Offsetting racial disadvantage in employment: enhancing performance on personnel selection tests through access training

This paper gives an account of the use of access training in order to enhance the performance of ethnic minority candidates in the process of selection for the West Midlands Police Force. Following the location of the initiative in an equal opportunities framework, the new Police Initial Recruitment (PIR) Test is described. This test was introduced in 1991 to replace the original test, first used in 1974, and is the first element in the selection process. The aims of the access training course are outlined and attention drawn to the way in which the course seeks to develop a range of skills relevant to both the selection process and police basic training, i.e. it seeks to do more than simply raise test scores. The methods used to evaluate the effectiveness of the access course are reported before consideration is given to the issues raised by the study.     

The Dangers of Pipeline Thinking: How the School‐To‐Prison Pipeline Metaphor Squeezes Out Complexity

In this essay Ken McGrew critically examines the school‐to‐prison pipeline metaphor and associated literature. The origins and influence of the metaphor are compared with the origins and influence of the competing prison industrial complex concept. Specific weaknesses in the pipeline literature are examined. These problems are described as resulting, in part, from the influence that the pipeline metaphor has on the thinking of those who follow it. McGrew argues that addressing the weaknesses in the literature, abandoning the metaphor, and adopting a more complex theoretical orientation grounded in critical scholarship, will enable educational scholars to better capture the relational nature of the social phenomena being described while simultaneously making their work more useful to emerging movements for social justice.     

The challenges of delivering public good in Arab universities: faculty perspectives

The contribution of Arab universities to the public good is being greatly compromised by the political and economic instability of the Arab Spring. To understand the role Arabian universities are playing in the public sphere and their ability to contribute to the public good, we interviewed 74 professors from 14 countries. Analysis of the faculty interviews yielded four major challenges: motivation and rewards for conducting research, security and safety issues, lack of a research infrastructure, and the challenges of international recognition. Our findings suggest universities should focus on the two most critical issues over which they have some control: securing safety for the faculty and creating an effective research infrastructure.     

我国文化产业统计问题研究

面对世界经济的深刻变革,文化产业的勃兴已引起全世界高度关注.大力发展文化产业对我国的极端重要性,要求我们必须尽快建立健全文化产业统计制度.文章围绕建立健全我国文化产业统计制度这一主题,提出了我国文化产业统计的目标、要求以及建立文化产业统计指标体系应遵循的基本原则,具体构筑了我国文化产业统计指标体系,重点构建了测度文化产业科学发展状况统计指标子体系(一系列指数),特别是借鉴引进国际做法设置了"人文发展指数",并指出了完善我国文化产业统计应把握的几个辨证关系.     

Determinants of range effects in face recognition

The effects of test stimulus range on generalization gradients in humans were assessed for discriminations between faces that varied in brightness, faces that varied in orientation in the picture plane, and morphed faces. In Experiment 1, significant range effects, predicted by adaptation level theory, occurred when faces varied along the brightness or orientation dimension, but not for morphed faces. Changing the difficulty of discrimination of both training and test stimuli for Experiment 2 produced range effects in morphed faces. Experiment 3 explored training and testing stimulus factors as determinants of range effects in morphed faces. The results suggest that sufficiently biased testing ranges create shifts in response distributions (generalization gradients), and this may be amplified by using relatively difficult discriminations between training stimuli.     

The views of primary pupils on school attendance at Key Stage 2 in Wales

This paper provides new empirical evidence on primary pupils’ views on school attendance in Wales at Key Stage 2. The research was conducted as part of the specific evidence commissioned by the Welsh Assembly Government (WAG) for the National Behaviour and Attendance Review (NBAR) in Wales which was chaired by the lead author. The findings indicate that nearly every child and young person who participated in the specially convened focus groups, in practically every setting, had a good awareness of the benefits of attending school regularly. They were all acutely aware of the potential consequences of non‐attendance both within their current setting and as it could potentially affect their later chances in life. They also understood the law regarding school attendance. They were clear about the attendance regulations within their own school settings. They were however, particularly concerned about bullying in all its forms, the use of supply teachers and “boring” teaching styles. Rewards for good attendance were generally appreciated. The implications of the findings are considered. This paper is the first of its kind to be undertaken in Wales and in the field of school attendance and opens up considerable possibilities for further research.