Preparing Community Supervision Officers through Undergraduate Education: A Study of Academic and Practitioner Expectations

Although community corrections courses have existed in universities for decades, studies have yet to explore whether the depth and breadth of academic preparation is meeting practitioner needs. In many jurisdictions across the country, community supervision officers receive little pre-service training, making classroom learning a very important component for job preparation. Using survey data collected from members of the American Society of Criminology, Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences, and American Probation and Parole Association, this study examines university faculty and community corrections practitioner expectations regarding topical coverage in undergraduate coursework relevant to the community corrections field. Results indicate that both groups, especially practitioners, gave the strongest preference to coverage of universally applicable job skills such as critical thinking, written and oral communication, and organizational and listening skills. Practitioners generally expected classroom learning to be more in depth and applied than faculty members. Some of the most substantial gaps in expectations were found for daily routine items such as interview skills with offenders, on-the-job decision-making, providing courtroom testimony, and stress coping.     

School climate: perceptual differences between students,parents, and school staff

Research suggests that school climate can have a great impact on student, teacher, and school outcomes. However, it is often assessed as a summary measure, without taking into account multiple perspectives (student, teacher, parent) or examining subdimensions within the broader construct. In this study, we assessed school climate from the perspective of students, staff, and parents within a large, urban school district using multilevel modeling techniques to examine within- and between-school variance. After adjusting for school-level demographic characteristics, students reported worse perceptions of safety and connectedness compared to both parent and staff ratings (all p < 0.05). Parents gave the lowest ratings of parental involvement, and staff gave the lowest ratings of academic emphasis (ps < 0.05). Findings demonstrate the importance of considering the type of informant when evaluating climate ratings within a school. Understanding how perceptions differ between informants can inform interventions to improve perceptions and prevent adverse outcomes.     

Digital neocolonialism and massive open online courses (MOOCs): colonial pasts and neoliberal futures

ABSTRACT

Through evaluating dominant MOOC platforms created by Western universities, I argue that MOOCs on such platforms tend to embed Western-centric epistemologies and propagate this without questioning their global relevance. Consequently, such MOOCs can be detrimental when educating diverse and complex participants as they erode local and indigenous knowledge systems. Arguing that the digital divide is an exacerbation of historical inequalities, I draw parallels between colonial education, specifically across Sub-Saharan Africa, and ‘digital neocolonialism’ through Western MOOC platforms. I analyse similarities in ideology, assumptions, and methods of control. Highlighting evolving forms of coloniality, I include contemporary problems created by neoliberal techno-capitalist agendas, such as the commodification of education. Balance is needed between the opportunities offered through MOOCs and the harms they cause through overshadowing marginalised knowledges and framing disruptive technologies as the saviour. While recommending solutions for inclusion of marginalised voices, further problems such as adverse incorporation are raised.     

Data teams for school improvement

The use of data for educational decision making has never been more prevalent. However, teachers and school leaders need support in data use. Support can be provided by means of professional development in the form of “data teams”. This study followed the functioning of 4 data teams over a period of 2 years, applying a qualitative case study design. The findings show that data use is not a linear process, and that teams go through different feedback loops to reach higher levels of depth of inquiry. The data team procedure is a promising way of enhancing data-based decision making in schools.     

Childhood Maltreatment and the Development of Relational and Physical Aggression: The Importance of a Gender‐Informed Approach

This investigation examined the associations between maltreatment and aggression using a gender‐informed approach. Peer ratings, peer nominations, and counselor reports of aggression were collected on 211 maltreated and 199 nonmaltreated inner‐city youth (M age = 9.9 years) during a summer day camp. Maltreatment was associated with aggressive conduct; however, these effects were qualified by gender, maltreatment subtype, and the form of aggression under investigation. Findings revealed that maltreatment was associated with physical aggression for boys and relational aggression for girls. Physical abuse was associated with physically aggressive behaviors, but sexual abuse predicted relational aggression for girls only. Findings suggest that investigating the interaction between familial risk and gender is important in understanding aggressive behaviors of boys and girls.     

CONTEXTUAL PREDICTORS OF SELF‐DETERMINED ACTIONS IN STUDENTS WITH AND WITHOUT INTELLECTUAL DISABILITY

Research in the field of intellectual disability suggests that promotion of self‐determination triggers positive transition outcomes for youth with intellectual disability. This article examines the contributions of personal and environmental variables in predicting self‐determined action in students with and without intellectual disability. The Spanish pilot versions of the Self‐Determination Inventory and the AIR Self‐Determination Scale were administered to 114 youth with and without intellectual disability. Personal and environmental variables were treated as predictor variables for analytic purposes. The results indicate the relevance of environmental variables in predicting both self‐reported capacity for self‐determination and the essential characteristics of self‐determined action. Particularly, age and opportunities at school and at home to engage in self‐determined action played a significant role. The practical implications of these findings and suggestions for future research are discussed.     

The development of orthographic and phonological strategies for the decoding of words in children

This study examined the use of orthographic and phonological deletion strategies by children in the 6–16‐year age range. Children from Grades 1 to 10 (n=191) were presented either visually or orally isolated words and were asked to pronounce these words using either an orthographic (spelling) strategy following mental deletion of one letter, or a phonological (sounding) strategy following mental deletion of one sound. All children performed additional reading and spelling tasks in which they read and spelt all the words and derivatives from the deletion tasks. Analysis of variance revealed that younger readers were more accurate when using phonological strategies than when using orthographic strategies, whereas older readers showed superior orthographic and phonological processing abilities. Generally the results supported the suggestion that phonological and orthographic processing ability increase with age, and that the increase in these abilities with age is not solely dependent on reading and spelling ability.     

Using Piwik Instead of Google Analytics at the Cornell University Library

Like many other libraries, Cornell University Library uses Google Analytics (GA) to track website usage. GA, designed to support Google’s primary revenue stream, advertising, has many strengths, including cost (free). Given our tradition in libraries to protect reader privacy, a compelling argument can be made that Google Analytics is inappropriate for libraries. After a review of alternatives to GA following Edward Snowden's revelations, we selected Piwik (piwik.org) as a replacement for GA. Piwik is a free, open source, and most importantly, supports local data collection. We summarize what some of the library literature says about web analytics tools, explain why we selected Piwik, and describe what is involved when migrating from GA to Piwik.     

A Dialectical Rationale for Persistent Inadequate Response

Response to Intervention (RTI) is an approach that can address children's problems in school. However, research has not consistently supported positive effects of RTI. I use the dialectical method to suggest RTI researchers have not adequately focused on children's personal experiences. The effects of persistent, negative experience are observable in external behaviors associated with executive function variation. By means of cultural–historical theory, I outline improvements to experimental designs that incorporate collaboration with children and focus on observations during intervention and assessment.     

Using the “wife-beater” shirt to teach about hegemony and counterhegemony

Courses: Media Criticism, Media and Society, and Media and Gender

Objectives: Students will gain a better understanding of how hegemony operates through culturally accepted norms that allow oppressive practices to endure in society. Students will then develop their own “culture jam” campaign to show them how counterhegemonic discourse can operate within the same contested spaces of popular culture to sometimes reform the status quo.