Dimensions of Norm-Referenced Compulsory School Grades and their Relative Importance for the Prediction of Upper Secondary School Grades

Irrespective of the grading system, grades are the most valid instrument for predicting educational success. Previous studies have shown that criterion-referenced compulsory school grades are multidimensional, reflecting subject-specific dimensions and a common grade dimension, both of which contribute to the predictive validity of grades. This suggests that in addition to knowledge and skills, grades reflect other aspects which might have importance for the prediction of educational success. The purpose of this study was to investigate, using structured equation modeling, whether norm-referenced compulsory school grades display similar patterns of dimensionality and predictive validity to criterion-referenced grades. Possible differences due to gender and parents' education were considered. Participants were 3855 students born in 1972. The results showed that norm-referenced grades are multidimensional, and that both the subject-specific and common grade dimensions contribute to predicting educational success. In the common grade dimension, girls and students with higher educational backgrounds were favored.     

Repeated reports for child maltreatment among intimate partner violence victims: Findings from the National Survey of Child and Adolescent Well-Being

ObjectivesTo determine the prevalence of intimate partner violence (defined as any physical violence during the last 12 months or previously) among mothers who maltreat their children, and to examine whether mothers’ experiences of intimate partner violence (IPV) are associated with repeated reports (rereports) of children to Child Protective Services (CPS) during the following 18 months.MethodsData for the analyses were from the National Survey of Child and Adolescent Well-Being (NSCAW), a national probability study of children investigated for child maltreatment. The sample of 5,501 children (ages 0–14) was randomly selected from the families who entered the US child welfare system between October 1999 and December 2000. The analysis sample was restricted to 1,236 families in which caregivers were: (1) the alleged perpetrators of the child maltreatment at baseline (independently of substantiation status) and (2) the biological mothers (n = 1,212 or 98.6%), adoptive mothers (n = 17 or 1%), or stepmothers (n = 7 or 0.3%) of children not placed in out-of-home care.ResultsChildren of mothers physically abused by an intimate partner during the last 12 months or previously at the intake interview (44%) were twice as likely as children of mothers who had not experienced such violence to be rereported to CPS (29% vs. 14%, Odds Ratio = 2.0, 95% Confidence Interval = 1.1–3.4). Rereports occurred almost twice as quickly for children of mothers who experienced IPV compared to children of mothers who had not experienced IPV (Hazard Ratio = 1.9, 95% Confidence Interval = 1.1–3.0).ConclusionsThe higher risk and speedier rereports of child maltreatment associated with intimate partner violence highlights the need for universal assessment and provision of services for IPV among families that are investigated by CPS.     

Historical Evolution of the Field View and Textbook Accounts

We analyzed how two basic electromagnetism textooks approach the concept of electric field. We limited our study to the reasons given in these textbooks for the introduction of the field representation and to how accurate, coherent, and complete these reasons are. Because many times historical reasons are intertwined with textbooks' explanations of physical phenomena, we used the historical evolution of the field representation to guide our analysis. The analysis shows that one textbook mixes up the historical and pedagogical reasons for the introduction of the concept of field. The other one presents a sketch that might lead students to understand the field and the action-at-a-distance views as supplementing each other.     

USING FOCUS GROUPS AS AN EDUCATIONAL METHODOLOGY: DECONSTRUCTING STEREOTYPES AND SOCIAL WORK PRACTICE MISCONCEPTIONS CONCERNING AGING AND OLDER ADULTS

During the coming years the number of older adults will increase dramatically, which will require a corresponding increase in the number of social workers who have accurate knowledge of this population. This article reports the impact focus groups with older adults and with service providers who work with older adults and their families have on baccalaureate social work (BSW) students. We find that BSW students exposed to focus groups have their negative attitudes about older adults and service providers deconstructed and replaced with more positive and accurate information about older adults. When students' misconceptions about older adults are confronted, they become more interested in choosing geriatric social work as a career option.     

Cleaning the slate? School choice and educational outcomes in Spain

Using data from a nation-wide survey on Spanish workers, this paper examines two issues: the determinants of school choice (distinguishing between public and private schools) and the influence of school type on the individual’s educational attainment. For that, bivariate probit models are estimated. The analysis is carried out separately by gender and birth cohort. We find that individuals who have attended a private school come from households with higher socio-cultural level and that having attended a private school does not raise the probability of reaching a higher degree, once potential endogeneity of school choice and educational outcomes are taken into account. However, the latter result depends on the instrumental variable used for observed school type in models of demand for higher education.     

Dominance, Subordination, and Concepts of Personal Entitlements in Cultural Contexts

In 2 studies, we assessed concepts of personal entitlements in more and less hierarchically organized cultures. Study 1 assessed the judgments of 88 adolescent and adult males (mean ages 17-6 and 34-7) from Druze and Jewish communities in Israel. Subjects were presented with conflict situations in which a person in a dominant position (husband, father) objects to the activities of a family member in a subordinate position (wife, daughter, son), and vice versa. Druze subjects attributed more power than Jewish subjects to husbands and fathers over wives and daughters, but concepts of personal entitlements were prominent in both groups. Study 2 assessed the judgements of Druze females (mean ages 12-10, 17-5, and 38-6). Results show that females accept the legitimacy of males' power and personal autonomy, recognize the consequences for those in subordinate positions, and regard the existing social arrangements as unfair. Overall, the findings indicate that social reasoning is heterogeneous in different types of cultures.     

Caregiver instability and early life changes among infants reported to the child welfare system

This study describes the extent of caregiver instability (defined as a new placement for 1 week or longer in a different household and/or with a new caregiver) in a nationally representative sample of infants, followed for 5–7 years. Data were drawn from the National Survey of Child and Adolescent Well-Being (NSCAW), a longitudinal study of 5,501 children investigated for child maltreatment. The analysis sample was restricted to 1,196 infants. Overall, 85.6% of children who were infants at the time of the index maltreatment experienced at least one caregiver instability event during their first 2 years of life. Caregiver instability was associated with the child having a chronic health condition and the caregiver being older than 40 years of age at baseline. The levels of instability reported in this study from infancy to school entry are extremely high. Children with more risk factors were significantly more likely to experience caregiver instability than children with fewer risk factors. The repeated loss of a young child's primary caregiver or unavailable, neglectful care can be experienced as traumatic. Some evidence-based programs that are designed to work with young maltreated children can make a substantial positive difference in the lives of vulnerable infants.     

Testing Expert-Based Versus Student-Based Cognitive Models for a Grade 3 Diagnostic Mathematics Assessment

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the adequacy of three cognitive models, one developed by content experts and two generated from student verbal reports for explaining examinee performance on a grade 3 diagnostic mathematics test. For this study, the items were developed to directly measure the attributes in the cognitive model. The performance of each cognitive model was evaluated by examining its fit to different data samples: verbal report, total, high-, moderate-, and low ability using the Hierarchy Consistency Index (Cui & Leighton, 2009), a model-data fit index. This study utilized cognitive diagnostic assessments developed under the framework of construct-centered test design and analyzed using the Attribute Hierarchy Method (Gierl, Wang, & Zhou, 2008; Leighton, Gierl, & Hunka, 2004). Both the expert-based and the student-based cognitive models provided excellent fit to the verbal report and high ability samples, but moderate to poor fit to the total, moderate and low ability samples. Implications for cognitive model development for cognitive diagnostic assessment are discussed.