A Discriminant Analysis of the Mmpi for Female College Students in Health and Education

This study attempted to detemine whether biographical factors might be identified which would distinguish between teachers receiving high and low student assessments. More than 3,000 high school seniors named the most and least effective teacher they had experienced. Most and least effective were defined in terms of the three major patterns of classroom teacher behavior identified by Ryans. Teachers named by three or more seniors completed a biographical questionnaire. Effective teachers numbering 125 and ineffective teachers numbering responded. A coefficient of correlation was found for each of the biographical items and the criterion, teacher rating. Significant correlations were found for amount of mother’s formal education, mobility of teacher, number of books read annually, home ownership, and student-teacher relationships.     

Military deployments and children's academic achievement: Evidence from Department of Defense Education Activity Schools

Household disruptions – such as divorce, relocation, and parental absence – have long concerned researchers interested in the educational attainment of children. Here, we consider a plausible source of exogenous variation in work-related parental absences—military deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan in the 2002–2005 period. Combining the standardized test scores of children enrolled in Defense Department schools with their military parent's personnel data, we evaluate the effect of a soldier's deployment on the academic achievement of his or her children. We find that deployments have modest adverse effects in most academic subjects, with lengthy deployments and deployments during the month of testing associated with the largest detrimental effects. Evidence also suggests that these adverse effects may persist for several years.     

An examination of the physical and the digital qualities of humanities research

Traditionally humanities scholars have worked in physical environments and with physical artefacts. Libraries are familiar places, built on cultural traditions over thousands of years, and books are comfortable research companions. Digital tools are a more recent addition to the resources available to a researcher. This paper explores both the physical and the digital qualities of modern humanities research, drawing on existing literature and presenting a study of humanities scholars’ perceptions of the research resources they use. We highlight aspects of the physical and digital that can facilitate or hinder the researcher, focusing on three themes that emerge from the data: the working environment; the experience of finding resources; and the experience of working with documents. Rather than aiming to replace physical texts and libraries by digital surrogates, providers need to recognise the complementary roles they play: digital information environments have the potential to provide improved access and analysis features and the facility to exploit the library from any place, while the physical library and resources provide greater authenticity, trustworthiness and the demand to be in a particular place with important material properties.