Bias and Bias Correction Method for Nonproportional Abilities Requirement (NPAR) Tests

Test items must often be broad in scope to be ecologically valid. It is therefore almost inevitable that secondary dimensions are introduced into a test during test development. A cognitive test may require one or more abilities besides the primary ability to correctly respond to an item, in which case a unidimensional test score overestimates the primary ability and creates interpretability problems. In this article, we demonstrate the nonproportional abilities requirement, a phenomenon with which secondary abilities are more required for difficult items. A novel and practical method for correcting bias in the primary ability is proposed and illustrated using a real data set from an international assessment. Simulation data are also used to evaluate the performance of the method.     

States of Insecurity: Cold War memory, “global citizenship” and its discontents

This article situates the dominant discourses of “global citizenship” employed in North American universities to internationalize the curricula, drawing in part on evidence from one Pacific northwestern Canadian university in the post-September-11 context of recent restrictive immigration policies, anti-terrorist measures and evocative Cold War memories. Far from weakening the Canadian nation-state or jettisoning neoliberalism, it argues that authoritarian post-Fordism constitutes a supra-juridical state that offers fewer social services but governs with more entrepreneurship through its globalization, immigration and “national security” policies. The article shows how the post-September-11 changes to Canada's immigration and refugee legislation from 1978 to 2001, write evocative fears about “terrorists” and “invading immigrants” on the national body politic. These changes provide literal and metaphorical transnational, economic and socio-legal mobility with substantive and specific human rights to those prospective immigrants deemed “highly skilled global citizens”. Yet, such policy efforts and legislation also reproduce the exclusions and differential hierarchies of gendered, classed, ableist and racialized notions of skill, flexible work and vulnerable or unobtuinuble citizenship for those it deems “non-immigrants”, migrants or non-citizens. The conclusion asks: Is “global citizenship” an oxymoronic slogan; a well-meaning but naïve equation of transnational mobility or “belonging” with formal legal substantive citizenship and human rights; or an opportunity to claim democratic praxis through a decolonized curricular, pedagogical and educational policy?     

Decentralization and Social Partnership: The Development of Vocational Education at Shanghai and Shenzhen in China

In 1985, the Chinese Mainland introduced a policy of decentralization in order to help facilitate the spread of basic education. By looking specifically at the developmental experiences of Shanghai and Shenzhen, we can gain an in depth understanding of the specific circumstances incurred under new education reforms. While undergoing decentralization, the local government’s main responsibility was to implement the state directives and to act as the central government agency. During the development of vocational education, the level of decentralization in these two cities was situated somewhere between deconcentration and delegation. At the school level, the principal was mainly responsible for disseminating the state’s requirements. Teachers had to firmly follow the state’s instructions on teaching and learning. Other stakeholders’ roles were left unclear and informal. It is believed that the indigenous meaning of education and an authentic social partnership can only develop if formal channels are established through which stakeholders can express their ideas on education in the locality.     

Conceptions of Science Teacher Mentoring and Mentoring Practice in an Alternative Certification Program

Conceptions of mentoring held by six mentors and six beginning science teachers in an alternative certification program were explored qualitatively by means of case studies and phenomenography. Interviews with the six mentors and six beginning teachers produced 379 statements that were grouped into six conceptual categories. The categories of apprenticeship, personal support, and colearning revealed the variation in how mentors and beginning teachers conceptualized school-based mentoring. The conceptions functioned as referents for their mentoring practice. Mentoring as apprenticeship was the dominant conception among both the beginning teachers and mentors. The findings of this study imply that conceptions of mentoring held by mentors and beginning science teachers should be considered when organizing the school-based component of alternative certification programs.     

The CREATE Strategy for Intensive Analysis of Primary Literature Can Be Used Effectively by Newly Trained Faculty to Produce Multiple Gains in Diverse Students

The CREATE (Consider Read, Elucidate the hypotheses, Analyze and interpret the data, and Think of the next Experiment) strategy aims to demystify scientific research and scientists while building critical thinking, reading/analytical skills, and improved science attitudes through intensive analysis of primary literature. CREATE was developed and piloted at the City College of New York (CCNY), a 4-yr, minority-serving institution, with both upper-level biology majors and first-year students interested in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. To test the extent to which CREATE strategies are broadly applicable to students at private, public, research-intensive, and/or primarily undergraduate colleges/universities, we trained a cohort of faculty from the New York/New Jersey/Pennsylvania area in CREATE pedagogies, then followed a subset, the CREATE implementers (CIs), as they taught all or part of an existing course on their home campuses using CREATE approaches. Evaluation of the workshops, the CIs, and their students was carried out both by the principal investigators and by an outside evaluator working independently. Our data indicate that: intensive workshops change aspects of faculty attitudes about teaching/learning; workshop-trained faculty can effectively design and teach CREATE courses; and students taught by such faculty on multiple campuses make significant cognitive and affective gains that parallel the changes documented previously at CCNY.     

Education Abroad and College Completion

Research in Higher Education - While some stakeholders presume that studying abroad distracts students from efficient pursuit of their programs of study, others regard education abroad as a high...     

Stress‐Induced Elevation of Oxytocin in Maltreated Children: Evolution,Neurodevelopment, and Social Behavior

Child maltreatment often has a negative impact on the development of social behavior and health. The biobehavioral mechanisms through which these adverse outcomes emerge, however, are not clear. To better understand the ways in which early life adversity affects subsequent social behavior, changes in the neuropeptide oxytocin (OT) in children (n = 73) aged 8.1–11.5 years following a laboratory stressor were examined. Girls with histories of physical abuse have higher levels of urinary OT and lower levels of salivary cortisol following the stressor when compared to controls. Abused and control boys, however, do not differ in their hormonal responses. These data suggest that early adversity may disrupt the development of the stress regulation system in girls by middle childhood.     

Global Mobility and Rising Inequality: A Cross-National Study of Immigration,Poverty, and Social Cohesion

With globalization, the world has become more interconnected and interdependent, with people, capital, and ideas rapidly migrating across borders. Yet, along with greater global interdependence and increased diversity within societies, economic and social inequalities have deepened, making poverty one of the leading global problems. To lessen poverty around the world, better integrate immigrant groups into societies, and enhance stability, both societies and education systems are dedicated to fostering social cohesion as a key objective. Yet, still little is known about the extent to which immigration and socioeconomic status are predictive of social cohesion. Using cross-national data from the 2009 International Civic and Citizenship Study for 38 countries, this article further investigates the link between poverty, immigration, education, and social cohesion. Findings indicate that socioeconomic status is an important influence on social cohesion of immigrant students and that schools play an important role in fostering social cohesion.     

Doug Kirby's contribution to the field of sex education

Doug Kirby transformed the field of sex education by conducting rigorous research that led to new, critical insights about ways to strengthen programmes, evaluation and policies related to sexual health throughout the world. Throughout his career, Kirby was meticulous in compiling evidence and translating findings into actionable recommendations for interventions, research and policy. He published more than 150 scientific articles, book chapters and monographs that have been widely cited and more than 900,000 copies of his publications have been distributed. Kirby's impact has been recognised with awards from numerous professional organisations and his unique and powerful scientific voice is greatly missed by his colleagues and friends.