人类发展报道

The United Nations Human Development Program has released its yearly study on the quality of life for people around the world. The U-N report was started in 1990 to measure the progress of nations based on the lives of their citizens.This year's report lists 173 countries. It is based on the length of time citizens are expected to live, their education level and the amount of money they earn. Norway was listed as the country providing the best     

Citation Classics in Urban Sociology: Mapping the Intellectual Evolution of a Research Specialty

Abstract

This study identifies, describes, and analyzes the most highly cited works in the urban sociology literature to investigate empirically the subfield’s intellectual foundations, its future research directions, and its relationship to the broader discipline of sociology. The findings show that these landmark publications are more likely to be authored by United States based scholars, study cities in the United States, propose new concepts, and address the topic of racial inequality. They include works of classical sociology, traditional urban sociology, and new urban sociology. This study concludes that the Chicago School’s legacy continues to shape contemporary urban sociology as the specialty expands in interdisciplinary directions.     

The Construction of Meaning from Text: possible effects of different reading strategies

An examination is reported of the effect of differences in reading strategies on the construction of meaning from novel length text. Following a brief review of psychological theory relevant to the question of how particular strategies could constrain meaning construction, specific differences are hypothesised in relation to Orwell's classic tale, Animal Farm. The results of an experimental examination using post‐graduate Diploma in Education students as subjects, and multidimensional scaling as the analytic technique, support the contention that reading strategies are important in the construction of differential meanings. The educational implications of the results are discussed in relation to the change in school practice from teacher‐directed reading to students reading more books but on their own or in small groups, without direct teacher intervention.     

Evidence of alphabetic knowledge in writing: connections to letter and word identification skills in preschool and kindergarten

The writing skills of 286 children (157 female and 129 male) were studied by comparing name writing and letter writing scores from preschool to kindergarten with letter and word reading scores over the same time period. Two rubrics for scoring writing were compared to determine if scores based on multiple components (i.e., letter formation, orientation on the vertical axis, left–right orientation, and correct letter sequencing) would better reflect differences in children’s writing knowledge in preschool and kindergarten than rubrics composed of one component (i.e., letter formation only). While developmental changes in writing scores were found, little additional information was provided by multiple component scoring rubrics compared to the single component rubric. Letter writing scores were more strongly related to letter and word reading scores than name writing scores but neither writing score was predictive of growth. Implications of the findings for intentional/systematic writing instruction in preschool curricula are discussed.     

PREDICTING THE RETENTION OF UNIVERSITY STUDENTS

Survival analysis was used to model theretention of 8,867 undergraduate students at OregonState University between 1991 and 1996. Attrition wasfound to increase with age, and decrease with increasing high school GPA and first-quarter GPA.Non-residents had higher attrition rates than didresident and international students, and students takingthe Freshman Orientation Course appeared to be atreduced risk of dropping out. Statistically significantassociations of retention with ethnicity/race andcollege at first enrollment were also noted. Aproportional hazards regression model was developed topredict a student's probability of leaving school basedon these demographic and academic variables. Theseanalyses are helping to guide the university's effortsto improve retention through marketing, recruitment, and the development of orientation and otherprograms.     

Renewed Hopes and Lost Opportunities: early childhood in the early years of the Labour Government

The first 2 years of the Labour government have seen unparalleled attention and resources devoted to early childhood services. However, behind the current flurry of activity, a larger opportunity may be slipping away: the opportunity to transform a neglected and incoherent confusion of services into an integrated and coherent early years service. Rather than thinking the unthinkable, government seems to have settled for a process of reform, opting for more and better of the same. Transformation required six major issues to be fully addressed: what constitutes early childhood: administrative integration; staffing; funding; the type of early childhood services that the UK needs; and identifying critical questions about early childhood and the purposes of early childhood services. So far, however, they have not been. Having waited years for change, it would have been better to have waited a bit longer for a White Paper setting out the vision of a transformed early childhood service and the steps needed to achieve that vision over the next 5 to 10 years     

Access to higher education: an exploration of realities and possibilities

In this article the author describes and evaluates the development of a learning support service for dyslexic students at the Chichester Institute of Higher Education. She refers to both student and staff experience of the service in order to appraise its success and in so doing she raises significant issues relating to the creation of an inclusive educational experience for all students in higher education.