Economics of cultural tourism: issues and perspectives

The special issue aims at exploring, with an economic perspective, the interconnections between cultural participation, in all its expressions, and tourism organization and patterns with the purpose of understanding economic effects, emerging trends and policy implications. The expanding notion of the cultural consumption of tourists makes the definition of cultural tourism increasingly elusive. Empirical investigations of the relationships between cultural participation and cultural heritage and tourism offer interesting hints in many directions. This introduction briefly overviews the premise of this special issue, the literature and the several perspectives taken by the included articles. Aside from their cultural topics—general, intangible or temporary—these essays all tackle some important economic dimensions of tourism. We encourage cultural economists to invest more in these fascinating areas as more than just intellectual tourists.     

A brief screening battery for predicting school achievement at ages seven and nine years

This article describes the development, utilization, and evaluation of an early screening battery for predicting school success or failure. The battery was administered to the pediatric population of the Southern California Permanente Medical Group, Panorama City Medical Center, at the time of the routine five-year health examination. For 411 children whose school performance was assessed by the teacher at age seven years, the Caldwell Test was the best predictor, but it had significant value for girls only (p<0.0001). In 1,251 children evaluated at age nine years, the Beery-Butkenica Developmental Test of Visual-Motor Integration (VMI) and the Caldwell Test were the best predictors (p⩽0.003). In 600 children for whom we had teacher ratings at ages seven and nine years, the VMI repeated at age seven years significantly predicted academic achievement and reading at age nine years for girls and boys (p = 0.007). Although combining the academic performance with VMI results at age seven years yielded 89% accuracy of prediction at age nine years, the false-positive rate represents a serious practical problem of mislabeling children as school failures.     

Prediction of academic achievement with the McCarthy screening test and metropolitan readiness test

There is a need for accurate, efficient assessment of children's readiness, to provide information concerning strengths and weaknesses of children and to identify those children who may be at risk for school failure. This necessitates determining the relative usefulness of instruments in predicting later school achievement. This study examined the efficacy of the McCarthy Screening Test (MST) and Metropolitan Readiness Test (MRT) to predict academic readiness at the end of kindergarten and achievement at the end of first grade. Eighty-eight children were screened upon entering kindergarten, using the MST. As a measurement of academic readiness, the MRT was administered at the end of kindergarten, and the Scott and Foresman Achievement Test (SFAT) was administered at the end of first grade as a measure of achievement. Regression analyses indicated that the MST significantly predicted children's scores on the MRT and SFAT. Additionally, the MRT was a significant predictor of the SFAT.     

Reliability and validity of speech rating scales: Some error effects

Validity and reliability are important criteria in speech rating scale development and use. This investigation explores the effects of certain rater errors, compares a newly devloped scale to a widely used instrument, and suggests the existence of specific factors as crucial elements in evaluation.     

Creating,implementing and integrating a first‐year statistics requirement

We present the process our institution used to create a statistics requirement for almost all incoming first‐year students. From conception and planning, to hiring and acceptance by the university community, we offer lessons learned should you consider making such a shift in your own curriculum.     

A NEW LOOK AT PRESERVICE TEACHERS' CONCEPTIONS OF CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT AND ORGANIZATION: UNCOVERING COMPLEXITY AND DISSONANCE

This article examines preservice teachers' conceptions of classroom management and organization in light of their training and beliefs about good teaching. Students in their final year of a 5-year program discussed their definitions and conceptions of classroom management, organization, and rule systems through an open-ended questionnaire. Researchers analyzed responses using a grounded approach. Findings revealed a portrait of student perceptions more complex than those in previous studies, with conceptions often changing according to the nature of the question asked. Respondents exhibited a preoccupation with behavior management previously recognized in other studies; however, findings also revealed underlying conflicts between respondents' theoretical orientations and conceptions of management, a lack of attention to developing student independence, and a conceptual schism between organization and management. Findings suggest a need for teacher educators to clarify the role of management, clarify relationships between organization and management, and help students to bridge specific theory–practice gaps.