The effects of a free school choice policy on parents’ school choice behaviour

Recently, European school systems have seen various attempts to ‘modernise’ their governance. Market and competition oriented reforms have not been central to governance innovation strategies in German speaking countries, however, their number and relevance is rising in recent years. A free school choice policy which abolishes “school districts” which legally define fixed school catchment areas was introduced in the school year of 2007/2008 in the Austrian city of Linz.The effects of the implementation of this policy on the primary school sector were studied by a standardised questionnaire administered to a representative sample of 3425 parents of five age groups of primary school children. The return rate was about 55%. By special measures during data collection a satisfactory representation of parents with migrant background was achieved.Three questions are discussed in the paper: (1) Is there a rise in segregation in schools as a result of free choice policy? (2) Is there a change in the composition of the student population in different schools as a result of free choice policy? (3) Is there a change in parent school choice behaviour of as a result of free choice policy?Our data indicates that segregation in primary schools with respect to ethnic and social family characteristics increases after the policy implementation, but the sample size is too small to find significant results. In addition, no significant change is observed in the social composition of schools. In accordance with the previous findings no significant modifications of choice behaviour occur for different ethnic or social groups after free choice. However changes in choice motives can be observed.     

Do central examinations lead to greater grading comparability? A study of frame-of-reference effects on the University entrance qualification in Germany

In Germany, the Abitur grades awarded at the end of upper secondary education are critical in the allocation of sought-after university places. Drawing on a representative sample of 3526 grade 13 Abitur students in the German state of Baden-Württemberg, this article examines whether and to what extent grading is affected by the mean achievement of the school serving as frame of reference (“group-referenced grading”), and to what extent this influence differs for coursework and examination grades in mathematics and English as a foreign language. Overall, the results indicate that the higher level of standardization of the central Abitur examinations makes examination grades less susceptible to frame-of-reference effects than are coursework grades.     

Emotion recognition in fathers and mothers at high-risk for child physical abuse

Objective

The present study was designed to determine whether parents at high risk for physical child abuse, in comparison with parents at low risk, show deficits in emotion recognition, as well as to examine the moderator effect of gender and stress on the relationship between risk for physical child abuse and emotion recognition.

Methods

Based on their scores on the Abuse Scale of the CAP Inventory (Milner, 1986), 64 parents at high risk (24 fathers and 40 mothers) and 80 parents at low risk (40 fathers and 40 mothers) for physical child abuse were selected. The Subtle Expression Training Tool/Micro Expression Training Tool ( [Ekman, 2004a] and [Ekman, 2004b]) and the Diagnostic Analysis of Nonverbal Accuracy II (Nowicki & Carton, 1993) were used to assess emotion recognition.

Results

As expected, parents at high risk, in contrast to parents at low risk, showed deficits in emotion recognition. However, differences between high- and low-risk participants were observed only for fathers, but not for mothers. Whereas fathers at high risk for physical child abuse made more errors than mothers at high risk, no differences between mothers at low risk and fathers at low risk were found. No interaction between stress, gender, and risk status was observed for errors in emotion recognition.

Conclusions and practice implications

The present findings, if confirmed with physical abusers, could be helpful to further our understanding of deficits in processing information of physically abusive parents and to develop treatment strategies specifically focused on emotion recognition. Moreover, if gender differences can be confirmed, the findings could be helpful to develop specific treatment programs for abusive fathers.     

Intrafamilial conflict and emotional well-being: a population based study among Icelandic adolescents

Objectives

During intrafamilial conflicts children are often innocent bystanders, caught in the crossfire. In such situations, they are at increased risk to become directly involved in abusive verbal behavior of the perpetrator, and exposed to being shouted or yelled at, threatened, rejected and even physically abused. The present study has two main objectives: (1) ascertain a national base rate of intrafamilial conflicts and physical violence at home among Icelandic adolescents; and (2) to investigate the association of witnessing and/or having been a part of intrafamilial conflict or physical violence at home with variables that relate to mental health and well-being.

Methods

The participants were 3,515 students, 14- and 15-year-old, in the national compulsory school system in Iceland. As a part of the 2003 ESPAD survey, each pupil was asked about experiences of severe verbal arguments and physical violence at home as well as their background, behaviors, and mental health assessed with the use of tested measurement scales such as the Symptom Distress Checklist 90 (SCL-90) and the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale.

Results

About 22% of the participants stated that they had witnessed a severe verbal argument between parents and 34% stated that they had been involved in a severe verbal argument with parents. This rate was slightly higher for girls compared to boys. All together 7% of adolescents had witnessed physical violence at home where an adult was involved and 6% of the participants stated that they had experiences of being involved in physical violence at home where an adult was involved. Witnessing or being involved in severe verbal arguments at home and/or witnessing or being involved in physical violence with an adult was significantly associated with greater levels of depression, anger, and anxiety, and negatively related with self-esteem (p < 0.01).

Conclusions

Many adolescents in Iceland witness severe parental verbal arguments or physical violence between adults in their homes and some are directly involved in such acts. It affects their long-term emotional and behavioral development and well-being.

Practice implications

Preventive measures have to be implemented at an early age and should include, but not be limited to, information on disciplining and upbringing of children and the negative impact of intrafamilial conflicts on the long-term health of their children. Due attention should be given to the health and well-being of children where such violence is known to occur.     

Experience of cooperative learning in engineering

The objective of this work is to share the authors’ experience towards a different mode of teaching/learning method. Cooperative learning (Jigsaw) was employed on the University of Vigo's fourth-year engineering students. The results of the experience show that cooperative learning is quite a viable alternative to the classical way of lecturing at the university when the number of students is not too high. The authors’ observation indicates that students did not show a lot of interest towards the new learning style but their resistance changed once they began the activity. The Jigsaw method has proved to be a useful tool for improving the learning process so that students have the opportunity to participate actively in the learning activities.     

Teacher enthusiasm: Dimensionality and context specificity

Enthusiasm is considered an important characteristic of effective teachers. However, the conceptualization of the term in the research literature is inconsistent. Whereas most studies use the term “enthusiasm” to describe features of instruction, some have used it to describe a characteristic of teachers. This research seeks to clarify the concept of teacher enthusiasm, examining its dimensionality and context specificity. The study draws on three samples of teachers who were administered questionnaire measures of enthusiasm. In two samples (N = 205 and 332), it was possible to match teacher data with data on the students taught. In another sample (N = 113), additional measures of work-related wellbeing were implemented. Confirmatory multigroup factor analyses showed that two dimensions of teacher enthusiasm can be distinguished, namely enthusiasm for teaching and enthusiasm for the subject. These dimensions differed in their meaning and context specificity. Whereas teaching enthusiasm was systematically linked to occupational wellbeing and to classroom variables, subject enthusiasm related only moderately to other measures of occupational wellbeing and was independent of characteristics of the classes taught.     

Convergence in education policy? A quantitative analysis of policy change and stability in OECD countries

In this article, we quantitatively assess education policy change in OECD countries. While research has frequently underlined the importance of international exchange for national policy development, it is yet unclear whether resulting policies are converging. By distinguishing different kinds of education policy goals, we hypothesise that indicators related to macro-level goals are more likely to converge than those related to implementation. We then analyse the development of several education policies since the 1990s. We find strong convergence of some indicators and among some groups of countries, but no clear pattern emerges. Convergence is only partially influenced by the abstractness of education policy goals, and in particular the Scandinavian countries seem to pursue their own approaches in important education policy options.     

Gender Gaps in Collegiate Teaching Style: Variations by Course Characteristics

Using data from over 9,000 faculty members that participated in the Faculty Survey of Student Engagement (FSSE), this study examined the moderating role a range of course characteristics played on the effects of gender on the percentage of class time spent on various activities, a measure of teaching style. Results revealed gender differences, but that the gaps between men and women in lecturing and active classroom practices varied by disciplinary area, course level, and the number of times a course had been taught by the same instructor. The results confirm that gender effects depend on context, which implies that efforts to improve teaching and learning must also adapt to the instructional context.     

Gender and research publishing in India: Uniformly high inequality?

Women’s access to academic careers has been historically limited by discrimination and cultural constraints. Comprehensive information about gender inequality within disciplines is needed to understand the problem and target remedial action. India is the fifth largest research producer but has a low international index of gender inequality and so is an important case. This study assesses gender inequalities in Indian journal article publishing in 2017 for 186 research fields. It also seeks overall gender differences in interests across academia by comparing the terms used in 27,710 articles with an Indian male or female first author. The data show that there are at least 1.5 male first authors per female first author in each of 26 broad fields and 2.8 male first authors per female first author overall. Compared to the USA, India has a much lower share of female first authors but smaller variations in gender differences between broad fields. Dentistry, Economics and Maths are all more female in India, but Veterinary is much less female than in the USA. There is a tendency for males to research thing-oriented topics and for females to research helping people and some life science topics. More initiatives to promote gender equality in science are needed to address the overall imbalance, but care should be taken to avoid creating the larger between-field gender differences found in the USA.     

Closing the Gap Between Photojournalist Research and Photojournalism Practice: Exploring the Motivations of the Subjects of Sensitive Photo Essays

This study is the first to inquire about the factors that influence people’s willingness to allow professional photojournalists to tell their stories through the medium of the photo essay. Guided by Self-Disclosure Theory, in-depth interviews were conducted with the subjects of 15 peer-judged award-winning photo essays. These were drawn from the multiple picture categories of the National Press Photographers Association (NPPA) Monthly Clip Contest, the annual NPPA Best of Photojournalism Contest, and the annual World Press Photo Contest between 2013 and 2017. The topics of the photo essays were sensitive in nature. Analysis reveals support and appreciation amongst photo-essay subjects for the profession of photojournalism. Motivations derived from the sensitivity and professionalism with which each interviewee was initially approached, a need to tell a different side of the story, a desire to inspire others or invoke change, and the memory-keeping and permanence afforded through published professional photojournalism.