The Salience and Utility of School Sex Education to Young Women

This article explores young women's accounts of the role that school sex education had in their learning about sex. It focuses on the influence of school sex education on behaviour, the importance of timing in understanding its utility, and the extent to which other sources of information complement or supplement school sex education. Thirty in-depth interviews and eight group discussions were conducted with female pupils from six schools in the east of Scotland. Nearly all of those interviewed cited school as a useful source in learning about sex. In particular, lessons intended to develop pupils' skills were valued. These were thought likely to influence behaviour positively in the future, although only one person could illustrate how this had already happened. A common feature of accounts was that school sex education had been delivered 'too late' for themselves or their peers, and it tended to be seen as an introduction or as supplementary to other sources, particularly friends, magazines and mothers. The utility of school sex education should not be dismissed but more attention should be given to the needs of those who become sexually active in their early teens.     

Keeping the Focus on the Child: Supporting and Reporting on Teaching and Learning With a Classroom-Based Performance Assessment System

Abstract

This article describes the findings of studies conducted on a large-scale, classroom-based performance assessment of literacy for the early grades designed to provide information that is useful for reporting, as well as teaching. Technical studies found the assessment to be a promising instrument that is reliable and valid. Follow-up studies of the assessment's use point to its positive impact on teachers' practice and on school and district policies. The studies' findings suggest that classroom-based performance assessment can be a viable accountability, as well as instructional, tool, capturing a range of students' abilities in a range of formats, and that use of such an assessment has the potential to enhance teachers' knowledge about literacy and their abilities to effectively support students' learning.     

Adult Students at Two-Year Colleges: A Longitudinal Study

Abstract

Adults constitute a continually increasing proportion of students at two-year colleges. While adult students presumably have special needs, little is known about them. This study focused on the characteristics and needs of 17,137 students enrolled in 100 randomly selected two-year colleges across the country, separately for different age levels. Using a wide variety of variables collected at entrance, after one term, at graduation, and three years after graduation, differences by sex among the following four age groups were ascertained: age 19 or younger, 20–24, 25–39, and 40 or older. Major trends with age, differences among age groups, and interactions between age and sex were found for a number of variables: abilities, grades, attrition, self-perceptions, aspirations and goals, competencies, job values and preferences, satisfaction with and rating of various aspects of the college, expressed needs for help, extracurricular participation, outside work during school, postgraduate jobs obtained and how obtained, job satisfaction, percent going to and graduating from four-year programs, and preference for entering a two-year program if they had to do it all over again. Adult students do have many special needs that vary with age level. We think a repeat of the study but comparing across other groupings of adults would be desirable, even though extreme diversity also exists within such groups. Another consideration is that many new kinds of adult students will in the future be entering postsecondary education in large numbers.     

Reflection on their first five years of teaching: understanding staying and impact power

Teacher turnover in urban schools is occurring at a breakneck pace; thus, it is important for us to understand the characteristics of teachers who stay and succeed in these settings. In order to address this need, this study examines the preparation and induction experiences of teachers who completed a Transition to Teaching – a funded urban apprenticeship program. Three research questions guided the study: (1) How do participants describe the characteristics that influence their five-year retention? (2) How do participants describe their success as teachers? and (3) How do participants describe the professional support they received in their preparation program and during the subsequent four years after completing the program? Quantitative and qualitative data via interviews, focus group, and an examination of teachers’ district performance scores were utilized, as a means of understanding teachers’ staying and impact power. Staying power refers to the ability to endure or last within challenging contexts by possessing strength enough to persevere. Impact power refers to their ability to influence student learning. Four assertions describe the factors influencing developing teachers who stay and have impact as they teach in challenging urban schools, suggesting that these teachers possess a strong work ethic, seek specific resources to improve pedagogy, have the knowledge and skills necessary to differentiate instruction, and seek teacher leadership opportunities in their schools. This study suggests several implications for teacher educators, educational leaders, administrators, and researchers working with new teachers in urban schools or with populations that are predominantly children of color.     

Place,food practices,and scientific knowledge

Cultural Studies of Science Education - This commentary seeks to extend the discussion on place, food practices, and ancestral scientific knowledge presented in Silvia Lizette Ramos de...     

Selection of School Counselor Candidates: Future Directions at Two Universities

A new vision of school counseling asserts that counselors must address all children and must orient counseling services toward the primary mission of schools: to educate young people and to support their healthy development. Two universities that are working to prepare new vision school counselors have changed their recruitment and selection procedures to attract increased numbers of candidates who can be optimally trained to fulfill the requirements of this vision. The authors describe criteria and procedures used to select graduate students who have the greatest promise of becoming leaders, advocates, and change agents in schools to promote student learning and achievement.     

Happily Ever After? A Content Analysis of Romantic Ideals in Disney Princess Films

This study presents a quantitative content analysis of the romantic expressions portrayed in the 12 Disney princess movies. The films were analyzed for presence of romantic expressions (ideals and challenges) and the character reactions to those expressions. Results indicated that romantic expressions are prevalent in these films, with idealization of other as the most common ideal expressed. The transitional era of films (i.e., princess movies released between 1989 and 1998) contained roughly the same number of ideals as the other eras of classic (i.e., movies released before 1989) and modern (i.e., movies released after 1998) combined. Further, ideals were three times more common than challenges in classic films, whereas ideals and challenges were expressed equally in transitional and modern films. In general, across all three eras, challenges were most commonly met with punishing and negative reactions, whereas ideals were most often rewarded. Finally, there were no sex differences in terms of ideal expressions, but male characters were the dominant pursuers in 9 of the 11 films that featured a romantic relationship.     

Proactive and Prudent: A Report of a Holistic Cyclical Electronic Resources Review Pilot at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga

In 2016, The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga Library piloted a cyclical review process for five academic departments. The goal was to go beyond the traditional library portion of a department’s accreditation/program review and holistically assess electronic resources for these departments and provide recommendations for changes when necessary. This article describes the need for this kind of review, the process used to review Engineering and Computer Science resources, suggestions and decisions made as a result of the review, reflections on the experience, and hopes for the future.     

网络课堂中非生理性别与生理性别对人际冲突的影响(英文)

本研究探讨了性别对网络课堂中学生间冲突程度的影响。研究者首先检查了文化和冲突间的关系,并且对性别和冲突间的关联做了文献分析,接着具体探索了生理和非生理性别（sex,gender）、网络学习经验（所上网络课程的多少）,和冲突在网络学习环境中的关联。虽然研究男女性别和冲突的文章有很多,但研究更深一步探求抽象性别（即gender,非生理性别）对冲突程度和态度的影响。研究中采用了专门研究性别和冲突的问卷调查工具。