Average vs. distributional effects: Evidence from an experiment in Rwanda

Programs and policies in education overwhelmingly focus on improving the average academic achievement for students. However, educational interventions focused on literacy improvement can impact readers at different levels of the reading score distribution differently, and the distributional differences may be more pronounced by sex. In this paper, I explore data from a field experiment in a district in Rwanda that was intended to make classroom reading pedagogy more effective and engage students, families, and communities in reading activities outside of school to improve students’ reading outcomes.I study the distributional effects of the intervention on students on two higher-order reading outcomes – Kinyarwanda fluency and Kinyarwanda text comprehension, measured for students who met a basic literacy threshold. I find that a) the set of interventions had a positive and significant, albeit modest effect on students at or above the 25th percentile of the reading distributions b) the program had positive and significant effects on reading outcomes for girls only, and these effects differed along the reading achievement distribution. This work underscores the importance of tailoring programs and policies to the needs of different types of learners.     

创新集群环境评价——以北欧国家ICT集群为例

对创新集群环境评价的内涵进行分析,将其环境大致分为文化环境、分工环境、交易环境、政策环境和社会资本环境五个维度.设计创新集群环境评价的指标体系来表征相应的五个维度,并运用主成分分析法结合北欧ICT集群的有关环境状况进行评价.评价结论基本反映北欧各国ICT集群的发展现状.     

“内外共融”武术教学理念的探讨

武术作为具有中国特色的民族传统体育运动,俨已成为当今学校体育的重要部分。而当今武术教学的诸多现象却表明：如何采取行之有效的措施帮助学生在获得技能、强身健体的同时感受并汲取武术内在的文化,进而形成良好的人文素养早已成为我们亟待解决的问题。基于此背景,本文提出＂内外共融＂的武术教学理念,通过对其特有功能和价值的分析及对该理念的深入阐述,以求改善武术教学现状,实现学生真正意义上的内外兼修。     

信息通信技术发展水平与城市群内部的创新空间分布

从网络效应出发,探究信息通信技术使创新空间分布趋向均衡的理论机制.利用长三角城市群面板数据构建门限回归模型,检验在不同互联网普及程度下各类创新主体对城市创新产出贡献的门限效应.研究发现:长三角城市群内,创新主体位于互联网普及程度高的城市对创新产出具有更高的边际贡献,互联网普及率13.67％和38.98％分别为创新主体边际贡献门限效应的两个临界点,达到38.98％后大学、外资企业、消费者的创新效率达到最大化,而政府干预作用相对降低;早期阶段,中心城市率先达到互联网普及的临界点,但随后互联网基础设施的快速发展消弭了城市间互联网"接入鸿沟",大部分城市突破了互联网普及的门限条件,互联网快速普及促进创新空间分布趋向均衡,为摆脱极化陷阱创造了条件.据此从城市群层面对实施创新驱动发展和协调区域平衡发展战略提出建议:关注中心城市的创新发展,集中突破核心关键技术创新;以数字经济发展为契机,优化调整创新空间分布;推动协同建设新一代信息基础设施,在更大地理范围内将创新主体纳入网络效应作用机制.     

浅谈人本电子健康

文章从一个公民的视角剖析了三聚氰胺奶粉事件,提出利用突发公共卫生事件倡导和推进人本电子健康事 业的设想。并进一步提出,人本电子健康将是21 世纪生命科学技术、信息通讯技术和人文科学发展大融合的产物,是以 个人的健康权为中心,立足家庭、面向全人口和生命全过程的电子健康,其最核心的基础构件是综合性的家庭电子健康 档案。发展人本电子健康的关键是公民的赋权与赋能。     

中外信息素质教育比较研究

对中外信息素质教育的现状与对策进行了客观的比较与理性的思考,并提出了在我国开展信息素质教育的对策与措施。     

An Experimental Test of Medical Disclosure and Consent Documentation: Assessing Patient Comprehension,Self-Efficacy,and Uncertainty

Effectively conveying risks and hazards in medical disclosure and informed consent documentation is a crucial type of communication. However, existing protocols typically do not meet the needs of patients or practitioners. In the present study, we advance a reconceptualization of obtaining written informed consent by analyzing it as a process of uncertainty management rather than a matter of document readability and recall. Results of this randomized trial indicated that patients who reviewed a simplified consent document reported greater comprehension of medico-legal terminology and lower uncertainty about the document, although they did not evince greater self-efficacy. Health literacy was a significant moderator of the relationship between consent form version and comprehension.     

Books and Good Stuff: A Strategy for Building School to Home Literacy Connections

Engaging young children in literacy activities at home is one way for families to augment and enrich the home literacy setting and to participate in their child’s education at an early age (St. Pierre et al. in Dev Psychol 41(6): 953–970, 2005). Burgess et al. (Read Res Quart 4(4): 408–426, 2002) suggested that the resources families have at their disposal, the quality of literacy role models provided by parents, and the types of literacy and language activities in which parents and children engage, are all related to young children’s developing literacy and language abilities. Other studies demonstrated that even modest literacy-promoting interventions can significantly enhance a young child’s early literacy environment by increasing the frequency of parent–child book-sharing activities (Weitzman et al. in Pediatrics 113(5):1248–1253, 2004). Dever (J Early Educ Fam Rev 8(4):17–28, 2001) and Dever and Burtis (Early Child Dev Care 172(4):359–370, 2002) emphasize the use of family literacy bags for early childhood development. Developing and sharing take-home literacy bags is an exciting literacy-promoting activity that may be shared with children and families to provide support for emergent literacy. This article explores the development of the BAGS (Books and Good Stuff) take-home literacy kits and provides suggestions for content, construction, implementation, and evaluation. Sixteen current books are reviewed and recommended by theme.     

Libraries and Spatial Literacy: Toward Next-Generation Education

The role of the library is to assist citizens in skills development critical to national interest and empowerment as literacy ambassadors, in general. Specifically, the work by the Federal Geographic Data Committee (1994) indicates that spatial literacy is for every citizen and not just a set of workforce specialists. Hence, the use of maps in decision making and problem solving will become fundamental to all professions, including library professionals. Thus, a spatial literacy awareness and rationale for such as standard job ability is discussed as a future librarian workforce proficiency and knowledge transfer medium.     

Pupils’ attitudes towards foreign-language learning and the development of literacy skills in bilingual education

The study investigated the effects of bilingual teaching on the development of children's literacy skills and attitudes towards language learning. In the bilingual classes 20% of the instruction was given in English. Pupils’ literacy skills in the bilingual classes were significantly better than in the monolingual classes. When observing pupils who started first grade with either a poor or an excellent level of school readiness, there was no significant difference between bilingual and monolingual groups. In addition, the pupils in bilingual classes showed significantly more positive attitudes towards foreign-language learning than the pupils in monolingual classes.