Ability tracking and social trust in China’s rural secondary school system

ABSTRACT

The goal of this paper is to describe and analyze the relationship between ability tracking and student social trust, in the context of low-income students in developing countries. Drawing on the results from a longitudinal study among 1,436 low-income students across 132 schools in rural China, we found a significant lack of interpersonal trust and confidence in public institutions among poor rural young adults. We also found that slow-tracked students have a significantly lower level of social trust, comprised of interpersonal trust and confidence in public institutions, relative to their fast-tracked peers. This disparity might further widen the gap between relatively privileged students who stay in school and less privileged students who drop out of school. These results suggest that making high school accessible to more students may improve social trust among rural low-income young adults.     

Educational Vouchers: A Primer

Advancements in technology have changed the day to day operation of society. The ways in which we teach and learn have begun the same process. For this reason, we must reexamine instruction. In this article, the author analyzes the changing environment of educational technology and how to incorporate the theory of multiple intelligences. The teaching strategies presented outline how to enhance student performance by blending new technologies with time-tested pedagogy. The author explains and matches up each intelligence with an effective technology tool. He also provides examples from scholarly publications and actual classroom practice.     

Why Might Distance Make the Heart Grow Fonder?: A Relational Turbulence Model Investigation of the Maintenance of Long Distance and Geographically Close Romantic Relationships

Following the relational turbulence model, we examined the extent to which relational uncertainty and partner interference mediate distance and relational maintenance, here assessed as relational continuity constructional units (RCCUs), as predictors of relational turbulence. Results were consistent with and extend the relational turbulence model, with relational uncertainty mediating RCCUs and partner interference mediating distance. In addition to highlighting RCCUs as a communicative buffer against relational uncertainty, the results reveal a complex picture of geographic distance. Addressing mixed findings in previous research, it appears distance may foster relational turbulence yet also predict reduced turbulence when accompanied by diminished partner interference.     

What helps children in a pupil referral unit (PRU)? An exploration into the potential protective factors of a PRU as identified by children and staff

Previous studies have focused on the views of excluded children or those finding themselves in Pupil Referral Units (PRUs). Few, however, have focused on exploring views from a resilience perspective. Studies linked to resilience have tended to focus on exploring factors through quantitative rather than qualitative measures. This piece of research aimed to explore the potential protective factors of one PRU through the valuable voices of children and staff. The views of six children aged between 9 and 13 years, all with varying forms of behavioural, emotional and social difficulties, and partway through a PRU placement, were explored through semi-structured interviews supported by the use of tools and techniques to facilitate discussion. The views of four staff members were also obtained. Findings reveal the powerful perspectives that children and young people can bring in relation to what might be helping them within a particular environment. A number of potential protective factors, both within the environment and within-child factors that may operate as mechanisms in fostering positive social and academic outcomes, are identified. Implications of these findings for professional practice, and for children finding themselves in PRU provision, are discussed, with a focus on reintegration and the potential impact of changing environments for these children.     

Comprehensive sexuality education,culture and gender: the effect of the cultural setting on a sexuality education programme in Ethiopia

Comprehensive sexuality education (CSE) is recognised as an effective method of sexual health education, with the school identified as a fitting site of implementation. Its holistic and participatory nature endeavours to develop the knowledge, attitudes and life-skills of students to help them secure their sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR). This qualitative study aimed to better understand aspects of CSE implementation in one context. Specifically, it focuses on the effects of the cultural setting, considering how gender and sexuality norms influence teacher and student implementation strategies. The research was carried out in one secondary school in Ethiopia, which delivered a Dutch-developed programme throughout 2013. Over 50 in-depth interviews were conducted with teachers and students, influential community members and experts in SRHR. Data were also gathered through focus group discussions and classroom observations. Results show that CSE teachers and students, both male and female, were able to discuss issues of sexuality. However, the cultural context was seen to affect interpretation of programme information, influencing the nature of this discussion. For an impactful implementation, it is recommended that sexuality education aims to engage with and involve the wider community, to reduce contradictory messages and increase programme support. Furthermore, teachers should undergo extensive and comprehensive pre-programme training that addresses their attitudes and values, not just their knowledge.     

Information-Seeking Outcomes of Representational,Structural, and Political Intersectionality Among Health Media Consumers

Although the segmentation of publics is a standard practice in public relations programming, practitioners face challenges in using traditional approaches to identify and engage vastly different publics. Responding to the need for new approaches that consider global, cultural, and technological trends in consumer publics, this study provides evidence to a proposed intersectional approach to the segmentation of publics. Thirty-one women of different racial, socioeconomic, age, and relationship backgrounds were interviewed to explore how they perceived their multiple, overlapping identities influence their health decision making. Findings suggest that publics experience co-occurring oppression and privilege in varying contexts: in representations of them, in policies that affect them, and in structures that enable or hinder their ability to improve their health. The findings suggest that intersecting social structures shape disparate health public relations, intersecting policies widen the policymaker–public gap, and intersecting representations reflect a paradox of segmentation.     

Exploring the Relation Between Prenatal and Neonatal Complications and Later Autistic-Like Features in a Representative Community Sample of Twins

Prenatal and neonatal events were reported by parents of 13,690 eighteen-month-old twins enrolled in the Twins Early Development Study, a representative community sample born in England and Wales. At ages 7–8, parents and teachers completed questionnaires on social and nonsocial autistic-like features and parents completed the Childhood Asperger Syndrome Test. Correlations between prenatal and neonatal events and autistic-like features were weak, both in the whole sample ( r  = .00–.07) and at the 5% quantitative extreme (phenotypic group correlations = .01–.11), after controlling for socioeconomic status and cognitive ability. Neonatal problems showed modest heritability (13%–14%) and significant shared and nonshared environmental influences (55%–59% and 28%–31%, respectively). Differences in identical twins' neonatal problems correlated weakly with their difference scores on autistic-like features ( r  = .01–.06).     

Executive function skills of 6–8 year olds: Brain and behavioral evidence and implications for school achievement

Academic and social success in school has been linked to children’s self-regulation. This study investigated the assessment of the executive function (EF) component of self-regulation using a low-cost, easily administered measure to determine whether scores obtained from the behavioral task would agree with those obtained using a laboratory-based neuropsychological measure of EF skills. The sample included 74 children (37 females; M = 86.2 months) who participated in two assessments of working memory and inhibitory control: Knock–Tap (NEPSY: Korkman, Kirk, & Kemp, 1998), and participated in event-related potential (ERP) testing that included the directional stroop test ( DST, Davidson, Cruess, Diamond, O’Craven, and Savoy (1999)). Three main findings emerged. First, children grouped as high vs. low performing on the NEPSY Knock–Tap Task were found to perform differently on the more difficult conditions of the DST (the Incongruent and Mixed Conditions), suggesting that the Knock–Tap Task as a low-cost and easy to administer assessment of EF skills may be one way for teachers to identify students with poor inhibitory control skills. Second, children’s performance on the DST was strongly related to their ERP responses, adding to evidence that differences in behavioral performance on the DST as a measure of EF skills reflect corresponding differences in brain processing. Finally, differences in brain processing on the DST task also were found when the children were grouped based on Knock–Tap performance. Simple screening procedures can enable teachers to identify children whose distractibility, inattentiveness, or poor attention spans may interfere with classroom learning.     

Veiled and overt school choice: A consideration of the ways in which different forms of school choice affect student experiences

Parental choice of secondary schools is central to the Labour Government's education agenda. This article draws on work from an Economic and Social Research Council funded study considering teachers' and students' perspectives and experiences of choice in two locales. Two distinct ways in which choice operates are identified: overt choice, which is parental choice as Labour's education policy envisages it, and veiled choice, which refers to the previous more clandestine operation of parental choice. The article qualitatively explores students' experiences of choice in East Town with active parental choice, and in North Town where there is a strong tradition of attending the local school. For some students who do not get into their chosen school, choice appears to be having negative effects on their experiences of school, whilst choice has positive effects when students attend a school they actively chose and one which is viewed positively by the community.