THE IMPACT OF HISTORICALLY BLACK COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES ON THE ACADEMIC SUCCESS OF AFRICAN-AMERICAN STUDENTS

Anchored in national longitudinal data analyzed through hierarchical linear and non-linear modeling, this study found that African-American students have a similar probability of obtaining a BA degree whether they attended a historically Black college or university (HBCU) or a historically White college or university (HWCU). Among African-Americans, females are more likely to obtain a baccalaureate degree than males. Especially given that HBCUs are significantly underfunded relative to HWCUs, the findings of this study lend support to the proposition that HBCUs contribute significantly to higher education in this country and merit strong support from both the public and private sectors. This paper was presented at the American Education Research Association Conference in April 2005.     

Exploring Gender and Phenomenography

A critical feature of phenomenographic study is its generation of the “outcome space” which constitutes the results of the study. The central idea underlying this article is that women may be “lost in space" — the phenomenographic outcome space. First, women seem to be literally missing in the majority of phenomenographic studies. These studies have usually been in fields in which women are poorly represented and in research samples in which women have not been present. Second, the traditional disciplines of study, the values of which largely determine the structure of the typically hierarchical outcome space, are patriarchal. Without attention to the hidden as well as the explicit aspects of what learners are coming to know, the understanding that we gain from the outcome space may be distorted. Third, the outcome space tends to be defined in many studies in cognitive terms, excluding or neglecting the affective dimension often associated with women's ways of knowing. This article explores the implications of looking for and elaborating on women's experience in phenomenographic research and suggests several ways in which women's experience might be recognised: by ensuring that women are included in research; by questioning in gender‐sensitive ways; by collecting and analysing the data with attention to the gendered construction of disciplinary knowledge and gendered ways of knowing.     

Newsgathering technology and the content of local television news

A preliminary study suggests that newsgathering technology may have a negative effect on local television news content and on the autonomy of news directors.     

Controversial Rap Themes,Gender Portrayals and Skin Tone Distortion: A Content Analysis of Rap Music Videos

A content analysis of rap music videos aired on BET, MTV, and VH1 examined the occurrence of controversial themes, gender differences, and skin tone distortion. The results of this study found that current rap music videos have placed an emphasis on themes of materialism and misogyny. Additionally, men and women in the videos differ in their portrayal of these themes. Specifically, female characters are significantly more likely to appear as objects of sexuality. Men and women also differ in their appearance with more African American females appearing to have Eurocentric features. Implications and suggestions for future research are discussed.     

Bilingual and Multilingual Legal Dictionaries in the European Union: An Updated Bibliography

This annotated bibliography is intended to shed light on the availability and distribution of legal dictionaries that translate the twenty-seven European languages. The representative corpus consists of about 200 printed bilingual legal dictionaries (BLDs) with terms from two or more legal languages used in the European Union. This bibliography aims to illustrate the wide variation in the quality of these BLDs by the usage of three special headings and by referring to relevant professional reviews. In addition, the authors have commented upon noticeable BLDs that deserve serious criticism or special attention. This annotated bibliography updates the previous bibliography (Gerard-René de Groot & Conrad J. P. van Laer. The Quality of Legal Dictionaries: An Assessment [Maastricht Faculty of Law Working Paper No. 2008/6, 2008]) and covers almost all recently published BLDs. However, this bibliography is not exhaustive because of the dispersion of publishing houses: Each publisher issues only two BLDs, on average.     

The Index of Forecasting Efficiency,for the Case of a “True” Criterion

A variety of personal characteristics have been shown to be influential in teacher-student relationships. The sex of the child as well as the appropriateness of his behavior were the factors evaluated in this study. An analysis of the results indicated that sex-inappropriate behavior was viewed less favorably than sex-appropriate behavior. A discussion of the results was presented with regard to support for previous studies and implications for future research.     

State Education Finance and Governance Profile: South Carolina

As more state legislatures join the debate on school-choice and parent-trigger legislation, their discussions draw attention to an evolving landscape outside school walls where parental action shapes educational opportunity. Parents wield their political, social, economic, and cultural capital to secure the best educational outcomes for their children. This paper identifies the political frames that distinguish the educational opportunity-seeking behavior of middle-, working-, and lower-class parents. Rational choice and interest group theories are used to explain the politics of middle-class opportunity hoarding by way of tracking and school-choice practices. Policy entrepreneurship and interest group theory provide the frameworks to explain the support for vouchers and parent-trigger laws by lower- and working-class parents as part of their opportunity-prying efforts.     

LEARNING RESOURCES

This article describes the development of a partnership made up of a university‐based gerontology center, a state department on aging, and agencies serving older people to examine differences between urban and rural areas in the provision of services to an elderly clientele. Five steps of the collaborative process are described: (1) building a collaborative relationship, (2) development of a research proposal, (3) discussion of the results, (4) principles and conclusions, and (5) the payoff.

The first two steps describe the context in which the substantive issues were addressed and the formal development of a proposal and work plan for the conduct of the research. The principles emphasize the usefulness of task allocation based on existing resources, skills, and interests; recognition of the costs of participation by rural agencies; and schedules that accommodate the extra time necessary to revise, review, and reach consensus on issues of concern. The payoff describes actions taken by the aging network following acceptance of the final report, and research activity generated by the findings.

The step‐by‐step process described is a potential model for partnerships encompassing university resources and agencies serving the elderly.     

EFFECTIVENESS OF A WORKSHOP ON AGING IN CHANGING MIDDLE‐AGED ADULTS’ ATTITUDES TOWARD THE AGED

This study focused on the question of whether middle‐aged adults’ attitudes toward the aged could be changed through participation in specially designed educational experiences. It was expected that the adults participating in this study would hold negative attitudes toward older persons, but the pretest showed that they held slightly positive attitudes. “Purpose in life” was the only variable significantly related to pretest scores. The adults’ attitudes toward older persons changed significantly in a positive direction following the workshop experience, while those in the control group decreased. It was concluded the workshop had a significant impact on these differences.