Listen,listen, listen and listen: building a comprehension corpus and making it comprehensible

Listening comprehension input is necessary for language learning and acculturation. One approach to developing listening comprehension skills is through exposure to massive amounts of naturally occurring spoken language input. But exposure to this input is not enough; learners also need to make the comprehension corpus meaningful to their learning experience.     

A bridge between worlds: understanding network structure to understand change strategy

A number of scholars are exploring district and site relations in organizational change efforts in the larger policy context of No Child Left Behind. These studies suggest the importance of the central office as a support to the work of reform and offer strategies for building relations between district offices and sites in order to implement and sustain change efforts. What is frequently overlooked in these studies is that organizational change efforts are often socially constructed. Therefore, examining the underlying social networks may provide insight into structures that support or constrain efforts at change. This exploratory case study uses social network analysis and interviews to examine the communication and knowledge network structures of central office and site leaders in an ‘in need of improvement’ district facing sanctions under No Child Left Behind. Findings indicate sparse ties among and between school site and central office administrators, as well as a centralized network structure that may constrain the exchange of complex information and ultimately inhibit efforts at change.     

Children's distributive justice judgments: aversive racism in Euro-American children?

Euro-American 2nd- and 4th-grade children (Ms=7.67 and 9.82 years) heard stories about Black and White characters who produced artwork yielding a windfall reward. Children allocated rewards to characters, justified their allocations, and judged the fairness of patterns representing different justice principles. Older children allocated more money to Black than White productive characters and to White than Black needy characters, consistent with predictions from aversive racism theory. Rationales most often relied on equality principles; older children gave more equity-based justifications for Black than for White characters. Fairness ratings of patterns representing 4 justice principles revealed effects for age and character race. Implications for understanding the developmental course of moral judgments as they apply to racial differences are discussed.     

数字图书馆中多媒体馆藏与服务的建立

介绍岭南大学开发网上多媒体馆藏,并在香港开拓性地利用多媒体点播技术,通过互联网提供数字图书馆服务的实践。得出以下结论:多媒体技术对数字图书馆的影响无法估量,图书馆界应仔细研究和分析多媒体对数字图书馆的影响,充分发掘其潜能,并在引入多媒体服务的过程中,彼此分享经验,共建共享数字化资源。     

Cues of paternal uncertainty and father to child physical abuse as reported by mothers in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Objective

Paternity is uncertain, so if paternal feelings evolved to promote fitness, we might expect them to vary in response to variables indicative of paternity probability. We therefore hypothesized that the risk of lapses of paternal affection, including abusive assaults on children, will be exacerbated by cues of non-paternity.

Methods

Cross-sectional study of 331 Brazilian mothers, interviewed about 1 focal child (age 1–12) residing with her and the putative father. Child physical abuse was assessed using the Conflict Tactic Scales: Parent Child (CTSPC). Two potential cues of (non) paternity were (1) whether the parents co-resided when the child was conceived, and (2) whether third parties allegedly commented on father–child resemblance. Data were analyzed through multiple logistic regressions.

Results

Mothers reported child physical abuse by 15.9% (95% CI 4.6–27.1) of fathers who had not cohabited with them at conception, compared to 5.9% (95% CI 3.1–8.7) of those who had. The odds ratio for abuse by fathers who had not cohabited at conception in relation to those who had—adjusted for income, education, age, sex of child, whether child was first born, household size, time father spent with child, and alcohol abuse and drug use by father—was 4.3 (95% CI 1.4–13.8). Mothers reported abuse of 7.0% (95% CI 4.0–10.0) of children who purportedly resembled their fathers, versus 8.7% (95% CI 0.2–17.1) of those who did not.

Conclusion

According to maternal reports, not having co-resided at conception quadrupled the chance of child physical abuse by currently co-residing Brazilian fathers. The reported prevalence of abuse was unrelated to reported allegations of father–child resemblance.     

Reforming higher education systems: Some lessons to guide policy implementation

Although higher education systems are in a constant state of change, they are difficult for governments to reform. This paper analyzes a wide variety of country experiences in establishing mechanisms to co-ordinate the development of higher education systems, diversifying institutional financing and increasing the efficiency of public investments. Attention is drawn to the need for effective policy structures to manage higher education, to link costs of reforms to benefits such as increased opportunity, to take account of the institutional constraints to change as well as to carefully articulate educational reforms with other public policies that influence the performance of the higher education systems.     

Developmental Transactions Between Self-Regulation and Academic Achievement Among Low-Income African American and Latino Children

This study examined the development of emerging self-regulation (SR) skills across the preschool years and relations to academic achievement in kindergarten and first grade. SR skills of 403 low-income African American and Latino children were measured at 2&1/2, 3&1/2, and 5 years (kindergarten). Reading and math skills were measured at 5 and 6 years (first grade) using the Woodcock–Johnson. Transactional relations between SR skills and achievement outcomes were estimated with latent difference score models. Increases in set shifting predicted prospective increases in reading, but not math scores. Increases in simple response inhibition predicted prospective increases in math, but not reading scores. Application of these findings to early intervention programming and needed supports for school readiness and achievement are discussed.     

Acceleratory match-play demands of a Super Rugby team over a competitive season

The match-play demands of rugby union have increased over time, and these demands should be quantified so as to provide a basis for optimal player loading during training. The primary aim of this article was to quantify accelerations, decelerations, impacts and aggregated body demands during the first half of match-play in a Super Rugby team. The secondary aim was to determine whether these characteristics are position-specific. Thirty-three players were monitored for 14 matches using global positioning system units with inbuilt microtechnology. Players were grouped according to positional roles and data were analysed for those who completed the entire duration of the first half of a given match. Forwards sustained more (d = 0.44) high-intensity impacts and greater (d = 0.26) aggregated body demands, while backs had more moderate (d = 0.55) and heavy accelerations (d = 0.76), and moderate (d = 0.23) and heavy decelerations (d = 0.54). These differences suggest that conditioning and recovery strategies should reflect the physical demands placed on players in different playing positions. Forwards should be conditioned with a focus on impacts and require longer recovery for the same duration of playing time, whereas conditioning for backs should emphasise rapid accelerations and decelerations.