Local Equating Using the Rasch Model,the OPLM,and the 2PL IRT Model—or—What Is It Anyway if the Model Captures Everything There Is to Know About the Test Takers?

Local equating (LE) is based on Lord's criterion of equity. It defines a family of true transformations that aim at the ideal of equitable equating. van der Linden (this issue) offers a detailed discussion of common issues in observed‐score equating relative to this local approach. By assuming an underlying item response theory model, one of the main features of LE is that it adjusts the equated raw scores using conditional distributions of raw scores given an estimate of the ability of interest. In this article, we argue that this feature disappears when using a Rasch model for the estimation of the true transformation, while the one‐parameter logistic model and the two‐parameter logistic model do provide a local adjustment of the equated score.     

Cognitive processes and math performance: a study with children at third grade of basic education

The present study aims to examine the relationship between cognitive factors and mathematical achievement in primary education. Participants were 103 Portuguese third grade students, aged 8 and 9. All participants completed a battery for working memory (WMTB-C), a test of general intelligence (Raven's Progressive Color Matrices), a selective attention test (d2), and mathematical exercises (arithmetic story problems and measurement skills). Data suggested significant correlations between math performance, executive, visuospatial sketchpad and g factor. Our findings suggest the importance of the cognitive factors in two mathematical domains considered. In consonance with the research in this area, we conclude that working memory (WM) assumes an important role in different math curricular achievements.     

How many young generations are there? – A typology of teenagers’ climate change awareness in Germany and Austria

Abstract

Under the premise that the young generation of teenagers cannot be considered to be uniform, this study identified groups of teenagers based on their level of climate change awareness. Questionnaires answered by 760 teenagers (13–16?years old) from Germany and Austria were analyzed using a hierarchical cluster analysis. The teenagers were assigned to four groups that differed as to their cognitive, affective and conative aspects of climate change awareness. Based on the empirical results, the authors argue that there are different subgroups of young people in terms of climate change awareness, which climate change education should take into consideration.     

Against the odds: resilience in mathematics students in transition

This paper examines ‘resilience’ of mathematics students in transition from a sociocultural perspective, in which resilience is viewed as relational and in particular as a function of the social and cultural capital students may bring to the new field. We draw on two students’ stories of transition, in which we recognise elements traditionally viewed as ‘risks’ for mathematics students in transition into institutions where new demands are made. However, in each case it seems that some of their apparent background ‘risk factors’—coming from poorer socioeconomic backgrounds and disadvantaged schools—have come to serve to constitute capital, buttressing their particular resilience, as they provide a crucial kind of autonomy that is particularly valued in the new institution. We identify the learners’ reflexivity as having been crucial to this accumulation of capital and we discuss some educational implications.     

Host country R&D determinants of MNE entry strategy: A study of ownership in the automobile industry

We investigate how host country R&D influences ownership decisions made by technology-intensive multinational enterprises (MNEs) as they internationalize. We draw from institutional and resource based theories, as well as literature on agglomeration and clusters, and construct a unique dataset of 1324 foreign investments recorded by German automobile manufacturers between 2005 and 2012 for our empirical tests. We find that in host countries that are cluster-abundant there will be a greater likelihood that technology-intensive MNEs will adopt joint ventures over wholly-owned subsidiaries, and will more likely use a lower equity stake in any joint venture. We find partial support for the influence of other aspects of host country R&D, including innovation output and inward technology FDI. Various robustness tests and insights from selected cases provide further support. Importantly, findings demonstrate the importance of multi-dimensional characteristics of host country R&D over and above those such as market size, political stability and cultural distance that are more commonly utilized and discussed in the entry strategy literature. The findings have implications for host country policy as well as strategy-makers in MNEs seeking to compete on the basis of globalized R&D.     

A Critical Co-Constructed Autoethnography of a Gendered Cross-Cultural Mentoring Between Two Early Career Latin@ Scholars Working in the Deep South

Multicultural mentoring has been suggested to support Latin@ faculty success in their careers, yet current literature on effective mentorships of Latin@ faculty is limited. This critical co-constructed autoethnography draws on critical race theory (CRT) and latin@ critical race theory (LatCrit) frameworks to highlight the lived experiences and key elements of an effective gendered cross-cultural mentoring relationship in a Latin@ pretenure faculty dyad working in a predominantly White institution of higher education located in the Deep South of the United States. Drawing upon a methodological rhythm of sorts, a Black scholar acts as a muse providing testimonios and interpretations of a relationship existing among Latin@ scholars in predominantly White intellectual spaces. Findings from this critical co-constructed autoethnography note that a safe colored space supports effective mentoring, familismo, personalismo, enabling effective cross-cultural mentorship.     

Life Experiences among Urban Adolescents: Examining the Role of Context

Interest in the influence of context on the psychosocial development of adolescents led to the examination of neighborhood effects on the experience of adolescent life stress. Because of concerns regarding the population and ecological validity of existing measures of adolescent life events, the research group developed a scale for the measurement of life events among urban adolescents based on data from focus group interviews in the community of interest. Investigators utilized three strategies to examine the impact of neighborhood on adolescents' perceptions of life stress in a sample of 114 adolescents (mean age = 15). Results indicated that life stress in the peer domain varied by the adolescent's neighborhood of residence. In addition, family/community stress was linearly related to neighborhood indices of economic resources.     

The affective lives of doubled-up Latinx youth: Influences of school experiences,familism, and ethnic identity exploration

Doubled-up Latinx youth experience many daily challenges associated with ethnic minority status and residential instability. Doubled-up youth share housing with noncustodial caregivers such as friends and/or extended family members primarily because of economic hardship and a breakdown in available parental support. Using data from baseline and 10 days of twice-a-day surveys, this study examined how in-school positive experiences, familism (i.e., a perspective that gives precedence to the family), and ethnic identity (i.e., affirmation, exploration, and resolution) influence after school positive (e.g., feeling joyful/happy) and negative (e.g., feeling stressed/anxious) affect among doubled-up Latinx youth (70% female; M_age = 16.5). Results indicate that in-school positive experiences were associated with more after school positive affect and less after school negative affect. In addition, youth with higher levels of familism reported experiencing less after school negative affect. However, gender moderated the relation of ethnic identity exploration and experiences of after school positive affect. Specifically, females with higher levels of ethnic identity exploration reported relatively lower levels of after school positive affect compared with males. Overall, study findings highlight the importance of both person-level and varying contextual influences on the affective lives of doubled-up Latinx youth.     

A quoi servent les reunions d'enseignants?

Résumé Le C.P.E.D.S. de Barcelone est une institution chargée de l'intégration des déficients sensoriels à l'école dite normale. Sur la base d'une étude longitudinale effectuée entre 1978 et 1986 dans 12 écoles, on a analysé le matériel recueilli concernant les réunions d'enseignants. Avec une méthode à orientation ethnographique, on a distingué trois types de réunions: Les réunions d'évaluation de toutes les classes d'un même cycle, où participent enseignants, personnel spécialisé et le directeur; des réunions programmées entre un enseignant et le spécialiste du C.P.E.D.S.; et des réunions informelles (dites de couloir) entre ces derniers. Dans un premier niveau on a analysé les actions, pour chercher à dégager, dans une deuxième étape, la structure sous-jacente à la réunion en dévoilant les rôles, les rites et les stratégies de défense et d'évitement. En guise de synthèse, enfin, l'analyse a été replacée dans son contexte (institutionnel et historique), le but étant de saisir l'écart entre les objectifs explicites et le mode de fonctionnement des réunions d'enseignants.

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TheCentro Psico-Pedagógico para la Educación del Deficiente Sensorial (C.P.E.D.S.) in Barcelona was established for the purpose of integrating children with sensory handicaps into so-called normal schools. On the basis of a longitudinal study carried out in 12 schools between 1978 and 1986, the authors have analysed the data collected on teachers' meetings. Using an ethnographically based approach, they have identified three types of meeting: evaluatory meetings for all classes in one year-group in which teachers, specialist staff and the director participate; scheduled meetings between one teacher and the C.P.E.D.S. specialist; and informal, so-called corridor meetings between the latter. At the first level the actions of participants have been analysed, in order to try and bring into the open the latter's roles, rituals, defence strategies and methods of evasion. By way of synthesis, the analysis is finally placed once more into its institutional and historical context, the aim being to indicate the disparity between the explicit objectives of the teachers' meetings and the manner in which these function.

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Zusammenfassung DasCentro Psico-pedagógico para la Educación del Deficiente Sensorial (C.P.E.D.S.) in Barcelona ist eine Einrichting zur Integration sinnesgestörter Kinder in sogenannte Normal schulen. Die aufgrund einer in der Zeit von 1978 bis 1986 an 12 Schulen durchgeführten Langzeitstudie gesammelten Daten über Lehrerzusammenkünfte wurden von den Verfassern analysiert. Anhand einer ethnographisch-orientierten Methode wird zwischen drei verschiedenen Arten von Lehrerzusammenkünften unterschieden: Zusammenkünfte für die Auswertung aller Klassen einer Stufe unter Beteiligung der Lehrer, der Fachkräfte und des Direktors; Zusammenkünfte, die zwischen einem Lehrer und der C.P.E.D.S. Fachkraft geplant sind; und informelle, sogenannte Korridorgespräche zwischen den beiden letztgenannten. In einem ersten Schritt werden die Handlungen der Teilnehmer untersucht, um anschließend deren Rollen und Rituale sowie Verhaltensweisen des Abwehrens und Ausweichens ans Licht zu bringen. Abschließend wird in Form einer Synthese die Analyse wiederum in ihren institutionellen und historischen Kontext gestellt, mit der Absicht, die Ungleicheit zwischen den expliziten Zielsetzungen der Lehrerzusammenkünfte und der Art und Weise, in der diese ablaufen, zu verdeutlichen.