Logit analysis of graduate student retention

A logit model is developed to predict the retention of graduate students. The use of the BMDP4F procedure to develop a logit model for graduation student retention is outlined, and the model is applied to data from a major university. In this study, predicted retention rates for master's students were independent of age and sex, but were a function of race/visa status, registration status, and the interactions between academic division and registration status and between academic division and race/visa status. Predicted rates for doctoral students were independent of age and race/visa status, but were a function of registration status, academic division, and the interactions between academic division and registration status and between academic division and sex.     

Effective literacy teaching behaviours

There is much current interest in the identification of effective programmes for raising literacy standards. However, the effectiveness of such programmes might vary greatly according to implementation integrity and the preferred teaching styles or behaviours of teachers. This research explored whether highly effective teachers of literacy used teaching behaviours that were independent of any specific programme, whether these were consistent between teachers and different literacy teaching contexts, and whether teacher perceptions corresponded with observations of their behaviour. Five teachers were selected on the basis of high pupil literacy attainment and expert nomination, and observed during shared reading and general literacy teaching contexts. These highly effective literacy teachers tended to utilise similar teaching behaviours, but they did not utilise all behaviours thought to be associated with pupil achievement. Additionally, they utilised effective behaviours more in shared reading sessions than in general literacy sessions. Thus even these highly effective literacy teachers had room for improvement. To some extent the teachers were actually using more complex behaviours than they reported perceiving. They did not appear to perceive their behavioural variation between contexts, nor any under‐use of other effective teaching behaviours. The implications for professional practice, professional development and future research are explored.     

Evidentiary Competence: Sixth Graders'' Understanding for Gathering and Interpreting Evidence in Scientific Investigations

With the growing emphasis on the development of scientific inquiry skills, there is a strong need for more research on students' ability to collect and interpret evidence. This paper calls attention to the notion of evidentiary competence that refers to the concepts and reasoning skills involved in the collection, organization, and interpretation of data. We proposed a set of concepts and skills involved in evidentiary competence and examined sixth of them—the priority, relevancy, objectivity, replicability of evidence, and the interpretation of examples and tables—using a written instrument contextualized in atmospheric science. Analyses of 40 sixth grade students' answers and explanations revealed that their understanding of scientific evidence and the data collection process was quite weak in several respects. For example, many students neither appreciated the role of empirical evidence in scientific inquiry, nor distinguished relevant evidence from irrelevant evidence, nor understood the importance of reliable and objective observations, nor interpreted examples and tables appropriately. Results suggest that more explicit instructions are needed in order to strengthen students' ability to collect and interpret data, especially in the current data rich information age.     

8种威胁孩子健康的宠物

That iguana in your son's bedroom isn't just a reptile.It's also a deadly-germ machine. 　　So says the American Academy of Pediatrics,which warns parents that many of the"easy"pets-the ones that don't shed,don't need to be walked,and don't throw up on the sofa-pose serious health threats to young children.And here I was so ready to convince my daughter that lizards are almost as cuddly as a Beverly Hills Chihuahua.……     

“Vulnerability” in AIDS-affected states: Rethinking child rights,educational institutions,and development paradigms

The article interrogates current international development constructs of childhood, rights, vulnerability, and schooling in light of the daily experiences of two Malawian children affected by HIV/AIDS. It aims to better understand how development efforts targeted at these children function in practice, and suggests that current development discourses and frameworks may sometimes operate to make the lives of vulnerable children and communities harder and less secure. New frameworks for international HIV/AIDS development programming are needed that conceptualize the child and community as part of global educational, social, political, and economic systems that can fuel inequality as well as improve life experiences.     

A Process Model of Attachment–Friend Linkages: Hostile Attribution Biases,Language Ability,and Mother–Child Affective Mutuality as Intervening Mechanisms

This study identified mechanisms through which child–mother attachment security at 36 months was associated with mother‐ and teacher‐reported friendship quality at 3rd grade. Data from a subsample of 1,071 children (536 boys) participating in the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development were used. Separate structural equation models were tested for mother and teacher reports of peer functioning. For both models, the total indirect effect between attachment security and friendship quality was significant. Tests of specific indirect effects indicated that attachment security was associated with friendship quality via greater mother–child affective mutuality and better language ability at 54 months and fewer hostile attributions (teacher model only) and greater peer competence at first grade. The findings highlight interpersonal and intrapersonal mechanisms of attachment–friend linkages.     

Parent-child interaction therapy: application to maltreating parent-child dyads

OBJECTIVE: Parent-Child Interaction Training (PCIT), which uses a social learning framework, is a dyadic intervention that is designed to alter specific patterns of interaction found in parent-child relationships. Previous research suggests that maladaptive and high-risk characteristics found in maltreating parent-child dyads may be responsive to PCIT. The primary focus of this study is to examine the effectiveness of PCIT with maltreating parent-child dyads. METHODOLOGY: This study describes the effectiveness of PCIT with 136 biological parent-child dyads in which 66.9% (N=91) of the children had been maltreated. Of the 91 maltreated children, 64.8% (N=59) of the parents had maltreated their children, and were thus considered to be at high risk of repeating the abuse. RESULTS: Primary outcomes of this study show the following: (1) a decrease in child behavior problems, (2) a decrease in parental stress, and (3) a decrease in abuse risk from pre- to post-treatment for dyads with and without a history of maltreatment. CONCLUSIONS: Our results add to the body of research supporting PCIT as a promising intervention and as a means to aid both children and parents in high-risk families for maltreatment.