Predicting higher education outcomes and implications for a postsecondary institution ratings system

The accountability of colleges and universities is a high priority for those making policy decisions. The purpose of this study was to determine institutional characteristics predicting retention rates, graduation rates and transfer-out rates using publicly available data from the US Department of Education. Using regression analysis, it was determined there are 14 predictors of the full-time retention rate, 7 predictors of the part-time retention rate, 15 predictors of the graduation rate and 12 predictors of transfer-out rates. Institutions and policymakers could use the results of this analysis to determine the policies that would be beneficial to improving the analysed outcomes. All four analyses indicate good fit with R² ranging from .273 to .828. Some possible policy implications include addressing selectivity if institutions want to improve retention rates and addressing affordability to improve retention and graduation rates.     

Friendship quality and sociometric status: between-group differences and links to loneliness in severely abused and nonabused children.

OBJECTIVE: There were two main aims: first, to illuminate the difference between abused children's general popularity with classmates and success in close friendships; second, to examine the specific interactional qualities of abused children's friendships and their links to loneliness. METHOD: Thirty-five severely abused children and 43 matched, nonabused children were compared on peer-rated sociometric status, self-reported loneliness, and observed and self-reported friendship quality. RESULTS: Abused children were not rated significantly lower sociometrically, nor did they differ significantly from control children on several measures of friendship quality, such as resolving conflicts and helping each other. However, abused children were observed to be more negative and less proactive in their interactions. They also reported their friendships as being more conflictual, and as higher on betrayal and lower on caring. Only observational friendship variables predicted loneliness. CONCLUSIONS: The results challenge the assumption that abused children's peer relationships are uniformly more maladaptive than nonabused children's, and point to the possible benefits of structured interventions for "normalizing" their friendship interactions. The pattern of difficulties exhibited by abused children (e.g., conflict) provides foci for more specific interventions. Multi-method assessments are necessary and the multi-dimensional nature of children's social adjustment is important to understand.     

Alternative route urban teacher retention and implications for principals’ moral leadership

Early murmurs concerning teacher attrition in the United States have risen to an alarming level since the 1990s. Given that half of the 1990s teaching force were/are expected to retire between 2000 and 2010, the cry has been heard loud and clearly throughout the nation. Furthermore, today’s fledgling teachers are fleeing at astronomical rates, particularly in economically challenged urban areas. Alternative route certification programmes are one example of states’ and cities’ attempts to fill urban classrooms with highly qualified teachers. This paper addresses the potential for retaining urban alternative route teachers. What is revealed is that teacher retention, though multi‐layered, implicates principals’ moral leadership. As such, traditional leadership methods, roles and responsibilities are called into question. The paper addresses the relationships between alternative route urban teacher retention and educational leadership and proposes a discourse in support of moral leadership. Findings suggest that the moral leadership of school building‐level principals may favourably impact the potential for retaining alternative route teachers.     

An Epistemology of Presence and Reconceptualisation in Design Education

In this paper, the idea of coming into presence and an epistemology that recognises the agency of the learner in the construction of knowledge is developed as an organising framework for reconceptualising design education. Design is typically taught as a problem solving exercise based on a representational epistemology. A critique of the representational epistemology is presented. The idea of design as coming into presence is introduced and exemplified though considerations of implicate order, context, and closure. It is suggested that an epistemology of presence provides a better alignment between how people experience the world through design and the ways in which they engage with it both intellectually and practically.     

Exploring the social inclusion of deaf young people in mainstream schools,using their lived experience

Research suggests that children with hearing loss face a number of difficulties in the education system, including socially. Although there has been much research with the severe to profound deaf population there has been little research into the life experiences of children with moderate hearing loss who attend mainstream secondary schools. This research sought to examine the experiences of social inclusion for five young people with moderate hearing loss. Data were gathered through semi-structured interviews in the young person’s school setting and were analysed using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA). Although each participant had distinctive experiences, there were a number of common themes that emerged indicating the factors that support social inclusion and those which create barriers for deaf children in schools. Implications for educational psychologists are considered and the limitations of the research are outlined.     

Adolescent, parent, and observer perceptions of parenting: genetic and environmental influences on shared and distinct perceptions

Agreement among reporters on features of family life, whether family members or outside observers, is considered to be low. This study, which involved a national sample of 720 families comprised of identical and fraternal twins, full siblings, half siblings, and biologically unrelated stepsiblings, examined the issue of low interrater agreement by decomposing the common and unique variance among parent, child, and observer reports of parenting behaviors (warmth and negativity) into genetic and environmental factors. Quantitative genetic analyses were employed to decompose the "Social" level of perception (common variance among parents, children, observers), the level of "Family" subculture (common variance only among parents and children), and the unique "Individual" level into genetic and environmental components. It was predicted that genetic factors would account for substantial portions of the variance at the Social and Family levels; nonshared environmental factors were expected to influence variance unique to child reports; and shared environmental factors were expected to influence variance unique to parent reports. A second and related aim of the study was to examine the subjective-objective dimension of genetic effects on measures of the environment. Results of model-fitting analyses generally supported the predictions for parental warmth and negativity at the Family and Individual levels. At the Social level, genetic factors were predominant for parental negativity and shared environmental factors for parental warmth. The findings are discussed in terms of genetically influenced child effects on parenting and methodological difficulties in constructing latent variables.     

高职学生违纪行为调查分析与教育对策

对高职学生学习、品德、生活、社会违纪行为的现状、态度进行了调查分析，指出了违纪行为产生的客观与主观因素，并提出了教育对策。