Does regulation induce homogenisation? An analysis of three voucher programmes in the United States

We examine whether voucher programme regulation reduces private school specialisation in the US. We employ school-and-year fixed-effects regression and examine individual private schools in Washington, DC, Indiana, and Louisiana as they transition into voucher programme environments. We leverage the Private School Universe Survey to observe how schools self-identify before and after switching into voucher environments. We find that upon switching into school voucher environments, private schools in all 3 locations are more likely to identify as less specialised than they were prior to entering the programmes. We find suggestive evidence that the homogenising effects may be stronger in more heavily regulated voucher programme environments, and that those schools in more lightly regulated environments are more likely to continue highlighting their specialised approach to education. These findings are examined within an institutional theory framework to understand the potential homogenising effect of regulations on the diversity of the private school market.     

Aspiring School Administrators' Perceived Ability to Meet Technology Standards and Technological Needs for Professional Development

The merits of technology in general and of educational technology specifically are well documented. The use of educational technology has been shown to improve teaching and learning and the overall educational quality of schools. However, the successful integration of educational technology in schools hinges on school administrators' technology leadership abilities. The purpose of this study was to investigate aspiring school administrators' perceived ability to meet technology standards established by ISTE Standards for Administrators (formerly known as the NETS·A) and to determine which standards they wished to pursue for future professional development. Utilizing the ISTE Standards–A as a framework, a survey was created to decipher how aspiring school administrators perceived their own abilities to become leaders with foundational technology leadership skills. The findings showed that (a) the aspiring school administrators were more likely to indicate a need for professional development in technology utilization to meet the standards than they were to indicate their perceived current competence in meeting the technology standards and effectively utilizing technology in their schools; (b) when interests were examined by race, African American aspiring school administrators were more interested in pursuing professional development to enhance their abilities to perform the tasks than were Caucasian aspiring school administrators; and (c) there was a statistically significant difference between aspiring school administrators' average Perception and Interest scores. It appeared that in general, the participants perceived a greater need for professional development in technology standards than their perceived current ability to perform the standards.     

Disordered Eating Cognitions as Predictors of Attitudes toward Seeking Professional Psychological Services

The present study investigated whether young adults’ disordered eating cognitions predicted attitudes toward seeking professional psychological services. Two hundred and eighty three 18- to 24-year-old undergraduate students completed a survey package that included measures of disordered eating cognitions and help-seeking attitudes. Hierarchical regression analyses revealed that greater disordered eating cognitions uniquely predicted lower degrees of favorable help-seeking attitudes overall, lower stigma tolerance with respect to seeking professional psychological services, lower interpersonal openness in the context of help-seeking, and lower confidence in psychological professionals. The findings suggest that outreach interventions should, among other things, focus on stigma associated with help-seeking and disordered eating problems.     

Remember people's education? Shifting alliances,state‐building and South Africa's narrowing policy agenda

Following the 1994 democratic elections, education policy in South Africa has moved from collective and transformational priorities, salient during the 1980s period of resistance, to a centrist and pro‐human capital position. While the democratic movement talked much about core reforms in the social relations inside classrooms, the new Government of National Unity is focusing on system‐wide rationalisation (including a unified qualifications scheme), developing management information and incrementally changing spending patterns. School quality is being addressed but with much less emphasis on democratising social relations and changing the character of classrooms than anticipated during die years of resistance. This paper describes this dramatic shift in education policy priorities, focusing on central government and two contrasting provinces. It employs two theoretical frameworks ‐‐ political economy and institutional theory ‐‐ to explain the causes and forms of this new set of policy priorities.

     

Constructing narratives of success in the introductory communication course: Using written self-assessments to understand students’ perceptions of learning

Learning outcomes assessments are an important aspect of course administration. However, these efforts tend to prioritize the perspective of instructors/administrators. This study seeks to understand how students perceive their learning gains after taking the introductory communication course. In qualitatively analyzing a sample of more than 2,500 student self-assessments, we found that students crafted narratives of success that focused on verbal and nonverbal improvements, provided accounts of growth in confidence, and demonstrated mastery of course principles. These findings incorporated student perceptions of learning and closed the assessment loop by highlighting learning outcomes that need to be better emphasized in the introductory course.     

The Changing Face of Retirement: Exploring Retirees’ Communicative Construction of Tensions through Bridge Employment

As more adults see bridge employment as part of their retirement, it becomes important to understand the communicative construction of this experience. This point is especially true as bridge employment emphasizes tensions between work and leisure and serves as a way to affirm or create occupational identity. To address this topic we conducted qualitative interviews with retirees and completed an abductive analysis of the data. In doing so, we found two overarching themes: bridge employment is an uncertain experience (negative, positive, or both frames), and bridge employment is an opportunity to (re)establish identities (maintenance, change, or both orientations). Not only do these findings make theoretical contributions, but inform practical implications for retirees and organizations, such as updating retention and recruitment efforts and changing age-based organizational structures.