Race,whiteness, "lightness," and relevance: African American and European American interpretations of Jump Start and The Boondocks

African American and European American participants were interviewed about two syndicated comic strips written by and featuring African Americans: Jump Start, a comic strip that portrays African Americans in a normative middle-class family narrative and focuses only occasionally on racial issues, and The Boondocks, a comic strip that focuses frequently on racial issues. The African American groups interpreted the comic strips through the terministic screen of race cognizance, through which racial politics and oppression were highly relevant. Almost all of the European American participants, however, interpreted the comic strips through the terministic screen of Whiteness, through which racial politics and oppression were not relevant.     

Development of a Learning Progression for the Formation of the Solar System

This study describes the process of defining a hypothetical learning progression (LP) for astronomy around the big idea of Solar System formation. At the most sophisticated level, students can explain how the formation process led to the current Solar System by considering how the planets formed from the collapse of a rotating cloud of gas and dust. Development of this LP was conducted in 2 phases. First, we interviewed middle school, high school, and college students (N?=?44), asking them to describe properties of the current Solar System and to explain how the Solar System was formed. Second, we interviewed 6th-grade students (N?=?24) before and after a 15-week astronomy curriculum designed around the big idea. Our analysis provides evidence for potential levels of sophistication within the hypothetical LP, while also revealing common alternative conceptions or areas of limited understanding that could form barriers to progress if not addressed by instruction. For example, many students' understanding of Solar System phenomena was limited by either alternative ideas about gravity or limited application of momentum in their explanations. Few students approached a scientific-level explanation, but their responses revealed possible stepping stones that could be built upon with appropriate instruction.     

Why relationships matter: parent and early childhood teacher perspectives about the provisions afforded by young children's relationships

This study investigated the perspectives of early childhood teachers and parents regarding the importance of provisions afforded by child–teacher and peer relationships in early childhood centres. Participants were 200 parents and 71 teachers of children aged 0–5 years who responded to an online survey containing a series of relationship function statements that were rated according to their perceived importance. Results demonstrate that most functions were rated as more important in the context of child–teacher relationships than peer relationships, although statements reflecting the provision of friendship were regarded as more important in the domain of peer relationships. Ratings for particular provisions of infant relationships were significantly lower than those for older children; a result generated largely by variation in the ratings of teachers in comparison to those of parents. Findings are discussed in relation to differences between parent and teacher perspectives and implications for the development of inclusive, relationship-based pedagogies.     

Are Environmental Professors Unbalanced? Evidence From the Field

Most outcomes assessment in higher education has focused on content knowledge or skills development; however, attitudinal change is also a legitimate focus of assessment. We use the New Ecological Paradigm (NEP) to test whether courses designed to meet the same university environmental literacy requirement changed student environmental attitudes, and whether these changes resulted from instructor and/or course-content effects. We found student environmental attitudes did change significantly but in different directions depending upon who taught the course. The ability to measure such changes adds to the discussion in the environmental education community on the desired nature of attitudinal change and of the responsibilities of higher education instructors.     

The effect of locus of control on communication motivation,anxiety, and satisfaction

Uses and gratifications is a psychological communication perspective focusing on how individual differences mediate attitudes and behavior. Incorporated in the perspective is an implicit emphasis of the interface of personal and mediated communication. As a salient psychological trait, locus of control should affect communication motivation and tendencies. Based on internal vs. external locus of control, we expected differences in communication motivation in interpersonal and mass‐media contexts, and differences in one's communication anxiety and satisfaction. Multivariate analysis of variance supported our expectations. Externals found communication to be less rewarding and less satisfying, tended to avoid communication, and were motivated to communicate more ritualistically than internals. We discussed these findings.     

Self-esteem and school performance

Self-esteem was found to have a moderate relationship with, but not a strong independent effect on, school achievement and behavior for a sample of 530 twelve-year-olds. From multiple correlation coefficients predicting school outcomes from measures of socioeconomic status, IQ, and self-esteem, it was concluded that much of the relationship between self-esteem and school performance for the general school population can best be explained as reflecting common underlying factors such as ability and background.     

The development of a performance evaluation instrument for upward evaluation of supervisors by subordinates

The performance evaluation of a supervisor usually relies solely on the observations and judgments of the supervisor's supervisor. However, the validity of performance evaluations could be unproved if a variety of sources were consulted: One of these sources is the supervisor's subordinate. This article provides a detailed discussion of how a valid and reliable instrument for upward appraisal was developed at the Dayton-Montgomery County (Ohio) Public Library.