Whites Aren’t Bad,Asian Americans Are Just Better: Asymmetrical Attributions for the White–Asian American Achievement Gap

Previous research has shown that people often engage in cultural-deficit thinking when reasoning about racial/ethnic achievement gaps. However, it is unclear whether culture-blaming explanations are best thought of as group-level internal attributions, expressions of prejudice against a lower status group, or self-serving bias. In this study, White and Latino participants (N = 328) responded to items that were written to express either a White-critical or pro–Asian American perspective on the White–Asian American achievement gap. Results indicated that Latinos were more likely to engage in pro-Asian than White-critical culture blaming, whereas expressions of culture blaming did not vary across frames among White participants.     

Why do information gaps persist in African smallholder agriculture? Perspectives from farmers lacking exposure to conservation agriculture

Purpose: To explore why substantial agricultural information gaps persist in African smallholder farming communities and how to reduce them.

Design/methodology/approach: Using conservation agriculture (CA) as a case study, we deeply explore with 29 smallholder farmers why they are yet to obtain sufficient information to enable practice evaluation.

Findings: Respondents asserted that their lack of information on CA was not reflective of a lack of interest in obtaining it, but of the unavailability and inaccessibility of learning opportunities. A deeper analysis revealed an underlying passive approach to seeking information and culture of financial expectancy.

Practical implications: If extension systems are to catalyse broader sustainable intensification, we find the need for emphasis on (1) more inclusive extension mechanisms; (2) education of farmers about demand-driven extension; and (3) revision of direct input provision to lead farmers.

Theoretical implications: While not contesting the value of farmer-to-farmer (F2F) extension systems for those socially connected to lead farmers, we find four research questions for further exploration regarding the practical application of F2F mechanisms that may impede their broader effectiveness, namely (1) Is extension coverage sufficient? (2) Do farmers understand demand-driven extension systems? (3) Do current incentive structures complicate farmer information seeking behaviour? and (4) Do current mechanisms encourage social stratification?

Originality/Value: To date, adoption studies have largely utilised quantitative, econometric lenses that generally assume farmers are sufficiently aware of the technologies in question. Due to our in-depth qualitative analysis, we provide novel insights into how to close informational gaps that hamper efforts to increase the food and livelihood security of African smallholder farmers.     

Information seeking among organizational members

Investigation of information seeking has focused on initial organizational entry hut there is evidence information seeking strategies continue to develop throughout organizational careers. This study begins an investigation of information seeking as a day‐to‐day component of organizational life. Individual characteristics of organizational members and situational variables were investigated to determine their relationship with information seeking behavior. Respondent age was found to influence selection of information seeking strategy. The situational variables of employment classification and length of employment also significantly influenced information seeking strategy. Taken together the differences suggest that information seeking strategies change in predictable ways throughout organizational careers.     

The development of community competence in the teacher education curriculum

Teachers are expected to frequently collaborate within teacher communities in schools. This requires teacher education to prepare student teachers by developing the necessary community competence. The present study empirically investigates the extent to which teacher education programmes pay attention to and aim to stimulate the development of community competence in the intended curriculum, the implemented curriculum and the attained curriculum. Various types of data are gathered and analysed in respect of these three curriculum representations. It appears that community competence is weakly conceptualised in the intended curriculum. In the implemented, and especially the attained curriculum, this results in no systematic and explicit practice in terms of the development of community competence.     

Legislative Branch: House

Stephen Heath, QUESTIONS OF CINEMA (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1981—$22.50/$9.95)

Rick Altman, ed., GENRE: THE MUSICAL (London: Routledge and Regan Paul, 1981—$19.95)

A.J. Prats, THE ALTIONOMOUS IMAGE: CINEMATIC NARRATION AND HUMANISM (Lexington: The University Press of Kentucky, 1981—$14.50)

Thomas Allen Nelson, KUBRICK: INSIDE A FILM ARTIST'S MAZE (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1982—$37.50/$9.95)

Ingmar Bergman can be found in Paisley Livingston, INGMAR BERGMAN AND THE RITUALS OF ART (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1982—$19.95)

Annette Kuhn, WOMEN'S PICTURES: FEMINISM AND CINEMA (London: Routledge Et Kegan Paul, 1982—$9.95 paper)

Herbert Eagle ( ed . ) , RUSSIAN FORMALIST FILM THEORY (Av ailable from Michigan Slavic Publications, 3040 MLB, Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor'48109 —no price given)

Robert Edmonds, THE SIGHTS AND SOUNDS OF CINEMA AND TELEVISION: HOW THE AESTHETIC EXPERIENCE INFLUENCES OUR FEELINGS (New York: Teachers College Press, 1982—no price given)

Gerald Mast, HOWARD HAWKS, STORYTELLER (New York: Oxford University Press, 1982—$29 95)

John R. May and Michael Bird (ed.), RELIGION IN FILM (Knoxville: University of Tennessee Press, 1982—$16.50/$7.95)     

Responding to Students’ Learning Preferences in Chemistry

This paper reports on a teacher’s and his students’ responsiveness to a new tetrahedral-oriented (Mahaffy in J Chem Educ 83(1):49–55, 2006) curriculum requiring more discursive classroom practices in the teaching of chemistry. In this instrumental case study, we identify the intentions of this learner-centered curriculum and a teacher’s development in response to this curriculum. We also explore the tensions this teacher experiences as students subsequently respond to his adjusted teaching. We use a Chemistry Teacher Inventory (Lewthwaite and Wiebe in Res Sci Educ 40(11):667-689, 2011; Lewthwaite and Wiebe in Can J Math Sci Technol Educ 12(1):36–61, 2012; Lewthwaite in Chem Educ Res Pract. doi:10.1039/C3RP00122A, 2014) to assist the teacher in monitoring how he teaches and how he would like to improve his teaching. We also use a student form of the instrument, the Chemistry Classroom Inventory and Classroom Observation Protocol (Lewthwaite and Wiebe 2011) to verify the teacher’s teaching and perception of student preferences for his teaching especially in terms of the discursive processes the curriculum encourages. By so doing, the teacher is able to use both sets of data as a foundation for critical reflection and work towards resolution of the incongruence in data arising from students’ preferred learning orientations and his teaching aspirations. Implications of this study in regards to the authority of students’ voice in triggering teachers’ pedagogical change and the adjustments in ‘teachering’ and ‘studenting’ required by such curricula are considered.     

The 2002 Conference on the Future of School Psychology: Implications for Consultation,Intervention, and Prevention Services

In November 2002, the multisite Conference on the Future of School Psychology was sponsored by major professional associations of school psychologists. Conference goals included achieving consensus on current and future demands for school, conceptualizing the practice of school psychology in the face of diminishing numbers and increasing demand for services, and developing an agenda to use school psychology resources to maximize the benefits to the children and schools. Consultation, intervention, and prevention were major themes in all conference activities. The present article provides an overview of the conference and a summary of issues and outcomes from the conference that relate to educational and psychological consultation services.     

Follow-up to the 2002 Futures Conference: Collaborating to Serve All Children,Families, and Schools

Recommendations of the Thayer, Spring Hill, and Olympia conferences are examined as they relate to ways we can support and make positive contributions to students, families, and schools. In the current issue of the Journal of Educational and Psychological Consultation, Hatzichristou and Lampropoulou (this issue), Meyers, Meyers, and Grogg (this issue), Nastasi (this issue), and Wizda (this issue) share important insights that can guide efforts to implement ideas discussed at the recent 2002 Futures Conference. Their ideas, along with literature on the public health model, are discussed. Points are made about the move to evidence-based interventions, as well as the use of Internet technology to facilitate collaboration and follow-up to the 2002 conference.