Older opposite-sex romantic partners,sexual risk,and victimization in adolescence

This study examined how age gaps among opposite-sex romantic partners related to sexual risk-taking and victimization by partners among 201 at-risk adolescents (60.2% female). We examined three questions: (a) is younger partner age, age gap between partners, or a combination of these two factors most strongly related to negative outcomes; (b) do age gaps relate to negative outcomes differently for male versus female adolescents; and (c) why do age gaps relate to negative outcomes? Results revealed that the wider the age gap between partners, the more likely adolescents were to engage in sex and the less likely they were to use protection against pregnancy and STIs. Wider age gaps were also associated with more frequent emotional and physical victimization and higher odds of unwanted sexual behavior. Findings did not differ significantly by gender or younger partner age. Analyses revealed that the wider the age gap, the more likely both partners were to engage in risky lifestyles (i.e., substance use and delinquency), and risky lifestyles – rather than poor negotiation or decision-making equality – helped to explain associations between age gaps and engagement in sexual intercourse and victimization experiences. Results suggest that relationships with age gaps tend to involve two partners who are engaging in deviant lifestyles overall, further corroborating the need to identify and provide services to these youth. Results also support movements toward considering partner age gaps rather than relying on a set age of consent when determining adolescents’ legal competency to consent to sex.     

两岸中小学英语教学中本土文化融入之比较研究--以宁波市和台南市为例

宁波市和台南市中小学英语教学中本土文化融入情况的比较研究发现：（1）两地教师在本土文化融入英语教学方面存在一些差异;（2）两地在本土文化教学理念与实践、教育行政部门制定的课程标准与资源支撑方面共同存在一定的脱节。要切实医治“本土文化失语症”,培养真正具有本土特色的跨文化人才,两岸都必须进一步加强中小学英语教学中的本土文化融入。     

Speed Gaps: Exploring Differences in Response Latencies Among Groups

There is much discussion about and many policies to address achievement gaps in education among groups of students. The focus here is on a different gap and it is argued that it also should be of concern. Speed gaps are differences in how quickly different groups of students answer the questions on academic assessments. To investigate some speed gaps, response times from approximately 75,000 untimed online assessments were compared by English language learning proficiency, student gender, and ethnicity. Also examined were the relationships between response time and accuracy for these groups. The differences observed lead to recommendations for assessment accommodations and teaching strategies for taking assessments.     

中国城镇居民规模收入分配格局研究

针对目前我国城镇居民收入差距扩大的事实，运用基尼系数、行业垄断度等方法分析城镇的高低收入差距及所有制、行业、地区收入差距，构建城镇居民收入差距模型，通过对各种收入差距进行原因分析，为缩小居民收入差异，完善城镇规模收入分配格局提出建议。     

Identity Gap: Mediator Between Communication Input and Outcome Variables

After introducing the concept of identity gap, this study investigated the roles of 3 identity gaps (personal-enacted, personal-relational, and enacted-relational) in the relations between 2 communication input variables (assertiveness and communication apprehension) and a communication outcome variable (communication satisfaction). The results showed that the communication input variables did not have significant direct effects on the communication outcome variable. The effects of the communication input variables were transmitted to the communication outcome through the identity gaps. A personal-enacted identity gap directly mediated the effects of the communication inputs on the outcome. Personal-relational and enacted-relational identity gaps indirectly mediated the effects via a personal-enacted identity gap—that is, both communication inputs significantly predicted a personal-enacted identity gap, but neither a personal-relational nor an enacted-relational identity gap. However, a personal-enacted identity gap significantly predicted the other 2 identity gaps. Then, all 3 identity gaps significantly predicted communication satisfaction.     

Closing achievement gaps between Hebrew-speaking and Arabic-speaking students in Israel: Findings from TIMSS-2003

Closing achievement gaps between sub-populations in Israel, and among them between students in the Hebrew-speaking and Arabic-speaking schools, continues to be one of the priorities of Israel's education system. TIMSS-2003 findings provide first evidence that efforts made during the 1990s to close these gaps were in the right direction although inequality in input between the two sectors still remains. This paper on the one hand highlights factors that still perpetuate the achievement gap and on the other detects factors that explain why these gaps have narrowed.     

Accounting for the gender gaps in student performance in reading and mathematics: evidence from 31 countries

In most countries, girls perform better than boys in reading but worse in mathematics. However, there is much variation between countries. Explanations for the gender gaps include the organisation of the school system, students' expectations and macro‐societal factors. The purpose of this paper is to account for gender differences in both reading and mathematics among 15‐year‐old students using data from the OECD's 2000 Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) project. In most countries, school system factors are associated with the gender gap in reading but not in mathematics. Generally, gender differences in students' occupational expectations do not account for the gender gaps, although expectations contribute to the gender gaps in reading in New Zealand and the United States. Although several macro‐societal factors—the proportion of women in the workforce, societal inequality and public sector spending—are associated with the gender gap in reading, the correlations are only moderate, unstable and, importantly, are not associated with the gender gaps in mathematics. The much stronger association between the gender gaps in reading and mathematics across countries implies that they are both influenced by policy: the extent that countries have successfully implemented policies to promote the educational outcomes of girls and young women. In such countries the gender gap in mathematics is small or non‐existent but the gender gap in reading is relatively large. Policies shift both gender gaps in tandem.     

The limits of social class in explaining ethnic gaps in educational attainment

This paper reports an analysis of the educational attainment and progress between age 11 and age 14 of over 14,500 students from the nationally representative Longitudinal Study of Young People in England. The mean attainment gap in national tests at age 14 between White British and several ethnic minority groups was large, more than three times the size of the gender gap, but at the same time only about one‐third of the size of the social class gap. Socioeconomic variables could account for the attainment gaps for Black African, Pakistani and Bangladeshi students, but not for Black Caribbean students. Further controls for parental and student attitudes, expectations and behaviours indicated minority ethnic groups were on average more advantaged on these measures than White British students, but this was not reflected proportionately in their levels of attainment. Black Caribbean students were distinctive as the only group making less progress than White British students between age 11 and 14 and this could not be accounted for by any of the measured contextual variables. Possible explanations for the White British–Black Caribbean gap are considered.     

Pure ethnic gaps in educational attainment and school to work transitions: When do they arise?

This article decomposes the observed gaps in educational attainment and school-to-work transitions in Belgium between grandchildren of natives and of women of “non-Western” nationality into (i) differences in observed family endowments and (ii) a residual “pure ethnic gap”. It innovates by explicitly taking delays in educational attainment into account, by identifying the moments at which the pure ethnic gaps arise, by disentangling the decision to continue schooling at the end of a school year from the achievement within a particular grade, and by integrating the language spoken at home among observed family endowments. The pure ethnic gap in educational attainment is found to be small if delays are neglected, but substantial if not and for school-to-work transitions. It is shown that more than 20% of the pure ethnic gap in graduating from secondary school without delay originates in tenth grade. Language usage explains only part of the gap in school-to-work transitions for low educated.     

Understanding gender differences in STEM: Evidence from college applications✰

While education levels of women have increased dramatically relative to men, women are still greatly underrepresented in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) college programmes. We use unique data on preference rankings for all secondary school students who apply for college in Ireland and detailed information on school subjects and grades to decompose the sources of the gender gap in STEM. We find that, of the 22 percentage points raw gap, about 13 percentage points is explained by differential subject choices and grades in secondary school. Subject choices are more important than grades – we estimate male comparative advantage in STEM (as measured by subject grades) explains about 3 percentage points of the gender gap. Additionally, differences in overall achievement between girls and boys have a negligible effect. Strikingly, there remains a gender gap of 9 percentage points even for persons who have identical preparation at the end of secondary schooling (in terms of both subjects studied and grades achieved); however, this gap is only 4 percentage points for STEM-ready students. We find that gender gaps are smaller among high-achieving students and for students who go to school in more affluent areas. There is no gender gap in science (the large gaps are in engineering and technology), and we also find a smaller gender gap when we include nursing degrees in STEM, showing that the definition of STEM used is an important determinant of the conclusions reached.     

Special Education–Non-Special Education Achievement Gap in Math: Effects of Reporting Methods,Analytical Techniques,and Reclassification

Federal regulations indicate that the achievement gap must be closed between subgroups, including the gap between special education and non-special education students. We explored the ways in which achievement trends are influenced by three methods of reporting (cross-sectional, cohort–static, and cohort–dynamic). We also investigated (a) the ways in which achievement gaps change when different analytical techniques (proficiency levels, scale scores, effect size) are used, and (b) the relationship between student achievement and the extent to which students’ special education status changes across years. We conclude by discussing the practical and policy implications of using the three methods for reporting data about the performance gap.     

信息社会中语言鸿沟的三维表征

语言是人们沟通交流的桥梁和纽带,基于不同的现实环境和文化背景,在统一的语言体系中还是在语言运用上出现了不统一现象。结合具体的环境和文化差异,可以发现语言在不同的地域和群体之间出现了鸿沟,其中地域鸿沟、代际鸿沟、符号鸿沟是信息社会中语言鸿沟的三个主要表征。     

Maternal psychological functioning and children's school readiness: The mediating role of home environments for African American children

Decades of educational research has documented an achievement gap in kindergarten reading and math achievement between African American children and their European American counterparts. Research has also shown that specific parenting practices (e.g., home literacy involvement) have the potential to narrow school readiness gaps by at least half. The current study examined whether and how maternal depression and parenting stress may influence specific parenting practices, as well as whether maternal warmth, home learning stimulation and cultural socialization mediated the relation between maternal depression, parenting stress, and children's kindergarten reading and math achievement. Path analyses revealed a direct negative effect of maternal depression and parenting stress on maternal warmth, home learning stimulation, and cultural socialization. Home learning stimulation emerged as an important mediator between maternal parenting stress and math achievement. Further, maternal warmth mediated the relation between maternal depression and reading achievement. Implications for early childhood research, practice and policy are discussed.     

Explaining the gender gaps in mathematics achievement and attitudes: The role of societal gender equality

The gender stratification hypothesis maintains that higher levels of societal gender equity predict smaller gender gaps in mathematics achievement and attitudes. Using data from the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) across 56 countries, this study aims to provide a thorough empirical test of the gender stratification hypothesis. We employ a novel two-stage empirical strategy to investigate the link between societal gender equities and gender differences in mathematics achievement and attitudes. In the first stage, we use a semiparametric Oaxaca-Blinder (OB) method to decompose the gender gaps in each country into a part that is explained by gender differences in observable characteristics and a part that remains unexplained. In the second stage, we examine the relationships between the unexplained parts of the gender gaps and country-specific gender equity measures. The results highlight the importance of gender equity in the labor market in explaining cross-country variation in the gender math gap. We find that lower gender wage gap is significantly associated with a smaller unexplained part of the gender math gap favoring boys. In terms of the gender gaps in math attitudes, the results yield mixed support for the gender stratification hypothesis.     

The gender gap in K-12 educator salaries

We examine gender gaps in the salaries of K-12 educators. This is an occupation where direct gender discrimination is less likely since salaries are determined by a union pay scale and women constitute the majority of employers. Using data from the American Community Survey (ACS), we find a gender gap of $12,000 in the personal income of K-12 educators, with only part of this gap stemming from gender differences in administrative positions, graduate degrees, and grades taught. In contrast, when we use a dataset of the public salaries of K-12 educators, we find a raw gender gap that is about three times smaller. When we directly compare the distribution of annual income for male and female educators between the public salary and ACS data, we find that an important part of the gender gap stems from male educators having additional income outside of their primary teaching salary.     

A review scrutinising the consequential validity of dynamic assessment

This literature review explored whether dynamic assessment procedures in psycho-educational practice might bridge the well-known gap between diagnosis and intervention. Due to a learning phase included in the testing procedure, qualitative information about the child’s learning needs can be revealed by means of dynamic assessment. The question is, however, what the consequential validity, i.e. the extent to which assessment influences instructional and learning processes, of dynamic assessment procedures really is. The review of 31 articles that met the inclusion criteria showed that proximal consequential validity of dynamic assessment is warranted, but distal consequential validity is warranted to a lesser extent (e.g. some guidelines for practice). Furthermore, it can be noticed that motivational aspects never played an explicit role during learning phases. In order to design student-tailored interventions following dynamic assessment, there is a need for more explicitness of learning phases and types of feedback in the development of these instruments.     

从教育事业角度来看城乡差距--简论我国当前县乡教育事业发展的差距

城乡差距较大是中国的现实国情。造成这种现状的原因是多方面的。既有历史原因,也有现实原因;既有物质原因,也有精神原因。农村社会的落后阻碍了农村教育事业的发展,农村教育事业的滞后又延缓了农村社会的发展。通过分析县乡教育事业之间的差距,使人们能够正确认识到当前我国城乡之间的差距。     

Scholar commentary

ABSTRACT

This commentary reflects upon the articles and purposes of this special issue, in the context of, growing numbers of students of color (SOCs) in K-12 schools who continue to be modally placed in classrooms with White teachers (e.g., Berry and Pour-Khorshid papers of this issue). Few institutional programs of Teacher Education seem able to effectually address this longstanding demographic challenge (e.g., Whitaker, et al. paper). Fewer still, impactfully retain SOCs for careers in K-12 settings (e.g., Morales paper). Nevertheless, second wave teacher identity studies are encouraging nuanced professional learning for White and other, K-12, candidates and teachers that encourages: critical consciousness about race and whiteness, metalogic talk about colorblindness, and closing the gap between rhetoric and genuinely antiracist actions in praxis with SOCs (e.g., Alvarez & Milner; Caldas; McManimon & Casey papers. Demonstrably, second-wave analyses are revealing much about evidentiary approaches for teacher education/learning that emphasize differential capacities for teaching SOCs. Nonetheless, further research is needed on strategies for addressing formidable challenges, such as those of defensiveness and White Fragility (e.g., Blaisedell paper). The papers of this special issue indicate that combining such research with ground-breaking approaches to race-visible education offers a promising path to the knowledge and praxis needed.     

Trends in education excellence gaps: a 12-year international perspective via the multilevel model for change

A recent study in the USA documented the existence and growth of “excellence gaps” among students. These gaps are similar to the minimum competency achievement gaps that proliferate in policy discussions in many Western countries, but excellence gaps focus on the highest level of achievement rather than minimum competency. We extend this research using an international approach, data from the most recent Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study, and a multilevel model for change to examine excellence gap trends with specific emphasis on sex and immigrant status of the student. At an international level, sex-based findings are encouraging. Specifically, we found evidence of shrinking sex-based excellence gaps in both science and mathematics. With respect to immigrant status and excellence gaps, small gaps in the proportion of advanced achievers persist over time. In the context of large demographic changes worldwide, we argue that these findings are generally encouraging.     

'Mind the gap': An empirical study of the gap between intention and actual usage of corporate e-learning programmes in the financial industry

While numerous previous studies have focused on the use of some corporate e-learning programmes (CELP), little is known about the difference between users' pre-installation reactions to CELP and user's post-installation reactions to CELP. This study narrows the above gap with two investigations into a financial company's CELP. In the pre-installation phase, we surveyed users' need for cognition, attitudes towards corporate e-learning and intentions for the use of corporate e-learning (INT) in relation to the CELP. Ten months after the installation, we conducted a second investigation to examine learning outcomes on the basis of users' perceptions of CELP utility, CELP satisfaction, affective reaction to CELP and the actual CELP usage (UGE). We examined the proposed model with multiple regression analyses and found a gap between INT and UGE. The second investigation identified potential factors that contributed to the differences in UGE between two groups of high-INT learners. Results indicated that time management and technical problems were the two critical factors that led to UGE differences. Findings of this study can illuminate relationships among learners' attitudes, usage and reaction towards the CELP.