incentives is positively or negatively related to the student's baseline level of motivation to read. As a part of the program, elementary school students are mailed books weekly during the summer. We implemented this book-mailing program as a randomized experiment with three treatment arms. Students in the first treatment arm were mailed books as a part of the standard Project READS program. Students in the second treatment arm were mailed books as a part of Project READS, and were also offered an incentive to read the books they were mailed. Students in the third experimental group served as a control and were given books after posttesting occurred in the fall. We find that, if anything, more motivated readers are more responsive to incentives to read, suggesting that to the extent that incentives are effective, they may not effectively target the students whose behavior they are intended to change.     

Heuristic decision-making in foster care matching: Evidence from a think-aloud study

Complex decisions are often based on heuristics, which are shortcuts or simple ‘rules of thumb’. Since the matching decision in family foster care is often made in a less-than-ideal setting and riddled with uncertainty, heuristics are expected to be applied in that field of child and youth care on a daily basis. However, the use of heuristics in the matching decision has not been studied empirically until now. This research explores how decision-making heuristics are used by practitioners to determine which foster family is the best fit for a child. A number of 20 matching practitioners from the Netherlands were interviewed using vignettes and a ‘think-aloud’ methodology to generate an understanding of their reasoning. Two types of vignettes were created: hypothetical children and hypothetical foster families. The interviews were analyzed using a qualitative deductive content analysis focusing on key indicators of three classes of heuristics: recognition heuristics, one-reason heuristics, and trade-off heuristics. The results show that recognition heuristics did not play a decisive role in the matching process; practitioners considered more than one family before making a final decision. The findings for the one-reason heuristics reveal conjunctive decision-making rules; families were rejected based on one negative premise. The analysis of the trade-off heuristics demonstrates that the number of positive premises and the ratio between positive and negative premises predicted the matching decision. However, the total number of premises also predicted the matching decision, which might indicate confirmation bias.     

Exploring Conceptual Integration in Student Thinking: Evidence from a case study

Two reasons are suggested for studying the degree of conceptual integration in student thinking. The linking of new material to existing knowledge is an important aspect of meaningful learning. It is also argued that conceptual coherence is a characteristic of scientific knowledge and a criterion used in evaluating new theories. Appreciating this ‘scientific value’ should be one objective when students learn about the nature of science. These considerations imply that students should not only learn individual scientific models and principles, but should be taught to see how they are linked together. The present paper describes the use of an interview protocol designed to explore conceptual integration across two college‐level subjects (chemistry and physics). The novelty here is that a single interview is used to elicit explanations of a wide range of phenomena. The potential of this approach is demonstrated through an account of one student's scientific thinking, showing both how she applied fundamental ideas widely, and also where conceptual integration was lacking. The value and limitations of using this type of interview as one means for researching conceptual integration in students' thinking are discussed.