Inferential statistics and the use of administrative data in US educational research

While the use of inferential statistics is a nearly universal practice in the social sciences, there are instances where its application is unnecessary and potentially misleading. This is true for a portion of research using administrative data in educational research in the United States. Surveying all research articles using administrative data published in Educational Researcher and American Educational Research Journal between 2011 and 2013, we find that over half use inferential techniques to help interpret results despite the use of population data. To the extent that these practices and findings are replicated and interpreted in the United States and elsewhere, this can lead to the undervaluing of potentially meaningful patterns and trends.     

The struggle for legitimacy: language provision in two ‘residual’ comprehensive high schools in Australia

Despite the contemporary policy rhetoric of global citizenry and the importance of languages and intercultural capabilities, language learning in Australian schools struggles for recognition and support. The curriculum marginalisation of languages, however, is uneven, affecting some school sectors more than others. In this article, we examine the provision of languages in two government comprehensive high schools, both low socio-economic status, located in urban areas in New South Wales, Australia’s largest state. They are termed ‘residual’ high schools because they cater for the students remaining in the local schools while others attend either private or selective government high schools. We provide a qualitative picture of language provision in these two schools from the perspectives of key stakeholders – school principals, teachers, students and parents. We also draw on observational data of language classes. The aim is to provide, within a largely social class framework, an understanding of the state of language provision in these schools. We argue that currently students in these schools are experiencing unequal access to the linguistic and cultural capital associated with language learning relative to students in more privileged communities and schools.     

Not all reading disabilities are alike

In this article, reading disability is defined broadly to refer to below-average achievement in reading comprehension as assessed by a standardized test. With our research we tried to answer the question of whether all children with reading disability share a common etiology of deficient phonology, or constitute heterogeneous groups. The answer to this question was sought in four studies that examined reading disabilities from the perspective of componential skills of reading. In Part 1, the results of the first study are reported. A principal-components analysis of the performance of 139 children from Grades 3, 4, and 6 on reading-related tasks yielded two factors: decoding and comprehension. However, factor analyses conducted for each grade separately indicated that orthographic skill and processing speed could possibly constitute a third component. The orthography-speed factor emerged as a factor only in the 6th grade. Part 2 of this article reports the findings of three studies that analyzed the componential skills profiles of poor readers. It was found that the poor readers constituted heterogeneous groups and that four different types of poor readers could be identified with deficiency in any one of the following skills: (a) decoding only, (b) comprehension only, (c) a combination of decoding and comprehension, and (d) a combination of orthographic processing and reading speed. It was also found that the criteria used in selecting poor readers influenced the distribution of the ratio of the four types of poor readers within any given group.     

Prospective Teachers' Perspectives of Physical Education and Sport

Occupational socialisation research within the teaching profession is typically divided into three separate stages: recruitment, professional education, and entry into the work place. The beginning phase, also known as anticipatory socialisation, assumes that people who choose to enter teaching have already formed a perspective about the profession. Teaching is particularly susceptible to such perspectives as students spend at least 12 years of their lives observing and interacting with teachers before they enter a tertiary institution. The recruitment phase of socialisation is considered important because it affects the rest of the socialisation process. It is important to know what perceptions and experiences prospective physical education teachers have about physical education and sport before they start their professional training. This study examines the perspectives that recruits joining a training programme bring with them and compares the results with previous research findings in the area of anticipatory socialisation.     

Rats’ midsession reversal performance: the nature of the response

The midsession reversal task involves a simple simultaneous discrimination that predictably reverses midway through a session. Under various conditions, pigeons generally both anticipate the reversal and perseverate once it has occurred, whereas rats tend to make very few of either kind of error. In the present research, we investigated the hypothesis that the difference in performance between rats and pigeons is related to the nature of the responses made. We hypothesized that rats could have been better at bridging the intertrial interval by keeping the relevant paw close to the lever while eating, whereas the pigeons had to remove their beak from the response key and insert it into the feeder, thus making it difficult to mediate the response last made. In the present experiment, in successive phases, rats were trained to leverpress or nose-poke on a 40-trial midsession reversal, an 80-trial midsession reversal, and a variable-location reversal. The results showed that the leverpress group acquired the task faster than the nose-poke group, but that both groups reached comparable levels of performance. Thus, the difference in the natures of the responses cannot fully account for the differences in accuracy between rats and pigeons. Additionally, differences in the types of errors made by the two groups suggest that the nature of the response plays different roles in the performance of this task.     

Regression methods for estimating cut scores

Many education policies require estimating whether students in different grades are on track for achieving certain educational standards. One approach for constructing these cut scores is to estimate the values on tests that predict reaching targets on subsequent tests. Whether a student is deemed on target can affect the student’s course counselling and aggregate statistics can affect school closures and funding and teacher employment. Seven different regression procedures for estimating cut scores are compared with 15 different data scenarios. In some situations, all the methods provided fairly accurate estimates, but in other situations, some estimates were poor. The choice of which regression procedure to use can make a difference. Overall, a method based on a loess regression performed well.     

Qualitative and quantitative differences among dyslexic,normal, and nondyslexic poor readers

This study tested the hypothesis that when a stringent criterion of normal IQ is applied in the selection of dyslexic readers, and when dyslexics, nondyslexic poor readers, and normal readers are matched on reading comprehension — rather than word reading — significant differences among these groups can be demonstrated. Two groups of poor readers from primary grades, one with normal IQ (dyslexics) and the other with below-average IQ (nonspecific reading disabled, NSRD) were matched for reading comprehension with a group of younger normal readers. The dyslexic group was found to be inferior to the other two groups in tests of decoding and spelling. The dyslexic readers were more context-dependent for word recognition than the other two groups. The NSRD group did not differ from the normal readers in these aspects but had the worst performance on a test of inferential comprehension. It was concluded that dyslexics differ from normal readers and low-IQ poor readers in word and nonword reading skills and context-dependency for reading. A group of six adult dyslexics were also found to be deficient in decoding skills. A lack of unanimity in the use of certain terminology, a substantial age difference between low-IQ poor readers and normals, and the difference in the criteria used for matching the different groups could be factors that can explain the disagreements seen between the findings of the present study and those reported by some other studies. Potential problems associated with reading-age matched experimental design are discussed.     

Re/producing the global middle class: International Baccalaureate alumni at ‘world-class’ universities in Hong Kong

ABSTRACT

This research investigated educational pathways into a Global Middle Class characterised by professional or managerial careers and cosmopolitan sensibilities. The focus was International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme (IBDP) alumni with upper-middle-class backgrounds at ‘world-class’ universities in Hong Kong. The first objective was to investigate if and how the education of IBDP alumni at Hong Kong universities shapes self-perceptions of cosmopolitan sensibilities, university experiences, and economic futures. The second objective was to investigate how the IBDP and Hong Kong universities offer an educational pathway for the existing Global Middle Class to reproduce their social position and for local families to enter the Global Middle Class. Interview findings illuminated how cosmopolitan sensibilities meant that the students may be well-positioned for careers and lifestyles of the Global Middle Class. Nevertheless, there were paradoxes of cosmopolitan sensibilities as the students perceived a lack of belonging to their universities and a disconnection with the local society.     

Singapore Education in “New Times”: Global/local imperatives

This paper critically examines recent education reform in Singapore launched under the rhetoric of “Thinking Schools, Learning Nation” (TSLN). I will make explicit the context and the premises underlying the new state‐initiated TSLN education reform. I argue that the re‐alignment of education change is a response to the trajectories of (global) economic conditions, concomitantly framed by (local) sociopolitical and cultural–ideological needs. Next, I tease out and critique the pedagogical problems and contradictions embedded in the TSLN education reform. The paper concludes by asking what critical perspectives can be drawn from the Singapore case vis‐a`‐vis globalisation and education reform.