“Stop sending your kids across our border:” Discursively constructing the unaccompanied youth migrant

The recent migration of 65,000 children across the southwestern border, coupled with allegations of abuse by the U.S. Border Patrol, enables the investigation of an overlooked immigrant category: the unaccompanied youth migrant. Analyzing audience responses to news reports of the abuse, we find that established disparaging immigrant tropes apply, describing the children as an economic burden, disease carriers, and offspring of irresponsible families. We uncover two new themes: Youth migrants are channels whereby criminals may infiltrate the U.S., and manipulate legal authorities to remain in the U.S. Finally, we demonstrate how global compassion is strategically deployed to qualify harsh retaliatory measures.     

Effects of extracurricular activities on postsecondary completion for students with disabilities

The authors focused on participation in extracurricular activities as a way of improving the educational outcomes of children with disabilities. Regarding students in the general population, adolescent involvement in extracurricular activities has been shown to have a positive association with school involvement and adolescent self-esteem, academic achievement, and adolescent development. Using the Educational Longitudinal Study dataset, the authors conducted logistic regression analyses to examine the relationship between participation in high school–sponsored extracurricular activities and postsecondary degree completion for students with disabilities. Findings show a statistically significant association between postsecondary degree completion for students with disabilities and extracurricular activity participation, including extent and type of extracurricular activity. Students with disabilities who participate in high school extracurricular activities may have increased likelihood of completing a postsecondary degree. Implications for policy, practice, and future research are discussed.     

MARC: A Thought Experiment in the Morality of Automated Marking of English

Automated essay scoring programs are becoming more common and more technically advanced. They provoke strong reactions from both their advocates and their detractors. Arguments tend to fall into two categories: technical and principled. This paper argues that since technical difficulties will be overcome with time, the debate ought to be held in terms of the principles. A thought experiment, based on a technically perfect Automated Essay Scorer, is proposed in order to explore the moral questions related to this topic, such as whether students deserve to have their work read by a human. It concludes that affect is an important component both of writing and of the debate, but that if the move to automated scoring stops being an ‘all or nothing’ debate, then many of the objections on principle will be obviated.     

Examining the specificity of practice hypothesis: is learning modality specific?

The specificity of practice hypothesis was examined using a tracking task. In Experiment 1, visual or auditory feedback about performance was provided. Vision was more useful than audition early in acquisition. Performance gains found in acquisition were maintained during retention, but learning was specific only if the acquisition modality was visual. Specificity did not increase with the amount of practice. In Experiment 2, visual and auditory information were combined. Again, the specificity of practice hypothesis was supported. Also, instructing participants to attend to one information source allowed us to demonstrate that information can be explicitly or implicitly processed. Further, specificity effects may occur because of different rates of development for error detection and correction processes.     

Developmentally Appropriate Emergent Literacy Activities for Young Children: Adapting the Early Literacy and Learning Model

Whether it be leaping, resisting, or being gently shoved, the field of early childhood education continues moving into the age of accountability. Young children are expected to exhibit many requisite skills prior to kindergarten. Thus, the advancement of pre-reading and writing skills development become one of the many areas of focus for early childhood teachers. This study focused on the advancement of young children’s emergent literacy and letter recognition skills through developmentally appropriate instruction and need based adapted activities using the Early Literacy and Learning Model (ELLM) curriculum. The results suggest that mindfully adapting activities to children’s needs advances children’s emergent literacy development.