OCCUPATIONAL LICENSE LAWS AND THE CREATION OF EDUCATIONAL NEEDS: A NEW ROLE FOR COMMUNITY COLLEGES?

The authors describe how growing state occupational license laws that require candidates to pass pencil and paper examinations create a large demand for education. In building contracting, insurance, and real estate, for example, that demand often is met by profit‐seeking examination preparation schools. The paper reports research from a large sample of applicants of the more than 20,000 each year who take the California contractors’ license examination. Some prepared for the examination, which is primarily business and law, through examination preparation schools, while others prepared on their own. Results show that while those who attended a license‐preparation school were somewhat less advantaged than those who prepared on their own, they had a somewhat higher probability of passing the examination. The paper also reports, however, that a large minority of license candidates were dissatisfied with their method of preparation, often expressing a need for a more comprehensive educational program in business and law, rather than in rote drill offered by many license schools. Added evidence is presented suggesting the need for more thorough preparation of license candidates that could result in greater social equity, indicating an important role for public community colleges in meeting this emergent demand.     

BETTER COLLEGE INFORMATION FOR STUDENTS: THE ROLE OF THE STATE TWO‐YEAR COLLEGE AGENCY

Prospective two‐year college students often lack adequate information on the range of educational alternatives available to them. Increasingly, state level agencies are playing a role in responding to that need. This article reports on a. national study of state two‐year college agencies to determine the extent and comprehensiveness of the postsecondary educational information they provide to students. Results indicate that most states have information they send to prospective students, but it varies widely in quality and often overlooks information students say they want to know. States with model information are identified.     

CORRECTIONAL POST‐SECONDARY EDUCATION: THE EXPANDING ROLE OF COMMUNITY COLLEGES

More than 75 percent of post‐secondary institutions offering education programs in prisons are community and vocational/ technical colleges. The predominance of community colleges among correctional education providers is a major change from the early 1970's when two‐thirds of such programs were provided by four‐year institutions.

Over 260 community colleges provide programs and services to the 26,000 inmates participating in higher education. Results of a survey on correctional post‐secondary education indicate that these programs are in many ways different from those educational institutions provide on their own campuses. For example, they generally, have different admission standards, are administered by part‐time staff, and rely upon part‐time and adjunct faculty.

Community and junior college administrators are urged to closely examine the operation and quality of their correctional programs and the need for evaluative research on the long‐term effects of these programs is also stressed.     

SOCIAL WORKERS’ ACCEPTABILITY RATINGS OF BEHAVIORAL TREATMENTS AND PHARMACOTHERAPY FOR THE MANAGEMENT OF GERIATRIC BEHAVIOR PROBLEMS

The purpose of the present study was to obtain treatment acceptability ratings from social workers whose client contacts include a high percentage of persons age 60 or older. Social workers were presented with written scenarios depicting a 75‐year‐old woman with a behavior problem. The client in the case varied by cognitive capacity (nondemented or experiencing dementia), living situation (living with a family caregiver or in a nursing home), and presenting problem (aggression, verbal abuse, or noncompliance). Using Kazdin's (1980) Treatment Evaluation Inventory, participants rated three treatments: positive reinforcement, time out from positive reinforcement, and haloperidol. Although ratings for time out varied by presenting problem, the highest acceptability for each type of behavior problem was assigned to the positive reinforcement condition, followed by time out, with the lowest ratings associated with haloperidol.     

MICROCOMPUTERS AND THE ELDERLY: NEW DIRECTIONS FOR SELF‐SUFFICIENCY AND LIFE‐LONG LEARNING

Since the development of the microcomputer in the early 70's, computer technology has expanded into the eductional lives of increasing numbers of persons. Computers, once seen only in wealthy industries, are now nearly as common as pencils and paper in our nations' schools. In addition to the rapid development of computer training programs at the post secondary level, the proliferation of such programs is now manifest at the secondary, elementary, and even preschool levels. While computers appear to offer a great deal of educational potential for our youth, their benefits have not as yet been explored among older adults.     

PREDICTORS OF COLLEGE STUDENTS’ KNOWLEDGE OF AND ATTITUDES TOWARD ELDERLY SEXUALITY: THE RELEVANCE OF GRANDPARENTAL CONTACT

In this study, 241 young and middle‐aged adult college students completed the Aging Sexuality Knowledge and Attitude Scale, and provided information about their demographic and grandparental relationship qualities. Findings showed that greater age was associated with increased knowledge of elderly sexuality. Both the presence of contact and greater than average perceptions of closeness with at least one grandparent were predictive of more permissive attitudes toward elderly sexuality. Among the total sample, greater knowledge was related to more permissive attitudes toward elderly sexuality. However, the presence of contact with at least one grandparent moderated this relationship; young adults without grandparental contact presented a nonsignificant knowledge /attitude relationship. These findings suggest that future studies of younger age cohorts’ attitudes toward elderly sexuality should assess grandparental contact and relationship characteristics, as well as general demographic information such as chronological age. Health‐care educators also may need to reconsider the commonly held assumption that greater knowledge of elderly sexuality is associated exclusively with more permissive attitudes.     

THE SURVIVORS,THE EMERGENCE OF A NEW COMMUNITY AND A SYSTEM OF ZIONIST EDUCATION IN GERMANY 1945–1950

I — Reminiscences Deuteronomy 32:7

Back in 1925, upon graduation from the Teachers Institute of Yeshiva University, I started my career as teacher in the first and oldest Talmud Torah in the United States, the Machzikey TT on East Broadway in Manhattan. I recall with pleasure how boys and girls spent ten hours a week in Jewish studies: giving the 12-13 year olds intensive instruction in Torah, Neviim, Mishnah, Hebrew Grammar, Hebrew Literature and Yiddish. For many years the Machzikey TT had a school enrollment of one thousand students and more. When the '30s came and the enrollment fell considerably, it became necessary to consolidate the school with the National Hebrew School, especially when the Downtown TT closed it doors.     

‘THE BREAD,THE JAM AND SOME COFFEE IN THE MORNING’: PERCEPTIONS OF A NURTURE GROUP

The provision of nurture groups has increasingly been advocated as a strategy for meeting the needs of young emotionally disturbed children (DfEE, 1998a, p.44). This article is based on a qualitative evaluation of a nurture group in a primary school situated in an inner‐city area of severe deprivation. Though criteria for success varied, the nurture group was viewed as effective from the different viewpoints of all involved, including teachers, parents and pupils. However, questions are raised about the group in terms of policies of inlcusion and teacher‐parent partnerships, suggesting that exclusion within mainstream schools may be fostered under the flag of inclusion.     

PSYCHOEDUCATION FOR PERSONAL CONTROL: A KEY TO PSYCHOLOGICAL WELL‐BEING OF THE ELDERLY

Counseling older clients requires a focus on maintaining their psychological well‐being in the face of increasing losses associated with the aging process. One important contributing factor is the perception elderly people hold of their ability to control their lives and destinies and to maintain and increase rewarding life events while minimizing aversive ones. Operating within this focus, a psy‐choeducational approach to counseling for psychological control is limited only by motivation of the client and the creativeness of the counselor. The degree to which older clients perceive personal control of life is related to their degree of psychological well‐being.     

THE ROLE OF TEMPORARY MARGINALIZATION. REFORMATORIES AND INSANE ASYLUMS: THE NETHERLANDS IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY∗

In this article we have followed the development of institutions for psychiatric patients and for neglected children In the Netherlands in the nineteenth century, in four areas. First the background and the character of committals are considered, then the scientific, professional, legal and financial context, and finally the scope and course of the schooling and healing. In this period, it was thought that marginality was not only threatening but that there were ways of doing something about it. Temporary internment of the backward group was now numerically possible, because what was considered normal behaviour had become generally prevalent.

However, the medical doctors were much more pessimistic about the possibilities of cure than the re‐educators were regarding the chances of correctional training. Marginalization in psychiatry was often intended as temporary. In fact, the restraint often lasted until death. In reformatory schools, marginalization was by definition temporary, since these were designed to help individuals along the road to adulthood. In many cases, temporary isolation and marginal placement of children and psychiatric patients with the end purpose of integrating them ended in long‐lasting marginalization after this period of temporary marginalization.

     

STUDENT COMPARISONS OF EDUCATIONAL EXPERIENCES AT THE TWO‐YEAR COLLEGE AND THE UNIVERSITY: A PRELIMINARY STUDY

Student evaluations of instruction were obtained from two groups. Students in the first group were “reverse transfer” students (N = 97) who completed their freshman year at a university and then transferred to a two‐year college for their sophomore year. Students in the second group were “early transfer” students (N = 78) who completed their freshman year at a two‐year college and then transferred to a university. All students had one year of attendance at a two‐year college and one year at a university. The purpose of the study was to analyze the ratings of both groups of students with regard to their academic experiences at the university and at the two‐year college. An adaptation of the Student Instructional Report (SIR) was used to obtain ratings on overall college experiences from all students at the end of their sophomore year. The findings revealed: (1) considerable similarity of ratings given to the two‐year college and the university, (2) differences between ratings of early transfer and reverse transfer students, and (3) generally high ratings for both the two‐year college and the university.     

INVESTIGATING A POSSIBLE GAP BETWEEN STUDENTS’ EXPECTATIONS AND PERCEPTIONS: THE CASE OF A PRE-ENTRY SCIENCE PROGRAM

This study investigated a gap that may have existed between students’ expectations and perceptions of the 2007 Pre-Entry Science Program (PESP) cohort at the National University of Lesotho and factors that might have influenced these expectations and perceptions. Questionnaires and semi-structured interviews were used for data collection and administered to students participating in PESP. The gaps between expectations and perceptions that existed were measured using Cohen′s effect size. A large effect size was found for the ability of presenters to give students a good grasp of concepts within the subject area. Factors that seem to have influenced the students′ expectations and perceptions were identified as students′ background knowledge, previous experience, informal communication, and individual needs. Suggestions made to narrow the gap include knowing students′ expectations at the beginning of the program and then making a conscious effort to meet them.     

THE EFFECTIVENESS OF PREDICT–OBSERVE–EXPLAIN TECHNIQUE IN PROBING STUDENTS’ UNDERSTANDING ABOUT ACID–BASE CHEMISTRY: A CASE FOR THE CONCEPTS OF pH, pOH, AND STRENGTH

The present study describes high school students’ conceptions about acids and bases in terms of pH, pOH, microscopic level, strength, and concentration. A total of 27 high school students participated in the study. The data was collected using 3 POE tasks and a semi-structured interview. The data analysis demonstrated that most of the students had poor understanding related to a drawing of weak and strong acids. In addition, the findings revealed that the POE’s were effective in terms of gathering students’ predictions and reasons for the prediction of outcomes in an open-ended format. The POE tasks also revealed that some of the students had misconceptions regarding pH and pOH. The students believed that pH was a measurement of the acidity, while pOH was a measurement of the basicity. The findings obtained have certain implications for the secondary chemistry program.     

PRESERVICE MATHEMATICS AND SCIENCE TEACHERS IN AN INTEGRATED TEACHER PREPARATION PROGRAM FOR GRADES 7–12: A 3-YEAR STUDY OF ATTITUDES AND PERCEPTIONS RELATED TO INTEGRATION

The purpose of this article is twofold: (a) to describe a unique teacher licensure program for grades 7–12 that integrates mathematics, science, and technology education and (b) to explore the attitudes and perceptions related to the integration of mathematics, science, and technology education of three cohorts of preservice teachers enrolled in the first 3 years of the program. Eighty-one preservice teachers responded to a semantic differential to measure attitudes and perceptions related to “mathematics, science, and technology education integration.” Principal components and internal consistency reliability analyses were computed to provide validity and reliability evidence. Preservice teachers also responded to one open-ended, free-response written question, “What does the integration of mathematics, science, and technology education mean to you?” Multivariate and univariate analyses of variance with repeated measures and Pearson cross-tabulation chi-square analyses were computed to identify pretest–posttest differences for the value and difficulty scales, identified by the principal components analysis. Analytic inductive methods were used to identify emergent themes in student written responses to the open-ended question. Results indicated no change in preservice teacher attitudes and perceptions related to the value of integration—they clearly valued integration at the onset and completion of the program, often citing student benefits. However, a significant change in preservice teacher attitudes and perceptions related to difficulty was noted. Upon completion of the program, preservice teachers perceived integration to be more difficult and identified barriers and challenges—demonstrating a more realistic, practical, and cautious approach to the integration of mathematics, science, and technology education.     

MEETING THE EDUCATIONAL NEEDS OF SERVICE PROVIDERS: EFFECTS OF A CONTINUING EDUCATION PROGRAM ON SELF‐REPORTED KNOWLEDGE AND ATTITUDES ABOUT AGING

A variety of approaches are available for meeting the educational needs of professionals currently providing services to older adults. This article focuses on the development of the Professional Development Program in Gerontology offered through Continuing Education at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte and examines the effectiveness of this program in educating regional service providers. The discussion is based on participants’ self‐reported before‐and‐after data on their knowledge and attitudes about aging and the aged. The importance of changing employers’ attitudes about the importance of gerontology education as a qualification for service providers is also discussed.     

THE EFFECTS OF EPISTEMIC BELIEFS IN SCIENCE AND GENDER DIFFERENCE ON UNIVERSITY STUDENTS’ SCIENCE-TEXT READING: AN EYE-TRACKING STUDY

The primary purpose of this study was to explore not only the effects of epistemic beliefs in science on science-text reading but also the gender differences in epistemic beliefs and the reading process. The interactions between gender and epistemic beliefs during reading were also explored. A total of 25 university students, 13 male and 12 female, were paid to participate in the study. The scientific epistemological beliefs (SEBs) questionnaire was used to probe the subjects’ epistemic beliefs in science, while the eye-tracking method was employed to record their science-text reading process. It was demonstrated that the participants in the study had developed sophisticated SEBs. Complicated SEBs were associated with higher cognitive attention to the reading of data-related information but less mental effort to fact, scientific explanations, and the microview photos. As for the gender difference, female students displayed less mental effort in comprehending scientific explanations, but attended more to data and the microview graphic. It is argued that female learners are better at processing textual information. Interactions between SEBs and gender were found and discussed.     

THE ROLE OF TEACHER CHARACTERISTICS AND PRACTICES ON UPPER SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS�� MATHEMATICS SELF-EFFICACY IN NYANZA PROVINCE OF KENYA: A MULTILEVEL ANALYSIS

The study identified two dimensions of teacher self-efficacy and practices and five dimensions of students’ mathematics self-efficacy and sought to determine the extent to which teacher characteristics and practices can enhance secondary school students’ self-efficacy. Data were collected from 13,173 students in 193 teachers’ classrooms from 141 schools in the 10 districts of Lake Victoria Region of Kenya. Two-level hierarchical linear model revealed that teachers’ frequent use of mathematics homework, their level of interest and enjoyment of mathematics, as well as their ability and competence in teaching mathematics were found to play a key role in promoting students’ mathematics self-efficacy. Teachers’ ability and competence in teaching were also found to be effective in narrowing the gender gap in students’ self-confidence and competence in mathematics. The study recommends that teacher training colleges emphasize such teacher practices and values in order to enhance students’ mathematics self-efficacy, reduce their level of anxiety and fear of mathematics, and consequently, enhance their achievement in mathematics. Professional development opportunities should also be made available to in-service teachers to continually update their knowledge and skills and develop new strategies for teacher effectiveness.