An Application of an Innovative Cost-Benefit Analysis Tool for Determining the Implementation Costs and Public Safety Benefits of SORNA with Educational Implications for Criminology and Criminal Justice

Sex offending is a considerable public health and criminal justice system concern. While the research is fairly mixed at best with most pointing toward a general lack of an appreciable deterrent benefit for these polices, no prior evaluation has made a rigorous attempt to determine and define the vast array of implementation costs and public safety benefits of these policies, specifically the Sex Offender and Registration and Notification Act (SORNA). As such, our proposed research strategy involves the development and application of an innovative Cost-Benefit Analysis (CBA) tool. The results from this innovative and dynamic CBA tool with hypothetical data suggests that the 10-year financial benefit for SORNA ranges from $1.01 to $3.91 for every dollar spent when considering the reduction in sex crime specifically, and any crime more generally. This tool holds promise as a mechanism for generating jurisdiction/site-specific cost-benefit analyses. Policy implications are also discussed.     

Citation Trajectories of Academic Stars from the “Hit Parade”

The current study provides an examination of the publication productivity of 46 previously identified top-ranked criminology and criminal justice scholars across a host of publication productivity metrics. More importantly, the trajectories of the citations accumulated by these scholars’ published works from 2007–2016 are estimated. Results reveal five distinct group-based trajectories, and there are several factors such as the author’s h-index, the author’s number of publications, and the age of the publication that were significantly associated with the citation-based, trajectory group membership. In addition, some of the most frequently cited papers were systematic reviews and meta-analysis and papers focusing on developmental life-course criminology or biosocial research. Study implications are discussed.     

Accommodation and Resistance in Teacher Education

This paper presents some findings from a doctoral study (Jennings, 1987) undertaken in teacher education. The study, set within the dual contexts of Australian technical and adult education, examined the response of teacher trainees to contradictory moments in their classroom practices. Working within the framework of the ‘critical’ paradigm, the researcher involved 30 teacher trainees in action research projects. Case study data were collected in the form of reports, journals and taped discussion to provide a portrayal of each trainee. One detailed case study is provided in this paper. The study found that teacher trainees simultaneously accommodate and resist domination when involved in counter‐hegemonic forms such as action research.     

Infant Mastery Motivation: The Issue of Discriminant Validity

The purpose of this review is to examine the concept of mastery motivation in infancy from the standpoint of possible intraindividual confounds, ways in which factors other than motivation may influence individual differences in mastery motivation scores. The review begins with a brief overview of theoretical background on mastery motivation, underscoring its presumed relevance for other important constructs in development. Current operational definitions of mastery motivation are then described. The remainder of the review is devoted to consideration of alternative explanations that can account, in part, for individual differences in mastery motivation. These include infant cognitive developmental status, social orientation and attachment security, genetic/temperamental factors, and sex differences. The review concludes with specific recommendations for further inquiry on the topic of infant mastery motivation, emphasizing careful attention to the role extraneous factors play in shaping performance.     

Which linguistic features predict quality of argumentative writing for college basic writers,and how do those features change with instruction?

Reading and Writing - The study developed a model of linguistic constructs to predict writing quality for college basic writers and analyzed how those constructs changed following instruction....     

Writing instruction in first grade: an observational study

As schools work to meet the ambitious Common Core State Standards in writing in the US, instructional approaches are likely to be examined (National Governors Association Center for Best Practices, Council of Chief State School Officers, 2010). However, there is little research on the current state of instruction. This study was designed to provide a comprehensive analysis of first-grade writing instruction across 13 schools in one state in the US. Daylong observations were conducted four times during the year in 50 first-grade classrooms. Using a time-sampled, observational protocol, observers coded multiple dimensions of instruction, including grouping, instructional focus, teacher instructional activity, and student writing activity. Results revealed that writing was taught for less than 30 min a day on average, and instruction in skills or process writing was common. Most instruction was organized in whole-class settings with teachers either presenting information or asking students questions. Variability in the amount and focus of writing instruction and in student writing activity was examined at the classroom and school levels. A small number of classrooms and schools were identified with distinctive patterns in their approach to instruction and writing activity. Several moderate relationships were found between the writing instructional focus and the nature of student writing. These findings suggest that first-grade writing instruction is inconsistent across classrooms and schools and point to instructional implications for teachers and schools in the US.     

Interventions in schools’ curricula to achieve quality in learning: experiences from the Commonwealth Caribbean

Abstract

For some four decades governments in Commonwealth Caribbean (CC) countries have been introducing interventions in their school systems to provide quality education for all. Examples of these are learner-centred teaching pedagogy and the integration of technology into teaching and learning. The data for the paper is based on published research and evaluation studies of these interventions. How successful have these interventions been? Following a discussion of how quality in education and learning has been interpreted, this paper seeks to answer this question through a review of selected interventions in schools in three CC countries. Challenges that CC countries need to address as they pursue goals relating to quality education are: the intersection of quality with access and equity, limitations in teacher training which have militated against change in teaching pedagogy, and resources and infrastructure.     

Learning computer programming at a distance

Several strategies for distance education in computer programming are described with particular reference to the provision of computing facilities and the integration of theory and practical work. Experience from two years of presentation of two different courses has shown that the most satisfactory results are obtained with portable stand‐alone microcomputers loaned off‐campus, and course design based on a modified Keller plan in which each unit has interactive practical exercises preceding the discussion of theory topics.     

What Journals are the Most Cited Journals in Criminology and Criminal Justice’s “Big Three” Journals?

Recently, scholars have sought to learn more about scholarly activity within the fields of criminology and criminal justice (CCJ). Research in this area has examined which departments have the most productive faculty, which scholars are the most productive, and which journals are the most prestigious. However, no study of which we are aware has determined what journals criminologists are most likely to cite in their scholarly research. In this study, we rank the most influential journals by the number of times those journals were cited between 2009 and 2013 in Criminology, the Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency, and Justice Quarterly. Our analyses suggest that Criminology is clearly the most influential CCJ journal in terms of citations, while the American Sociological Review, the Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency, and the American Journal of Sociology remain influential in CCJ as well.