未成年人死亡保险问题初探

未成年死亡保险是人身保险险种,一定程度上满足父母对未成年子女感情上的需要。未成年人死亡保险存在问题：保险法第五十三条规定保险利益范围过于狭窄,保险法第五十六条未成年所面临的道德风险骤增,加大未成年人风险。未成年死亡保险的应对策略有：父母双方必须同时书面同意才能成立保险合同;父母双亡的情况下,可以由祖父母、外祖父母为其投死亡保险;严格限制未成年人死亡赔付金额。     

父母外出务工与留守子女辍学——基于CHNS调查数据的经验分析

利用中国健康与营养调查(CHNS)数据,本研究对农村父母外出务工与留守子女初、高中阶段辍学行为之间的关系进行了实证分析。结果表明:父亲外出务工会显著降低留守子女初、高中阶段的辍学概率,母亲外出务工则会显著增加留守子女初中阶段的辍学概率。此外,免费义务教育政策的实施在较大程度上降低了留守子女的初、高中阶段的辍学概率;与那些父母受教育程度较低的留守子女相比,父母受教育程度越高的留守子女越不容易辍学;家庭子女数和机会成本会提高留守子女初中阶段辍学的概率。因此,为降低农村中学阶段子女辍学率,政府应当增加农村妇女当地就业机会以减少母亲外出的影响、推进户籍制度改革使随迁子女能获得同等的教育机会,并为高中阶段和多子女家庭提供教育补贴。     

低收入农民工家长对学前子女教育期待的研究

家长教育期待是影响子女学业成就的关键因素。相较于城市家长,农民工家长教育期待水平相对偏低。在实现教育期待上,他们表现出了明显的外控倾向。与城市居民有更多互动的从事越界型职业的家长,对子女获取更高学历的意愿更强烈。家长投入效能感、聚居区的独特文化、城乡二元和新二元社会结构的限制是影响农民工家长教育期待的主要原因。农民工家长教育期待对子女发展的影响是复杂的。短期内,家长教育期待可能提升子女教育期待,但长期来看,缺乏实现条件的家长教育期待对儿童的发展未必是正向的,家长教育期待的表达可能导致子女轻视本阶层。     

Science adjustment,parental and teacher autonomy support and the cognitive orientation of science students

Research has shown that autonomy support has positive effects on academic development, but no study has examined how systemising cognitive orientation is related to important outcomes for science students, and how it may interact with autonomy support. This prospective investigation considered how systemising and support from teachers and parents influence motivation, self-efficacy and science performance of science students. Totally, two hundred and eighty eight high school students (143 females and 145 males) completed surveys at two times and records of their achievements were collected. Teachers’ autonomy support and systemising were significantly positively related to motivation, self-efficacy and achievement over time, while parental support for autonomy was not directly related to the outcomes. Finally, two significant interaction effects showed that the relation of parental autonomy support to motivation and self-efficacy was moderated by systemising. This is the first study to demonstrate that autonomy support may be especially helpful for individuals with an intrinsic disposition in a domain.     

Are boys that bad? Gender gaps in measured skills,grades and aspirations in Czech elementary schools

This article examines gender gaps in academic performance (grades in mathematics and reading) between boys and girls of ninth-grade elementary schools in the Czech Republic. Our analysis is based on 2003 data from the Programme for International Student Assessment, encompassing the academic performance and family background of ninth-grade pupils. Similar to research on other countries, we find that girls strongly outperform boys in grades in Czech language, but that this gender gap is not explained by measured ability in reading nor on family background or student attributes. We also find gender bias in mathematics grades, after controlling for measured ability and other factors. Girls are also substantially more likely than boys to apply to secondary grammar schools, as well as aspire to a college education, even after controlling for measured ability. We put forward a number of theoretical perspectives that shed light on the possible causes of these empirical findings.     

Reviewing the Family Unit as a Stakeholder in Talent Development: Is It Undervalued?

As elite youth sport becomes more organized and professionalized, the role of the family is increasingly acknowledged as being significant in the development of young talent. High-profile examples across a range of professional sports, both positive and negative, have drawn attention toward this important stakeholder. Accordingly, this review first examines the key issues in relation to family involvement in talent development in relation to what is perceived as good and bad practice on behalf of the family. Next the key theoretical underpinning is considered, Family Systems Theory, and how it may be integrated within elite youth sport. Finally, the article concludes with a summary of where the current literature leaves us and where we can progress from here. Two possible inputs are suggested that could benefit the effectiveness of family involvement: a focus on the family holistically and a second on the role different family members can play.     

How effective is parental prosecution as a method of improving school attendance among primary‐aged children?

Just under half a million children and young people in state schools in England miss school every day. Indeed, improving school attendance has remained a key aim for successive governments. Various strategies have been adopted at both national and local levels in an attempt to tackle the persistent issue of school attendance with varying degrees of success. This study explores the effectiveness of one of those strategies – that of parental prosecutions – as a means of improving children and young people's school attendance. It reports on the effectiveness of parental prosecutions while highlighting some of the emerging patterns among a cohort of those prosecuted within one local authority during one academic year.     

Studying parental involvement and university access and choice: An ‘interacting multiple capitals’ model

Capital‐embedded parental involvement in education is essential in enhancing university enrolment and maximising the educational potentials for equality and excellence. Previous studies in this field have mainly utilised Perna's ( 2000 , 2006 ) model, which defines parental involvement as social capital and identifies the additive influences of different types of capital (including social, economic and cultural capital) on university access and choice. Yet, little research to date theorises and disaggregates the interplay among various types of capital as well as the multiplicative capital effects on enrolment. This study addressed this gap. We proposed an ‘interacting multiple capitals’ (IMC) model and hypothesised that parental social capital could moderate the effects of cultural and economic capital on entry to university. To validate the model, a pilot survey was administered to 216 university students of Korean ethnicity in China and investigated the models of involvement adopted by Korean parents in the context of the increasing labour mobility of the Korean adult population. Moderated multiple regression analysis was employed and the results confirmed the hypothesis that capital effects upon university access and choice were multiplicative in nature, with social capital moderating the cultural capital influence on students’ educational aspirations. The study findings show that the interaction of various types of capital variables is sufficiently statistically significant to warrant future research and policy and practical discussion of how to promote parental involvement in university preparation and planning.     

Extending expectancy-value theory predictions of achievement and aspirations in science: Dimensional comparison processes and expectancy-by-value interactions

Based on TIMSS data (18,047 Grade 8 students from the four OECD countries that collected data for multiple science domains), this study integrated dimensional comparison theory and expectancy-value theory and tested predictions about how self-concept and value are related to achievement and coursework aspirations across four science domains (physics, chemistry, earth science, and biology). First, strong support for social comparisons suggested that high achievement in a particular domain enhance students' motivation in the same domain, which in turn predicted domain-specific aspirations. Particularly, self-concept significantly interacted with value to predict aspirations. Second, in the processes underlying the formation of self-concept and intrinsic value, students tended to engage in negative dimensional comparisons between contrasting domains (physics vs. biology) but positive dimensional comparisons between assimilating domains (physics vs. chemistry). Similar dimensional comparison processes were evident for the effects of self-concept and intrinsic value on aspirations. The results generalized well across all countries.     

Externalizing behavior problems and interest in reading as predictors of later reading skills and educational aspirations

This study examined the developments in children’s externalizing problems and interest in reading during their first four years of school (Grades 1–4) and investigated whether this development predicted the children’s Grade 6 reading skills and educational aspirations. Data comprised (1) teachers’ ratings of externalizing problems and children’s (N = 642; 43% girls) self-ratings of their interest in reading, collected between Grades 1 and 4, and (2) measures of reading fluency and comprehension, and children’s self-reports of educational aspirations, collected at Grade 6. First, latent growth modeling showed that a higher level of externalizing problems in Grade 1 was associated with a lower concurrent interest in reading. Second, a positive association between the initial level of interest in reading and a linear change in externalizing problems indicated that children with a lower interest in reading in Grade 1 were rated by teachers as exhibiting higher levels of externalizing problems, which nonetheless declined over the course of their first four years of school more than among other children. Third, a higher initial level of externalizing problems with a linear change in these problems across Grades 1–4 was a predictor of lower subsequent educational aspirations and poorer reading comprehension in Grade 6. Analysis of the indirect effects indicated that a higher level of externalizing problems was associated with a lower concurrent interest in reading, which, in turn, was related to poorer future reading fluency and lower educational aspirations. The findings imply that problem behaviors are interlinked with academic skill development and motivation across the first six years of school.