Reducing Risk for Substance Use by Economically Disadvantaged Young Men: Positive Family Environments and Pathways to Educational Attainment

Using prospective, longitudinal data spanning 10 years (age = 10–20) from a study of 295 economically disadvantaged males, the current investigation evaluated a developmental model that links early family environment and later educational aspirations, extracurricular activities, and educational attainment to substance use in early adulthood. The results indicate that a positive family environment during adolescence (low family conflict, high family warmth, and effective child management) predicted educational involvements during adolescence that promoted educational attainment during early adulthood. Finally, higher levels of educational attainment were associated with less substance use in early adulthood, even after controlling for adolescent substance use. These findings suggest that positive parenting promotes educational achievements that increase resilience to substance use for economically disadvantaged males.     

Development of Category‐Based Induction and Semantic Knowledge

Category‐based induction is a hallmark of mature cognition; however, little is known about its origins. This study evaluated the hypothesis that category‐based induction is related to semantic development. Computational studies suggest that early on there is little differentiation among concepts, but learning and development lead to increased differentiation based on taxonomic relatedness. This study reports findings from a new task aimed to (a) examine this putative increase in semantic differentiation and (b) test whether individual differences in semantic differentiation are related to category‐based induction in 4‐ to 7‐year‐old children (N = 85). The results provide the first empirical evidence of an age‐related increase in differentiation of representations of animal concepts and suggest that category‐based induction is related to increased semantic differentiation.     

Genetic and Environmental Etiologies of the Longitudinal Relations Between Prereading Skills and Reading

The present study explored the environmental and genetic etiologies of the longitudinal relations between prereading skills and reading and spelling. Twin pairs (n = 489) were assessed before kindergarten (M = 4.9 years), post‐first grade (M = 7.4 years), and post‐fourth grade (M = 10.4 years). Genetic influences on five prereading skills (print knowledge, rapid naming, phonological awareness, vocabulary, and verbal memory) were primarily responsible for relations with word reading and spelling. However, relations with post‐fourth‐grade reading comprehension were due to both genetic and shared environmental influences. Genetic and shared environmental influences that were common among the prereading variables covaried with reading and spelling, as did genetic influences unique to verbal memory (only post‐fourth‐grade comprehension), print knowledge, and rapid naming.     

Coursework versus examinations in end-of-module assessment: a literature review

In the UK and other countries, the use of end-of-module assessment by coursework in higher education has increased over the last 40?years. This has been justified by various pedagogical arguments. In addition, students themselves prefer to be assessed either by coursework alone or by a mixture of coursework and examinations than by examinations alone. Assessment by coursework alone or by a mixture of coursework and examinations tends to yield higher marks than assessment by examinations alone. The increased adoption of assessment by coursework has contributed to an increase over time in the marks on individual modules and in the proportion of good degrees across entire programmes. Assessment by coursework appears to attenuate the negative effect of class size on student attainment. The difference between coursework marks and examination marks tends to be greater in some disciplines than others, but it appears to be similar in men and women and in students from different ethnic groups. Collusion, plagiarism and personation (especially ‘contract cheating’ through the use of bespoke essays) are potential problems with coursework assessment. Nevertheless, the increased use of assessment by coursework has generally been seen as uncontentious, with only isolated voices expressing concerns regarding possible risks to academic standards.     

Comparing effects and side effects of different school inspection systems across Europe

In this article, different inspection models are compared in terms of their impact on school improvement and the mechanisms each of these models generates to have such an impact. Our theoretical framework was drawn from the programme theories of six countries’ school inspection systems (i.e. the Netherlands, England, Sweden, Ireland, the province of Styria in Austria and the Czech Republic). We describe how inspection models differ in the scheduling and frequency of visits (using a differentiated or cyclical approach), the evaluation of process and/or output standards, and the consequences of visits, and how these models lead to school improvement through the setting of expectations, the use of performance feedback and actions of the school's stakeholders. These assumptions were tested by means of a survey of principals in primary and secondary schools in these countries (n?=?2239). The data analysis followed a three-step approach: (1) confirmatory factor analyses, (2) path modelling and (3) fitting of multiple-indicator multiple-cause models. The results indicate that Inspectorates of Education that use a differentiated model (in addition to regular visits), in which they evaluate both educational practices and outcomes of schools and publicly report inspection findings of individual schools, are the most effective. These changes seem to be mediated by improvements in the schools’ self-evaluations and the schools' stakeholders’ awareness of the findings in the public inspection reports. However, differentiated inspections also lead to unintended consequences as principals report on narrowing the curriculum and on discouraging teachers from experimenting with new teaching methods.     

An Empirical Comparison of DDF Detection Methods for Understanding the Causes of DIF in Multiple-Choice Items

This study compared and illustrated four differential distractor functioning (DDF) detection methods for analyzing multiple-choice items. The log-linear approach, two item response theory-model-based approaches with likelihood ratio tests, and the odds ratio approach were compared to examine the congruence among the four DDF detection methods. Data from a college-level mathematics placement test were analyzed to understand the causes of differential functioning. Results indicated some agreement among the four detection methods. To facilitate practical interpretation of the DDF results, several possible effect size measures were also obtained and compared.     

Implementing a Multi-Tiered System of Support (MTSS): Collaboration Between School Psychologists and Administrators to Promote Systems-Level Change

Current educational reform mandates the implementation of school-based models for early identification and intervention, progress monitoring, and data-based assessment of student progress. This article provides an overview of interdisciplinary collaboration for systems-level consultation within a Multi-Tiered System of Support (MTSS) framework. The roles of school psychologists and school-based administrators are presented in relation to the implementation of MTSS practices within an implementation science model. The training and expertise of each discipline are highlighted related to respective aspects of implementation drivers (i.e., competency, organization, leadership). Functions of principals and school psychologists during team-based, problem-solving MTSS practices are described based on a problem-solving framework consistent with school-based consultation. Future directions for graduate training of school psychologists and principals and directions for consultation research are provided.