Introductory statistics in the garden

This article describes four semesters of introductory statistics courses that incorporate service learning and gardening into the curriculum with applications of the binomial distribution, least squares regression and hypothesis testing. The activities span multiple semesters and are iterative in nature.     

SCHOOL RACIAL CLIMATE AND THE ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT OF AFRICAN AMERICAN HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS: THE MEDIATING ROLE OF SCHOOL ENGAGEMENT

This investigation utilized an integrative model of development for ethnic minority children and a process model of engagement to explore whether three dimensions of school engagement (behavioral, emotional, and cognitive) mediated relationships between school racial climate, academic performance, and educational aspirations. A total of 139 African American students were recruited from a high school in the southeastern United States. Findings revealed an indirect association between perceptions of racial fairness and academic achievement indicators through behavioral and cognitive engagement. Behavioral and cognitive engagement also mediated relationships between youths’ perceived peer discrimination and academic achievement indicators. No significant indirect associations between teacher discrimination and academic achievement through school engagement dimensions were found. Study limitations, future directions, and implications are discussed.     

Patterns of and influences on elementary school attendance in early Victorian industrial Monmouthshire 1839–1865

Issues associated with school absenteeism have attracted considerable attention and have long been one of the focal points of government strategies for school improvement. Pupil non-attendance is not a new phenomenon and featured prominently in Her Majesty’s Inspectors’ reports from 1839. This paper outlines the patterns of and influences on elementary education in early Victorian industrial Monmouthshire during the period 1839–1865. The twin problems of irregular attendance and early withdrawal of pupils are discussed together with the limitations and unreliability of contemporary statistics. An examination of the reasons for absence is then discussed together with the remedies proposed to alleviate the problem with particular reference to the contribution of the Prize Schemes. The paper illustrates the disadvantages of basing an educational system on voluntary endeavour and enlightened self-interest and highlights the paradox that, despite the introduction of mandatory attendance, the problem is still persistent and protracted and finding definitive solutions still remains elusive.     

Confirmatory factor analysis of the Values Aspired for the Future Scale in grandparents

Although the engagement of grandparents in grandchildren’s life has increased, there is a lack of research that explores the values that grandparents desire to transmit to their grandchildren. The aim of this study was to analyze the factor structure, the validity, and the reliability of the Values Aspired for the Future Scale in a sample of grandparents. Three hundred grandparents participated in this study. Confirmatory factor analysis showed a three-factor structure with an excellent overall fit: personal and relationship values, abilities and knowledge values, and materialistic values. Grandparents’ sex did not have a moderating effect on the factor structure. An adequate internal consistency was obtained. Signi?cant associations between values, health-related quality of life, social support, and psychological well-being were found, with the exception of the materialistic values. This scale should be tested in different cultural contexts in order to confirm the results found. The implications of the results are discussed.     

Searching for the public: school funding and shifting meanings of ‘the public’ in Australian education

School funding is a principal site of policy reform and contestation in the context of broad global shifts towards private- and market-based funding models. These shifts are transforming not only how schools are funded but also the meanings and practices of public education: that is, shifts in what is ‘public’ about schooling. In this paper, we examine the ways in which different articulations of ‘the public’ are brought to bear in contemporary debates surrounding school funding. Taking the Australian Review of Funding for Schooling (the Gonski Report) as our case, we analyse the policy report and its subsequent media coverage to consider what meanings are made concerning the ‘publicness’ of schooling. Our analysis reveals three broad themes of debate in the report and related media coverage: (1) the primacy of ‘procedural politics’ (i.e. the political imperatives and processes associated with public policy negotiations in the Australian federation); (2) changing relations between what is considered public and private; and (3) a connection of government schooling to concerns surrounding equity and a ‘public in need’. We suggest these three themes contour the debates and understandings that surround the ‘publicness’ of education generally, and school funding more specifically.     

Relational Maintenance Strategies During the Post Sex Time Interval

The present study contributes to a growing line of research exploring the role of post sex communication in building and sustaining romantic relationships. More specifically, this study explores the use of relational maintenance strategies during the post sex time interval (PSTI). One-hundred and fifty-two individuals completed surveys after sexual activity and indicated the relational maintenance strategies they enacted during the PSTI. Results revealed that individuals enact the strategies of positivity and assurances to the greatest degree during the PSTI. Furthermore, extending the post sex disclosures model, results revealed that orgasm predicted differences in the use of assurances during the PSTI and that the strategy of assurances mediated the association between orgasm and several relationship outcomes (i.e., liking, commitment, control mutuality, and satisfaction). These findings suggest that individuals may use the PSTI as a time to reinforce their commitments to their partners, and that such behavior is associated with characteristics of the sexual episode and relationship outcomes. The implications of these findings for research on relational maintenance and post sex behavior are discussed.     

Learning through South–South development: Cuban-African partnerships in sport and physical education

Since the 1990s, Cuba has offered scholarships to students from low-resource countries to attend the Escuela Internacional de Educación Física y Deporte (EIEFD) for a six-year degree in sport, physical education, and coaching. Drawing on the experiences of EIEFD graduates from four Southern African countries (Zambia, South Africa, Mozambique, and Lesotho) the authors discuss the meanings that this South–South cooperation through education holds for international students and for the self-sufficiency of sport and physical-education systems within partner countries. The authors also show that upon returning home, many EIEFD graduates are left to negotiate insular job markets and inconsistent domestic commitments to public sport and physical education. The implications for South–South development through international education, and the place of sport and physical education therein, are discussed.     

Educating for an Inclusive World: Lessons Learned From A Globally Networked Human Rights and Disability Course for Social Work and Law Students

This article examines an innovative model of online international education regarding disability through a human rights perspective piloted through a collaboration between Universidad LaSalle, Mexico, and University at Buffalo, United States. The course is organized around a pressing global human rights and development issue. Its objective is to promote effective practice with persons with disabilities through cross-national, cross-disciplinary, human-rights based education; strengthen students’ sense of global engagement; and foster cross-cultural expertise and competence with diversity. The implications for effective professional education in law and social work are discussed. The article also examines pedagogical strategies and presents case study materials, identifies key disability rights themes common to both nations and cultures, and explores how distance learning technology is implemented in the course. A preliminary assessment of this newly piloted approach is also presented, based on data from students, as well as the implications for teaching and practice.