Does Learning to Read Improve Intelligence? A Longitudinal Multivariate Analysis in Identical Twins From Age 7 to 16

Evidence from twin studies points to substantial environmental influences on intelligence, but the specifics of this influence are unclear. This study examined one developmental process that potentially causes intelligence differences: learning to read. In 1,890 twin pairs tested at 7, 9, 10, 12, and 16 years, a cross‐lagged monozygotic‐differences design was used to test for associations of earlier within‐pair reading ability differences with subsequent intelligence differences. The results showed several such associations, which were not explained by differences in reading exposure and were not restricted to verbal cognitive domains. The study highlights the potentially important influence of reading ability, driven by the nonshared environment, on intellectual development and raises theoretical questions about the mechanism of this influence.     

‘Education at our school is not free’: the hidden costs of fee-free schooling in Rwanda

As primary school enrolment rates in Rwanda near ubiquity, completion rates remain low and repetition rates remain high. This study investigates the impact of the ‘hidden costs’ of schooling in the context of Rwanda’s fee-free education policy. Using a social-science case study, focus groups and interviews were undertaken with 200 participants, including local leaders, school administrators, children and caregivers. Findings suggest children continue to contend with a range of school-related costs that impact attendance, performance and completion. Examination fees, after-school coaching and ‘voluntary’ parent-teacher association dues were found to have serious consequences for children’s educational experience. Findings illustrate how these ‘hidden costs’ may be a key factor explaining why children do not complete their schooling once enrolled. A series of policy recommendations are offered and broader implications for children’s rights and Education For All are discussed. Further in-depth and comparative study is required.     

Building the ‘front door’ within a web ecology: Informational governance and institutional shaping of national government webportals

Government webportals are central to governments' web strategy. They are designed to be nodal hubs, or gateways, for encountering government, and as such position government in the online world. Yet the designs of government webportals, particularly their location within wider web ecologies are scarcely studied. In additional to these web ecologies, this paper conceptualises webportals as being located within wider information and institutional ecologies. Methodologically, it comparatively examines the hyperlink structures of the national government webportals of the top ten e-government countries: Australia; Canada; Finland; France; Japan; Netherlands; New Zealand; Singapore; UK; and USA. Different ways governments approach this task are analyzed using webcrawls of the webportals and their neighboring webpages. Variations are considered in relation to the constitutional structures of the countries (i.e. unitary vs federated; centralized vs decentralized).This research highlights information referral versus information repository webportal designs, the latter of which appears to arise more in unitary and city states, than federal states. The hyperlink networks also demonstrate the important structural role of commercial social media websites in half of the countries, revealing a new interactive webportal design. Despite being constructed as whole-of-government entryways, national government webportals typically fail to connect to regional and local tiers of government. The paper provides the basis for assessing the effectiveness of different portal designs and investigating how portal designs arise out of varied government institutional settings.     

An examination of emergency contraception use by undergraduate college students in the Midwest using the integrated behavioural model

The purpose of this study was to identify the factors that influence undergraduate college student use of emergency contraception (EC) and their level of knowledge about the product, in order to assist in the development of intervention programmes to increase its use, which could lead to lower rates of unintended pregnancies in this population. A response rate of 98.4% included 1553 surveys from students at 11 Midwestern universities. Students were predominantly female (63.5%), white (75.3%) and aged 18–21 years (80%). They ranged from first-year students (23.8%) through to fourth-year students (13.8%), with second-year students comprising the largest group (32.6%). The majority of respondents reported being heterosexual (92.1%), and 34.1% of those completing the questionnaire reported being in a committed relationship. Most respondents reported having had sexual intercourse at least once in their lifetime (78.9%). Of the 8.4% of sexually active students who had experienced an unintended pregnancy, 18.1% had used EC in the past 12 months. Knowledge of EC was not high; but as knowledge increased, the use of EC increased. The Integrated Behavioural Model predicted 50% of the variance in intention. Each construct contributed a portion of variance except experiential attitude, which was not statistically significant in the path analysis. The model could be used in any future interventions to increase EC use and decrease unintended pregnancies among college students.     

Test order effects in simultaneous protocols

Simultaneous protocols typically yield poorer stimulus equivalence outcomes than do other protocols commonly used in equivalence research. Two independent groups of three 3-member equivalence sets of stimuli were used in conditional discrimination procedures in two conditions, one using the standard simultaneous protocol and the other using a hybrid simultaneous training and simple-to-complex testing. Participants completed the two conditions in one long session in Experiment 1, but in separate sessions in Experiment 2. The same stimulus sets used in Experiment 1 were randomized for the two conditions in Experiment 2. Overall, accuracy was better with the hybrid than with the standard protocol in both experiments. The equivalence yield was also better under the hybrid than under the standard protocol in each experiment. The results suggest that the order of testing for emergent relations may account for the difficulty often encountered with the standard simultaneous protocol.     

Network-related teaching and changes in classroom seating

The extent to which teachers make changes in classroom seating reflects, in part, the degree to which they value promoting positive peer relationships in the classroom. We assessed the frequency with which teachers made both minor (i.e., involving only 2–3 students) and major (involving half or more students in the class) changes in classroom seating. We tested whether the frequency of seating changes was linked to teachers' beliefs about promoting positive peer relationships, their attunement to child- or peer-reports of peer victimization, and their concern about bullying at the school. Participants were 37 fourth-grade teachers and their students (N = 677). The frequency of major seating changes was negatively associated with teachers' peer-focused classroom seating (PFCS) beliefs and to their attunement to student peer victimization. Minor seating changes were positively associated with PFCS beliefs for teachers with low or average attunement to peer victimization; however, teachers highly attuned to peer victimization made fewer minor seating changes regardless of their PFCS beliefs. Implications for research and practice are discussed.     

Effects of Introducing Classroom Peflormance Assessments on Student Learning

How can performance assessments be used as part of regular instruction? Will this raise student performance on external achievement measures? What aspects of examinee performance improve on the assessment exercises?