Exploring the Underlying Factor Structure of the Parent Reading Belief Inventory (PRBI): Some Caveats

Although mainstream preschool programs have been in existence since the 1970s, little is known about the ways in which typical children attempt to understand what it means for a peer to have a disability. In this study, 4-year-old children without disabilities who were enrolled in a mainstream preschool class explained their peers' disabilities by referring to concepts of immaturity, accident, or adaptive equipment to account for the behavioral differences that they observed. The implications of these cognitions for children's developing attitudes and behaviors toward peers with disabilities are discussed.     

Social network data to alleviate cold-start in recommender system: A systematic review

Recommender Systems are currently highly relevant for helping users deal with the information overload they suffer from the large volume of data on the web, and automatically suggest the most appropriate items that meet users needs. However, in cases in which a user is new to Recommender System, the system cannot recommend items that are relevant to her/him because of lack of previous information about the user and/or the user-item rating history that helps to determine the users preferences. This problem is known as cold-start, which remains open because it does not have a final solution. Social networks have been employed as a good source of information to determine users preferences to mitigate the cold-start problem. This paper presents the results of a Systematic Literature Review on Collaborative Filtering-based Recommender System that uses social network data to mitigate the cold-start problem. This Systematic Literature Review compiled the papers published between 2011–2017, to select the most recent studies in the area. Each selected paper was evaluated and classified according to the depth which social networks used to mitigate the cold-start problem. The final results show that there are several publications that use the information of the social networks within the Recommender System; however, few research papers currently use this data to mitigate the cold-start problem.     

Investigating Supervisory Relationships and Therapeutic Alliances Using Structural Equation Modeling

The authors used structural equation modeling to examine the contribution of supervisees' supervisory relationship levels to therapeutic alliance (TA) scores with their clients in practicum. Results showed that supervisory relationship scores positively contributed to the TA. Client and counselor ratings of the TA also differed.     

Validation of an assessment centre process for the selection of school leaders in Chile

This study seeks to develop and validate an Assessment Centre (AC) tool for the evaluation and selection of school leaders, focusing on the identification of competencies that influence teaching and learning outcomes. International research supports the creation of Assessment Centres to select candidates for these roles, due to their superior predictive capacity over traditional methods. In this research, a model composed of four face-to-face instruments (an interview to assess competencies, a human resources exercise, a class observation exercise, and a strategic analysis exercise) was designed and validated which simulated the key tasks of a school principal. To establish the desired performance outcomes, three competencies and 15 indicators were selected, based on international and local standards. The analysis of performance results was obtained from a sample of 164 participants made up of teachers, school leaders and principals. The results suggest positive evidence for construct validity, concurrent criteria validity, and reliability between evaluators. Moreover, the data obtained from a sub-sample of principals, with three or more years of experience in their role, allowed for the association of their AC scores with the results of their school organisations, as measured by the National System for the Measurement of Educational Quality in the years 2013 and 2016.     

Female science teacher beliefs and attitudes: implications in relation to gender and pedagogical practice

Beliefs and attitudes resulting from the unique life experiences of teachers frame interactions with learners promoting gender equity or inequity and the reproduction of social views about knowledge and power as related to gender. This study examines the enactment of a female science teacher’s pedagogy (Laura), seeking to understand the implications of her beliefs and attitudes, as framed by her interpretations and daily manifestations, as she interacts with students. Distinct influences inform the conceptual framework of this study: (a) the social organization of society at large, governed by understood and unspoken patriarchy, present both academically and socially; (b) the devaluing of women as “knowers” of scientific knowledge as defined by a western and male view of science; (c) the marginalization or “feminization” of education and pedagogical knowledge. The findings reflect tensions between attitudes and beliefs and actual teacher practice suggesting the need for awareness within existing or new teachers about their positions as social agents and the sociological implications related to issues of gender within which we live and work, inclusive of science teaching and learning.     

The credibility of online news: an evaluation of the information by university students / La credibilidad de las noticias en Internet: una evaluación de la información por estudiantes universitarios

Abstract

The spread of online disinformation is one of the 10 global risks of the future according to the World Economic Forum, and 51% of experts believe that this situation will not improve in the coming years. By 2022, half of the news will be fake news. In terms of users, young people and adults have problems understanding where the information they find online comes from and what sources to trust or not. In order to ascertain the degree of credibility that young users in Andalucía give to information, this study presents the results of the evaluation of online news by university students pursuing degrees in communication and education (N = 188), using the CRAAP test. The data reveal differences in gender and degree programme in the credibility assigned to the news. The conclusion is that university students have difficulty differentiating the veracity of the sources, in line with previous studies, with fake news earning higher ratings than real news.     

Hard Cash and Soft Skills: Experimental Evidence on Combining Scholarships and Mentoring in Argentina

Abstract

We evaluate a long-standing program run by one of the largest education foundations in Argentina that offers scholarships and nonacademic mentoring to secondary school students. We randomly assigned 408 grade 6 students within 10 public schools in the Province of Buenos Aires to either receive the program throughout secondary school or not to receive it. After three years, the program improved students’ academic behaviors (e.g., studying before an exam or catching up on missed work), but we find little evidence that these changes translated into broader improvements in students’ academic mindsets (e.g., self-beliefs about performance and efficacy), perseverance (e.g., grit), or learning strategies (e.g., metacognition). The program also improved students’ performance in school during the first year (e.g., grades, attendance, and passing rates), but we do not find similar gains in subsequent years. This may be due to a large share of treatment students being expelled from the program for not meeting its requirements. The program did not improve student learning or personality traits (e.g., conscientiousness). Finally, we find some heterogeneous effects for female students and students from low-income families.     

Language Brokering and Depressive Symptoms in Mexican‐American Adolescents: Parent–Child Alienation and Resilience as Moderators

This study aimed to untangle the mixed effects of language brokering by examining a contextual factor (i.e., parent–child alienation) and a personal attribute (i.e., resilience) that may relate to adolescents’ feelings during translating (i.e., sense of burden and efficacy) and that may moderate the association between such feelings and adolescent depressive symptoms. Participants included 557 adolescent language brokers (M_age = 12.96) in Mexican‐American families. Results showed that adolescents with a strong sense of alienation from parents or low resilience (a) experienced more burden or less efficacy in translating and (b) were more susceptible to the detrimental effects of feeling a sense of burden and the beneficial effects of experiencing a sense of efficacy, as measured by depressive symptoms.     

Teacher collegiality and electronic communication: A study of the collaborative uses of email by secondary school teachers in Uruguay

Teacher collegiality has been consistently highlighted in recent years as a crucial factor in the success of processes of educational change and professional development. Consequently, there is considerable interest both from researchers and practitioners, in investigating strategies capable of supporting interactions and collaborations between teachers. Research, mostly carried out in industry, suggests that computer‐mediated communication (CMC) technologies may support collegiality in a diversity of contexts. Following the technological developments of the last few years, which have driven down the costs and complexity of computers and telecommunications, CMC technologies are becoming increasingly available to schools around the world. One of the more widespread of these new CMC technologies is electronic mail. The aim of this article is to discuss some of the results of a research project that investigated the potential of electronic mail for supporting the development of collegiality and professional exchange among secondary school teachers in Uruguay. At the time of this study, relatively little research had been carried out into the use of electronic mail for professional purposes by schoolteachers, especially in Latin America. The evidence suggests that email may support the formation of communities of highly committed users, where seeking and sharing professional resources are accepted behaviours.