Education of Young Chinese Migrant Children: Challenges and Prospects

Challenged by the national residency registration system in China, migrant children have always faced obstacles in accessing public education. Recent policy changes, however, have brought hope for these children. This article introduces some international concerns regarding migrant children and provides a close view of Chinese perspectives. Issues relating to access to public education and recommendations for policies and practices are also discussed.     

A comparison of the criterion-related validity (academic achievement) of the WPPSI and the WISC-R

Correlations of WPPSI IQs with concurrently administered subtests from the WRAT were compared with analogous WISC-R/WRAT correlations in a group of children referred by regular classroom teachers for school psychological services. Although the magnitudes of all correlations were reduced, due to restriction of range, the comparisons indicated no significant differences in the magnitudes of the correlations of the WPPSI and the WISC-R with the WRAT. These results support the use of the two instruments as equivalent predictors of achievement.     

Recovery from the overexpectation effect: Contrasting performance-focused and acquisition-focused models of retrospective revaluation

In four Pavlovian conditioned lick-suppression experiments, rats had two conditioned stimuli (CSs X and A) independently paired with footshock, followed by pairings of a compound of A and X with the footshock. On subsequent tests with CS X, less conditioned suppression was observed than in control subjects that lacked the compound AX→footshock trials. Thisoverexpectation effect was reversed through posttraining extinction of CS A, a result consistent with both performance- and acquisition-focused models of retrospective revaluation. However, only performance-focused models could account for how posttraining increases or decreases in the A-footshock temporal interval attenuate the overexpectation effect.     

The validity and reliability of focus groups as a research method in adult education

The article examines the theory and practice of focus groups in adult education research. Three theoretical positions are described: radical hermeneutic, moderate interpretative and pragmatic realistic position trying to bridge the gap with positivist research. This last position has been chosen as the departure point for a further analysis of the focus group elements, which relate to validity and reliability. The research examines four European research projects in the field of adult education. The most important and surprising data are presented with reference to both socio-psychological and technical problems in the use of this method. The results highlight the importance and dynamics of all the elements discussed.     

Oral traditions,changing rural landscapes,and science education

This forum response extends the argument made by Avery and Hains that oral traditions can be useful for including the cultures and contexts of rural areas within science instruction. To buttress the oral expressions presented in Avery and Hains, I compare oral expressions of a second rural area, 600 miles to the South, in Eastern North Carolina. I explore similarities and differences in expressions from the two areas and consider the changing rural context within Eastern North Carolina. I add a consideration of larger demographic shifts impacting many rural areas—particularly in the US South—and close with a discussion of implications for science education.