Dopamine Receptor D2 Polymorphism Moderates the Effect of Parental Education on Adolescents' School Performance

ABSTRACT— High parental socioeconomic status is known to have a positive effect on students' academic achievement. We examined whether variation in the dopamine receptor gene (DRD2 polymorphism, rs 1800497) modifies the association between parental educational level and school performance in adolescence. The participants were a randomly selected subsample of individuals participating in the Cardiovascular Risk in Young Finns study (921 girls and 742 boys) aged 12–15 years at the time school performance was assessed. The genotyping was performed using TaqMan 5'-nuclease assay. A significant interaction was found between childhood parental educational level and students' DRD2 polymorphism on academic achievement after adjustment for age, gender, household income, parental occupation, maternal nurturance, hyperactivity, and sociability. Parental educational level was significantly positively associated with school achievement in the A2/A2 ( n  = 1,061) and the A1/A2 ( n  = 529) genotype groups, but was negative and statistically insignificant in participants carrying the A1/A1 ( n  = 73) genotype. It is concluded that the extent to which parental education status affects an individual's academic achievement may be dependent on the individual's genetic constitution. The findings may increase an acceptance of genetic influence in education, and, consequently, may increase accurateness of educational interventions.     

Patterns of Competence and Adjustment among Adolescents from Authoritative, Authoritarian, Indulgent, and Neglectful Families

In order to test Maccoby and Martin's revision of Baumrind's conceptual framework, the families of approximately 4,100 14-18-year-olds were classified into 1 of 4 groups (authoritative, authoritarian, indulgent, or neglectful) on the basis of the adolescents' ratings of their parents on 2 dimensions: acceptance/involvement and strictness/supervision. The youngsters were then contrasted along 4 sets of outcomes: psychosocial development, school achievement, internalized distress, and problem behavior. Results indicate that adolescents who characterize their parents as authoritative score highest on measures of psychosocial competence and lowest on measures of psychological and behavioral dysfunction; the reverse is true for adolescents who describe their parents as neglectful. Adolescents whose parents are characterized as authoritarian score reasonably well on measures indexing obedience and conformity to the standards of adults but have relatively poorer self-conceptions than other youngsters. In contrast, adolescents from indulgent homes evidence a strong sense of self-confidence but report a higher frequency of substance abuse and school misconduct and are less engaged in school. The results provide support for Maccoby and Martin's framework and indicate the need to distinguish between two types of "permissive" families: those that are indulgent and those that are neglectful.     

The value of academics’ formal and informal interaction in developing life science education

ABSTRACT

Concerns have been expressed that the engagement shown by committed individuals is not fully utilized by their organizations while there is insufficient knowledge of which conditions facilitate teaching collaboration and lead to improvements in university education. Portfolios of 43 life science academics applying to enter to the University of Helsinki Teachers’ Academy were analyzed through content analysis. Five categories of interactive or collaborative practices emerged from the data: (1) Interacting with peers for personal development, (2) Sharing good teaching practices, (3) Teaching together, (4) Producing educational artefacts, (5) Developing education systematically. The practices occurred in both formal and informal settings, and both settings were present in all categories. In contrast with the formal practices, the informal practices were described in an enthusiastic way. The engagement shown by the scholarly teachers was mostly realized in informal settings. There is probably unrealized potential in the scholarly teachers’ teaching-related practices through which they could contribute to the development of teaching in academia. Formal communities related to teaching should be developed to promote deeper collaboration and to foster the participants’ feeling of personal commitment and ownership.     

Linking Quality and Quantity of Parental Linguistic Input to Child Language Skills: A Meta-Analysis

This meta-analysis examined associations between the quantity and quality of parental linguistic input and children’s language. Pooled effect size for quality (i.e., vocabulary diversity and syntactic complexity; k = 35; N = 1,958; r = .33) was more robust than for quantity (i.e., number of words/tokens/utterances; k = 33; N = 1,411; r = .20) of linguistic input. For quality and quantity of parental linguistic input, effect sizes were stronger when input was observed in naturalistic contexts compared to free play tasks. For quality of parental linguistic input, effect sizes also increased as child age and observation length increased. Effect sizes were not moderated by socioeconomic status or child gender. Findings highlight parental linguistic input as a key environmental factor in children’s language skills.     

Are There Gender Differences in Quantitative Student Evaluations of Instructors?

Research in Higher Education - Recent research conducted at numerous universities has found evidence of instructor-gender differences in student evaluations of teaching (SET). This paper examines...     

Extra tuition in Southern and Eastern Africa: Coverage,growth, and linkages with pupil achievement

The phenomenon of extra tuition is witnessed in many countries and some educationalists have described it as a parallel education system. However, the incidence and impact of extra tuition have often not been studied systematically, especially in Africa. In this article cross-national data for six African education systems (Kenya, Malawi, Mauritius, Namibia, Zambia and Zanzibar) collected by SACMEQ, the Southern and Eastern Africa Consortium for Monitoring Educational Quality, have been used to assess: (a) the incidence and growth of extra tuition, (b) the characteristics of students who received extra tuition, and (c) the association between extra tuition and student achievement. The analyses presented in this paper showed that extra tuition was a widespread phenomenon in all six education systems, and that receiving extra tuition was positively associated with the socio-economic levels of students’ home backgrounds. The association between tuition and student achievement was mixed. The issues and challenges associated with tuition have been discussed and some suggestions for further research made.     

Socioeconomic status, parental investments, and the cognitive and behavioral outcomes of low-income children from immigrant and native households

The current study examines the effects of socioeconomic status (SES) on preschool children's cognitive and behavioral outcomes and if these relations are mediated by the quality of children's home environment and moderated by family nativity status. Data come from 1459 low-income families (n = 257 and 1202 immigrant and native families, respectively). Results indicated that among both immigrant and native households, maternal education, as compared to household income or welfare receipt, was the strongest predictor of a composite of SES. Path analyses estimated direct and indirect effects of SES and revealed greater similarity than difference in the processes by which SES influences immigrant and native children's preschool outcomes. Language/literacy stimulation and maternal supportiveness mediated the relations of SES to children's cognitive outcomes among both immigrant and native families. In contrast, parenting stress mediated the effects of SES on children's aggressive behavior among native, but not immigrant, households.     

Knowledge typologies for professional learning: educators’ (re)generation of knowledge when learning open educational practice

Open education resources (OER) and accompanying open education practices (OEP), are changing the education landscape. For educators to take full advantage of the opportunities OER offer they must engage in learning activities to facilitate the extension and adaption of their practice. This paper forms part of a larger study exploring how adult educators learn from and through their engagement with OER in the contexts of their work. Following a quantitative investigation of the learning behaviours of 521 educators around OER use, follow up interviews were conducted with 30 participants. The interviews explore in greater detail the ways knowledge is being (re)generated and used by the educators as they learn new practices with and through OER. Six broad knowledge types were identified as supporting the expansion of practice. The data suggest educators not only require multiple types of knowledge, but also must be able to move fluidly among these different types of knowledge.