‘Fratricidal warfare’: English-Canadian textbook publishers take on the Americans, 1970–1980

Educational publishing sits at the intersection of industry, culture and education. Pedagogical aims must be balanced with the need for publishers to make a profit, while also acknowledging Canadian national identity and culture. The events of central interest are related to the tensions between two publishers’ associations in the wake of the sales, in 1970, of Canadian publishers Gage and Ryerson Press to American interests. The Canadian Book Publishers’ Council was comprised mainly of American branch plants and the Independent Publishers Association membership was Canadian-owned publishing companies. The two associations became bitter rivals, engaging in ‘fratricidal warfare’, as they lobbied the provincial and federal governments and fought to maintain their places in the textbook market. About 65% of total sales revenues from publishing in Canada came from textbook sales in this period. Both governments and commercial interests had to balance Canadian sovereignty with commercial gain and educational goals.     

Newsworthiness and Islam: An Analysis of Values in the Muslim Online Press

This study examined how the values of the Islamic faith may have an impact on news reporting in several Middle Eastern nations. An analysis of 1,773 stories from 10 online Middle Eastern newspapers indicated that Islam as a way of life has an effect on how domestic news was structured in the presentation of news topic, the actors in the news, the positive or negative orientation of the news, and the use of sources. Previous explanations of newsworthiness in Middle Eastern societies that do not consider the impact of Islamic values may be incomplete in their evaluation of the press.     

The door‐in‐the‐face compliance strategy: An individual differences analysis of two models in an AIDS fundraising context

This study examined the reciprocal concessions and self‐presentation accounts of the door‐in‐the‐face (DITF) compliance strategy within a fundraising context. Subjects were classified as low or high in exchange orientation, and as low or high in approval motivation on the basis of a pretest questionnaire. As predicted on the basis of reciprocal concessions theory, a significant interaction was obtained between exchange‐orientation and message strategy. For high exchange‐oriented subjects, the DITF message strategy substantially increased compliance rates, relative to the single‐request control message. However, low exchange‐oriented subjects were actually more charitable in response to the control message. Analysis of a post‐treatment measure of obligation to the requestor revealed that obligation could account for less than half of the interaction effect, a finding which is inconsistent with concessions theory. Self‐presentation theory suggests that DITF should work best when directed toward targets who are high in their approval motivation, but this hypothesized interaction between approval motivation and message strategy did not materialize.     

拒签并非结束

今天,你被“拒签”了么？漫漫留学路,拒签之后我们又应该做些什么？拒签往往会给你出人意料的提示！     

A good education: girls' extracurricular pursuits and school choice

This paper draws on the case studies of six girls between the ages of 10 and 13 and considers their transition to secondary school and involvement in extracurricular sports. Within it, I explore how the girls' understandings of ‘a good education’ affects both their academic and extracurricular/sporting choices. Despite government educational targets which seem to value ‘performative’ academic results, I argue that ideas about a ‘well‐rounded student’ continue to hold particular resonance for middle‐class parents and students. Conversely, I suggest that models of excellence and achievement within education are increasingly echoed in students' sporting participation and that this has specific consequences for working‐class and middle‐class students. I draw particular attention to the girls' experiences of these systems with a view to their ability to convert physical capital accrued in physical activity into other forms of social or cultural capital.     

Selection bias in college admissions test scores

Data from college admissions tests can provide a valuable measure of student achievement, but the non-representativeness of test-takers is an important concern. We examine selectivity bias in both state-level and school-level SAT and ACT averages. The degree of selectivity may differ importantly across and within schools, and across and within states. To identify within-state selectivity, we use a control function approach that conditions on scores from a representative test. Estimates indicate strong selectivity of test-takers in “ACT states,” where most college-bound students take the ACT, and much less selectivity in SAT states. To identify within- and between-school selectivity, we take advantage of a policy reform in Illinois that made taking the ACT a graduation requirement. Estimates based on this policy change indicate substantial positive selection into test participation both across and within schools. Despite this, school-level averages of observed scores are extremely highly correlated with average latent scores, as across-school variation in sample selectivity is small relative to the underlying signal. As a result, in most contexts the use of observed school mean test scores in place of latent means understates the degree of between-school variation in achievement but is otherwise unlikely to lead to misleading conclusions.     

Teaching second-grade students to write sequential text

With the adoption of the English Language Arts Common Core State Standards, writing has become an increasingly important area of instruction. Moreover, there has been an increased sophistication in the types of writing required of young children and the use of textual evidence expected in student writing. Historically, children have not been routinely taught explicit strategies for writing, but have been exposed to less rigid writing instruction such as Writer's Workshop. The current study examined an explicit writing strategy, the Read-to-Write Strategy, to determine its effectiveness in teaching young children how to write sequential text. A single subject design (N = 40) was used to compare the writing of second graders before and after instruction. Results indicated that the Read-to-Write Strategy significantly increased the quality of sequential text from the pre- to post-instruction with a large effect size reported. Implications and recommendations for educators and researchers are provided.     

Neoliberal narratives and the logic of abstinence only education: why are we still having this conversation?

Given the lack of citizen or medical support for abstinence-only education, we ask how abstinence-education maintains such a stronghold in America and other Western democracies’ public policy and consciousness. Our response has three parts. In the first, we outline the disproportionately negative health outcomes of sex education experienced by female, impoverished, ethnic and racial minorities, and LGBT youth. Next we address prominent narratives in sex education. We use the work of Pierre Bourdieu as a frame to understand neoliberal narratives and the accrual of cultural capital. Next we address two specific narratives in sex education, both of which align with broad tenets of neoliberal thought: the first of these is a focus on individual responsibility at the expense of understanding broader social structures. The second questions the role of education in a democratic nation that privileges the private over the overall health of the citizenry. In closing, we highlight comprehensive alternatives to sex education that can better prepare healthy individuals and democracy.