Articulation Visibility at Two-Year Colleges

Articulation between two-year colleges and universities provides a critical opportunity for potential students. Most institutions declare their support of articulation; however, the visibility of this support to potential students is inconsistent at best. Articulation agreements that are visible and easily understood by potential students serve as a motivation to the pursuit of higher education. Conversely, the lack of a complete, visible path to a baccalaureate degree is a powerful deterrent to enrollment. For this study, articulation is a coordinated effort and process to support efficient transfer between institutions of higher education. (DeMott, 1999 DeMott , J. ( 1999 ). Seven steps to articulation success . High School Magazine , 6 , 22 – 24 . [Google Scholar]). The purpose of this study is to explore the general visibility of existing articulation opportunities at two-year colleges. The visibility of articulation agreements is a critical practical factor in their potential positive impact on student behavior and success.     

Charter Schools: Implications for Teachers and Administrators

Young adolescents’ low scores on the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) force the question of whether these students will be ready for college in four years. Our efforts to build a college-going culture emphasize strengthening students’ writing skills by using preservice teachers to lead writing marathons for at-risk middle school students on university visits. Structured interviews, surveys, and written reflections reveal that what students write about changes with age, their motivation to write varies, and their college aspirations and perceptions become more positive after completing several annual writing marathons on a college campus. The writing marathon structure makes the college visit truly meaningful to students, and it provides a compelling incentive to write by supporting characteristics of middle school students, as defined by the National Middle School Association (National Middle School Association [NMSA] 2003 National Middle School Association (NMSA). 2003. This we believe. Successful schools for young adolescents, Westerville, OH: National Middle School Association.  [Google Scholar]). The marathon model focuses on four key elements: setting, timing, small groups, and writers’ level of commitment.     

Informal Mentors and Education: Complementary or Compensatory Resources?

Few studies have examined the impact that mentoring (i.e., developing a special relationship with a non-parental adult) has on educational achievement and attainment in the general population. In addition, prior research has yet to clarify the extent to which mentoring relationships reduce inequality by enabling disadvantaged youth to compensate for a lack of social resources or promote inequality by serving as a complementary resource for advantaged youth. Results from a nationally representative sample of youth show (1) a powerful net influence of mentors on the educational success of youth and (2) how social background, parental, peer, and personal resources condition the formation and effectiveness of mentoring relationships. The findings uncover an interesting paradox-that informal mentors may simultaneously represent compensatory and complementary resources. Youth with many resources are more likely than other young people to have mentors, but those with few resources are likely to benefit more from having a mentor-particularly teacher mentors-in their lives.     

Adaptive Equilibrium Regulation: Modeling Individual Dynamics on Multiple Timescales

Damped Linear Oscillators estimated by 2nd-order Latent Differential Equation have assumed a constant equilibrium and one oscillatory component. Lower-frequency oscillations may come from seasonal background processes, which non-randomly contribute to deviation from equilibrium at each occasion and confound estimation of dynamics over shorter timescales. Boker (2015) proposed a model of individual change on multiple timescales, but implementation, simulation, and applications to data have not been demonstrated. This study implemented a generalization of the proposed model; examined robustness to varied timescale ratios, measurement error, and occasions-per-person in simulated data; and tested for dynamics at multiple timescales in experience sampling affect data. Results show small standard errors and low bias to dynamic estimates at timescale ratios greater than 3:1. Below 3:1, estimate error was sensitive to noise and total occasions; rates of non-convergence increased. For affect data, model comparisons showed statistically significant dynamics at both timescales for both participants.     

The emancipatory potential of transformative mixed methods designs: informing youth participatory action research and restorative practices within a district-wide school transformation project

ABSTRACT

This paper considers the emancipatory potential of incorporating youth participatory action research (YPAR) and restorative practices (RP) implementation into a transformative mixed methods study design as a means to create equitable and caring school systems for marginalized youth. The utilization of transformative mixed methods research offers a methodological orientation to legitimize, illuminate, and prioritize perspectives from marginalized youth that may be undervalued, decontextualized, and oversimplified in traditional quantitative and qualitative research methodologies. Furthermore, the authors suggest that YPAR and RP align with Critical Theory and Quantitative Criticalism, which are theoretical and methodological frameworks consistent with the transformative paradigm. The integration of these various theoretical, methodological and applied frameworks provides researchers opportunities to flatten hierarchies and actively engage marginalized youth to address the structural and programmatic inequities they experience in schools. Informed by the authors’ multi-year university-school district action research partnership, this paper explores how the alignment of YPAR, RP, and transformative mixed methods may promote critical consciousness amongst students, families, staff, and administration in schools. Finally, we also demonstrate how social science researchers can blend YPAR, RP, and transformative mixed methods design to partner with school districts to address structural societal problems, such as racism and inequity.     

难忘的时刻

有句老话说:"你应该把每一天都当做生命的最后一天来过."这的确算得上是个不错的观点,但却毫无用处.就拿我来说吧,我曾这样试过一次,结果却得到这么个教训:如果只一味贪图快乐,为暂时的开心而活,我将堕落成一个精糕的丈夫和父亲,一个三天不刮胡子的废物.癌症教会我这一点--苦难是幸福生活中必要的一部分,而且如同天赐的福分一样妙不可言.     

Adopting an Integrated Behavioral Model Approach to the Study of News Media Exposure: A Focus on Experiential and Instrumental Attitudes Toward Politics

Stepping beyond traditional mass communication and political communication frameworks, this study utilizes the integrated behavioral model to predict traditional broadcast and print news media exposure. Specific focus is given to experiential (Is politics interesting?) and instrumental (Is politics important?) attitudes. A secondary analysis is performed on 2010–2014 World Values Survey data (N = 6,961) consisting of representative samples collected from the United States, Germany, Australia, and Sweden. Interest is a statistically significant predictor of both types of news media exposure, but importance and Interest × Importance are statistically significant for broadcast only. The positive predictive value of political interest for broadcast is isolated to only those individuals who perceive politics to be of low personal importance. Discussion focuses on task difficulty when comparing broadcast and print news media exposure and the theoretical implications of the study’s findings. In addition, a research agenda based on the integrated behavioral model is proposed for the study of news media engagement.