Heterogeneity,school-effects and the North/South achievement gap in Italian secondary education: evidence from a three-level mixed model

With the aim of assessing the extent of the differences in the context of Italian educational system, the paper applies multilevel modeling to a new administrative dataset, containing detailed information for more than 500,000 students at grade 6 in the year 2011/2012, provided by the Italian Institute for the Evaluation of Educational System. Data are grouped by classes, schools and geographical areas. Different models for each area are fitted, in order to properly address the heteroscedasticity of the phenomenon. The results show that it is possible to estimate statistically significant “school effects”, i.e., the positive/negative association of attending a specific school and the student’s test score, after a case-mix adjustment. Therefore, the paper’s most important message is that school effects are different in terms of magnitude and types in the three geographical macro areas (Northern, Central and Southern Italy) and are dependent on specific students’ and schools’ characteristics.     

Who Gets Custody Now? Dramatic Changes in Children’s Living Arrangements After Divorce

This article reexamines the living arrangements of children following their parents’ divorce, using Wisconsin Court Records, updating an analysis that showed relatively small but significant increases in shared custody in the late 1980s and early 1990s. These changes have accelerated markedly in the intervening years: between 1988 and 2008, the proportion of mothers granted sole physical custody fell substantially, the proportion of parents sharing custody increased dramatically, and father–sole custody remained relatively stable. We explore changes in the correlates of alternative custody outcomes, showing that some results from the earlier analysis still hold (for example, cases with higher total family income are more likely to have shared custody), but other differences have lessened (shared-custody cases have become less distinctive as they have become more common). Despite the considerable changes in marriage and divorce patterns over this period, we do not find strong evidence that the changes in custody are related to changes in the characteristics of families experiencing a divorce; rather, changes in custody may be the result of changes in social norms and the process by which custody is determined.     

Being Transgender: The Experience of Transgender Identity Development

This article is based on a grounded theory analysis of interviews with transgender-identified people from different regions of the United States. Participants held a variety of gender identities under the transgender rubric (e.g., crossdresser, transman, transwoman, butch lesbian). Interviews explored the participants’ experiences in arriving at their gender identity. This article presents three clusters of findings related to the common processes of transgender identity development. This process was made possible by accessibility of transgender narratives that injected hope into what was a childhood replete with criticism and scrutiny. Ultimately, participants came to their identities through balancing a desire for authenticity with demands of necessity—meaning that they weighed their internal gender experience with considerations about their available resources, coping skills, and the consequences of gender transitions. The implications of these findings are considered in terms of their contribution to gender theory, research, and clinical support for transgender clients.     

Atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration variations in Rome: relationship with traffic level and urban park size

Carbon dioxide (CO₂) concentration variations in Rome in the period January 2009 to December 2010 was monitored. Five representative sites (T sites) in the city centre with different traffic levels and urbanistic characteristics, and four urban parks (P sites) of different sizes were selected. The regression analysis underlines the significant (p?≤?0.05) correlation between traffic levels and CO₂ concentration. Considering the daytime CO₂ concentration peak among T sites, Cerchi Street and Teatro Marcello Street, located in the city centre and closed by buildings, showed the highest traffic levels (85?±?3 and 63?±?2 cars min^?1, respectively) and the highest CO₂ concentration (512?±?11 and 488?±?8 ppm, respectively). With regards to the considered P sites, those extending over the largest surface areas (Villa Pamphilj Park and Villa Borghese Park, 180 and 80 ha, respectively) characterized by large tree coverage (81 ha and 60 ha, respectively) had a significant lower CO₂ concentration (404?±?9 ppm, mean value) than those extending over a small surface area (Villa Torlonia Park and Villa Celimontana Park, 14 ha and 11 ha, respectively). More efforts should be made to further reduce CO₂ concentration in the cities in order to ameliorate ecosystem services related to urban parks.     

略论中国古典戏曲中的咒语现象

在中国古典戏曲描写中,"咒语"常出现在唱词和科白里。就形态上看,可分为自咒与他咒两种类型;就内涵上看则涉及爱情生活、巫术攻侵、战事、佛道文化等等方面。对这些咒语事象作民俗文化学角度的考察,探究它们的形式、内涵、源流、变化及其在其它文体文献中的反映,可以见出文学母题学的传承性意义,以及戏曲作品"叙事单元"模态化的规律。     

THE FAILURE TO PREDICT THE GREAT RECESSION—A VIEW THROUGH THE ROLE OF CREDIT

Much has been written about why economists failed to predict the latest crisis. Reading the literature, it seems that this crisis was so obvious that economists must have been blind not to see it coming. We approach this failure by looking at one of the key variables in this analysis, the evolution of credit. We compare the conclusions reached in the recent literature with those that could have been drawn from an ex‐ante analysis. We show that the effect of credit on the business cycle cannot be exploited from a policymaker's point of view.     

Complex Thinking and Computing Organization Facing Contingent Problems

Public Organization Review - Facing the reflexive modernity, social wealth production is systematically correlated with the production of social and technical problems. Due to the complexity...