Academic achievement in first-year university: who maintains their high school average?

The present study investigates the characteristics which differentiate between first-year university students who maintain their high school averages (Maintainers: n = 165) and those whose averages decrease at least one letter grade (Decliners: n = 435). The 600 students entered first year at one of six Canadian Universities, which varied in size and ethnic diversity. Data were collected in August, prior to the start of school, and in November of first year. Multivariate analyses indicated significant group differences between Maintainers and Decliners on familial variables (gender, fathers’ education level, but not family income, parental reciprocity, parental support or immigrant/generational status), psychological well-being (perceived stress in August and November, and November depression, self-esteem and health), and university adjustment (university plans, transition perception, time management and university adaptation). The current study addresses a gap in the existing academic achievement literature, while providing practical information to students, parents, and educators involved in the transition to university.     

Parental cognitive impairment and child maltreatment in Canada

Objectives

The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of parental cognitive impairment in cases opened for child maltreatment investigation in Canada, and to examine the relationship between parental cognitive impairment and maltreatment investigation outcomes including substantiation, case disposition and court application.

Methods

The method was secondary analysis of the Canadian Incidence Study of Child Abuse and Neglect (CIS-2003) core-data, which is derived from a multi-stage stratified cluster sample of 11,562 child maltreatment investigations.

Results

Parental cognitive impairment was noted in 10.1% of sampled cases that were opened for child maltreatment investigation in 2003, and in 27.3% of sampled cases that resulted in child welfare court application. Neglect was the most common cause of concern. With child and case characteristics held constant, parental cognitive impairment predicted investigation outcomes. The data further suggest that the relationship between parental cognitive impairment and investigation outcomes was partially mediated by perceived parent non-cooperation, mental health issues and low social support.

Conclusions

The number of children who are living with a parent with cognitive impairment and who are referred for protective services is thought to be increasing. Building systems capacity to support parents with cognitive impairment and promote child wellbeing is therefore essential to containing the human and economic costs of maltreatment and out-of-home care.

Practice implications

A broad-spectrum approach is needed to support parents with cognitive impairment and their children. Equipping services with the knowledge, skills, and mandate they need to deliver evidence-based parent training is vital. However, strategies are also needed to tackle discrimination, alleviate family poverty, strengthen the social ties of parents with cognitive impairment and in turn, improve the life chances of their children.     

Helping out or hanging out: the features of involvement and how it relates to university adjustment

This study examined the nature of students’ out-of-class involvements with a view to identifying the kinds of involvement that are most conducive to positive adjustment to university. Students from five Canadian universities completed questionnaires in November of their first-year at university assessing the quality of their out-of-class involvements and the extent to which such activities were structured (i.e., supervised, performed regularly, had a goal or purpose). Measures of adjustment to university were administered in November and March of their first-year. Results indicated that the amount of structure present in out-of-class activities was positively related to university adjustment. Activity quality was found to mediate the relationship between activity structure and university adjustment; it seems that activities that are highly structured are related to more positive outcomes because they tend to provide participants with a high-quality experience. Results are discussed in terms of the transition to university, and first-year transition intervention programs.     

Self‐Regulation and Mathematics Instruction

Abstract The purpose of this article is to provide an overview of research‐based interventions that incorporate self‐regulation strategies to improve mathematics performance of students with learning disabilities (LD). Self‐regulation is a metacognitive function essential to academic success. Students with LD are notoriously poor at self‐regulation and must be taught explicitly to monitor and control their cognitive activities as they engage in academic tasks such as mathematical problem solving. This article describes intervention studies that use self‐regulation strategies to improve mathematics performance of students with LD at the elementary, middle, and secondary school levels. Several techniques to facilitate effective implementation of self‐regulation instruction in the classroom are presented.     

Native Hawaiians and Bishop Museum: Negotiating Ownership of the Island Past

Increasingly, museums are seeking to incorporate indigenous perspectives into their exhibits, programs, and collections management policies. Despite its history and close proximity to Hawaiians, Bishop Museum has neither a long nor an unblemished record of consulting the indigenous community. Within the last three years, there has been a theft/removal of sacred objects, a lawsuit involving repatriation of Hawaiian remains, demonstrations and state government hearings concerning the Bishop's interpretation of archaeological sites, as well as more positive activity; e.g., a renewed interest in exhibiting Hawaiian culture. While factionalism within the indigenous community complicates matters, many of the museum's problems are an outgrowth of its own decisions: lucrative contracts have not been without cost, and internal dissension has resulted in such high staff turnover that the museum's professional capability has been publicly called into question by Hawaiians (and others). As Hawaiians assume a more active role, their 106-year relationship with Bishop Museum is being redefined. (Note: “Hawai'i” is used here to refer to the southernmost island in the chain; “Hawaii” designates the entire chain, the state).     

Improving Language-Focused Comprehension Instruction in Primary-Grade Classrooms: Impacts of the Let’s Know! Experimental Curriculum

This quasi-experimental study was designed to test the impacts of a curriculum supplement, Let’s Know!, on the quantity and quality of language-focused comprehension instruction in pre-kindergarten to third grade classrooms. Sixty classrooms (12 per each of pre-K to grade 3) were enrolled in the study, with 40 teachers assigned to implement one of two versions of the experimental Let’s Know! curriculum and 20 assigned to a control condition, in which they maintained their typical language-arts curriculum. Classroom observations, 90 min in duration, were collected near the end of the first unit’s completion, about 4 to 5 weeks into the academic year. These observations were coded to examine impacts of Let’s Know! instruction on two outcomes: (a) teachers’ use of 18 language-focused comprehension supports and (b) general classroom quality. Study results using quantile regression showed that Let’s Know! teachers used a significantly higher number of language-focused comprehension supports during Let’s Know! instruction compared to the control teachers during language-arts instruction; the same finding was also true for general classroom quality. Quantile regression results showed the greatest differentiation in instructional quality, when comparing experimental and control teachers, for teachers in the middle of the distribution of general classroom quality. Study findings highlight the value of language-focused curricula for heightening comprehension-specific supports in pre-K to grade 3 settings.     

A decade of AIDS literature.

From 1983 through mid-1991, more than 200,000 MEDLINE entries were AIDS-related. Close to 60% of the journals indexed in MEDLINE published at least one article on AIDS during the past ten years. As reflected by a subset of 29,077 MEDLINE records, the literature of AIDS has grown to encompass 29 languages and 65 countries. A bibliometric study of the medical literature helps to demonstrate the progression of AIDS as a world health problem and the concomitant expansion of the research effort underway to control it.