Refocusing a gift program in an academic library

Colorado State University Libraries' recent decision to eliminate its general gift program—and to restrict future gifts-in-kind to materials supporting archives and special collections—came within the context of a number of converging external pressures. In this article, the authors will examine issues arising from a major change in gift operations, as well as report on the collaborative efforts to formulate, implement, and communicate to constituencies a new policy on gift acquisitions.     

Place,matters of concern,and pedagogy: Making impactful connections with our planet

Neoliberalism, capitalist ideas, and the disastrous human-induced state of the environment are evidence of the lack of connection between humans and the earth, calling for a rethinking of the relationships between humans and the planet. As early childhood educators, we wonder about our role in rethinking these relationships and in particular, the relationship between children and planet. In this article, we articulate the actions and positioning of teachers in three different research studies and various contexts (Victoria, AUS; Oregon, USA; California, USA) utilizing Latour’s (2004) ‘matters of concern’ as a framework to rethink engagement and relationality. Each project considers how place can be a provocation that makes visible the entanglement of children, families, teachers, and the more-than-human as a way to rethink pedagogy. The limitations, tensions, and possibilities that occur within and across these entanglements are explored, highlighting how the enacted practices could disrupt dominant early childhood discourses and practices.     

The Surprisingly Modest Relationship Between SES and Educational Achievement

Measures of socioeconomic status (SES) are routinely used in analyses of achievement data to increase statistical power, statistically control for the effects of SES, and enhance causality arguments under the premise that the SES-achievement relationship is moderate to strong. Empirical evidence characterizing the strength of the SES-achievement relationship and its moderators suggests that this relationship is surprisingly modest, with an average SES-achievement correlation of .22, although it appears to have strengthened in the past 3 decades. The modest SES-achievement relationship has important implications for using SES measures in educational data analyses. We provide evidence of this relationship and of the need to use theoretical models to guide the construction and selection of SES measures in analyses of achievement data.