Designing your sample efficiently: clustering effects in education surveys

Background:?Education, and information about education, is highly structured: individuals are grouped into classes, which are grouped into schools, which are grouped into local authorities, which are grouped into countries. The degree of similarity among members of a group, such as a school or classroom, is a very important factor in the design and analysis of studies in education.

Purpose:?The aim of this article is to provide information on this degree of similarity within schools to enable those involved in carrying out surveys of schools to do so most efficiently in terms of resources and minimum disturbance of schools.

Sources of data:?This paper uses data from 13 studies at primary and secondary level conducted by the National Foundation for Educational Research in England and Wales.

Main argument:?The degree of similarity among members of a group is measured by two statistics, the intra-cluster correlation and the design effect. The study described here classifies outcomes into a number of categories and estimates intra-cluster correlation and design effect. The relevance of the results to survey design and analysis is discussed, and examples of how to use these are given.

Conclusions:?The main findings of this study, rather than conclusions as such, are the intra-cluster correlations for each topic category. However, the paper reaches some tentative conclusions about the degree of clustering by topic. Using Hox's convention (Multilevel analysis: Techniques and applications, Lawrence Erlbaum, London, 2002) for the size of intra-cluster correlations, it was found that the degree of clustering of achievement was high, while ethnic and language variables were highly clustered in secondary but not primary. By contrast, attitudes towards school, educationally relevant home characteristics, and perception of school policies have quite low values of ρ (mean < 0.05), defined as small.     

An international perspective on civic participation in Irish post-primary schools: results from ICCS

Ireland was one of the 38 countries/education systems that participated in the International Civic and Citizenship Education Study (ICCS) in 2009. This is the first international comparative study in this area in which Ireland has participated since 1971. The study measured the civic knowledge of 14-year-olds and their attitudes towards, and beliefs about, various civic and citizenship issues. The current paper focuses on indicators of students' and (to a lesser extent) parents' participation in school life. Although active participation in school is emphasised in, for example, the Education Act of 1998, little empirical work in Ireland has defined or examined actual levels of participation in post-primary schools, or students' views of their opportunities to participate, and ICCS provides information on these issues in an international comparative context. Findings indicate that despite a relatively strong civic knowledge base among students in Ireland, levels of participation compare less favourably with other countries. Results are discussed in the wider context of the Irish education system.     

Advanced Generalist Practice

Abstract

An enormous challenge faces social work educators as we prepare for the twenty-first century. Most significant is the scramble to understand and respond to contemporary challenges, notably managed health care and welfare reform. The authors present the conceptualization and implementation of an advanced generalist concentration curriculum. Teaching strategies and assignments in a MSW academic and field curriculum are used to illustrate the integration of knowledge necessary to a three-tiered model of practice at the micro, mezzo and macro levels. Finally, results of an alumni survey are presented that lend credence to our contention that graduates are well-prepared to function effectively in today's practice environment.     

Graduate Social Work Students’ Experiences with Group Work in the Field and the Classroom

For decades, group work scholars have described a discrepancy between student preparation for group work practice and opportunities to work with groups in the field practicum and professional practice. Educators in related disciplines such as counseling and psychology have expressed similar concerns. This article reports findings of a study of MSW students in a program that includes a practice methods specialization in group work. The purpose was to determine the prevalence of group assignments among all students regardless of their method specialization. A majority of all respondents reported substantial opportunities to practice group work and receive appropriate supervision. Opportunities for majors in group work were significantly greater than for their non-group work counterparts. However, a majority of all students did not feel classes prepared them for group practice. Findings suggest social work must renew its commitment to preparing all students for this practice modality.     

新市场环境下铁路勘察设计院的人才开发

在市场经济条件下,企业之间的生存竞争是企业发展面临的常态,培养和保留核心人才作为保持企业核心竞争力的重要法宝,越来越引起企业管理者的高度关注。基于现实和理论需要,以铁路勘察设计院为案例,分析当前现状、剖析存在问题,结合市场形势和企业发展战略,提出了加强人才开发的相关思考。     

三年制高职新生入学英语能力调查及分析

调查三年制高职新生入学英语能力,对学生的学习动机、元认知策略的运用以及学生对听说读写译等技能的自评情况进行了描述,并分析了其原因及对公共英语教学的启示.     

普通高校大学生对体育课程认知的调查研究

体育课程是学校课程体系的重要组成部分,是高等学校体育工作的中心环节。通过对普通高校大学生体育课程认知的调查,提出要把学生放到第一位,结合各校的实际情况,做到取长补短,给大学体育课程以正确的定位,把学校体育和社会体育有机结合起来,以促进全民健身运动的开展,将体育真正融人大学生们的生活中去。要让学生得到体育锻炼的同时,更加了解体育的历史、体育的文化、体育的价值,充分挖掘大学生们潜在的体育意识和能力,就要加强传承体育文化,培养他们终身的体育意识。     

吉林省中小学体育教师心理健康状况调查与分析

运用SCL-90量表对吉林省中小学体育教师心理健康状况进行调查,统计分析结果表明：与国内正常人SCL-90常模相比较,吉林省中小学体育教师存在广泛的心理问题;40—49岁年龄组的中小学体育教师在多数测试因子上显现比较严重的心理问题;低学历中小学教师不健康心理症状表现更突出。