Spirituality Amid Dogma? Some Approaches to Educating for Religious Belief within in a State Religious School in Israel

The religious school, where young people are brought into religious life and practice, the development of a religious belief system is often neglected. Religiousness is often instilled as a linear end product, a monolithic corpus of ideas to be singularly transmitted and subsequently owned by youth. However, educational research by Gareth Matthews, Nel Noddings, and others suggests that youth are thirsting for opportunities to grapple, question, and wrestle with profound theological and philosophical issues—a process that leads to a richer religious identity. This article, based on three years of ethnographic research, looks at the way in which four teachers from one religious girls' high school in Israel executed theological education, from indoctrination with a pretty face, to the theological Bunsen burner. The dynamic between teachers' voices and students' voices sheds light on adolescent religious identity, and offers vital insights for religious education.     

Factors that Promote High School Graduation: a Review of the Literature

A high school education prepares young people to participate positively in the economy and in civic life, among other positive life outcomes. However, nearly one in five American high school students does not graduate from high school on time, if ever. Progress has been made on understanding why students fail to complete high school and on raising graduation rates. Previous reviews and syntheses of this literature have focused on identifying factors that put students at risk for dropping out of school. Less is understood regarding what assets can promote high school graduation. Therefore, we reviewed research from the past 25 years on high school graduation, focusing on longitudinal, US-based studies of malleable factors that predict graduation. Through this systematic search, we identified 12 assets in individual, family, school, peer, and community contexts, which predict high school graduation, as well as identified assets for which more research is needed. Implications for policy and practice and directions for future research are discussed.     

Why do students drop out? Turning points and long-term experiences

Understanding the reasons that individuals drop out of high school is fundamental to improving intervention efforts to promote graduation. The authors present a mixed methods analysis of the reasons individuals drop out of high school before graduating. Using a survey methodology with young adults who left school before graduating (N?=?1,047, M age?=?21.5?years, SD?=?2.2 years, age range =18–25 years), the authors assessed ongoing life stressors, as well as the turning points individuals identified as the top reason for why they left school. Qualitative analysis provided seven categories of turning points: mobility, family, peers, school engagement and environment, health, crime, and multiple categories. More than half of respondents indicated that the reason they dropped out was related to school engagement and environment. Results showed differences across profiles of lived experiences, reported turning points, and sex.     

Software for teaching physiology and biophysics

We describe a software library that we have developed to teach biophysics and physiology to undergraduate engineering and science students as well as to medical students. The library, which is under development, now includes software on: (1) the Hodgkin-Huxley model for excitation of action potentials in electrically excitable cells (such as nerve and muscle cells); (2) a random-walk model of diffusion; (3) single voltage-gated ion channels; (4) steady-state chemically mediated transport; and (5) macroscopic diffusion processes. The software is used in a variety of ways: as an integral part of lectures, as the basis of special sessions held in electronic classrooms, as a source of homework assignments, and for special projects defined by the students. We describe the software and some of the pedagogic methods we have used.     

Mexican-Origin Adolescent Mothers’ Economic Contexts,Educational Re-Engagement,and Their Children’s School Readiness

Drawing on data from a longitudinal study of 204 Mexican-origin adolescent mothers, their mother figures, and their children, the current investigation examined (a) adolescent mothers’ educational re-engagement and attainment beginning during their pregnancy and ending when their child was 5 years old; and (b) the influence of the family economic context on adolescent mothers’ educational re-engagement and attainment and their children’s academic and social-emotional outcomes. Findings detailed adolescent mothers’ re-engagement in school after the birth of their child and revealed that family income during adolescents’ pregnancies was directly associated with re-engagement and attainment, and also initiated cascade effects that shaped adolescents’ economic contexts, their subsequent re-engagement and attainment, and ultimately their children’s academic and social-emotional outcomes at age 5.     

The teacher work sample: A tool for scaffolding and assessing preservice teachers' early field experiences

Abstract

This article describes adapting teacher work sample methodology from the student teaching level to a 4‐week, 25‐hour field experience occurring relatively early in a teacher education program. The goals of the project were twofold: (a) to examine whether an adapted version of the teacher work sample would promote planning and reflection in preservice teachers, and (b) to explore the potential of an adapted teacher work sample as an assessment tool. Adaptations to the original, such as emphasizing formative over summative assessment, are briefly described. Survey and focus group data from a pilot combined with survey data from a semester of full implementation with 270 teacher candidates indicate the teacher work sample is useful for promoting reflection and an understanding of student assessment. The advantages of the teacher work sample are maximized when teacher candidates are engaged in whole class instruction.     

The impact of childhood abuse on inpatient substance users: Specific links with risky sex,aggression, and emotion dysregulation

Adults with substance use disorders (SUDs) report a high prevalence of childhood abuse. Research in the general population suggests specific types of abuse lead to particular negative outcomes; it is not known whether this pattern holds for adults with SUDs. We hypothesized that specific types of abuse would be associated with particular behavioral and emotional outcomes among substance users. That is, childhood sexual abuse would be associated with risky sex behaviors, childhood physical abuse with aggression, and childhood emotional abuse with emotion dysregulation. 280 inpatients (M age = 43.3; 69.7% male; 88.4% African American) in substance use treatment completed the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ), HIV Risk-Taking Behavior Scale, Addiction Severity Index, Difficulties with Emotion Regulation Scale (DERS), Distress Tolerance Scale (DTS), and Affect Intensity and Dimensions of Affiliation Motivation (AIM). Consistent with our hypotheses, the CTQ sexual abuse subscale uniquely predicted exchanging sex for cocaine and heroin, number of arrests for prostitution, engaging in unprotected sex with a casual partner during the prior year, and experiencing low sexual arousal when sober. The physical abuse subscale uniquely predicted number of arrests for assault and weapons offenses. The emotional abuse subscale uniquely predicted the DERS total score, AIM score, and DTS score. Among substance users, different types of abuse are uniquely associated with specific negative effects. Assessment of specific abuse types among substance users may be informative in treatment planning and relapse prevention.