Moberly Junior College,the four-year junior college

In Leonard Koos’s book, The Junior-College Movement, he described the establishment of a junior college in an American public school district as the ‘culmination of the local school system’, alluding to the prestige associated with having a junior college in a community. The best-known example of this arrangement was in Pasadena, California where the combined high school and college operated for 27 years. Less well known is the four-year junior college in central Missouri called Moberly Junior College (MJC). MJC operated as a combined high school and college for 36 years from the autumn of 1931 to the autumn of 1967, the longest running four-year junior college in the United States. This case study of the college examines how the seamless transition between high school and college was accomplished, and what changes in the institution and the educational environment led to the eventual dissolution of the four-year junior college.     

“If only”: Outdoor and adventurous activities and generalised academic development

This paper reports on research conducted as part of a project, the aim of which was to utilise outdoor and adventurous experiences to help schools address their 'if only' factor — that aspect of learning perceived to be key to raising standards, whether it be the acquisition of knowledge, skills or a change in attitudes to learning. The project involved nine schools and 671 children, all engaged in the “I Can!” project and the follow-up activities that took place at schools. The research was carried out with children, teachers and parents and consisted of a series of focus groups and analysis of children's work. Limitations inherent within the research opportunity prevent the confident attribution of causation. However, the study's findings do offer insight into an under-researched, yet potentially valuable educational experience. The findings suggest that outdoor and adventurous activities can impact upon children's learning in school by addressing their intellectual, affective and social development.     

Understanding Barriers and Solutions Affecting Preschool Attendance in Low-Income Families

ABSTRACT

Preschool attendance problems negatively impact children's school readiness skills and future school attendance. Parents are critical to preschoolers’ attendance. This study explored parental barriers and solutions to preschool attendance in low-income families. School-district administrative data from a racially/ethnically diverse sample of parents with children attending the district's half-day preschool program were obtained (N = 111). Subsamples of parents participated in a phone interview and follow-up, in-person interview. Parents valued early learning and preschool. Children missed school due to illness, problems with child care, transportation, and family life. Differences in attendance rates appeared by school, family demographics, and race/ethnicity. African-Americans and Hispanics experienced more barriers than Whites and Asians, and were more likely to miss school because of illness and medical appointments. Hispanics were more likely to miss for vacation. Parents noted a lack of social connection with other parents in the school/neighborhood, making seeking help to resolve attendance barriers difficult.     

Professional skills, concerns, and perceived importance of work with families in early intervention.

Innovations brought about by Public Law 99-457 require early intervention personnel to expand their work practices to involve and support families in the provision of early intervention services. To support training needs in this area, and to understand possible barriers to change, this study examined the extent to which 142 early interventionists from two states felt competent in working with families, valued family roles, and were concerned about changing to family-centered practices. Relationships among these characteristics and experience, discipline, and job category were explored. In general, nurses and social workers scored higher than did educators and other health-care professionals on several dimensions of family-centered care. Many professionals expressed concerns about collaboration.     

Formula-based research incentive plans at colleges and universities

Financial problems at colleges and universities have led many institutions to initiate extra efforts to obtain extramural funds. One such effort has been the establishment of formula-based research incentive plans. These plans generally utilize the recovery of indirect costs as the basis for allocating additional incentive funds to various areas as an encouragement to obtain additional extramural funds. Data from surveys conducted by the University of Missouri-Kansas City and Ohio University were combined with National Science Foundation reports to provide information about this relatively recent phenomena. The increasing popularity of these plans was shown in that a majority of institutions had such plans in effect during FY 1979. Analyses of the effectiveness of these plans showed no statistically significant differences between institutions with incentive plans and those without such plans, although mean federal research expenditures were approximately 20% greater at those institutions without these incentive plans. The evidence presented indicates that the receipt of federal research funds is not associated with the use of a formula-based research incentive plan.     

Academics' Motivation and Self‐efficacy for Teaching and Research

The study focused on academic staff in a post‐1987 university, that is, a former college of advanced education which had been awarded university status as a result of the Australian Government's decision to have a Unified National System of universities. The focus of attention was motivation and self‐efficacy for teaching and research. The effect of faculty of affiliation, level of appointment, gender, qualifications, and research productivity on staff's self‐reported attributions for teaching and research were examined. Tutors, staff with bachelor degrees, academics with low research productivity, and women had higher teaching motivation. One faculty was lower in both research motivation and self‐efficacy, and associate professors and professors had high levels of research efficacy. Men and women had the same level of research motivation and self‐efficacy. Staff with higher degrees and greater research productivity were more motivated and self‐efficacious about research. The results suggest the need to understand more clearly how each individual's research motivation and self‐efficacy is constructed and to determine the best method of increasing motivation and self‐efficacy for teaching and research.     

Students’ fraction comparison strategies as a window into robust understanding and possible pointers for instruction

As part of individual interviews incorporating whole number and rational number tasks, 323 grade 6 children in Victoria, Australia were asked to nominate the larger of two fractions for eight pairs, giving reasons for their choice. All tasks were expected to be undertaken mentally. The relative difficulty of the pairs was found to be close to that predicted, with the exception of fractions with the same numerators and different denominators, which proved surprisingly difficult. Students who demonstrated the greatest success were likely to use benchmark (transitive) and residual thinking. It is hypothesised that the methods of these successful students could form the basis of instructional approaches which may yield the kind of connected understanding promoted in various curriculum documents and required for the development of proportional reasoning in later years.