A mixed-methods analysis of achievement disparities in Guatemalan primary schools

Although most Guatemalan rural students currently have access to primary school, there are large differences in the levels of learning that take place among different populations and in different contexts. This paper uses multiple data and methods to examine the interrelated factors underlying achievement disparities in Guatemalan primary schools. The research suggests that strong levels of disadvantage connected to attending schools in poor rural communities are connected to systematic differences in the way school quality is supported in different contexts. There are inadequate resources, capacity, and authority to monitor and enforce fundamental educational issues, especially in marginal communities.     

Updating formulae for the sample covariance and correlation

This article provides an easy derivation of updating formulae for the sample covariance and, by extension, for the Pearson product–moment correlation coefficient.     

Incompatibility between pregnancy and educational projects,from the perspective of socially vulnerable adolescent women and men in Mexico

Research focused on adolescent pregnancy reports that this event acquires significance and has different consequences according to the context and social subjects who experience it. In this study, by means of a sample formed by adolescent women and men who are socially vulnerable in Mexico, with and without a history of pregnancy, we can see how this reproductive event turns into a factor of educational vulnerability and how their possibilities and expectations with respect to continuing in school are determined in a differentiated manner, according to gender. The findings show that adolescent pregnancy in vulnerable sectors is scarcely compatible with educational projects and that possibilities and expectations to continue in or re-enter the school system are determined by gender differences; these usually lead to fewer opportunities for adolescent women to return to school during or after pregnancy.     

‘We’re from the generation that was raised on television’: a qualitative exploration of media imagery in elementary preservice teachers’ video production

In this article the authors present their analysis of preservice teachers’ video production. Twenty‐eight students in the first authors’ Social Foundations of the Elementary Curriculum course produced a 5‐ to 10‐minute video as the major assignment for the class, interviews were conducted with six of the seven video production groups and the videos were analyzed with regard to the interviews and theories of visual culture. The authors suggest that in the video products and in the production process the students exhibited a cultural logic of media imagery. The particular logics of audience and entertainment served as a concealed organizing principle for how the students thought about their videos and the processes involved in making them. Embedded in this logic was an overarching concern that their work occupy a public space, thus troubling the boundaries of consumption and production that frame how we consider the role media culture plays in the processes of human meaning‐making.     

Trust versus control: the impact of school leadership on teacher reflection

As teacher educators have worked to encourage teachers to become more reflective, they have noted the important role that school context plays in supporting or constraining reflection in action. This study describes one kindergarten teacher's experiences in two contrasting school contexts. The study documents the leadership styles, school organizational structures and resources, faculty‐administration communication processes, and curriculum decision‐making practices that promoted or hindered the teacher's ability to reflect. Data analysis revealed striking contrasts between the two schools. These differences had an impact on the curriculum provided by the teacher, her ability and willingness to accept responsibility for her professional decisions, and her self‐confidence and job satisfaction. The study concludes with suggestions for teacher educators interested in helping their graduates find and maintain contexts supportive of reflective practice.     

组合压气机中尾迹与势流同频/异频干涉的叠加特性

为揭示多级压气机中上下游叶轮对中间叶片叠加气动影响特性,阐述不同叠加干涉情况下下游叶轮进气角度变化,采用数值方法模拟了一级轴流和一级离心组成的组合压气机非定常流场。详细讨论了上游动叶尾迹和下游动叶势流对中间导流叶栅段气流非定常流动的异频和同频叠加干涉特性,依据计算结果,直观地展示了静叶通道中两种干涉间相互激励和抑制作用的位置和时间,与数学公式的推导结果相互印证。研究结果表明:当上下游动叶对中间静叶段异频干涉时,干涉的激励、抑制区域的轴向位置随时间发生变化;当上下游动叶对中间静叶干涉频率相同时,干涉的相互激励、抑制区域的轴向位置不随时间发生变化,但干涉的激励、抑制区域的轴向位置受时序位置影响。另外,上游动叶尾迹与下游离心叶轮势流的不同叠加情况,决定着下游离心叶轮进口相对气流角的大小及波动幅值。      

A psycho‐educational approach to helping adolescents cope

Understanding Children, Vol. I, State, Education And Economy; Vol. II, Changing Experiences And Family Forms Anne Cleary, Maire Nic Ghiolla Phadraig and Suzanne Quin (eds) Oaktree Press, 2001. No price.