The Struggle to Pass Algebra: Online vs. Face-to-Face Credit Recovery for At-Risk Urban Students

Students who fail algebra are significantly less likely to graduate on time, and algebra failure rates are consistently high in urban districts. Identifying effective credit recovery strategies is critical for getting students back on track. Online courses are now widely used for credit recovery, yet there is no rigorous evidence about the relative efficacy of online versus face-to-face credit recovery courses. To address this gap, this study randomly assigned 1,224 ninth graders who failed algebra in 17 Chicago public high schools to take an online or face-to-face algebra credit recovery course. Compared to students in face-to-face credit recovery, students in online credit recovery reported that the course was more difficult, were less likely to recover credit, and scored lower on an algebra posttest. There were no statistically significant differences by condition on any outcomes measured during the second year of high school (standardized mathematics test and algebra subtest scores, likelihood of passing subsequent math classes, cumulative math credits, or on-track rates). The benefits and challenges of online learning for credit recovery are discussed in light of the findings to date.     

Canned Music and Captive Audiences: The Battle Over Public Soundspace at Grand Central Terminal and the Emergence of the New Sound

This article recounts the fight over public soundspace at Grand Central Terminal in 1949 after management began using Muzak, punctuated by commercial advertisements, to manage and monetize the soundscape. The public protests against these broadcasts in the press were followed by public hearings which weighed the commuter’s right to be left alone with his or her own thoughts against the company’s right broadcast sell the public soundspace. The author argue that this case, which was tied to a similar case before the Supreme Court, set a legal precedent allowing public soundspaces to be monetized in the same way as physical or visual spaces were, and set the stage for the ubiquitous engineering of public soundspaces that is the norm today.     

Moving toward a grand theory of development: in memory of Esther Thelen

This paper is in memory of Esther Thelen, who passed away while President of the Society for Research in Child Development. A survey of Esther Thelen's career reveals a trajectory from early work on simple movements like stepping, to the study of goal-directed reaching, to work on the embodiment of cognition, and, ultimately, to a grand theory of development--dynamic systems theory. Four central concepts emerged during her career: (1) a new emphasis on time; (2) the proposal that behavior is softly assembled from the interaction of multiple subsystems; (3) the embodiment of perception, action, and cognition; and (4) a new respect for individuality. Esther Thelen communicated these ideas to scientists and practitioners alike, so the ultimate benefactors of her work were children.     

Correction to: How Does Counseling Psychology Faculty Members’ Grit Relate to their Emotions and Success in Teaching and Research?

Innovative Higher Education -     

The role of the printed answer in programmed instruction

Using a variety of programmed materials, this series of studies showed that students observed available answers in the program far less than 100% of the time. Answer observing was found to be correlated with student error on the related frame. The view that the printed answer in a program is always a reinforcer for the preceding response(s) is severely questioned.     

Formal theories clarify the complex: Generalizing a neural process account of the interaction of visual exploration and word learning in infancy

The interaction of visual exploration and auditory processing is central to early cognitive development, supporting object discrimination, categorization, and word learning. Research has shown visual–auditory interactions to be complex, created from multiple processes and changing over multiple timescales. To better understand these interactions, we generalize a formal neural process model of early word learning to two studies examining how words impact 9- to 22-month-olds' attention to novelty. These simulations clarify the origin and nature of previously demonstrated effects of labels on visual exploration and the basis of mutual exclusivity effects in word learning. We use our findings to discuss key questions for this special section: what makes a good theory and how should formal theories interface with empirical paradigms and findings?     

The Museum Maturity Framework: A Path to Purpose,Meaning, and Values

Abstract In this paper we synthesize elements of the modern philosophy and practice of organization management and leadership and illustrate their application to museums. The elements of our synthetic theory are a museum's inventory of processes (system of work), the role of its leader/director, and the social structures of the museum. These theoretical elements are placed in a conceptual context called the museum maturity framework, a five‐level developmental sequence in which are organized the paradigms and behaviors of a museum as it matures. The museum maturity framework can help the internal and external analysis and assessment of museums.