Thinking whimsically: queering the study of educational policy-making and politics

This paper discusses employing queer theory (QT) and queer legal theory (QLT) for critical policy analysis as applied to education. In doing so, the authors will highlight how both QT and QLT can empower analyses to look beyond the identity politics of a particular time period or space and toward potential reforms in curriculum, pedagogy, and institutional supports for students, teachers, and staff. A central point is that understanding the institutional and cultural practices that frame orientation, class, race, and sex/gender can lead to policy changes that benefit all students, teachers, and staff. The paper concludes with a discussion of venues in need of both QT and QLT-informed research.     

Longitudinal correlates of reading comprehension difficulties in Chinese children

The present study explored the early predictors of reading comprehension difficulties in Chinese children. We originally recruited 290 Beijing and 154 Hong Kong children and further selected from each sample those (30 from Beijing and 22 from Hong Kong sample) in the lowest 25 % on reading comprehension tests across the last two consecutive testing years (Beijing: ages 9 and 10; Hong Kong: ages 8 and 9) as poor comprehenders. These groups were matched to a group of children from the same sample whose reading comprehension was above 30 % across the two final years and matched on mothers’ education levels, age, nonverbal reasoning at age 4, and Chinese word reading across the same final two consecutive years. We then examined early linguistic/cognitive skills at ages 5–9 that could distinguish the poor and typically developing groups in each city separately. Compared to the control group, poor comprehenders from both samples performed significantly and consistently worse on word reading at early ages, and generally worse on morphological compounding awareness, phonological awareness, and vocabulary knowledge from ages 6 and onwards. In addition, lexical tone sensitivity across ages and grammatical sensitivity (administered at age 5 only) failed to distinguish the two groups for the Beijing sample but did for Hong Kong children.     

Socioeconomic status and receptive vocabulary development: Replication of the parental investment model with Chilean preschoolers and their families

Drawing on the first wave of data from the Chilean Longitudinal Study for Early Childhood the current study examined the relation between family socioeconomic status (SES) and children's receptive Spanish vocabulary, and whether these relations were mediated by physical features of the home environment, parent–child interactions, and participation in center-based child care. The results of path analyses (n = 1589) estimating direct and indirect effects of SES on children's receptive vocabulary test scores provided evidence of partial mediation through indices of standard of living and parents’ level of cognitive and linguistic stimulation in the home. This study is among the first to replicate with a non-U.S. sample, a well-established linkage among SES, family-level conditions and processes, and young children's language outcomes.     

Referencing and identity,voice and agency: adult learners' transformations within literacy practices

Referencing skills contribute much to the emergence of voice in students' academic writing. Such skills have a bearing on the identity of learners as writers. In referring certain ideas to certain sources, the writer is able to distinguish voices of others and, in doing so, provide space for the hearing, or establishment, of their individual voice. However, an understanding of the rationale behind referencing and taking on the techniques required for its conventions often proves a complex, intimidating affair for students. Much fear is incited within learners by the convention of referencing, together with the scourge of plagiarism. Thus, rather than learners being ensconced within the academic environment through being able to relate to and engage with other voices, thereby acquiring agency in their writing, issues around referencing can actually serve to alienate them from the academic environment and deter them from their own agency. It may involve much practice and discussion before students see referencing as an asset in their writing. This process entails deconstructions, renegotiations and reconstructions of relationships with ideas and identities. This paper focuses on the relationship of agency and the issue of referencing in the development of an authorial identity for adult learners in the academic institution.     

High-Impact Educational Practices: An Exploration of the Role of Information Literacy

There is an expectation that college students graduate with competency in information literacy. Ideally, institutions of higher education integrate these competencies throughout their curricula in a progressive manner. High-impact educational practices contribute to student success. The purpose of this article is to examine recent literature about five of the high-impact educational practices (capstone experiences, learning communities, service learning and community-based learning, undergraduate research, and writing-intensive courses) to understand the extent to which they include the integration of information literacy competencies. The article includes recommendations for practice and research in the areas of assessment, pedagogy, and program planning.     

Mutatis Mutandis: Writing (After Derrida [After McLuhan {After Joyce}])

This essay plays Jacques Derrida and Marshall McLuhan off of one another and allows each to rub up against the other's voice. It will be argued that these works (which are rarely, if ever, read in conjunction) elicit underlying themes of each other, including similarities found in both their subjects and their reception. A connection via James Joyce will be discussed as well. The “writing” of non-books by Derrida and McLuhan, it will be argued, deconstructs communication form in a manner similar to Joyce, highlighting and applying to Derrida and McLuhan what Samuel Beckett once said of Joyce: “His writing is not about something; it is that something itself.”     

In/discernible bodies: the politics of passing in dominant and marginal media

This essay explores news media coverage of two types of alleged “passing”: passing across racial lines from Black to White and across sex lines from female to male. Textual analysis of dominant print media and print media discourses produced by and/or addressed to Blacks and queers reveals prominent frames through which news consumers are invited to perceive these events. In particular, the analysis demonstrates that both dominant and marginal social groups express the desire to fix the identities of passers in a single, discrete category, although these groups wish to do so for disparate reasons. In addition, marginal groups frame passing events within broad cultural and historical contexts in contrast to the narrow contexts framed by dominant media. Comparison of race and sex passing exposes the similarities–including community consternation about the passer–and differences–including disparate focus on civil rights rather than identity issues–between Black and queer coverage of these events. Comparison of race and sex passing also exposes the way in which dominant media correlate race passing with class passing, while sex passing is correlated to sexuality passing (that is, queer passing for heterosexual).     

Use of Polarised Light Microscopy to Improve Conservation of Parchment

ABSTRACT

The preservation state of parchment primarily depends on the structure of the collagen fibre network, which in turn is responsible for optical anisotropy, i.e. birefringence. Polarised light microscopy can therefore be used as a non-invasive technique that allows recording of birefringence distribution in the parchment, which directly relates to stress–strain distribution. Using samples from diverse sources (commercial parchment, parchment used by restorers for book binding, and parchment fabricated for the purpose of this study), we assessed the capability of polarised light microscopy for various diagnostics. We performed, for instance, identification of gelatinised regions, layered or ?brous regions in parchment cross section, qualitative analysis of parchment fat content (lipids), observation of stress-induced patterns resulting from tensile tests, and observation of water diffusion. These proof-of-principle experiments extend the capability of polarised light microscopy far beyond its common use and open the path to its deployment in conservation studies.     

Assessment of an iPad Loan Program in an Academic Medical Library: A Case Study

An academic medical library expanded its iPad loan service to multiple campus libraries and conducted an assessment of the service. iPads loaded with medical and educational apps were loaned for two-week checkouts from five library campus locations. Device circulation statistics were tracked and users were invited to complete an online survey about their experience. Data were gathered and analyzed for 11 months. The assessment informed the library on how best to adapt the service, including what resources to add to the iPads, and the decision to move devices to campuses with more frequent usage.     

Stability of Rasch Scales Over Time

Item response theory (IRT) methods are generally used to create score scales for large-scale tests. Research has shown that IRT scales are stable across groups and over time. Most studies have focused on items that are dichotomously scored. Now Rasch and other IRT models are used to create scales for tests that include polytomously scored items. When tests are equated across forms, researchers check for the stability of common items before including them in equating procedures. Stability is usually examined in relation to polytomous items' central “location” on the scale without taking into account the stability of the different item scores (step difficulties). We examined the stability of score scales over a 3–5-year period, considering both stability of location values and stability of step difficulties for common item equating. We also investigated possible changes in the scale measured by the tests and systematic scale drift that might not be evident in year-to-year equating. Results across grades and content areas suggest that equating results are comparable whether or not the stability of step difficulties is taken into account. Results also suggest that there may be systematic scale drift that is not visible using year-to-year common item equating.