The Use and Interpretation of Logistic Regression in Higher Education Journals: 1988–1999

This article examines the use and interpretation of logistic regression in three leading higher education research journals from 1988 to 1999. The journals were selected because of their emphasis on research, relevance to higher education issues, broad coverage of research topics, and reputable editorial policies. The term logistic regression encompasses logit modeling, probit modeling, and tobit modeling and the significance tests of their estimates. A total of 52 articles were identified as using logistic regression. Our review uncovered an increasingly sophisticated use of logistic regression for a wide range of topics. At the same time, there continues to be confusion over terminology. The sample sizes used did not always achieve a desired level of stability in the parameters estimated. Discussion of results in terms of delta-Ps and marginal probabilities was not always cautionary, according to definitions. The review is concluded with recommendations for journal editors and researchers in formulating appropriate editorial policies and practice for applying the versatile logistic regression technique and in communicating its results with readers of higher education research.     

The role of parental expectations in understanding social and academic well-being among children with disabilities in Ireland

This paper draws on longitudinal data to examine the extent to which parents’ educational expectations shape academic development and changes in self-concept among young people with different types of disability. The analysis is based on the Growing Up in Ireland longitudinal study, which tracked 7423 children between the primary to secondary school years, 21% of whom were identified with one of four main disability types. Our conceptual framework assumes that parental expectations at age 9 will be influenced by both the child’s disability and child’s academic achievement at that stage, as well as being influenced by other factors such as parent’s own education, family economic vulnerability, family relationships and family structure. Therefore, we take these factors into account in tracing the consequences of parental expectations at age 9, on academic and social outcomes at age 13 after the transition to secondary education. Among young people with a disability, poorer self-concept at age 13 is partly explained by lower parental expectations, particularly for those with general learning and emotional/behavioural disabilities. Similarly, parental expectations are a significant influence on children’s academic outcomes and partly explain the effects of disability status on academic development. Parents’ beliefs about their children’s abilities have a strong influence on achievement and self-concept, raising important issues around the need to promote equality of opportunity, raising awareness of the educational opportunities available, promoting positive expectations and engagement with school and the importance of promoting a range of opportunities for achievement.     

Fundamental Issues Regarding the Nature of Technology

Science & Education - Science and technology are so intertwined that technoscience has been argued to more accurately reflect the progress of science and its impact on society, and most...     

Understanding gaps in research networks: using “spatial reasoning” as a window into the importance of networked educational research

This paper finds its origins in a multidisciplinary research group’s efforts to assemble a review of research in order to better appreciate how “spatial reasoning” is understood and investigated across academic disciplines. We first collaborated to create a historical map of the development of spatial reasoning across key disciplines over the last century. The map informed the structure of our citation search and oriented an examination of connection across disciplines. Next, we undertook a network analysis that was based on highly cited articles in a broad range of domains. Several connection gaps—that is, apparent blockages, one-way flows, and other limitations on communications among disciplines—were identified in our network analysis, and it was apparent that these connection gaps may be frustrating efforts to understand the conceptual complexity and the educational significance of spatial reasoning. While these gaps occur between the academic disciplines that we evaluated, we selected a few examples for closer analysis. To illustrate how this lack of flow can limit development of the field of mathematics education, we selected cases where it is evident that researchers in mathematics education are not incorporating the important work of mathematicians, psychologists, and neuroscientists—and vice versa. Ultimately, we argue, a more pronounced emphasis on transdisciplinary (versus multidisciplinary or interdisciplinary) research might be timely, and perhaps even necessary, in the evolution of educational research.     

The National Disability Insurance Scheme and access to education: progressive or coercive policy discourse?

This paper explores the experiences of a small group of families in Australia in relation to recent reform to disability policy by way of the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS). Framed in critical disability perspectives of policy implementation research, the paper focuses on the extent to which the scheme articulates inclusive opportunities for children and young people with disabilities, particularly in relation to facilitating access to education. Interview data that illustrate families' expectations of the scheme and latter-day experiences, coercions and negotiations highlight the tensions that exist for scheme participants who draw on its provision to support their education. These first- and second-order policy effects indicate a welcome change to disability support in Australia, though the extent to which the scheme can advance inclusion for people with disabilities is uncertain, given the distance rendered between the policy and its participants and other service systems. The paper concludes with a theoretical discussion based on the analysis of how the NDIS is framed to interrelate with scheme participants and education and how it might be reframed for better outcomes.     

Predictors of primary schoolteachers’ behavioural intention to teach students demonstrating inappropriate behaviour in regular classrooms

This study examined the relationships between primary schoolteachers’ attitudes, efficacy beliefs and perceived support and their behavioural intentions in regard to teaching students who display inappropriate behaviour in regular classrooms. Ajzen’s Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) was used to guide the conceptual framework of the study. A total of 1090 teachers from 263 government primary schools located in urban, suburban and rural areas of one educational region of Bangladesh were surveyed. Hierarchical regression was utilized to analyse data. Results revealed that attitudes and efficacy beliefs were significant predictors of teachers’ behavioural intentions in teaching students who exhibit inappropriate behaviour. The three predictive variables (attitudes, efficacy beliefs and perceived support) accounted for 59% of the variance in teachers’ intentions. The findings of the study indicate possible implications for policymakers and teacher educators in Bangladesh.     

Science education for rural Latino/a students: Course placement and success in science

This study investigated the effects of one rural high school's science course placement practices on Latino/a student success in science, as measured by performance in a required science course and enrollment in subsequent science courses. The high school involved in this study has experienced a rapid increase in language minority students and placed students considered to be “limited English proficient” into a science course intended for those with learning disabilities. The results indicate that track placement was inappropriate, as Latino/a students with demonstrated success on standardized tests written in English, and with high grade point averages, were placed in the lower‐level science course. Students placed in the lower‐level science course, regardless of academic ability, were unlikely to take subsequent courses required for college admission despite the fact that most had college aspirations. Conversely, low‐achieving non‐Latino/a White students were disproportionately placed in upper‐level science classes, a track associated with greater success in science for all. Thus, despite this rural school's attempt to provide for the needs of all the students, the result in this case was decreased success in science for Latino/a students, regardless of their English fluency. Implications for inclusive rural science education are discussed. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 42: 376–402, 2005     

Activating student voice through Youth Participatory Action Research (YPAR): policy-making that strengthens urban education reform

Abstract

CC Vision – an urban education reform effort launched to strengthen the cradle-to-career education pipeline in Central City – provides the impetus for our use of youth participatory action research (YPAR) to gather and activate student voice in the fight for education justice. Student voice can significantly enhance the quality of policy designed to expand access to education opportunity for poor and/or youth of color attending urban schools. Fifteen youth from seven different high schools in the Central City metropolitan area spent 18 weeks participating in the Central City Youth Co-Researcher Project as co-researchers. We aim to demonstrate the tensions of facilitating YPAR projects with diverse youth, and the benefits of YPAR as a student voice initiative intended to bolster justice-oriented education research. The influence of their scholarship vis-à-vis YPAR on wide-scale education policy-making, and education reform, in Central City is discussed.     

Student researchers in the middle: using visual images to make sense of inclusive education

Using 'visual narrative' theoretically and practically, this paper explores issues of inclusive education, during a period of curriculum reform and renewal in Australia. In Australia, the middle years of schooling, Years 5 to 9, are well researched and known as a period when students disengage with learning and participation in schooling. Research in the middle years affirms the importance of engaging with 'student voice'. In this special edition, we are aiming to highlight how the use of visual imagery can be a rich source of understanding, illustrating students' self-knowledge of schooling. Methodologically we refer to our research approach as 'visual narrative'. Other writers in this edition use the term 'photo voice'. For researchers it is important to highlight the differing orientations that 'visual narrative' and 'photo voice' signify. The terms are not mutually exclusive but highlight differing research possibilities and emphasis. Our argument, through the use of visual narrative produced by middle years' students, is that visual texts open out some innovative possibilities for understanding inclusive education and supporting new relationships with our research community. Such approaches are not new; however, in a field such as special education that purports to support marginalised groups, liberatory research methods are under-represented. This paper aims to open out these discussions and provide a way forwards for teachers and researchers interested in breaking apart why it is that inclusive education remains a never-ending struggle.