A semantic differential investigation of children's attitudes toward three stigmatized groups

To test the assumption that negative attitudes toward various stigmatized groups are learned in early childhood, four scales of the semantic differential were employed to assess children's attitudes toward four groups (normals, crippled, retarded, and mentally ill) for both male and female third and sixth graders. The mentally ill were rated most negatively on both the Evaluation Scale and the Understandability Scale, but were rated comparable to normal people on Activity and Potency. Both the retarded and the crippled were rated less positively than normals on the Evaluation Scale, but not as negatively as the mentally ill. The retarded and the crippled were rated less Active and Potent than both normals and the mentally ill. No differences were found between the third and sixth graders on attitudes toward the three stigmatized groups. Implications for the “social labeling” theory of mental disorders are discussed.     

Diplomas for learning, not seat time: the impacts of New York Regents examinations

Economic theory predicts that improvements in signaling of achievement generated by external exit examination systems will (1) result in students learning more and this in turn will (2) enable them to get better paying jobs. Since New York State had the only statewide curriculum-based external exit exam system in the nation in the early 1990s, hypothesis 1 predicts that New York students should out perform socio-economically comparable students from other states. Cross section analysis of mean 8th grade NAEP math scores and SAT-I scores found that New York students were indeed about one grade level equivalent ahead of where one would expect given their socio-economic background. A similar analysis of dropout rate data found no differences between New York and other states. Hypothesis 2 was tested in HSB and NLS-88 data. Female students who reported that their high school required they pass a minimum competency exam in order to graduate were paid significantly more after they graduated from high school. Men did not earn more but did get a higher hourly wage.     

A study of self-actualization and self-concept in intellectually gifted students

The self-actualization and self-concept of 368 intellectually gifted students in grades 4 through 12 from a rural school district in a southern state were investigated using the Reflections of Self by Youth (ROSY; Schatz & Buckmaster, 1981), the Maslowian Scale (Falk, Bard, Duffy, Grieco, & Markus, 1988), and the Piers-Harris Children's Self-Concept Scale (Piers & Harris, 1969). School level and gender had significant effects on the ROSY. The mean for students at the high school level was higher than at either the elementary or junior high school level. The mean for girls was higher than for boys. A significant interaction between school level and gender was observed only on the Psychological subscale of the Maslowian Scale. The ROSY and Self-actualization subscale and Total score of the Maslowian Scale were significantly related to the Piers-Harris. The ROSY and the Maslowian Scale were found to share a significant relationship (r = .51).     

Multimedia Science Kits: A Museum Project on Women Scientists and Their Research

The University of Nebraska State Museum (UNSM) is creating multimedia outreach kits on the research of women scientists. The collaborative effort has included Nebraska Educational Telecommunications, curricula developers, biographers, graphic designers, and evaluators. The goal of the project is to increase the number of girls interested in pursuing careers in science, and to this end, women scientists are presented as role models. Wonderwise kits target students in grades four through six through student-centered, inquiry-based activities, specimens and tools, videos of the scientists working in the field, resource-based CD-ROMs, and short biographies of the scientists. This project presents a model of how museums can collaborate with schools to improve science education on a statewide basis.     

What university teachers teach and how they teach it

In this article we make three related arguments. The first isthat different teachers have different intentions concerning whatstudents will learn and consequently in their teaching they constitutethe topic or subject to be taught quite differently. The second is thata teacher's intentions concerning what it is that students should learnis closely aligned with a teacher's expectation of how students learnand how they can be helped to learn through teaching. The third is thatwhen teachers focus specifically on the teaching of a particular topic,within a specific context, there is a close relationship between theirintentions and their teaching practice. In this article we explore thesearguments through an empirical study which considers the different waysin which 26 university teachers intended to constitute a subject ortopic for their students to study, how they then taught the subject andsubsequently how consistent were their intentions and their practice.The analysis shows that when the context of teaching and learning istightly defined there is a clear relationship between a teacher'sintention and their practice. In particular, university teachers whoadopt more conceptual change and student-focussed approaches to teachingconstitute objects of study which are more relational and focus on thestudent's knowledge. Approaches which are more information transmissionand teacher-focussed constitute objects of study which are moremulti-structural and have a focus on knowledge which is as constitutedas being external to the student.     

Two readiness measures as predictors of first and third-grade reading achievement

Multiple-regression procedures were used to assess the effectiveness of the ABC Inventory and the Metropolitan Readiness Test (MRT) in predicting first and third-grade reading achievement. Sex and chronological age were included in the first-grade analysis (N = 62) and the first-grade PMA intelligence test score was added to the equation in predicting third-grade reading (N = 65). MRT performance accounted for 11% of the variance in first-grade SRA reading scores (R = .34). In predicting third-grade reading, the MRT accounted for 26% of the variance and the PMA IQ scores accounted for an additional 6% (final multiple R = .57). No other predictor made a significant contribution to explaining variance in first or third-grade reading achievement.