Education,Welfare Reform and Psychological Well-Being: A Critical Psychology Perspective

There are established links between education and well-being, and between poverty and education. This article draws on interviews with parents of school-aged children impacted by a policy in the UK commonly referred to as the ‘bedroom tax’. A critical psychology perspective to education is put forward, acknowledging the complex interrelationships between psychological well-being, sociopolitical factors and education.     

Assessing Undergraduate Education from Graduating Seniors’ Perspective: Peer Institutions Provide the Context

This paper presents a comparative research study as a model for assessing undergraduate education. This evaluation model used Factor Analysis to create scales, tested the reliability of these scales, and used Analysis of Variance to compare the primary institution with five types of comparable institutions. The value of this statistical/methodological evaluation model was shown. Results are based on Class of l998survey responses from 244 graduating seniors at the primary institution and 1481 students at 39peer institutions. Comparative analyses identified business courses, faculty, career preparation and impact on students’ technological skill as strengths and students’ knowledge of arts and foreign languages and campus social life as areas for improvement at the primary institution. Recommendations advocated publicising students’ superior satisfaction with courses, faculty and career preparation; using these results as baseline data for future curriculum evaluation; and continuing efforts to enhance campus social life. This revised version was published online in June 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Developmental links of very early phonological and language skills to second grade reading outcomes: strong to accuracy but only minor to fluency

The authors examined second grade reading accuracy and fluency and their associations via letter knowledge to phonological and language predictors assessed at 3.5, 4.5, and 5.5 years in children in the Jyv?skyl? Longitudinal Study of Dyslexia. Structural equation modeling showed that a developmentally highly stable factor (early phonological and language processing [EPLP]) behind key dyslexia predictors (i.e., phonological awareness, short-term memory, rapid naming, vocabulary, and pseudoword repetition) could already be identified at 3.5 years. EPLP was significantly associated with reading and spelling accuracy and by age with letter knowledge. However, EPLP had only a minor link with reading fluency, which was additionally explained by early letter knowledge. The results show that reading accuracy is well predicted by early phonological and language skills. Variation in fluent reading skills is not well explained by early skills, suggesting factors other than phonological core skills. Future research is suggested to explore the factors behind the development of fast and accurate decoding skills.     

The Inclusion of Informal Environments in Science Teacher Preparation

Journal of Science Teacher Education -