Do human and cultural capital lenses contribute to our understanding of academic success in Russia

Using newly available data from the Trajectories in Education and Careers Study, the first longitudinal study on a representative sample of high school students in Russia, we examined the importance of investments in human and cultural capital on students’ mathematics and reading standardized examinations, as well as on the likelihood of matriculation into a selective institution of higher education. Studying mathematics and the Russian language on one’s own for more than a year was positively and significantly associated with standardized scores and with an increased likelihood of matriculating into a selective university. A higher number of books at home was also associated with an increased likelihood of matriculating into a selective university. The findings are discussed within the particular institutional context of the Russian educational system.     

Automated Latent Growth Curve Model Fitting: A Segmentation and Knot Selection Approach

Latent growth curve models are widely used in the social and behavioral sciences to study complex developmental patterns of change over time. The trajectories of these developmental patterns frequently exhibit distinct segments in the studied variables. Latent growth models with piecewise functions for repeated measurements of variables have become increasingly popular for modeling such developmental trajectories. A major problem with using piecewise models is determining the precise location of the point where the change in the process has occurred and uncovering the related number of segments. The purpose of this paper is to introduce an optimization procedure that can be used to determine both the segments and location of the knots in piecewise linear latent growth models. The procedure is illustrated using empirical data in order to detect the number of segments and change points. The results demonstrate the capabilities of the procedure for fitting latent growth curve models.     

Word Reading Fluency as a Serial Naming Task

Word list reading fluency is theoretically expected to depend on single word reading speed. Yet the correlation between the two diminishes with increasing fluency, while fluency remains strongly correlated to serial digit naming. We hypothesized that multi-element sequence processing is an important component of fluency. We used confirmatory factor analyses with serial and discrete naming tasks with matched items, including digits, dice, objects, number words, and words, performed by about 100 Greek children in each of Grades 1, 3, and 5. Separable serial and discrete factors emerged across grades, consistent with distinct skill dimensions. Loadings were greater for serial than discrete, suggesting that discrete processing does not fully determine serial processing. Average serial performance differed more than discrete between grades, consistent with improvement beyond single-item speed. Serial word reading aligned increasingly with the serial factor at higher grades. Thus, word reading fluency is gradually dominated by skill in simultaneously processing multiple successive items through different stages (termed “cascading”), beyond automatization of individual words.     

The Effect of Family Background and Parental Expectations on Eighth Graders’ Academic Achievement in Rural and Urban China

Extensive research has suggested that there is a large rural-urban student achievement gap in China. However, less is known about the effects of family background and parental expectations on student achievement. Using a large representative sample of Chinese eighth graders, this study examines these relationships. We find that: (1) Rather than a rural/urban hukou (household registration system) type, it is variation in family background, especially family socioeconomic status (SES), which plays a significant role in student achievement; (2) although factors of family background show different patterns of influence on Chinese, mathematics, and English achievement, maternal education and home educational resources are significantly positive predictors consistently across three subjects; (3) parental expectations are significantly and positively associated with Chinese, mathematics, and English achievement.     

Patterns of Early‐Life Social and Environmental Exposures and Child Cognitive Development,Rhea Birth Cohort,Crete, Greece

Early‐life exposures are critical for later child cognitive development. McCarthy Scales of Children's Abilities (MSCA) were used to assess cognitive development of 700 preschoolers (M_age = 4.2 years), derived from the “Rhea” birth cohort, in Greece. Principal component analysis (PCA) was applied on prospectively collected exposure data. Six components were extracted; five of them were associated with child cognition. Higher parental social status, preschool attendance and less TV watching, nonsmoking during pregnancy and breastfeeding, and parental involvement in child life were protective factors of child cognition at 4 years. Increased child birth order was negatively associated with child cognition. Offspring's size at birth was not associated with any cognitive outcome. These findings reveal the importance of early‐life exposures to child cognitive development.     

Examining gender issues in perception and acceptance in web-based end-user development activities

In the recent years in the End-User Development (EUD) research there is a shift from the study of tools that focus on desktop graphical applications, to the development of EUD for web environments. Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) research has shown significant gender differences while users interact with EUD systems. However, most of this research focuses on desktop spreadsheet environments. In this paper we examine the potential gender differences in perception and acceptance in modern web-based EUD environments. We step on previous gender research in the fields of EUD and Technology Acceptance to concentrate a set of appropriate items and examine a set of related hypotheses. To check out our research hypotheses we have conducted a field test using a prototype web-based EUD tool based on a natural language approach (named ‘simple talking’), to assist end-users in creating database-driven mobile applications. The results of the field test show significant gender differences in Risk-Perception and Perceived-Ease of Use. As it was predicted, male users perceived significantly higher ease of use and female users perceived significantly higher risk. Gender differences also exist in the correlations between different pairs of perception and acceptance items.     

New Ways to Evaluate Goodness of Fit: A Note on Using Equivalence Testing to Assess Structural Equation Models

Structural equation models are typically evaluated on the basis of goodness-of-fit indexes. Despite their popularity, agreeing what value these indexes should attain to confidently decide between the acceptance and rejection of a model has been greatly debated. A recently proposed approach by means of equivalence testing has been recommended as a superior way to evaluate the goodness of fit of models. The approach has also been proposed as providing a necessary vehicle that can be used to advance the inferential nature of structural equation modeling as a confirmatory tool. The purpose of this article is to introduce readers to key ideas in equivalence testing and illustrate its use for conducting model–data fit assessments. Two confirmatory factor analysis models in which a priori specified latent variable models with known structure and tested against data are used as examples. It is advocated that whenever the goodness of fit of a model is to be assessed researchers should always examine the resulting values obtained via the equivalence testing approach.     

Undigenous: Be Quiet And Know Your Place

In this perspective I endeavor to offer a transpersonal reflection of the work of decolonization from the standpoint of a minority-cisgender-female-White-settler-migrant. This work, the work of decolonization, is not the same for all of us, it depends on our place in the globe and our “baggage” as beings who inherit the past while living in the present but deeply committed to changing our future. Academics are professional braggarts who boast expertise and proficiency; indeed it is the hallmark of a knowledge broker to imply they have something (something VERY important and heretofore undiscovered) to pro-claim (as if knowledge was property). I cannot speak for others (nor would I) but I would like to share my perception and reflection of being an economic migrant and peace educator working toward decolonization in Aotearoa/New Zealand.     

The Truth Between the Lines: Conceptualization of Trust in News Media in Serbia,Macedonia, and Croatia

This study explored, by comparative thematic analysis, the conceptualization of trust in news media in Serbia, Macedonia, and Croatia—three countries of Eastern Europe where past oppressive regimes might have left a heritage of distrust in all institutions. The analysis of 61 in-depth interviews showed the coexistence of three connotations of trust: trust as faith in news media as expert systems, trust in journalistic selectivity (found in all three countries), and trust as confidence in news media (found only in the Serbian sample). The analysis of the interviews also indicated a possible new dimension of journalistic selectivity and showed that, when looking for the truth in media messages, Serbians, Macedonians, and Croatians relied more on themselves than on the trustworthiness of their news media systems. The implications of these results on the measurement of trust in news media and on the relationship of Eastern Europeans toward their news media systems are discussed in light of sociological theories of trust, as well as specific historical, social, and cultural circumstances in the region.