Effect of Unequal Variances in Proficiency Distributions on Type-I Error of the Mantel-Haenszel Chi-square Test for Differential Item Functioning

Empirical studies demonstrated Type-I error (TIE) inflation (especially for highly discriminating easy items) of the Mantel-Haenszel chi-square test for differential item functioning (DIF), when data conformed to item response theory (IRT) models more complex than Rasch, and when IRT proficiency distributions differed only in means. However, no published study manipulated proficiency variance ratio (VR). Data were generated with the three-parameter logistic (3PL) IRT model. Proficiency VRs were 1, 2, 3, and 4. The present study suggests inflation may be greater, and may affect all highly discriminating items (low, moderate, and high difficulty), when IRT proficiency distributions of reference and focal groups differ also in variances. Inflation was greatest on the 21-item test (vs. 41) and 2,000 total sample size (vs. 1,000). Previous studies had not systematically examined sample size ratio. Sample size ratio of 1:1 produced greater TIE inflation than 3:1, but primarily for total sample size of 2,000.     

A Scheme to Promote Social Attention and Functional Language in Young Children with Communication Difficulties and Autistic Spectrum Disorder

This paper describes an approach to intervention that aims to foster the skill of young children with autistic spectrum disorder to share social attention and action to promote socially meaningful communication. It applies principles derived from research into pre‐linguistic development. The efficacy of the approach was evaluated through both a formal research project and within a clinical setting of a Portage scheme with groups of three to five year olds with a severe delay in their ability to communicate/autistic spectrum disorder. Outcome measures showed significantly accelerated levels of participation in social games and associated development of communication skills.     

What’s on your bucket list? Utility and importance of the retirement preferences of 40–70-year-old Filipino teachers using discrete choice estimation

ABSTRACT

The transition from a busy work life to a retired state entails a lot of adjustment, planning, and wise decision-making. While there have been numerous studies that elucidate retirement issues across the globe, the need to know about retirement preferences of middle-aged and older teachers remains a blank spot in the literature, hence this discrete choice estimation investigation. The overall purpose of this study is to explicate the utility and importance of retirement preferences of a select group of 40–70 year-old teachers (n = 152) from the northern part of the Philippines. Using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 21, a set of 12 choice bundles with 4 holdouts were extracted from a pool 96 orthogonal array. Respondents were asked to sort and rank each card based on its importance and utility value using the Balanced Incomplete Block Design (BIBD). Results indicate that the most important attribute considered by Filipino teachers relative to their retirement preferences was investment. This was followed by pursuit of an old interest, travel, and part-time job as the least preferred. This utility study yielded empirical data that can be benchmarked by retirement planning policy makers in the academic setting to better address the uncertainty faced by aging teachers when it comes to their retirement decisions.     

Development and initial validation of a questionnaire to assess the reading beliefs of undergraduate students: the Cuestionario de Creencias sobre la Lectura

The aim of this research was to develop a new questionnaire for exploring the reading beliefs of undergraduate students, because the only currently available instrument has conceptual and methodological limitations. The paper describes the process of developing the instrument and presents a range of psychometric data obtained from a sample of 558 Spanish undergraduates who were in the first or final year of a degree programme in psychology, language and literature or engineering. The results provide evidence of the psychometric quality of items and reveal a dual structure of two and six factors, both obtained through exploratory and/or confirmatory factor analyses. Adequate reliability based on internal consistency of the factors was also demonstrated. As a measure of criterion validity, differences in reading beliefs by gender, academic year and knowledge area were also explored. The findings support the psychometric adequacy of this new instrument developed through an exploratory piece of research. Overall, the process of constructing the instrument and the results from this study provide a framework for research and intervention, in addition to presenting a tool that both researchers and teaching staff could use in the context of reading and reading comprehension.     

Extending theorisations of the global teacher: care work,gender, and street-level policies

This article is concerned with teachers’ negotiation of global transitions premised on improving educational opportunity with implications for professionalism. The study blends sociology of gender, work, and organisations and gender policy analysis to theorise teachers’ policy negotiations. I explore how 20 Argentine teachers mediate 3 programmes’ demands for care work. Policy as practice and street-level bureaucracy are applied to data to interrogate for gendered boundary work. I propose the addition of care work, gender, and a street-level view to Maguire’s global teacher.     

Parent Praise to 1‐ to 3‐Year‐Olds Predicts Children's Motivational Frameworks 5 Years Later

In laboratory studies, praising children's effort encourages them to adopt incremental motivational frameworks—they believe ability is malleable, attribute success to hard work, enjoy challenges, and generate strategies for improvement. In contrast, praising children's inherent abilities encourages them to adopt fixed‐ability frameworks. Does the praise parents spontaneously give children at home show the same effects? Although parents' early praise of inherent characteristics was not associated with children's later fixed‐ability frameworks, parents' praise of children's effort at 14–38 months (N = 53) did predict incremental frameworks at 7–8 years, suggesting that causal mechanisms identified in experimental work may be operating in home environments.     

EXPERIENCE OF RETIREMENT By Robert S. Weiss

A survey was conducted in the 1989‐1990 academic year of 421 American Psychological Association (APA) approved programs offering graduate study at the doctoral level in psychology and associated fields. The purpose was to provide continuing documentation of opportunities for doctoral training in adult development and aging. Results were compared to similar surveys conducted in 1975 and 1984. From 1975‐1984 there was dramatic growth in programs offering specialized training in adult development and aging. For the 1984‐1990 time period, growth proceeded at a much slower rate. Additional survey results indicate that most programs offering specialized training in adult development and aging are located in developmental psychology programs in general psychology departments. In addition, respondents were asked to provide information about opportunities for professional experiences offered doctoral students specializing in adult development and aging. Approximately 50% of programs with specialized doctoral training offer students some combination of teaching, research, or practicum/internship experiences. The need for continued growth in programs offering doctoral students specialized training in adult development and aging is discussed.     

Developing a System of Program Assessment Within Teacher Education: Lessons Learned

Our intention in this article is to present one institution's efforts to take on program assessment and respond to calls for accountability. To do so, the teacher education program simultaneously sought to address the narrowly defined measures called for by policy makers and politicians, while at the same time broadening and expanding outcomes (such as student learning) and the missions, themes, and values of the teacher education program. The following describes the accountability movement in teacher education and then offers the lessons learned within one program developing a system of assessment within teacher education.     

An assessment of the extent to which subject variation between the Arts and Sciences in relation to the award of a First Class degree can explain the ‘gender gap’ in UK universities

There is a widely recognised national trend for girls to outperform boys at all levels of compulsory schooling. With few exceptions, however, most recent research has reported that, in relation to academic performance at university, men are proportionately over‐represented at the First Class level. A number of general hypotheses have been put forward to explain this phenomenon, including those that assume gender‐linked differences in cognitive and/or personality traits. A smaller proportion of research has given explanatory primacy to the broad subject area studied. More specifically, it has been alleged that the over‐representation of men within the First bracket is largely a function of a ‘compositional effect’ whereby men achieve proportionately more Firsts as there are more of them within the First‐rich Sciences. Based upon analysis of 1,707,408 students graduating between 1995 and 2002, this paper seeks to provide the most comprehensive exploration, to date, of this effect. It confirms that a substantial proportion of the ‘gender gap’ can be explained with reference to the male propensity to take degrees in first‐rich disciplines.     

Intensive mentoring that contributes to change in beginning elementary teachers’ learning to lead classroom discussions

This study examines whether targeted mentoring can make a difference during the induction years. The effects of a mentoring intervention based on principles of instructional quality and effective professional development were studied. Learning to lead classroom discussions is a high-leverage practice related to effective teaching. Forty-two beginning elementary teachers participated in yearlong mentoring to lead discussions for higher-order thinking. These novices were compared to 41 beginning teachers in the same high-poverty school district who did not receive the mentoring treatment. Qualitative and quantitative findings illustrate significant differences in beginning teacher practices based on involvement in the intensive mentoring.