Introduction to Section III: Deweyan Growth in Practice

At present, the structures, practice, and discourse of schooling are anchored to a “commercial spirit” that understands students, educators, and parents as economic operators trading competitively in human capital and to a discourse of failure that is disabling those who seek to understand and enact John Dewey's notion of education as democratic practice. Here Barbara Stengel illustrates both the commercial spirit in public schools and the discourse of school failure across two geopolitical settings: Shanghai, China, and urban U.S. schools. She argues that framing the educational enterprise in terms of economic success and failure makes it difficult for educators to address Dewey's vision of democracy and education substantively. Stengel concludes with an acknowledgment that, regardless of putative political commitments, these two public school systems are schooling — though not often educating — the same neoliberal subject, but that Dewey's vision of democracy and education nonetheless remains critical and compelling.     

Bullying among students and its consequences on health

Violence among students at school is an ever-growing problem. Bullying can be defined as all forms of repeated physical or mental violence performed by an individual on another person who is not capable of defending him/herself (Roland & Idsoe, 2001). The three studies conducted here reveal some of the characteristics and implications of this type of aggression. Whether the attacker (s) or the attacked, all protagonists in a bullying episode suffer the consequences of this behavior. Study 1 showed that students who were both victims and bullies had the lowest self-concepts in all areas studied. Victims exhibited inferior self-concepts to bullies, who in turn obtained lower scores than students not involved in bullying at all. Study 2 showed, as expected, that the group of bully/victims reported more psychosomatic problems than all other groups. In addition, there was a positive link between behavioral problems and the onset of psychosomatic disorders. Study 3, which was mainly exploratory, looked at the traumatic impact of bullying and the emergence of addictive behavior. Children who had vivid memories of being the victim of an aggressive act manifested a high level of post-traumatic stress, although no link was observed between post-traumatic stress and the type of aggression (physical, verbal, or relational). A dependency relationship was found between post-traumatic stress and substance use. The results of these studies suggest that the many complexities of the different protagonists of bullying should be taken into account in view of developing servicing that is geared to each individual.     

Which direction for bachelor and master programmes? A stocktaking of the Bologna process

The introduction of a tiered structure of study programmes and degrees is a core aspect of the Bologna Process. Based on recent empirical studies on the implementation of bachelor and master programmes in a number of European countries, an assessment is made of whether the Bologna Process has progressed in this area. However, given the multitude of expectations and different national reform contexts, it is argued that the impacts of measures taken in the framework of the Bologna Process are difficult to assess. Hence, in the conclusion the article points to a number of unsolved problems still existing to achieve the objectives of the Bologna Process.     

Linked lives: stability and change in maternal circumstances and trajectories of antisocial behavior in children

Drawing on the notion of linked lives, this study examined the effects of stability and change in maternal circumstance on developmental trajectories of antisocial behavior in children 4 to 7 years of age. Using data from a national sample of young mothers and growth curve analysis, the study demonstrated that early maternal circumstances influences early antisocial behavior, whereas stability and change in these circumstances both exacerbate and ameliorate behavior problems. Of particular note, meaningful escape from poverty attenuates antisocial behavior whereas persistence in poverty or long-term movement into poverty intensifies such problems. These findings highlight the importance of structural context for parenting practices and the need to consider child development in light of dynamic and changing life-course fortunes of parents.     

Patterns of Instructional-design Factors Prompting Reflective Thinking in Middle-school and College Level Problem-based Learning Environments

Reflective-thinking skills are important in problem-based learning environments as they help learners become deeply engaged in learning. The literature suggests several instructional-design factors (e.g., environment, teaching methods, scaffolding tools) that may prompt reflection in learners. However, it is unclear whether these factors differ based on age or developmental stage. The results of this study indicate that middle-school students perceive the learning environment factor as more important to prompting their thinking, while college students perceive the scaffolding methods factor as more important. While the elements clustered into two factors, most college students disagreed with their helpfulness in prompting reflective thinking, a finding opposite to that obtained for middle-school students. Different patterns were also found between learners’ perceptions of the most helpful elements within each factor. Based on these results, suggestions are given for designing developmentally and age-appropriate PBL learning environments that support reflective thinking.     

A validational study of the structured interview of symptoms associated with sexual abuse (SASA) using three samples of sexually abused, allegedly abused, and nonabused boys

Objective: With the rapid rise of sexual abuse allegations, there is a growing need to develop instruments to help clinicians determine the likelihood that sexual abuse has occurred.Method: This study evaluated the discriminant validity of a structured parent interview regarding emotional, behavioral, and physical symptoms by comparing results among three subsamples of age matched boys: 22 sexually abused boys whose perpetrator confessed, 47 boys evaluated in a sexual abuse clinic but without a history of perpetrator confession and 52 nonabused boys selected after rigorous screening.Results: In comparison with the nonabused (NA) boys, the sexually abused boys were significantly more likely to demonstrate sudden emotional and behavioral changes, frequent stomachaches, more knowledge about sex and sexual activities than expected for age, unusual agressiveness toward playmate or toy's private parts, crying easily, difficulty getting to sleep, and a change to poor school performance. The internal reliability of the SASA was determined to be .83 and scoring of an abbreviated 12-item scale demonstrated a sensitivity of 90.9% and a specificity of 88.5%.Conclusions: The findings suggest that Structured Interview of Symptoms Associated with Sexual Abuse (SASA) is an effective tool which may help in the comprehensive assessment of boys who may have been sexually abused.     

Consistency of Angoff-Based Predictions of Item Performance: Evidence of Technical Quality of Results From the Angoff Standard Setting Method

Judgmental standard-setting methods, such as the Angoff(1971) method, use item performance estimates as the basis for determining the minimum passing score (MPS). Therefore, the accuracy, of these item peformance estimates is crucial to the validity of the resulting MPS. Recent researchers (Shepard, 1995; Impara & Plake, 1998; National Research Council. 1999) have called into question the ability of judges to make accurate item performance estimates for target subgroups of candidates, such as minimally competent candidates. The propose of this study was to examine the intra- and inter-rater consistency of item performance estimates from an Angoff standard setting. Results provide evidence that item pelformance estimates were consistent within and across panels within and across years. Factors that might have influenced this high degree of reliability, in the item performance estimates in a standard setting study are discussed.     

Remaining connected in the face of cyberbullying: Why social connectedness is important for mental health

It is well documented that cyberbullying can lead to adverse mental health outcomes. Separate research shows that higher levels of social connectedness may result in more positive mental health outcomes, however, the relationship between social connectedness and mental health in the face of cyberbullying is not yet fully understood. An online survey of 229 adolescents (aged 12–17 years) was conducted, and we examined experiences of cyberbullying, levels of social connectedness, depression, anxiety, and stress. Structural equation modeling suggested that social connectedness may act as a protective buffer against the negative mental health outcomes associated with cybervictimization. This paper highlights the fact that social connectedness plays an important role for young people, the more frequently they are victimized. The implications of these findings are far reaching and suggest that understanding the role of social connectedness may be crucial to interventions that seek to mitigate the effects of cyberbullying.