Mass Incarceration in California Counties: A Mechanism for Educational Inequality

Abstract

Although there is substantial evidence of the negative effects of being incarcerated or having a father imprisoned, there is little research on the spillover effects created by the concentration of incarceration within disadvantaged communities. This article addresses this limitation by investigating the association between mass incarceration and the educational outcomes of all Black and White children living in a community where many of its members were incarcerated across counties within California from 2009 to 2013.     

Leveraging the potential of peer feedback in an academic writing activity through sense-making support

The act of revising is an important aspect of academic writing. Although revision is crucial for eliminating writing errors and producing high-quality texts, research on writing expertise shows that novices rarely engage in revision activities. Providing information on writing errors by means of peer feedback has become a popular method in writing instruction. However, despite its popularity, students have difficulties in leveraging the potential of peer feedback: feedback uptake is low and students engage in little revision. Instructional support might help learners to make sense of peer feedback and to reflect on the provided information more deeply. The present study investigated the effect of sense-making support on feedback uptake as well as on revision skills, in particular problem detection and problem correction. In an experimental study, 73 university students were randomly assigned to conditions with or without sense-making support. The results indicate that feedback uptake improved concerning two out of three variables: students in the condition with sense-making support made fewer new errors and rejected more incorrect feedback comments. Students’ revision skills only improved with regard to problem detection. Overall, we were able to show that peer feedback alone might not be sufficient to make successful changes in the text and improve revision skills. Sense-making support proved to be effective to some extent and partially helped to maximize the benefits of peer feedback.     

The relationship of teacher ratings of executive functions to emergent literacy in Head Start

Reading and Writing - The purpose of this study was to investigate the concurrent relationships between selected teacher-rated executive function (EF) and a comprehensive array of emergent literacy...     

Organizing libraries for nonreaders

Many nursery schools and kindergartens manage to accumulate hundreds of books without ever having a library. While the same worn titles grow old on classroom shelves, treasures often lie buried in random corners or in supply closets. More often, all the books are crammed together haphazardly on shelves in a teachers' room where no child ever sees them and no teacher can find what he or she is looking for. Dian G. Smith is a freelance writer and author of My New Baby and Me: A First-Year Record Book for Big Brothers and Sisters (Scribner, 1986). Alexandra Azar is an Associate Instructor for the University of Utah, Continuing Education, in Library Science.     

The importance of being a ‘lady’: hyper‐femininity and heterosexuality in the private,single‐sex primary school

Drawing on recent ethnographic research in one single‐sex, private primary school, this paper will explore what it meant for the girls in this setting to embody the discourse of the ‘lady’. The paper will propose that classed and gendered discourses of respectability featured strongly in the girls’ lives, as they were expected to behave like ‘proper’ upper‐middle‐class ladies. However, the paper will also suggest that these discourses were being reworked through post‐feminist, neo‐liberal notions of modern girlhood, meaning that the girls also felt compelled to make themselves as heterofeminine ‘girly’ girls; as sassy, sexy and successful, as well as respectable and upper‐middle‐class(y) enough. By exploring the clash between these two sets of discourse, the paper will specifically seek to examine the lived embodiment of intersections of class, gender and sexuality and to explore the relevance of Judith Butler’s heterosexual matrix for these upper‐middle‐class girls.     

Improving children's working memory and classroom performance

Previous research has demonstrated close relationships between working memory and children's scholastic attainment. The aim of the present study was to explore a method of improving working memory, using memory strategy training. Two hundred and fifty‐four children aged five to eight years were tested on measures of the phonological loop, visuo‐spatial sketchpad and central executive components of the multiple component model of working memory. Subgroups of children also completed tasks of following instructions and mental arithmetic in the classroom, and standardised tests of reading, arithmetic and mathematics. Half of the children then used Memory Booster, a computer game that teaches memory strategies, over a period of six to eight weeks. All the children were then retested on the memory and ability measures. The standardised tests were also administered five months later. The results revealed that working memory strategy training resulted in significant improvements in tasks assessing the phonological loop and central executive components of working memory, and tasks assessing following instructions and mental arithmetic in the classroom. However, no improvements were observed on standardised tests of reading, arithmetic or mathematics, either immediately following training or five months later. The results are discussed in terms of implications for educational practice.     

Ambivalent occupational identities under modern workplace demands: the case of Swiss retail apprentices

This article investigates how Swiss retail apprentices construct their occupational identities under modern workplace affordances. The Swiss retail sector has become more competitive in recent decades; as a consequence, retail businesses look for skilled and responsible employees who are flexible in regard to work tasks and schedules. The article focuses on apprentices’ experiences and sense-making, and specifically examines how retail work conditions not only generate pressure and insecurity, but also offer possibilities for personal identification. Results are based on a qualitative study with retail apprentices involving interviews, focus groups, and observations in vocational education and training schools. Retail apprentices strongly identify with the skilled nature of retail work and even the demand for continuous skill development to ensure that they remain employable. However, they are more critical of the flexible way in which their work is organised and develop divided sense-makings around the demands for responsible autonomy. In short, retail work is perceived in ambivalent ways, oscillating between valorising some of the realities of retail work and suffering from others. The discussion points to the kinds of working and learning conditions within companies that hinder apprentices’ ability to cope with the demands of the modern retail workplace.