Progress at school and school effectiveness: non-cognitive dispositions and within-class markets

The New Zealand Progress at School project, designed to investigate school effects, found that individual progress at school is associated with a set of non-cognitive dispositions, most importantly, aspiration, self-concept, and acceptance of the institutional regime. The few schools identified as over-and under-performing were distinguished by the favourable and unfavourable dispositions of their students. School composition - or mix - effects proved in this study to be minor and relative to the output criterion, and some implications of that, including the selective effects of within-class markets, are discussed with particular reference to another contemporary New Zealand study, the Smithfield project. It is concluded that the study of school effectiveness might usefully include in its models the relationship between the properties of systems, the level of disposition, and the forms of practice they generate.     

An International Call for Democratizing the Academic Journal Culture From a Community of Editors

In our reflective essay from our multiple perspectives as journal editors, peer reviewers, and published authors, we present ideas about editorial support, democracy, and innovation in the publishing process. As four tenured professors who work in universities in the states of Illinois, Virginia, Texas, and Kentucky, we are a community of editors who are committed to a transparent, service-oriented support process. Our collective experience has allowed us to shape numerous academic bodies of work, culminating in an experiential point of view that reflects a political take on the support role of editors. We include lengthy, databased statements from journal editors in the form of vignettes that underscore the importance of community-based, democratic editorial practices that are themselves simultaneously personal testimonials and political statements. Our call is intended to foster large-scale social change within the academic editorial culture through global understanding about the sensibilities of editors and reviewers as well as authors and publishers engaged in the complex work of publication review. Our academic goal is to enhance fair practices and inclusive opportunities, worldwide, through more relational, equitable, and supportive editorial practices.     

Determinants of value transfer and contrast in simultaneous discriminations by pigeons

In a simultaneous discrimination involving a positive (S+) and a negative (S₋) stimulus, positive value appears to transfer from the S+ to the S₋. However, negative value does not appear to transfer from the S₋ to the S+. Instead, when sufficient experience with the contingencies associated with responding to the S₋ is provided, it appears that the presence of the S₋ enhances the value of the S+ (i.e., a contrast effect is found). The purpose of the present experiments was to further examine the influence of the S+ on the S₋ in a simultaneous discrimination (between subjects in Experiment 1 and within subjects in Experiment 2). In both experiments, we found that under typical training conditions, given little direct experience with the value of the S₋, value transfers from the S+ to the S₋. If sufficient experience with the value of the S₋ is provided, however, contrast between the S+ and the S₋ can be demonstrated. Thus, in a simultaneous discrimination, value transfer from the S+ to the S₋ depends on the animal’s having responded relatively little to the S₋.     

Relations Among Maternal Literacy Beliefs, Home Literacy Practices, and the Emergent Literacy Skills of Preschoolers With Specific Language Impairment

Self-reported maternal literacy beliefs and home literacy practices were compared for families of children with typicially developing language skills (TL, n = 52) and specific language impairment (SLI, n = 56). Additionally, the present work examined whether maternal beliefs and practices predicted children's print-related knowledge. Mothers filled out 2 questionnaires asking about their literacy beliefs and practices while children's print-related knowledge was assessed directly. Results indicated that mothers of children with SLI held somewhat less positive beliefs about literacy and reported engaging in fewer literacy practices compared to mothers of children with TL. For the entire sample, maternal literacy practices and beliefs predicted children's print-related knowledge, although much of this association was accounted for by maternal education. Subgroup analyses focused specifically on children with SLI showed there to be no relation between maternal literacy beliefs and practices and children's print-related knowledge. The present findings suggest that the home literacy experiences of children with SLI, and the way that these experiences impact print-related knowledge, may differ in important ways from typical peers.     

A personal reflection on educating for meaning

Teachers are gifted with the responsibility of helping their students, their colleagues, and themselves find meaning in their lives. Robert Nash offers his gift of reflection on how best to accomplish this most important work.