The Severity of State Truancy Policies and Chronic Absenteeism

ABSTRACT

Since the Common School era, states have maintained truancy laws to ensure that students attend school. However, we know little about the severity of these laws and their relationship to student outcomes, particularly absenteeism. In this study, we survey state education statutes to document the severity of truancy policies. We estimate the relationship between these truancy policies and rates of chronic absenteeism via multilevel models using data on all U.S. public schools from the Office of Civil Rights. We find that most students live in states where they may be referred to legal authorities for levels of absenteeism below federal standards. We find little evidence that states with truancy policies have lower chronic absenteeism after adjusting for demographic and other characteristics. However, while non-White high-school students are overrepresented among chronic absences overall, they have rates of chronic absenteeism comparable to their White peers in states with less severe truancy policies.     

Transgenics in agriculture

Biotechnology has opened unprecedented avenues for exploring biological systems. One of the key techniques in genetic engineering is gene transfer, which involves transfer of recombinant DNA into plant cells to generate transgenic plants. Genes and genomes from a wide range of organisms are being manipulated for the benefit of mankind. Application of genetic engineering in agriculture has produced significant achievements such as yield improvement of major food crops.     

Addressing Physical Education Teacher Socialization Through Standards-based Reform of Physical Education Teacher Education

Research suggests that progress in the physical education profession is slowed by a cycle of nonteaching and dominance of traditional methodologies. Socialization factors operate to preserve and perpetuate the status quo of the profession, which is rooted primarily in team sport content. Teacher education programs are challenged to persuade pre-service teachers to question their initial belief structures while also preparing them for the sociopolitical realities of schools. There is not, however, a formal mechanism through which to accomplish these goals, because current accreditation standards do not include an emphasis on socialization. As a result, the purpose of this article is to stimulate further discussion by reviewing relevant research related to socialization, describe evidence-based practices for overcoming these challenges, and propose an addition to the Society of Health and Physical Educators America (2017) standards for initial physical education teacher education to specifically focus attention on socialization issues.     

Argument and Authority in the Visual Representations of Science

The focus of workplace communication research on visual rhetoric has tended to be the efficient and unproblematically “effective” functioning of visual texts. By suggesting ways in which the visual representations of science are construed by expert readers, this article responds to a call within our discipline for more critically focused contributions to the study of visual literacy. A former editor-in-chief of the American Journal of Botany was asked to explain his interpretation of visuals appearing over an 80-year period in that journal; his responses illustrate how visual explanations testify to their creators' authority and how, once established, such authority actuates the rational arguments of science. Rhetorical appeals within and arrangement of visual texts are considered, as is the persuasive power of legends and captions.     

Developmental and gender influences on coping: Implications for skills training

The transition to adulthood for today's youth is a difficult journey filled with risk, rapid change, and seemingly endless choices. Effective coping skills can help youth navigate these challenges. This article explores the impact of gender and developmental level on coping skill acquisition in adolescence. Suggestions for helping youth to develop effective coping strategies are provided from both a prevention and intervention perspective. By helping today's youth develop the necessary strategies to deal with the unavoidable stresses encountered in life, school psychologists and counselors can help to ultimately create adults who have the skills and necessary psychological resources to successfully cope and adapt to life's changes. © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Aid effectiveness in education: Why it matters

This article introduces the special issue of Prospects on “Aid effectiveness in education”. It brings together case studies of attempts in several very different contexts to improve the effectiveness of the use of aid in the education sector. By drawing on the historical evolution of the new paradigm over the last 20 years, the authors make the case for a closer focus on aid’s effectiveness in education, as well as the need to reform the aid effectiveness architecture. In particular, they identify two major obstacles that need to be overcome to improve aid’s effectiveness in education: the lack of sufficient institutional and staff incentives for coordinated and harmonized behaviour; and factors that lead to risk-aversion and discourage innovation in delivering aid effectively.     

Trolling in online communities: A practice-based theoretical perspective

The literature on trolling has viewed trolling as discrete instances of transgression undertaken by antagonistic individuals. We identify three main issues with current theorizations: diffuse definitions of “trolling,” blurred boundaries between trolling and other online anti-social behaviors, and the context dependency of trolling. To address these unresolved issues, we adopt a practice-based theoretical approach. Informed by this approach, we analyze trolling behaviors not as products of individuals' attitudes, values, and decisions, but rather as behaviors embedded within and occurring as part of social practices. Specifically, we conduct a practice-based theoretical analysis in a multi-site exploratory study involving online archival research and in-depth interviews with online community members. Based on this analysis, we propose that trolling be conceived as a constellation of three social practices: learning, assimilating, and transgressing. Also, we find that practices of trolling transgression can have a dual pro-social and anti-social impact in online communities.     

Tracking Club Sport Participation From Childhood to Early Adulthood

This study examined the strength of tracking sport participation from childhood to early adulthood among the Dunedin Multidisciplinary Health and Development Study cohort. Participation in sport, dance, or gymnastics as part of a club or group (outside of school) was assessed at ages 7, 9, 15, 18, and 21 years. In addition to the traditionally used correlation coefficients, summary statistics (intraclass correlations; ICC) from random effect models and stability coefficients from generalized estimating equations (GEE) were calculated using all the longitudinal data and controlling for the influence of covariates on tracking strength. Correlation coefficients revealed statistically significant tracking of club sport participation (7–21 years) at low levels (r = .07–0.28). The ICC summary statistic (0.23) was consistent with this, while the GEE suggested moderate tracking (0.59). The results of this study suggest that encouraging sport participation during childhood and adolescence may result in a modest increase in the likelihood of participation later in life. However, the substantial movement into and out of sport participation observed here and in other studies cautions against relying solely on sport promotion among youth as a strategy to promote lifelong participation.