College Talk and the Rural Economy: Shaping the Educational Aspirations of Rural,First-Generation Students

The college-going rates of rural students lag behind those of more urban students, a gap likely due, in part, to rural students’ lower educational aspirations. These lower aspirations appear to be tied to the dilemma that higher education presents for many rural students: whether to remain in their rural home, working in traditional trades and industries that do not require a college degree, or to leave in pursuit of an education that is often the first step toward an adult life lived away. This study seeks to better understand this dilemma by examining the messages that rural, first-generation students receive about the value of higher education. Drawing upon interviews and observations, it shows that high school guidance counselors, college admissions officials, and the staff of community-based college aspirations organizations adopt a strikingly consistent message: they cite struggling rural economies in their argument for the necessity of a practical degree for all students, one that can be easily leveraged into a career. Despite noting broad parental support for this message, many participants also describe continued resistance from some rural families, a perception that may heighten the dilemma of rural college-going for students.     

Parents’ Negative Relational Disclosures and Young Adult Children’s Perceptions of Appropriateness and Feelings of Being Caught

This study tested the degree to which the perceived appropriateness of parents’ negative relational disclosures moderated the association between such disclosures and young adult children’s feelings of being caught between their parents. Participants included 241 young adult children who completed online surveys. Whereas negative relational disclosures received from both mother and father positively predicted children feeling caught, the perceived appropriateness of those disclosures inversely predicted their feelings of being caught. After controlling for divorce status, the positive association between negative relational disclosures and feelings of being caught depended upon the perceived appropriateness of the disclosures for fathers but not for mothers.     

The National Disability Insurance Scheme and access to education: progressive or coercive policy discourse?

This paper explores the experiences of a small group of families in Australia in relation to recent reform to disability policy by way of the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS). Framed in critical disability perspectives of policy implementation research, the paper focuses on the extent to which the scheme articulates inclusive opportunities for children and young people with disabilities, particularly in relation to facilitating access to education. Interview data that illustrate families' expectations of the scheme and latter-day experiences, coercions and negotiations highlight the tensions that exist for scheme participants who draw on its provision to support their education. These first- and second-order policy effects indicate a welcome change to disability support in Australia, though the extent to which the scheme can advance inclusion for people with disabilities is uncertain, given the distance rendered between the policy and its participants and other service systems. The paper concludes with a theoretical discussion based on the analysis of how the NDIS is framed to interrelate with scheme participants and education and how it might be reframed for better outcomes.     

Linkages between children's and their friends' social and physical aggression: evidence for a gene-environment interaction?

Based on a sample of 406 seven-year-old twins, this study examined whether exposure to friends' social or physical aggression, respectively, moderates the effect of heritability on children's own social and physical aggression. Univariate analyses showed that children's own social and physical aggression were significantly explained by genetic factors, whereas friends' social and physical aggression represented "true" environmental factors that were unrelated to children's genetic dispositions. Multivariate analyses further suggested a possible gene-environment interaction in the link between friends' and children's physical aggression but not in the link between friends' and children's social aggression. Instead, friends' social aggression was directly related to children's social aggression, in addition to genetic effects on this behavior. Theoretical and practical implications of these results are discussed.     

‘Singled out because of skin color … ’: exploring ethnic minority female teachers’ embodiment in physical education

There is a significant lack of diversity within the teaching population nationwide that reflects historical, political, and institutional racialized inequality. In the context of physical education, ethnic minority teachers often report feeling ‘different,’ marginalized, and struggle to negotiate the dominant school culture they feel they do not belong to. Purpose: To explore how race and gender intersect in the lived experiences of ethnic minority female PE teachers in predominantly white schools in the United States. Methods: This study used narrative and visual research methods. Results: Participants often felt isolated and uncomfortable in their educational contexts, actively seeking out other ethnic minorities to make meaningful connections and validate their lived experiences. Discussion: The intersection of race and gender in participants’ embodied identities reflects sexist and racist systems in which white privilege is positioned as normal or universal. PE and PE teacher education programs must actively work to disrupt and destabilize these norms.     

Institutional experience of PTH evaluation on fine-needle washing after aspiration biopsy to locate hyperfunctioning parathyroid tissue

Assaying parathyroid hormone (PTH) in the washing liquid after fine-needle aspiration biopsy (FNAB) seems to be a valid approach to locate parathyroid tissue. PTH-FNAB was evaluated in 47 patients with a clinical picture of primary hyper-parathyroidism (PHP) and ultrasonography (US) suggestive of parathyroid lesion. The patients were subdivided into two groups on the basis of the absence or presence of US thyroid alterations. The result of PTH-FNAB was compared with those of cytology, scintigraphy and, in 24 patients, surgical outcome. PTH-FNAB samples with a value higher than that recorded in the serum and higher than our institutional cut-off were deemed to be probable samples of parathyroid tissue. Cytology proved diagnostic for benign thyroid lesions, non-diagnostic for thyroid lesions, hyperplastic parathyroid tissue, undetermined or malignant thyroid lesions and other lesions in 45%, 30%, 17%, 4%, and 4% of cases, respectively. In 47% of cases, PTH-FNAB indicated that the sample had been taken in parathyroid tissue. In patients without US alterations, the diagnostic accuracy of PTH-FNAB was greater than that of scintigraphy. After surgery, comparison between the results of PTH-FNAB and scintigraphy, in terms of positive predictive value (PPV), revealed the superiority of PTH-FNAB; PPV was 94% for FNAB and 71% for scintigraphy, while sen-sitivity was 83% and 69%, respectively. PTH-FNAB evaluation after FNAB appears to be more diagnostic than cytology and scintigraphy. Of all the procedures used, PTH-FNAB appears to be the method of choice when the target is US suggestive and reachable. PTH-FNAB appears to be a useful method of guiding surgical intervention.     

Towards a theory of mathematics homework as a social practice

This article presents a theoretical conceptualization of mathematics homework as a social practice. Rather than considering homework as a task or an artifact, this approach frames homework in terms of the social contexts in which students participate and how students participate in those contexts. This perspective has long been suggested by homework researchers but has not been developed as a framework for understanding homework. Drawing from Wenger’s (1998) social theory of learning and research grounded in sociocultural theory, this conceptualization makes central meaning making and identity development, and puts forth meaning and identity as lenses for understanding students’ participation in the practice of mathematics homework. To further develop this conceptualization of homework, I draw on data from an ethnographic study of the role and meaning of mathematics homework in the lives of middle school students. Case studies of two students are presented to demonstrate the relationships among the meaning of homework, students’ identities, and their participation in the practice of homework. One student’s experiences support him in identifying as a capable mathematics student who is bound for continued academic success through high school to college. Thus, he comes to take on mathematics homework as a means to learn and succeed. The other student’s experiences support him in building an identity that leads him to reject homework. This conceptualization of homework and the case study data have implications for the practice of homework and for theories of students’ motivational dispositions in the context of mathematics homework and learning in general.     

Stability and Change in Prosocial and Antisocial Behavior Across the Transition to School: Teacher and Peer Perspectives

Research Findings: The transition to school is a major developmental milestone, and behavior tendencies already evident at the point of school entry can impact upon a child's subsequent social and academic adjustment. The current study aimed to investigate stability and change in the social behavior of girls and boys across the transition from day care to 1st grade. Teacher ratings and peer nominations for prosocial and antisocial behavior were obtained for 248 children belonging to 2 cohorts: school transitioning (n = 118) and day care remaining (n = 130). Data were gathered again from all children 1 year later, following the older group's entry into school. Teacher ratings of prosocial and antisocial behavior significantly predicted teacher ratings of the same behavior at Time 2 for both cohorts. Peer reports of antisocial behavior also showed significant stability, whereas stability of peer-reported prosocial behavior varied as a function of behavior type. Practice or Policy: The results contribute to understanding of trends in early childhood social behavior that potentially influence long-term developmental trajectories. Identification of some behaviors as more stable in early childhood than others, regardless of school entry, provides useful information for both the type and timing of early interventions.