Can’t get there from here: The decision to apply to a selective college

In an attempt to increase applications from low-income students, some selective 4-year colleges are developing programs to target and attract low-income students. However, relatively little research has looked at factors important in the college application process, and in particular, how these factors differ for low-income students. This paper uses data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997 (NLSY97) to analyze factors influencing students’ college application decisions, with a focus on the decision to apply to a selective 4-year college. We hypothesize that distance from a student's home to selective colleges may play a role in the application decision and differentially impact low-income students. Our results suggest that distance does matter, although the effects do not vary by family income level.     

The Educational Attainment Process Among Adolescents with Disabilities And Children of Parents with Disabilities

This article uses data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997 (NLSY97) to examine the relationship between disability, parental and youth university expectations in 1997, and youth high school completion and university enrolment by 2003. Results indicate that educational attainment is not equal for young adults with and without disabilities in the United States. Parents—but not adolescents—are likely to reduce their educational expectations when adolescents have a mild or serious disability, net of school performance. These parental—but not adolescent—expectations are significantly associated with high school completion. Finally, even after controlling for educational expectations and school performance, youth with serious disabilities are much less likely to graduate from high school than youth without disabilities. Despite the considerable strides made in the implementation of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, students with disabilities are not achieving educational parity in graded schooling.     

The labor market returns to a for-profit college education

A lengthy literature estimating the returns to education has largely ignored the for-profit sector. In this paper, we estimate the earnings gains to for-profit college attendance using restricted-access data from the 1997 National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY97). Using an individual fixed effects estimation strategy that allows us to control for time-invariant unobservable characteristics of students, we find that students who enroll in associate's degree programs in for-profit colleges experience earnings gains of about 10% relative to high school graduates with no college degree, conditional on employment. Since associate's degree students attend for an average of 2.6 years, this translates to a 4% return per year of education in a for-profit college, slightly lower than estimates of returns for other sectors found in the literature.     

Outdoor adventures and adolescents’ mental health: daily screen time as a moderator of changes

Research provided ample evidence that excessive screen time (ST) in adolescence has detrimental effects on psychosocial health. This paper argues that structured outdoor programs can serve as an antidote to negative health impacts of exaggerated ST. For youth with a high level of regular ST, outdoor adventures imply a break with their ‘normal’ (mediatized) lifestyle, so that greater progress in mental health can potentially arise. This hypothesis is tested in a sample of adolescents, who took part in a 10-day outdoor program. Pre-to-post program mean comparisons for stress, hedonic balance and life satisfaction show significant positive changes. However, benefits of the program are markedly greater among youths with a high level of daily ST compared to youths with low-to-moderate levels.     

Patterns and Factors of High School Dropout Risks of Racial and Linguistic Groups

This study examined the dropout trajectories of racial and linguistic minority students and explored the effects of students' contextual factors on their high school dropout risks. Our motivation was to identify the dropout patterns of Black, Hispanic, and Hispanic English language learner (ELL) students, who have comparatively high dropout rates, and to suggest ways to promote high school completion. We employed a survival analysis using the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997 (NLSY97) from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. The results showed that the 3 minority groups displayed significantly higher dropout risks than the White group. The overall pattern of dropout risks increased over time, with the dropout rates of the Black students high in the 1st and 2nd years of high school and the highest dropout rates for Hispanic ELL students in their senior year. A gender difference was found among the students, with male students having higher dropout risks than female students. It was also found that students' positive relationships with their teachers were associated with lower dropout risks.     

Smoothing the transition to college? The effect of Tech-Prep programs on educational attainment

By promoting articulation agreements between high schools and community colleges, Tech-Prep programs aim to smooth the transition to college for the middle majority of US high school students. This paper employs a family fixed effects approach to assess the effectiveness of Tech-Prep programs in increasing educational attainment. Using data from six rounds of the 1997 NLSY and controlling for both selection and within-family spillovers, I find that Tech-Prep programs help participants complete high school and encourage enrollment in two-year colleges. On the other hand, these gains come at the expense of four-year college enrollment, suggesting that Tech-Prep programs may divert students from four-year to two-year colleges in the years immediately following high school. While Tech-Prep programs appear to increase overall educational attainment, they may be falling short of their goal of promoting college enrollment among the middle majority.     

Factors Related to the Achievement and Adjustment of Young African American Children

Data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY) were used to examine factors related to the achievement and adjustment of African American children in the early elementary grades. All African American children between the ages of 6 and 9 years for whom data were available in the NLSY were included in this study ( N = 378). Consistent with past research, there was a positive relation between the number of risk factors children were exposed to and the probability that they were experiencing academic or behavioral problems. Favorable outcomes in the cognitive and social-emotional domains (i.e., scoring in the top quartile for this sample) were associated with high scores on an "advantage index." The need for more research on successful African American children is discussed.     

The Right “Fit”: Exploring Science Teacher Candidates’ Approaches to Natural Selection Within a Clinical Simulation

Teachers and students struggle with the complexities surrounding the evolution of species and the process of natural selection. This article examines how science teacher candidates (STCs) engage in a clinical simulation that foregrounds two common challenges associated with natural selection—students’ understanding of “survival of the fittest” and the variation of species over time. We outline the medical education pedagogy of clinical simulations and its recent diffusion to teacher education. Then, we outline the study that situates each STC in a one-to-one interaction with a standardized student who is struggling to accurately interpret natural selection concepts. In simulation with the standardized student, each STC is challenged to recognize content misconceptions and respond with appropriate instructional strategies and accurate explanations. Findings and implications center on the STCs’ instructional practices in the simulation and the use of clinical learning environments to foster science teacher learning.     

Parental asset accumulation trajectories and children's college outcomes

The effects of parental assets on children's educational outcomes have mainly been explored from the perspective of asset holdings. However, the process of asset accumulation may also have effects. While asset-based policies are predicated on the premise of asset accumulation, little is known about the effects of different asset accumulation trajectories. This study attempts to fill this gap. The results indicate that youths born into households that had asset holdings significantly higher than zero have better college outcomes compared to youths born into households with lower levels of net worth that did not increase significantly over time. However, when lower-wealth households experience significant asset accumulation over time, youths from these households have similar educational outcomes as youths from wealthier households. Finally, the results indicate that the effects of assets are partially or fully mediated by the mother's educational expectations. Implications for asset-based policy are discussed.     

Students with emotional/behavioral disorders and transition planning: What the follow‐up studies tell us

This paper will examine the current literature and implications of follow‐up studies of students with emotional/behavioral disorders (EBD) focusing on the postschool outcomes of this population. The examination of the follow‐up studies gave a perspective of transition and postschool outcomes for youths with EBD. In our research, we found 22 follow‐up studies that examined the EBD population as a subset of a larger pool of youths with disabilities, yet found only eight studies that examined the EBD population exclusively. When compared to the multitude of studies done with other disability categories (e.g., learning disabled, mild or moderately retarded) the adult outcomes of youth with EBD have not been studied as extensively. This synthesis of the literature on follow‐up studies should act as a reference in the revision or updating of curriculum and programming for communities, school boards, educators, counselors, parents, and students. A general conclusion drawn by the literature reviewed was that students with EBD also have lower grades, more course failures, a higher grade retention, and a higher dropout rate than other disability groups and the general population. A re‐evaluation of school programs (e.g., general/special education curriculum) and policies (e.g., transition planning) must occur if these postschool outcomes for youths with EBD are to improve. © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

STC理念下美国职业教育课程改革的启示

进入21世纪,STC理念主导了当前美国职业教育改革发展的方向。“学校到生涯”（STC）理念在继承“学校到工作”（STW）理念的基础上增加了新内涵——关注学生,着眼于个体生涯的终身发展,帮助学生从学校到生涯顺利过渡。STC理念下美国职业教育课程改革的特点和实施情况出现了新的趋势和特点,对我国职业教育课程改革具有借鉴和启示作用。     

Business,Ethics, and the Physical Activity Field

Already in childhood, (a) high general and visceral fatness and poor cardiovascular (CV) fitness are linked with dyslipidemia, elevated blood pressure, and insulin resistance; (b) higher fatness is associated with low amounts of vigorous physical activity (PA) and relatively low energy intake; (c) higher CV fitness is more clearly associated with vigorous PA than with moderate PA; (d) higher levels of PA are associated with higher bone density only in youths with relatively high calcium intakes. Physical training in youths has favorable effects on total body and visceral adiposity, bone density, CV fitness, and some risk factors for CV disease and type 2 diabetes. Thus, vigorous PA during childhood may help to prevent some major “adult” health problems.     

Ready for School? Trauma Exposure and Mental Health in a Group of War-Affected Ugandan Adolescents Re-Attending School

The objective of this study was to assess trauma-related symptoms and mental health among war-exposed Ugandan adolescents (n?=?81) as a basis for planning their re-attendance at school. Self-reports of exposure to traumatic events, trauma-related symptoms, and indicators of mental health were collected. While about half of the youths (51.9%) reported having been abducted by rebels and were former child soldiers, no differences were found in their mental health functioning compared to the remaining sample. Of the youths, 78% reported post-traumatic stress reactions of clinical significance. However, scores were within the normal range on conduct problems, hyperactivity, pro-social behavior, and self-efficacy. Even though the sample was clearly suffering from trauma-related symptoms, there were also marked areas of adaptive functioning and resilience. Whether the students are ready for education is discussed and implications for adapting educational programs for war-affected adolescents are indicated.     

Centering Nepantla Literacies from the Borderlands: Leveraging “In-Betweenness” Toward Learning in the Everyday

This article argues that building powerful literacies involves the centering of dispositions and practices that thrive on the boundary—spaces that are not always sanctioned as educational. Leveraging youths’ repertoires is particularly important for educators of nondominant learners who are committed to challenging characterizations of their students as being inept or deficient. To this end, we address how the design of learning opportunities that attend to polylingual repertoires (Gutiérrez, Bien, Selland, & Pierce, 2011)—the use of multiple languages and forms of expression-—can open up opportunities, pathways, for youth to leverage new identities as resources for consequential learning. We advance the idea of organizing learning environments where youth playfully negotiate their nepantla identities that are often in a “state of perpetual transition” (Anzaldúa, 1999, p. 100). We argue that nepantla literacies, or literacies that thrive in the boundary, emerge through negotiations with syncretic (Gutiérrez, 2014) literacies—those that are valued in the academy and across spaces and communities.     

基于Wi-Fi网络的甲醛气体监控设计

利用半导体气敏传感器MS1100采集甲醛气体,STC单片机对电压信号进行模数转换并发给Hi-Link的RM04模块,通过无线网络传输给上位机;上位机的Lab VIEW程序对数据进行接收处理和图形表达.多个气体采集节点构成星型网络,可对一定范围内环境气体进行监控.     

Differentiation and work: inequality in degree attainment in U.S. higher education

While much stratification research has focused on understanding the patterns and consequences of differentiation, previous studies have not considered similarly important variation in students’ trajectories through higher education, and particularly their participation in the labor market. Results from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth of 1997 (NLSY97) indicate that degree completion in a differentiated system of higher education is related to students’ employment patterns. Students who begin their educational journeys in community colleges as well as students from less advantaged family backgrounds are more likely to dedicate longer hours to paid employment, which has negative consequences for degree attainment. Employment patterns contribute to gaps in degree completion among students from different family backgrounds and to a lesser extent to inequality in degree completion between students beginning postsecondary education in community colleges vs. 4-year institutions. A more complex set of patterns is revealed when examining the relationship between employment, family background, and degree attainment across different institutional types and educational credentials. These findings highlight the importance of developing a more comprehensive understanding of inequality in educational attainment by considering the relationship between differentiation and work.     

Engaging youth in school and learning: The emerging key to school success and completion

This commentary on articles in this special issue of Psychology in the Schools discusses the importance of school completion by identifying the individual and social costs associated with youths who fail to complete school. An appreciation of these various costs sets the stage for exploring an “emerging” key to school completion—engaging students in school and learning. A brief review of articles in this special issue directs attention toward various aspects of engagement, including conceptual insight and practical interventions. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

After-school tutoring in the context of no Child Left Behind: Effectiveness of two programs in the Pittsburgh Public Schools

The No Child Left Behind (NCLB) legislation has created pressure for districts to improve their students’ proficiency levels on state tests. Districts that fail to meet their academic targets for 3 years must use their Title I funds to pay for supplemental education services (SES) that provide tutoring or other academic instruction. Many districts, including the Pittsburgh Public Schools (PPS), have also adopted additional tutoring programs designed to help students reach proficiency goals. This paper examines student participation and achievement in two PPS tutoring programs—the NCLB-mandated SES program and a state-developed tutoring program. We examine the characteristics of students participating in each program, the effects of participation on student achievement, and the program features that are associated with improved achievement.