Blurred Vision?: Public and Private Higher Education in Indonesia

If, as some have argued, private higher education is now the most dynamic segment of higher education, it is also the case that its growth, partly in response to the increasing mismatch between spiralling demand and limited state capacity, is often ad hoc. The article examines the contours of this trend in Indonesia, where the balance of public and private higher education has shifted sharply over the last two decades. While the private sector has been responsible for much of the expansion in higher education, its role in relation to quality is more questionable. Indonesia’s economic burdens, sharply exacerbated by the effects of the Asian financial crisis of the late 1990s, make it likely that the trend towards privatisation, including of its public institutions, will continue. Together with the current rise of trans-national higher education, however, this is only likely to sharpen existing difficulties around longstanding issues of quality, equality, and regulatory capacity.     

Assessment of Autism Symptoms From 6 to 18 Months of Age Using the Autism Observation Scale for Infants in a Prospective High-Risk Cohort

The objectives were to characterize behavioral signs of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in younger siblings of diagnosed children (high-risk; HR) and examine classification features of the Autism Observation Scale for Infants (AOSI). Participants (501 HR and 180 low-risk [LR]) were assessed between 6 and 18 months using the AOSI and at age 3 for ASD diagnoses. Total AOSI scores differentiated HR infants later diagnosed with ASD starting at 12 months. ROC analyses identified 12- and 18-month cutoff scores associated with 0.52 sensitivity and 0.74 specificity and 0.73 sensitivity and 0.65 specificity, respectively. Although classification accuracy does not support use as a standalone screen, the AOSI identifies features associated with ASD starting at 6 months and differentiates HR infants with ASD by 12 months.     

Experimental inquiry and naturalistic inquiry: An evaluation

In recent years, questions have been raised about the usefulness of experimental inquiry in educational research and evaluation. An alternative paradigm, called naturalistic inquiry has been advocated by some and appears to be growing in acceptability. In this article, these two approaches are described and compared using illustrations from two science education research projects. Several strengths and limitations of each inquiry style are identified. Investigators are urged to seriously consider both paradigms in planning research and evaluation studies.     

Computerized adaptive testing in instructional settings

Item response theory (IRT) has most often been used in research on computerized adaptive testing (CAT). Depending on the model used, IRT requires between 200 and 1,000 examinees for estimating item parameters. Thus, it is not practical for instructional designers to develop their own CAT based on the IRT model. Frick improved Wald's sequential probability ratio test (SPRT) by combining it with normative expert systems reasoning, referred to as an EXSPRT-based CAT. While previous studies were based on re-enactments from historical test data, the present study is the first to examine how well these adaptive methods function in a real-time testing situation. Results indicate that the EXSPRT-I significantly reduced test lengths and was highly accurate in predicting mastery. EXSPRT is apparently a viable and practical alternative to IRT for assessing mastery of instructional objectives.     

Different paths,one goal: Southeast Asia as knowledge society

The article charts the extent to which selected societies of Southeast Asia can be seen as knowledge societies. Beginning from the premise that the global world of knowledge is changing from the former bipolar model of the West and the Rest, towards a more multi-polar world in which Asia figures more prominently, the analysis proceeds to use China, the most prominent example of this shift to the East, as a benchmark for Southeast Asia. Charting China's rising knowledge profile is followed by a consideration of the notion of a knowledge society, including the work of Nico Stehr and Manuel Castells, and its transformation into the contemporary, and more instrumental, knowledge economy. The five Southeast Asian states of Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand and Viet Nam are selected for analysis, revealing both a common intent of moving towards a knowledge society (often now more commonly expressed as a knowledge economy), but rather different outcomes, and knowledge profiles. National innovation indices are compared; as are research and development (R&D) measures, including by sector, production of papers and citations, and moves to develop “World Class” universities, against a backdrop of brain drain effects, and the differential impact of corruption.     

Fatal child neglect: Characteristics,causation, and strategies for prevention

Research in child fatalities because of abuse and neglect has continued to increase, yet the mechanisms of the death incident and risk factors for these deaths remain unclear. The purpose of this study was to systematically examine the types of neglect that resulted in children's deaths as determined by child welfare and a child death review board. This case review study reviewed 22 years of data (n = 372) of child fatalities attributed solely to neglect taken from a larger sample (N = 754) of abuse and neglect death cases spanning the years 1987–2008. The file information reviewed was provided by the Oklahoma Child Death Review Board (CDRB) and the Oklahoma Department of Human Services (DHS) Division of Children and Family Services. Variables of interest were child age, ethnicity, and birth order; parental age and ethnicity; cause of death as determined by child protective services (CPS); and involvement with DHS at the time of the fatal event. Three categories of fatal neglect – supervisory neglect, deprivation of needs, and medical neglect – were identified and analyzed. Results found an overwhelming presence of supervisory neglect in child neglect fatalities and indicated no significant differences between children living in rural and urban settings. Young children and male children comprised the majority of fatalities, and African American and Native American children were over-represented in the sample when compared to the state population. This study underscores the critical need for prevention and educational programming related to appropriate adult supervision and adequate safety measures to prevent a child's death because of neglect.     

Screening for school readiness: The influence of birthdate and sex

School readiness has been measured in many ways; chronological age, sex, and developmental age all have been used, with varying success, to predict young children's readiness for school. One hundred and fifty-two children were classified by birthdate and sex, and compared on their performances on the Gesell Screening Test, the Gesell School Readiness Test (GSRT), and the Stanford Achievement Test. The Gesell measures were sensitive to the different birthdate groups; however, these differences diminished as the children aged. There were no significant differences between birthdate groups on the Stanford Achievement Test. Females scored higher than males on the GSRT at the end of kindergarten, but no interactions between birthdate and sex were found. Implications of the varying ways to determine school readiness are discussed.     

Predicting elementary science learning using national assessment data

This study made use of data collected during 1981—1982 from a random sample of 1960 nine-year-old students from 124 elementary schools involved in a national assessment of educational progress in science sponsored by the National Science Foundation. This data base was used in secondary analyses which probed the validity of a model of educational productivity involving a set of nine aptitudinal, instructional, and environmental variables which require optimization to increase student learning. When controlled for other factors, ability, motivation, class environment, home environment, amount of television viewing (negative direction), gender, and race were all found to be significantly related to achievement. For an attitude outcome, the factors linked with attitudinal attainment were ability, motivation, class environment, and race. Overall the findings supported the model of educational productivity and suggested that elementary science students' achievement and attitude are influenced jointly by a number of factors rather than one or two dominant ones. Also the study attests to the potential value of science education researchers performing secondary analyses on the high-quality random data bases generated as part of this national assessment.