Destination unknown: An exploratory study of full-time faculty off the tenure track

The source of data in this study is the 1989 National Survey of Faculty by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching.     

Engaging Actively with Issues in the Responsible Conduct of Science: Lessons from International Efforts Are Relevant for Undergraduate Education in the United States

Numerous studies are demonstrating that engaging undergraduate students in original research can improve their achievement in the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields and increase the likelihood that some of them will decide to pursue careers in these disciplines. Associated with this increased prominence of research in the undergraduate curriculum are greater expectations from funders, colleges, and universities that faculty mentors will help those students, along with their graduate students and postdoctoral fellows, develop an understanding and sense of personal and collective obligation for responsible conduct of science (RCS). This Feature describes an ongoing National Research Council (NRC) project and a recent report about educating faculty members in culturally diverse settings (Middle East/North Africa and Asia) to employ active-learning strategies to engage their students and colleagues deeply in issues related to RCS. The NRC report describes the first phase of this project, which took place in Aqaba and Amman, Jordan, in September 2012 and April 2013, respectively. Here we highlight the findings from that report and our subsequent experience with a similar interactive institute in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Our work provides insights and perspectives for faculty members in the United States as they engage undergraduate and graduate students, as well as postdoctoral fellows, to help them better understand the intricacies of and connections among various components of RCS. Further, our experiences can provide insights for those who may wish to establish “train-the-trainer” programs at their home institutions.     

Has Group Work Education Lost Its Social Group Work Essence? A Content Analysis of MSW Course Syllabi in Search of Mutual Aid and Group Conflict Content

This article presents the results of a content analysis of MSW group work course syllabi in an effort to better understand the extent to which mutual aid and group conflict, two important dimensions of social group work, are included and featured as prominent elements in MSW-level group work instruction.     

Activating a Teaching Philosophy in Social Work Education: Articulation,Implementation, and Evaluation

This article describes how to develop a comprehensive teaching philosophy from articulation through implementation to evaluation. Using literature and teaching-learning experiences, we discuss pragmatic steps for using a teaching philosophy to inform, engage, and evaluate teaching-learning. We promote an integrated teaching philosophy to ensure competent practice in social work education.     

Contemporary Federal Education Policy and Rural Schools: A Critical Policy Analysis

Over the last 3 decades student achievement has remained essentially unchanged in the United States, but not for a lack of spending. Over the same period a myriad of education reforms have been suggested and per-pupil spending has more than doubled. Since the 1990s the education reform attempts have frequently included judicial decisions to revise state school finance systems. Invoking general clauses about the need for an adequate education found in every state constitution, judges in more than half of the states waded into the development of finely tuned reform strategies. This article empirically estimates the effect of judicial intervention on student achievement using standardized test scores and graduation rates in 48 states from 1992 to 2005. We find no evidence that court-ordered school spending improves student achievement.     

The Privatization of the Internet's Backbone Network

Scholars have neglected the privatization of the Internet's backbone network, despite the obvious significance of the U.S. government turning control of a powerful new communication technology over to the private sector. This article analyzes the transition from a government-sponsored backbone network to multiple commercially owned backbone networks. The authors also analyze the implications of the privatization on the Internet's governance, competition, and performance.     

Gender differences in associations between exposure to school HIV education and protective sexual behaviors and sexually transmitted disease/HIV diagnosis among high school students

This study aimed to assess associations between school HIV education and protective sexual behaviors and sexually transmitted disease (STD)/HIV diagnosis with a representative sample of male and female high school students. Data from male and female adolescent participants in the 1999, 2001 and 2003 Massachusetts Youth Risk Behavior Survey (n = 12,243) were analyzed. Adjusted regression analyses stratified by gender were conducted to assess relationships between school HIV education exposure and the following outcomes: no sexual initiation, condom use at last sex, no multiple sex partners in the past three months and no history of STD/HIV diagnosis. Participants were mostly White (75%) and were 51% male; the subsample of sexually active students was younger than the total sample but was otherwise similar in demographics. School HIV education was reported by 93% of our sample and was significantly related to sexual initiation among boys (odds ratio = 1.9, 95% confidence interval = 1.4–2.7) but not girls. Among sexually experienced students (n = 4752), boys reporting exposure to school HIV education were significantly more likely to report condom use (odds ratio = 2.2, 95% confidence interval = 1.6–3.1), no multiple sex partners (odds ratio = 3.2, 95% confidence interval = 2.3–4.4) and no STD/HIV diagnosis (odds ratio = 3.2, 95% confidence interval = 2.0–5.0); girls reporting such exposure were significantly more likely to report no multiple sex partners (odds ratio = 2.2, 95% confidence interval = 1.3–3.6). In conclusion, exposure to school HIV education is associated with sexual protective behaviors and reduced likelihood of STD/HIV diagnosis for boys but less so for girls, suggesting the need for more gender‐tailored approaches to school HIV education.     

Does competition improve public school efficiency? A spatial analysis

Advocates for educational reform frequently call for policies to increase competition between schools because it is argued that market forces naturally lead to greater efficiencies, including improved student learning, when schools face competition. Researchers examining this issue are confronted with difficulties in defining reasonable measures of competition within local educational markets. We approach the problem through the application of Geographical Information System (GIS) tools to the development of a school competition index (SCI) for the state of Mississippi. The SCI captures the degree of competition each public school in the state faces from peer private schools spatially located within their local market area. We find that higher degrees of competition from private schools significantly increase public primary and high school efficiency, as measured by the proficiency rates on high-stakes examinations. It is anticipated that the current results will inform policymakers regarding the viability of competition-based reforms.     

Differential effects of speed on two-dimensional foot strike pattern during barefoot and shod running in recreationally active men

ABSTRACT

The majority of barefoot running studies have not considered speed as an influential factor on foot strike pattern. The aim of this study was to investigate differences in foot strike pattern and spatiotemporal characteristics between barefoot and shod overground running at varying speeds. We first determined maximal running speed (Vm) over 50 m in 15 recreationally active men who self-reported as habitual rearfoot strikers. Participants then completed shod and barefoot running trials at different speeds equivalent to approximately 90%, 80%, 70% and 60% of Vm. Sagittal plane two-dimensional (2D) foot-ground contact angle, ankle plantar-dorsi flexion angle, contact time, flight time, step length and step rate variables for each trial were recorded. A significant interaction effect of running speed and footwear condition (p < 0.05) on foot-ground contact angle, ankle plantar-dorsi flexion angle and contact time was observed. There was a main effect of running speed (p < 0.01) on flight time, step length and step rate. There was a main effect of footwear condition on step length (p < 0.01). Participants were more inclined to plantarflex the ankle and contact the ground with the forefoot at higher percentages of Vm, especially when running barefoot.     

5. Radio and Television

ANCHORS: BROKAW, JENNINGS, RATHER AND THE EVENING NEWS by Robert Goldberg and Gerald Jay Goldberg (New York: Birch Lane/Carol Publishing, 1990—$19.95, ISBN 1-55972-019-0, 399 pp.)

FDR AND THE NEWS MEDIA by Betty Houchin Winfield, 1990—$34.95, ISBN 0-252-01672-6, 276 pp.) takes a broad view of the legendary president and his administration's varied relations with the press throughout his presidency (1933-45)

FOREIGN POLICY AND THE PRESS: AN ANALYSIS OF THE NEW YORK TIMES' COVERAGE OF U.S. FOREIGN POLICY by Nicholas 0. Berry (Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1990—$39.95, ISBN 0-313-27419-3, 184 pp.)

SOB SISTER JOURNALISM by Phyllis Leslie Abramson (Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1990—$35.00, ISBN 0-313-26513-5, 144 pp.)

THE COURSE OF TOLERANCE: FREEDOM OF THE PRESS IN NINETEENTH–CENTURY AMERICA by Donna Lee Dickerson (Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1990—$45.00, ISBN 0-313-27534-3, 272 pp.)