“My Eyes Were Opened to the Lack of Diversity in Our Best Schools”: Re-Conceptualizing Competitive School Choice Policy as a Racial Formation

This article documents minority youth sense-making around the concept of diversity and the founding of a youth activist group that seeks spaces for policy thinking and protesting against racial inequalities in selective enrollment schools. Utilizing the sociological theory of racial formation and the concept of racial projects (Omi and Winant in Racial formation in the United States, 3rd edn, Routledge, New York, 2014), this article draws on data from a critical ethnography. The author argues that youth activists offer a critical perspective for researchers and policy-makers in the face of neoliberal school choice policy. Findings reveal that youth activists understand a lack of diversity as racial imbalance in high status schools, and that they expose structural inequalities that are embedded in policy structures and processes such as selective enrollment high schools. Implications are discussed to show how re-conceptualizing policy as a racial formation can bring structural and institutional racist practices into view in hopes of transforming district policies to offer access to high quality schools for all students.     

Influence of low protein diets on gene expression of digestive enzymes and hormone secretion in the gastrointestinal tract of young weaned piglets

To investigate dietary protein level effects on digestive mechanisms, weaned piglets were fed for 45 d with diets containing 20%, 17%, or 14% crude protein (CP) supplemented to meet requirements for essential amino acids. This article describes the influence of dietary protein on gastrointestinal hormones and expression of an array of digestive enzymes in the gastrointestinal tract and pancreas. Results indicated that there were no significant differences in expression of enzymes involved in carbohydrate digestion, except for maltase in the duodenum. In the jejunum, amylase expression in pigs fed 20% CP was much higher than that in pigs fed other diets (P<0.05) and maltase expression in those fed 17% CP was higher than that in other treatments (P<0.05). Although there were no remarkable differences in expression of aminopeptidase in the small intestine or carboxypeptidase in the pancreas (P>0.05), there was a trend towards higher expression of various proteases in pigs fed 17% CP. The duodenal expression of enteropeptidase in diets with 14% and 17% CP was significantly higher than that with 20% CP (P<0.05), but treatment differences did not existed in jejunum (P>0.05). The expression of GPR93 as a nutrient-responsive G protein-coupled receptor in 14% and 17% CP diets was significantly higher than that in 20% CP diet in the small intestine (P<0.05). The expressions of genes for pancreatic enzymes, lipase and elastase, were significantly higher in pigs fed diets with low CP, while similar trends occurred for carboxypeptidase, chymotrypsin and amylase. Conversely, the gastric expressions of pepsinogen A and progastricsin were lower with the 17% CP diet. Differences between treatments were found in the gastric antral contents of cholecystokinin and somatostatin: both increased in pigs fed 17% CP, accompanied by decreased content of motilin, which was also seen in plasma concentrations. These patterns were not reflected in duodenal contents. In general, 17% dietary CP was beneficial to the digestion of nutrient substance in the gastrointestinal tract.     

Zum Verlauf des Zweitspracherwerbs im Migrationskontext

Zusammenfassung Die Entwicklung der mündlichen und schriftlichen Kenntnisse in Deutsch und der Sprache des Herkunftslandes bei Angeh?rigen der ersten und zweiten Einwanderergeneration aus den Gastarbeiter-Anwerbel?ndern, bei Aussiedlern und neuen Zuwanderergruppen wird beschrieben und Erkl?rungsfaktoren für Unterschiede werden mit Hilfe bivariater und multivariater Verfahren untersucht. Die Deutschkenntnisse der ersten Generation steigen zwischen 1984 und 2001 kaum an, wohingegen Aussiedler und Zuwanderer in kurzer Zeit relativ gute Fortschritte aufweisen. Die meisten Befragten sind bilingual. Defizite bei Deutschkenntnissen variieren nach Herkunftsland. Der Zweitspracherwerb erfolgt im Generationenverlauf, d.h. in Deutschland geborene Personen mit Migrationshintergrund haben in der Regel bessere Deutschkenntnisse als die erste Generation. Die Aufenthaltsdauer hat per se keinen Einfluss auf den Spracherwerb, ebenso wie das Geschlecht, w?hrend das Einwanderungsalter und die Schulbildung entscheidende Faktoren sind. Personen mit niedrigem Einwanderungsalter, Personen, die eine weiterführende Schule im Herkunftsland oder eine h?here Schule in Deutschland abgeschlossen haben, haben eine h?here relative Chance, gute mündliche und schriftliche Deutschkenntnisse zu erwerben.      

An Evaluation of Videomodeling on Fundamental Motor Skill Performance of Preschool Children

Proficiency in fundamental motor skills (FMS) is important for both the health and the overall growth and development of young children. To identify factors that facilitate the development of FMS, the study provided preliminary data on the effect of videomodeling (VM) on the acquisition of FMS by typically developing young children. Participants were six conveniently selected typically developing preschool-age children from an early care and education center. A multiple-baseline-across-participants single-subject research design was used to evaluate VM effects. Motor skill acquisition was assessed with validated developmental sequences of the standing long jump and the overarm throw. The results demonstrated that the VM intervention improved participants’ FMS performance and the improvement was maintained even after the withdrawal of the VM, 2 weeks after the last VM session. Qualitative data collected via a self-report enjoyment scale and field notes with the instructors elicited four factors that might have affected participants’ performance: their attention and motivation to perform the task and the skill complexity and reproduction. The data suggest that VM may be an efficient strategy for teaching FMS to preschool-age children.     

The Contribution of Reasoning to the Utilization of Feedback from Software When Solving Mathematical Problems

This study investigates how students’ reasoning contributes to their utilization of computer-generated feedback. Sixteen 16-year-old students solved a linear function task designed to present a challenge to them using dynamic software, GeoGebra, for assistance. The data were analysed with respect both to character of reasoning and to the use of feedback generated through activities in GeoGebra. The results showed that students who successfully solved the task were engaged in creative reasoning and used feedback extensively.     

Finnish children’s views on the ideal school and learning environment

This grounded-theory study involved how Finnish children describe their ideal school and learning environment and considers how their notions should be valued in the development of schools to better respond to the challenges of the future. The school children, aged 10–12 years, participated in the study by writing a story about a school in which they would be happy to study. Ninety-three children’s stories were coded and analysed, and a model of the ideal school and learning environment based on their ideas was developed. This model school, called a Broadening and Empowering Learning Environment, is designed to contribute to children’s physical, educational, cultural and socio-emotional well-being, offers opportunities for fantasy and innovation, and employs creative and sports-based learning methods, among others, in both formal and informal settings. The study showed that children, as educational stakeholders, are well aware of the potential of modern schools and of the different aspects that would enhance their ability to learn and their satisfaction with schooling.