Explaining social class differences in growth of reading skills from beginning kindergarten through fourth-grade: The role of phonological awareness,rate of access,and print knowledge

The aim of this longitudinal study was to further ourunderstanding of the reasons for social classdifferences in growth of decoding and readingcomprehension skills from beginning kindergarten throughchildren's fourth grade year. Participants wereenrolled in five public schools in a moderately sizedsouthern American city (n = 197). We examined ifbeginning kindergarten levels of three kinds ofreading related abilities explained social classdifferences in growth of reading skills during thetime periods of beginning kindergarten to children'sfirst-, second-, third-, and fourth-grade years. Thereading related abilities were phonological awareness,rate of access to phonological information inlong-term memory, and print knowledge. We found thatthe reasons for social class differences in growth ofreading skills depended on the time interval that wasconsidered. During the earliest time interval, socialclass differences in growth of decoding skills werecompletely accounted for by performance on the controlmeasures of general verbal intelligence and prior wordreading skills. During the remaining time periods,social class differences in growth of decoding andreading comprehension skills persisted whenperformance on the three kinds of reading relatedabilities and the control measures were accounted for. The greatest attenuation of SES differences in growthof reading skills occurred when beginning kindergartenlevels of print knowledge were taken into account.     

When off-line seeks information online: The effect of modality switching and time on attributional confidence and social attraction

This study’s goal was to learn how adding the extractive information-seeking behavior of Facebook profile viewing following face-to-face information-seeking behavior in initial interactions affected attributional confidence (AC) and social attraction (SA). Additionally, the present study was a quasi-replication of research exploring how changes in time spent on information seeking impacted AC and SA testing two uncertainty reduction theory axioms. Two modalities, face-to-face (FtF) only versus FtF and profile viewing, across three time conditions of 4, 6, and 8 minutes yielded six experimental conditions. AC for the two modalities were similar when time was held constant. Comparing the two modalities for 8 minutes resulted in higher social attraction for the FtF-only condition. Also, the data report a significant interaction with modality and time. Time impacts AC and SA even with relatively small changes.     

Geschlechterrollenorientierungen und ihre Beziehungen zu Maßen der Ich-Stärke bei Jugendlichen aus Ost-und Westberlin

Zusammenfassung In einer Stichprobe von 2630 Jugendlichen achter Klassen aus Gymnasien, Real-, Gesamt-und Hauptschulen in Ost-und Westberlin wurde im Jahr 2001 die Akzeptanz von Geschlechterrollenorientierungen (traditionell vs. partnerschaftlich) erfasst und ihr Zusammenhang mit Ma?en der Ich-St?rke (positives Bild von sich selbst, psychische Stabilit?t, produktiver Umgang mit Erfolg und Misserfolg) untersucht. Dem partnerschaftlichen Konzept wurde in h?herem Ma?e zugestimmt als dem traditionellen. Dabei ergaben sich Geschlechts-, Ost/West-sowie Schulartunterschiede in der partnerschaftlichen sowie traditionellen Orientierung. Weibliche Jugendliche waren weniger traditionell eingestellt als m?nnliche. Ostberliner Schüler/innen waren weniger traditionell orientiert als Westberliner und Gymnasiast/inn/en hatten eine niedrigere traditionelle Orientierung als Gesamt-, Real-und Hauptschüler/innen. Je h?her der Bildungsstand (gemessen an der Schulform und dem Bildungsniveau der Mutter), desto h?her war die Akzeptanz der Gleichberechtigung der Geschlechter. Die Jugendlichen wurden nach dem Grad ihrer traditionellen Orientierung in drei Cluster eingeteilt und hinsichtlich der Auspr?gung von Ma?en der Ich-St?rke miteinander verglichen. Dabei zeigte sich, dass Jugendliche mit hoher traditioneller Orientierung ein niedrigeres Selbstwertgefühl, sowie eine h?here Leistungsangst, mehr Furcht vor Misserfolg und in h?herem Ma?e selbstwertmindernde Attributionen ?u?erten als Jugendliche mittlerer und niedriger traditioneller Orientierung. Jugendliche, die in h?herem Ausma? über die pers?nliche Ressource der Ich-St?rke verfügen, traten h?ufiger für die Gleichberechtigung der Geschlechter ein. Summary Sex-role-orientation and its Relationship to Egostrength in Adolescents from East and West Berlin A sample of 2630 adolescents from grade 8 attending different types of secondary school in East and West Berlin was assessed in 2001. The aim was twofold: to ascertain their acceptance of gender-role orientation (i.e. traditional norms vs. equality in gender relations) and to link it to degrees of ego-strength (high self-concept, psychological stability, ability to deal with success or failure in a constructive manner). The concept of equality in gender relations was found to be more prevalent among females, pupils in East Berlin and those pupils attending grammar schools. The higher the education level of the pupils (measured according to the school attended and the education level of their mothers), the greater the acceptance of gender equality. The adolescents were classified in three clusters according to the degree of traditional orientation and then compared. Results showed that adolescents with a high traditional orientation displayed lower self-concept, a higher level of test anxiety, greater fear of failure and higher attribution of failure to lack of ability than those adolescents with moderate and low traditional orientation. Those displaying a greater range of characteristics related to ego-strength supported gender equality more frequently.      

International collaboration in science and the formation of a core group

International collaboration as measured by co-authorship relations on refereed papers grew linearly from 1990 to 2005 in terms of the number of papers, but exponentially in terms of the number of international addresses. This confirms Persson et al.'s [Persson, O., Glänzel, W., & Danell, R. (2004). Inflationary bibliometrics values: The role of scientific collaboration and the need for relative indicators in evaluative studies. Scientometrics, 60(3), 421–432] hypothesis of an inflation in international collaboration. Patterns in international collaboration in science can be considered as network effects, since there is no political institution mediating relationships at that level except for the initiatives of the European Commission. Science at the international level shares features with other complex adaptive systems whose order arises from the interactions of hundreds of agents pursuing self-interested strategies. During the period 2000–2005, the network of global collaborations appears to have reinforced the formation of a core group of fourteen most cooperative countries. This core group can be expected to use knowledge from the global network with great efficiency, since these countries have strong national systems. Countries at the periphery may be disadvantaged by the increased strength of the core.     

Kinderbetreuungspolitik in Deutschland

Childcare Policy in Germany: Scope for Demand side Subsidies German day care policy is a perfect example of the provision of social services in a neocorporatist fashion. Day care centers are primarily financed from the local community budget. From this budget, the community runs public day care centers or subsidies Non-Profit Organizations which provide day care for children. In established negotiations on the community level, representatives of the NPOs and the public providers decide on the supply of slots in day care centers. In this paper, we argue that this particular mode of financing and monitoring children’s day care has contributed to a rather conservative childcare policy in Germany. Being dependent on the very restricted local budget, communities are confined to conduct a daycare policy, which solely offers a minimum provision of public day care. We suggest a radical reform of German day care policy. Instead of the subsiding public institutions and NPOs, we suggest to support the use of day care by demand side subsides. In this context, we describe some features of a child care voucher model in Germany.     

Genome-Wide Polygenic Scores Predict Reading Performance Throughout the School Years

It is now possible to create individual-specific genetic scores, called genome-wide polygenic scores (GPS). We used a GPS for years of education (EduYears) to predict reading performance assessed at UK National Curriculum Key Stages 1 (age 7), 2 (age 12) and 3 (age 14) and on reading tests administered at ages 7 and 12 in a UK sample of 5,825 unrelated individuals. EduYears GPS accounts for up to 5% of the variance in reading performance at age 14. GPS predictions remained significant after accounting for general cognitive ability and family socioeconomic status. Reading performance of children in the lowest and highest 12.5% of the EduYears GPS distribution differed by a mean growth in reading ability of approximately two school years. It seems certain that polygenic scores will be used to predict strengths and weaknesses in education.     

American influencies in Brazilian physical education: clues in the specialised periodical press (1932–1950)

This study investigates the American presence and influences in the physical education press to understand the way in which that presence influenced and contributed to the production of a sports culture in the first half of the twentieth century. As historical sources, the study uses periodicals in the field that were published in the period 1932–1950. As a theoretical frame of reference, it uses the repertoire of the New Cultural History in terms of strategy, tactics and devices. It is written in a narrative way, following Ginzburg's style, presenting data and contextualizing them with the historic scene. Clues enabled us to infer that the American presence, which was catalysed by the Brazilian Young Men's Christian Association (YMCA), sought to shape a sports culture from physical education and society. This effort reflected the yearning of Brazilian intellectuals for modernisation and an attempt at cultural colonisation by the government of the USA.