Risk and career choice: Evidence from Turkey

In this paper, we examine the college major choice decision in a risk and return framework using university entrance exam data from Turkey. Specifically we focus on the choice between majors with low income risk such as education and health and others with riskier income streams. We use a unique dataset that allows us to control for the choice set of students and parental attitudes towards risk. Our results show that father's income, self-employment status and social security status are important factors influencing an individual in choosing a riskier career such as business over a less risky one such as education or health.     

Earnings expectation and graduate employment: Evidence from recent Chinese college graduates

Chinese college graduates have faced increasing labor market competition since the expansion of tertiary education. Given rigid market demand, graduates with realistic earnings expectations may experience a more efficient job search. Using the 2008 MYCOS College Graduate Employment Survey, this study finds that a 1 000 yuan reduction in a graduate’s reservation wage can significantly increase the probability of finding a job by 66% and increase the likelihood of being employed six months after graduation by 92%. In addition, the gap between the reservation wage and the market wage has a positive impact. By slightly adjusting earnings expectations, college graduates can significantly improve job search efficiency. Market wages should be seen as reference points when adjusting income expectations.     

Common WISC-III examiner errors: Evidence from graduate students in training

Sixty WISC-III protocols, administered by graduate students in training, were examined to obtain preliminary data on the frequency and types of administration and scoring errors that examinees commit. Results were compared with previous studies that have evaluated examiner errors on the Wechsler scales. In general, the present results were consistent with those of previous studies that have illustrated that a large number of scoring errors are committed by graduate students as well as by other professional groups. The majority of errors committed by participants in this study were general errors. That is, errors were not specific to a particular subtest. The five most frequent errors included failure to query, failure to record responses verbatim, reporting Full Scale IQ incorrectly, reporting Verbal IQ incorrectly, and adding individual subtest scores incorrectly. However, the traditional difficult to score Verbal subtests were not as troublesome for examiners in this study as they were for examiners in previous studies. In addition, significant decreases in the mean number of errors per protocol and in the number of most frequently occurring errors per protocol were noted. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Impaired graduate students: A process model of graduate program monitoring and intervention

Psychological impairment is an area of concern in training graduate students in counseling programs. This article reviews the potentially harmful consequences of impaired graduate students to graduate programs, faculty, other graduate students, and the counseling profession. The paper provides an overview of existing trends, policies, and procedures regarding student screening, remediation, and dismissal from graduate training programs within a Western framework. A process model for monitoring and intervention is presented.     

Decomposing Cross-Country Differences in Skills: Evidence from Four Nordic Countries

This paper performs multivariate analysis of skill differences in four Nordic countries as assessed by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies survey of adults aged 16–65. The differences in average skills between Finland and each of the three Scandinavian countries are decomposed into a component that is due to different skill levels in subgroups of the population and a component that is due to differences in the composition of subgroups. The decompositions show that the high Finnish average skill level compared to the three Scandinavian countries can be attributed to the low share of immigrants in Finland and to high scores among Finns with high school and less than high school education. The Finnish average score is pulled substantially downwards as a consequence of the low numeracy skill level among older Finns, which is consistent with an increase in the quantity or quality of Finnish education over time, relative to the other three Nordic countries.     

Factors influencing the college choice decisions of graduate students

This paper examines the relative influence of factors affecting the college choice decisions of graduate students. It is based on a 1986 survey of 2,834 admitted students at a major research university, to which 38 percent of the sample responded. Factor analysis of ratings of importance of 31 college characteristics yielded dimensions upon which student decisions are based. These results were used to build five scales of importance and preference, which were then tested with other variables in a regression model in which the dependent variable was the decision to enroll or not to enroll at the surveying institution. The following were found to influence decisions: residency status, quality and other academic environment characteristics, work-related concerns, spouse considerations, financial aid, and the campus social environment.A paper presented at the Annual Forum of the Association for Institutional Research, New Orleans, May 29–June 1, 1994.     

Knowledge of earnings risk and major choice: Evidence from an information experiment

Policymakers increasingly seek to inform students about the expected economic returns to different college majors. Less attention has been given to the earnings risk of major choice. In this paper, we use an experiment to study the impact of an information intervention by providing individuals with data that show the earnings risk of a major choice. Our intervention allows us to compare earnings risk and major preferences among a group who is informed about earnings risk compared to a group not given information about risk. Our results show that individuals who see information about earnings risk form different earnings risk estimates and preferences over majors than individuals who see median earnings only. These differences show the negative consequences of making academic major decisions when holding incorrect estimates of earnings risk, and suggest the value of including earnings risk in tools such as college scorecards to inform students.     

理解教育政策的意义——质性取向在政策研究中的定位

随着脱贫减贫工作的胜利收官,如何夯实脱贫成果防止返贫是当下面临的主要挑战之一。本研究运用质性研究法,聚焦连片深度贫困地区和特殊贫困群体,以已实现“脱贫摘帽”的村(社区)的基层政策执行者和政策服务对象为研究对象,考察脱贫巩固阶段教育扶贫政策在连片特困地区实施的现状与完善路径。研究发现学生资助、义务教育阶段“零辍学”红线和成年贫困群体的技能培训等教育扶贫政策产生了显著效果,但贫困户教育帮扶依赖度高、农村学生“隐性辍学”凸显、成年贫困群体扶智效率低、贫困特殊儿童教育成为短板等问题仍普遍存在。后脱贫时代需加强教育扶贫的四个重点关注,实现四个重点突破,即建立巩固期教育帮扶衔接机制、创建教育扶贫专项督导机制、创新成年贫困群体继续教育和农村特殊教育保障机制。     

Modeling the Growth of Word-Decoding Skills: Evidence From Dutch

This study investigated the growth of word-decoding skills throughout the elementary school years for a representative sample of 2,819 Dutch children. Children's decoding abilities for (a) regular consonant-vowel-consonant words, (b) complex monosyllabic words with consonant clusters in prevocalic and postvocalic position, and (c) polysyllabic words were assessed on two occasions in each school year (Grades 1–6). The growth of word-decoding skills was found to be largely a matter of increased speed. Growth curve analyses showed a gradual curvilinear model to be superior to a step-model for all word-decoding skills. Furthermore, the three measures of word decoding define a common factor and show strong longitudinal stability. Some unique variance for the three word-decoding skills also emerged suggesting that the development of fully proficient word-decoding skills requires the learning of orthographic complexities.     

The impact of school choice and public policy on segregation: Evidence from Chile

Advocates argue that vouchers can make improved educational opportunity available to disadvantaged students. Critics contend that vouchers increase the risk of stratification. Researchers have found that Chile's voucher program has lead to increased socioeconomic school segregation. What has been overlooked, however, is segregation between schools within a sector and variation within private for-profit and non-profit school sectors. I find that public schools are more likely to serve disadvantaged students than private voucher schools. I also find that disadvantaged students are more segregated among private voucher schools than among public schools. While between and within sector segregation levels vary across private voucher school types, the differences are not always consistent with theory. The data also suggest that policies can either mitigate or exacerbate the stratifying effects of educational vouchers.     

Pricing policy and the college choice process

Following the presentation of a marketing management paradigm for higher educational institutions, this paper discuses some aspects of the pricing policy process in colleges and universities. A statistical model of the college choice process is developed, and some empirical results related to the effects of price, among other factors, on the collegechoice decision-making behavior process of high school seniors are presented and interpreted. The two most important factors affecting the college choice process are seen to be college quality and price-related considerations. Marketing implications of these results are discussed.Presented at the Annual Forum of the Association For Institutional Research, Houston, Texas, May 1978.     

Heterogeneous responses to school track choice: Evidence from the repeal of binding track recommendations

This paper studies how introducing free school track choice in Germany’s between-school tracking system through a repeal of binding track recommendations affects track decisions by socio-economic status (SES). While highest track enrollment increases for previously ineligible high-SES students relative to comparable low-SES students, the SES gap does not increase. This is because previously eligible low-SES student become more likely to enroll in the highest track. A key mechanism for this response appears to be lower preferences for the intermediate track due to concerns about the inflow of mostly low-achieving and low-SES students from the lowest track after the repeal.     

工科院校研究生培养过程的若干问题研究

工科研究生是国家现有各高技术企业、研究所、高等院校中创新工作的主力军,培养具有创新研究能力、理论分析问题能力、工程实践能力等方面成为工科类高等院校研究生培养工作的重点。本文从工科研究生培养过程中的两个重要阶段:研究生课题选择、研究课题研究方法,分别阐述对研究生自身和指导老师的要求、需要完成的工作和注意事项,在此基础上探讨研究生培养过程中的注意事项和促进研究生自主创新能力培养的经验。     

考研:深造还是"逃避"? ——学术型硕士研究生非学术职业选择研究

我国的研究生教育已经有了40多年的历史,研究生教育规模逐年扩大.我国学术型硕士研究生教育的培养目标虽然依旧是培养学术型人才,但现实中学术型硕士研究生在毕业后从事"非学术"职业的比例却越来越高.以问卷调查为基础,分析学术型硕士研究生的入学动机及毕业发展路径选择,结果显示:提升就业竞争力是学术型硕士研究生入学的最主要动机.建议从细分培养目标、重视本科教育、完善奖助学贷体系和改革培养方案等方面优化目前的研究生教育.     

The role of educational choice in occupational gender segregation: Evidence from Trinidad and Tobago

We analyse the role of educational choice on the degree of occupational segregation in Trinidad and Tobago during a period in which educational policies intent on equating gender opportunities in education were implemented. To this end we utilize waves of the Trinidad and Tobago labour force survey over the period 1991–2004. Our results show that while educational segregation has fallen substantially over our sample period, this has not translated into less occupational segregation. This suggests that the educational policy has not been sufficient to combat occupational segregation. However, results at a more disaggregated level show that experiences have been heterogeneous across educational and occupational groups.     

60年:研究生教育的探索历程与经验

回顾新中国成立60年来我国研究生教育曲折探索、不断奋进的发展历程,总结突飞猛进的辉煌成就和宝贵经验,展望向研究生教育强国迈进的历史使命和光辉前景.     

Boosting Parent-Child Math Engagement and Preschool Children's Math Skills: Evidence from an RCT with Low-Income Families

Math skill in early childhood is a key predictor of future academic achievement. Parental engagement in math learning contributes to the growth of children's math skills during this period. To help boost parent-child engagement in math activities and children's math skills, we conducted an RCT lasting 12 weeks with 758 low-income preschoolers (3-5 years old) and their primary caregivers. Parents were randomized into five groups: 1) a control group, and groups that received 2) a digital tablet with math apps for children; 3) analog math materials for parents to use with children, 4) analog math materials with weekly text messages to manage parents' present bias; and 5) analog math materials with weekly text messages to increase parents' growth mindset. Relative to the control group, neither the analog math materials alone nor the analog materials with growth mindset messages increased child math skills during the intervention period. However, the analog math materials combined with messaging to manage present bias and the digital tablet with math apps increased child math skills by about 0.20 standard deviations (p=.10) measured six months after the intervention. These two treatments also significantly increased parents' self-reported time engaged in math activities with their children.     

Practice-based Teaching: A self-study by two teacher educators at the graduate level

This article tells the story of a self-study conducted by two faculty members teaching foundational concepts in a Master of Arts in Teaching initial certification program. Our research question was: “How can we best teach foundational concepts with a practice-based approach that we consider to be critical to our teacher candidates' ability to be successful in their future teaching careers?” Gathering data over three semesters, this research required constant re-examination. Data indicated that candidates had the educational and life experiences to allow them to grasp concepts as they pertained to educational foundations. This did not necessarily mean that, as initial certification candidates, they would be more adept than their undergraduate counterparts in understanding how these concepts would influence their practice. This conclusion resulted in our understanding of the need for more purposeful scaffolding and extensive modeling. It also reaffirmed our need for having cooperating teachers who are theoretically aligned with coursework offered on campus.     

Visual Skills and Chinese Reading Acquisition: A Meta-analysis of Correlation Evidence

This paper used meta-analysis to synthesize the relation between visual skills and Chinese reading acquisition based on the empirical results from 34 studies published from 1991 to 2011. We obtained 234 correlation coefficients from 64 independent samples, with a total of 5,395 participants. The meta-analysis revealed that visual skills as a global construct had a medium correlation effect size (r?=?0.32) associated with Chinese reading acquisition. The various visual processing skills differed in their relation to Chinese reading acquisition in different stages. Visual perception, speed of processing visual information, and pure visual memory had low-to-moderate correlations with Chinese reading acquisition in the lower grades (i.e., below second grade), whereas these relations did not retain their magnitude for children in the higher grades (i.e., second through sixth grades). By contrast, visual–verbal association skill was found to account for 34 and 41 % of the variance in children’s Chinese reading acquisition in both lower and higher grade levels, respectively. Greater attention to this construct can significantly benefit reading research and instructional practice. No regional differences between studies in Mainland China and Hong Kong were found in the meta-analysis.