Differences on Bayley's infant behavior record for a sample of high-risk infants and their controls

3 groups of high-risk newborns and their controls were assessed at 92 weeks post-conceptional age using Bayley's Infant Behavioral Record (IBR). The 3 groups of high-risk infants were those who weighed 1,500 grams or less at birth and required no ventilator therapy, those weighing 1,500 grams or less at birth who required ventilator therapy, and newborns weighing more than 1,500 grams at birth who required ventilator therapy. Controls were healthy term infants matched for 7 socioeconomic and demographic variables. The first principal component of the IBR ratings for the 3 groups of high-risk infants and the controls were similar. All 3 groups of high-risk infants received less desirable IBR ratings on most items than their controls. In addition, there were some differences among high-risk groups; ventilated infants regardless of birth weight received the lowest ratings reflecting overall performance on the IBR, very low birthweight, ventilated newborns were more likely to receive ratings characterizing an overly active infant with a short attention span, and very low birth-weight, never-ventilated infants were most likely to be rated as happy but passive and delayed. The differences between the high-risk infants and controls in large part resulted from infants who were also delayed in terms of their mental and motor development.     

Fifteen years of research on PISA effects on education governance: A critical review

This article provides a literature review on the effects of the OECD's Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) on education governance and policy process across participating countries. This review seemed necessary because there has been a growing body of literature on this topic since 2003, especially since 2010, because this literature is not always well‐known and because the discourse on the so‐called ‘PISA shock’ remains important, even if it is more of a metaphor than a concept and may be politically partial. The article exploits a dataset of 87 references which show that PISA introduced major changes in the governance of education worldwide. Driven by soft power strategies and new policy transfers, this governance is based on data and measurement tools which redefine the scales of education policies. It also shows that PISA has a strong influence on a variety of national reforms, as illustrated in many case studies. However, this influence strongly depends on domestic policy contexts that scholars intended to capture through different theoretical frameworks. Nonetheless, few propose overarching theorisations of the political meaning of PISA effects on education governance and policy processes. The article concludes by stressing three main challenges for the subsequent studies on these PISA effects: better conceptualising these effects, preserving an epistemology of uncertainty in order to avoid taken for granted views and normalising the research on PISA effects not to perpetually and artificially rediscover its so‐called novelty.     

Remaining connected in the face of cyberbullying: Why social connectedness is important for mental health

It is well documented that cyberbullying can lead to adverse mental health outcomes. Separate research shows that higher levels of social connectedness may result in more positive mental health outcomes, however, the relationship between social connectedness and mental health in the face of cyberbullying is not yet fully understood. An online survey of 229 adolescents (aged 12–17 years) was conducted, and we examined experiences of cyberbullying, levels of social connectedness, depression, anxiety, and stress. Structural equation modeling suggested that social connectedness may act as a protective buffer against the negative mental health outcomes associated with cybervictimization. This paper highlights the fact that social connectedness plays an important role for young people, the more frequently they are victimized. The implications of these findings are far reaching and suggest that understanding the role of social connectedness may be crucial to interventions that seek to mitigate the effects of cyberbullying.     

Globalization, Educational Targeting, and Stable Inequalities: A Comparative Analysis of Argentina, Brazil, and Chile

The present study analyzes educational targeting in Argentina, Brazil and Chile from a sociological point of view. It shows that a ‘logic of induction’ has become the vehicle for anti-poverty education strategies meant to help targeted groups improve on their own. The analysis explores the influence of the global educational agenda, the empirical connection between the logic of induction and the mechanism of emulation, and the territorial aspects of educational inequalities. Emulation plays a main role inasmuch as the logic of induction leads targeted groups to compare their adverse situation with more privileged groups, which actually legitimizes inequalities. A brief statistical summary completes the study, showing that educational inequality has remained unchanged as far as urban–rural ratios (in Brazil and Chile) and regional disparities (in all three countries) are concerned.     

Children in foster care: factors influencing outpatient mental health service use

OBJECTIVE: To determine factors influencing outpatient mental health service use by children in foster care. METHOD: Detailed survey and administrative data were collected on 480 children who entered long-term foster care in San Diego County from May 1990 through October 1991. These data were linked with claims data from Medicaid and San Diego County Mental Health Services information systems. A Poisson regression model was used to determine whether the following factors influenced outpatient mental health service use: age, race/ethnicity, gender, maltreatment history, placement pattern, and behavioral problems as measured by the Achenbach Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL). RESULTS: Except for maltreatment history, all independent variables included in the multivariate regression model were statistically significant. The total number of outpatient mental health visits increased with age, male gender, and non-relative foster placements. Relative to Caucasians, visits were lower for Latinos, and Asian/Others, but comparable for African-Americans. Concerning maltreatment history, differences were only found in one category; children experiencing caretaker absence received fewer visits compared to children who did not experience caretaker absence. Children with CBCL Total Problem Scale T-scores of 60 or greater had significantly more visits than those with a score less than 60. CONCLUSIONS: Both clinical and non-clinical factors influence outpatient mental health service use by foster children. Limitations imposed by gender, race/ethnicity, and placement setting need to be addressed by child welfare policies. These finding suggest that guidelines are needed to systematically link children in foster care with behavioral problems to appropriate services.     

Having a Ball with Confidence Intervals

Confidence intervals are often misinterpreted. This article describes an activity which helps students understand what it means to have confidence in a Process.     

Respecting Respect: Exploring a great deal

For some people, respect is due to people of particular standing and involves formality and deference. For others, respect is based on regard and attention. This approach is essentially informal. This article explores young people's interpretations of respect and shows how an understanding of its theory and practice may enhance relationships between adults, especially those employed in the social professions, and young people. Two frameworks are employed to assist in exploring the issues involved; one is located in communication theory within educational contexts (Burbules, 1993) and the other in the politics of self-definition (Wilson, 1993). The discussion draws on three pieces of empirical research involving young people and professionals. The different interpretations of respect are shown to provide a means of understanding a source of conflict between professionals with positions of authority in young people's lives and the young people themselves.     

The Effect of Multidimensionality on IRT True-Score Equating for Subgroups of Examinees

The purpose of this study was to assess the dimensionality of two forms of a large-scale standardized test separately for 3 ethnic groups of examinees and to investigate whether differences in their latent trait composites have any impact on unidimensional item response theory true-score equating functions. Specifically, separate equating functions for African American and Hispanic examinees were compared to those of a Caucasian group as well as the total test taker population. On both forms, a 2-dimensional model adequately accounted for the item responses of Caucasian and African American examinees, whereas a more complex model was required for the Hispanic subgroup. The differences between equating functions for the 3 ethnic groups and the total test taker population were small and tended to be located at the low end of the score scale.     

Science Content Courses: Workshop in Food Chemistry for 4th Grade School Teachers

ABSTRACT: A science content course in food chemistry was offered as a 4-day summer workshop from 1999 to 2001 to 4th grade school teachers in the Seattle School District. The objectives of the workshop were to increase the teachers' knowledge of food science, to perform simple experiments that could be used in the 4th grade classroom, and to help the teachers become more familiar with the scientific method. The workshop is described, and challenges associated with running the workshop from the instructors' perspective are discussed. Protocol for hands-on experiments used in the workshop, discussion questions/answers, and comments about each experiment are included in Appendices. The use of hands-on experiments that were easily adaptable to the 4th grade classroom and the comfortable atmosphere for discussion appear to have contributed the most to a successful workshop.