The dimensions of reading attitude for children in the intermediate grades

This study represents the first phase of an ongoing research program aimed at identifying the dimensions of reading attitude and determining how these dimensions relate to a broader range of variables such as reading achievement, scholastic aptitude, classroom behavior, and cognitive styles. The 150 items which comprise the experimental edition of A Survey of Reading Altitudes (Wallbrown, Brown, & Engin, 1974) were factor analyzed along with measures of scholastic aptitude, reading vocabulary, and reading comprehension. The analysis was based on the responses of 853 intermediate grade students. The attitude items were presented orally to control for reading problems, but the students also had booklets so they could read the items to themselves. Seven independent dimensions of reading attitude and one reading achievement factor were identified, interpreted, and discussed. The findings are encouraging, since they suggest that investigating the expressed reading attitudes of intermediate grade children constitutes a promising line of educational research.     

Prejudices Unshelved: Variation in Attitudes toward Controversial Public Library Materials in the General Social Survey, 1972–2014

Using the General Social Survey from 1972–2014, we examine variation in attitudes toward retaining controversial materials in libraries. Previously controversial topics have become much more widely accepted. We find that other controversies remain, showing how global conflicts become intertwined in local cultural controversies, and how the perceived threat from particular groups informs public concern with disseminating information from those groups. We find that more frequent library users are somewhat less likely to want to remove controversial books from the shelves, although some of these relationships are explained by variation in the respondent’s age, race, and other characteristics.     

The Combined Effects of Instructor Communicative Behaviors,Instructor Credibility,and Student Personality Traits on Incivility in the College Classroom

This study investigated the combined role of instructor communication variables (nonverbal immediacy and self-disclosure), instructor credibility (competence, caring, and trustworthiness), and student personality traits (extraversion, neuroticism, agreeableness, conscientiousness, and openness) in predicting students’ uncivil behaviors in class. A total of 406 students completed online questionnaires regarding the instructor of the class they attended prior to the one in which the study was administered. Personality and instructor behavior variables contributed approximately equally to explaining variance in student incivility. Students’ conscientiousness and agreeableness had direct negative relationships with incivility, whereas instructors’ amount and negativity of self-disclosure had direct positive relationships with incivility.     

Disrupting White Privilege: Diving beneath Shame and Guilt

Abstract

The persistence of white privilege and escalating racism in the United States challenges religious educators to analyze the roots and destructive potential of both. This article draws on historical and contemporary analyses in dialogue with personal reflection and the oral histories of two leaders who seek to recognize and live beyond their own privilege. The purpose of the study is to describe the landscape of white privilege and analyze the intersections of public and personal dynamics. The analysis reveals the educational potential of personal narratives and structural analysis in understanding and transforming white privilege into humble work for justice.     

Mapping the literature of hospital pharmacy

Objectives

This study describes the literature of hospital pharmacy and identifies the journals most commonly cited by authors in the field, the publication types most frequently cited, the age of citations, and the indexing access to core journals. The study also looks at differing citation practices between journals with a wide audience compared to a national journal with a focus on regional issues and trends in the field.

Method

Cited references from five discipline-specific source journals were collected and analyzed for publication type and age. Two sets were created for comparison. Bradford''s Law of Scattering was applied to both sets to determine the most frequently cited journals.

Results

Three-quarters of all cited items were published within the last 10 years (71%), and journal articles were the most heavily cited publication type (n=65,760, 87%). Citation analysis revealed 26 journal titles in Zone 1, 177 journal titles in Zone 2, and the remaining were scattered across 3,886 titles. Analysis of a national journal revealed Zone 1 comprised 9 titles. Comparison of the 2 sets revealed that Zone 1 titles overlapped, with the exception of 2 titles that were geographically focused in the national title.

Conclusion

Hospital pharmacy literature draws heavily from its own discipline-specific sources but equally from core general and specialty medical journals. Indexing of cited journals is complete in PubMed and EMBASE but lacking in International Pharmaceutical Abstracts. Gray literature is a significant information source in the field.