Perceived Parental Influence on Mathematics Learning: A Comparison Among Students in China and Australia

This paper explores the perceived parental influence (PPI) on mathematics learning among over 700 students across three year levels (Years 5, 7, 9) in China and Australia. It was found that the PPI of students was less strong as year levels increased in both countries. Students in China had stronger perceived parental encouragement and higher perceived parental educational expectation than students in Australia. The PPI of students from different home language backgrounds was also investigated. Students in China demonstrated stronger perceived parental encouragement and parental expectation than English speaking students and other language speaking students in Australia, and they also demonstrated stronger perceived parental expectation than Chinese speaking students in Australia, and similar perceived parental encouragement. Within the three groups of students in Australia, Chinese speaking students and other language speaking students demonstrated similar levels of perceived parental encouragement and expectation, but they both demonstrated a higher level of perceived parental encouragement and expectation than English speaking students. Possible reasons for the similarities and differences between the different groups of students were discussed.     

Leadership identity in a small island developing state: the Jamaican context

While the role of leadership in improving schools is attracting more worldwide attention, there is a need for more research investigating leaders’ experiences in different national contexts. Using focus-group and semi-structured interview data, this paper explores the background, identities and experiences of a small group of Jamaican school leaders who were involved in a leadership development programme. By drawing on the concepts of culture, socialisation and identity, the paper examines how the participants’ journeys of becoming and being school leaders are influenced by national-level societal and cultural issues, experienced at a local level. The findings suggest that in becoming school leaders, the participants perceived that they had a strong sense of agency in attempting to change the social structures within the institutions they lead and in the surrounding local communities, which in turn, they hope, will have a lasting effect on the nation as a whole.     

The relationship of campus crime to campus and student characteristics

This research draws upon merged national databases containing federal crime statistics, community demographic data, and campus characteristics. The study displays the trends in campus crime since 1974, and using 1990 data, examines the relationships between three measures of campus crime and 23 predictors developed for this study. The results show that campus rates of both violent crime and property crime are falling, especially since 1985. Moreover, students are considerably safer on campus than in the cities and communities surrounding them. The lowest average crime rates are found at two-year colleges, while the highest overall rates are at medical schools and health science centers. None of the community characteristics, including community crime and poverty rates, are significantly associated with campus crime. While campus organizational measures in general are more highly related to campus crime than are student characteristics, we find differences in the patterns of variables associated with violent crime versus property crime. Factors associated with property crime are partially consistent with existing theory on criminal activity. Factors associated with violent crime are more complex and difficult to predict.An earlier version of this paper was the winner of the regional Best Paper Award from the North East AIR annual meeting in Bolton Landing, N.Y., November 1993. It was presented again at the Association for Institutional Research Forum, New Orleans, Louisiana, May 1994.