Measuring change in career counseling: Validation of the <Emphasis Type="Italic">Career Futures Inventory</Emphasis>-<Emphasis Type="Italic">Revised</Emphasis>

This retrospective chart review study examined the factor structure of the Career Futures Inventory-Revised (CFI-R; Rottinghaus et al. in J Career Assess 20:123–139, 2012) and its utility as a career counseling outcome measure using a sample of 332 clients from a university career center. The CFI-R examines career agency and other career adaptability dimensions germane to clients’ career concerns. Confirmatory factor analysis results supported the proposed factor structure. Changes in CFI-R scale scores are reported for 116 clients who received counseling. The use of the CFI-R as an effectiveness outcome measure for individual, group, and classroom career interventions is addressed.     

The Onset and Cross-Temporal Patterning of Sexual Intercourse in Middle Adolescence: Prospective Relations with Behavioral and Emotional Problems

This study examined precursors and correlates of sexual intercourse patterns (e.g., earlier/later onset, persistence across time) among tenth and eleventh graders. Data regarding intercourse were collected for lifetime and for 6-month periods at 4 occasions of measurement over a 2-year span. Significant differences in behavioral (e.g., delinquency) and emotional (e.g., depression) problems were indicated via repeated-measures MANOVA analyses. Significant interactions among intercourse patterns, gender, and time on emotional and behavioral problems indicated synergistic relations. Planned comparisons indicated that the transition to the onset of sexual intercourse was associated with increases in delinquency and a slower rate of increase for school grades. Earlier onset and a more persistent pattern of sexual intercourse were associated with more childhood problem behaviors, earlier alcohol use, and higher levels of preadolescent antisocial behavior.     

The Resource Advantage Theory of Competition: Implications for Higher Educational Institutions in Singapore

The purpose of this paper is to examine the educational strategic management implications of the Resource-Advantage Theory of Competition, proposed by Shelby D. Hunt (1995). Hunt essentially challenged `managers' and practitioners to engage in the discussion of competition based on what develops as `resource-advantage.' It is posited that comparative advantages in resources can lead to marketplace positions of competitive advantage, which then lead to a superior performance. The fundamental premise of this theory is that the equilibrium-based analysis of much mainstream economics actually eliminates both the heterogeneity and dynamism that marks real-world industrial competition. Instead, resources of an organization should be viewed as heterogeneous and imperfectly mobile, and intra-industry demand is substantially heterogeneous. A discussion on the competitive positions of some educational industry participants with regards to innovation, learning and competitive dynamics is provided. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Any reward will do: Effects of a reverse-reward contingency on size preference with pet dogs (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Canis lupus familiaris</Emphasis>)

The reverse-reward contingency (RRC) task involves presenting subjects with a choice between one plate containing a large amount of food and a second plate containing a small amount of food. Subjects are then required to select the smaller of the two options in order to receive the larger-magnitude reward. The RRC task is a commonly used paradigm for assessing complex cognition, such as inhibitory control, in subjects. To date, the RRC task has not been tested with pet dogs as subjects, and it may provide insights to their ability to perceive quantities of differing magnitudes. Nine dogs were tested in an RRC task involving three conditions. In Condition 1, plates of food were presented, and the dogs were allowed to consume their choice. In Condition 2, plates with different-sized symbols resembling the quantities of food in Condition 1 were presented, and dogs received food quantities of the same size as their choice (e.g., a larger-magnitude reward for selecting the plate with the larger shape). In Condition 3, the same plates were presented, but dogs received a reverse-sized quantity of food, relative to their choice (e.g., a smaller-magnitude reward for selecting the plate with the larger shape). A novel addition here to the traditional RRC task was the inclusion of a third, empty (control) plate that was present throughout all conditions, and no programmed consequences were provided when that plate was selected. Our results were consistent with the previous RRC literature: All dogs developed and maintained a preference for the larger stimulus option across conditions. The use of symbolic representations did not ameliorate performance on the RRC task. Applied implications are discussed.     

Learning to teach online: a systematic review of the literature on K-12 teacher preparation for teaching online

There is a growing need for qualified online instructors to teach the expanding population of online K-12 students. To meet this need, teachers must be provided learning opportunities to acquire the specific types of knowledge and skills necessary to teach online. In this systematic review of the literature, we utilize the TPACK framework to aggregate the types of knowledge and skills required to teach online and examine both the extent to which these elements are addressed in existing programs and are based on empirical research. Findings suggest that the types of knowledge and skills based on empirical research originate from few studies and that most programs address only a small subset of knowledge and skills, varying greatly without uniformity in content or learning experiences.     

Teaching prereading skills with a talking computer

The phonological awareness skills of nonreaders were trained using an oddity task (e.g., which word in the series sit, fit, cat has the odd sound in its middle position). As training progressed, the basis of the oddity decision was shifted from rhyming, to consonant onsets, to consonant and vowel phonemes. The words were spoken by a DECtalk speech synthesizer. One of the experimental groups was given printed as well as computer generated speech feedback while the other was given just computer speech feedback. The alternative training control group based their oddity decisions on meaning rather than sound and was also given just computer speech feedback. Only children with low letter-sound knowledge showed pre-test to post-test gains in performance on a rhyming task compared to the control group, and these gains were not influenced by print feedback. In contrast, only children with high letter-sound knowledge, who were given print feedback during learning, showed pre-test to post-test gains in performance on a phoneme deletion task compared to the control group. These results indicate that a combination of high letter-sound knowledge and print feedback facilitates awareness of phonemes among children who cannot yet read or spell, but awareness of rimes is not facilitated by either high letter-sound knowledge or print feedback. Although consistent with bi-directional, causal models of phonological awareness and literacy, these results indicate that the definition of literacy employed by such models may require expansion. This new definition should include proto-literacy — knowledge of letter-sound and other print-sound relationships that are learned before becoming literate and that may influence the acquisition of awareness of some sub-syllabic units of speech.Abbreviations WPPSI Wechsler preschool and primary scale of intelligence - WRAT-R Wide range achievement test, revised     

Distinguishing complex ideas about climate change: knowledge integration vs. specific guidance

We compared two forms of automated guidance to support students’ understanding of climate change in an online inquiry science unit. For specific guidance, we directly communicated ideas that were missing or misrepresented in student responses. For knowledge integration guidance, we provided hints or suggestions to motivate learners to analyze features of their response and seek more information. We guided both student-constructed energy flow diagrams and short essays at total of five times across an approximately week-long curriculum unit. Our results indicate that while specific guidance typically produced larger accuracy gains on responses within the curriculum unit, knowledge integration guidance produced stronger outcomes on a novel essay at posttest. Closer analysis revealed an association between the time spent revisiting a visualization and posttest scores on this summary essay, only for those students in the knowledge integration condition. We discuss how these gains in knowledge integration extend laboratory results related to ‘desirable difficulties’ and show how autonomous inquiry can be fostered through automated guidance.     

A look at the impact of raising standards in developmental mathematics

In this paper, we assess the effect of higher entry and exit standards at a community college in New York City. A complex set of university and college-wide policy modifications led to an increase in placement test cut-scores as well as increased requirements to complete remediation. The implementation of this policy change allows us to utilize quasiexperimental techniques. Utilizing cross-tabulations and logistic regressions from a total of 481 students, our results indicate that an increase in standards was associated with a significant decline in developmental sequence completion and credit-bearing course completion. On the basis of our findings, we conclude that the institution of higher standards alone is not a successful strategy; and in fact, can be expected to adversely affect student progression. Instead, we suggest that an increase in standards should include an increase in student supports to mitigate negative effects on students. We discuss these findings using the opposing forces framework developed by Jaggars and Hodara (2013). The work was funded in part by a PSC CUNY grant to the first author.