The effect of school resources on pupil attainment: a multilevel simultaneous equation modelling approach

Summary.  Improving educational achievement in UK schools is a priority, and of particular concern is the low achievement of specific groups, such as those from lower socio-economic backgrounds. An obvious question is whether we should be improving the outcomes of these pupils by spending more on their education. The literature on the effect of educational spending on the achievement of pupils has some methodological difficulties, in particular the endogeneity of school resource levels, and the intraschool correlations in pupils' responses. We adopt a multi-level simultaneous equation modelling approach to assess the effect of school resources on pupil attainment at age 14 years. The paper is the first to apply a simultaneous equation model to estimate the effect of school resources on pupils' achievement, using the newly available national pupil database and pupil level annual school census.     

A Legal Analysis of Segregation in Public Education

Many people fear that the current explosion in mass media technology is negatively affecting individuals and society via-à-vis considerations related to the accessibility of pornographic materials. The way this accessibility affects young people is of particular concern. In this article, the author addresses these concerns from the legal and media-effects perspectives. He argues that social studies teachers can respond to questions about pornography and the mass media in a more confident and informed manner if they gain some familiarity with court rulings and contemporary social science research relevant to the impact of the mass media in a democratic society. The author contends that education, not censorship, is the best way to address the issue.     

Language Diversity and Accountability in the South: Perspectives and Dilemmas

This paper examines the need for accountability in language planning in multilingual contexts in the South. After a brief overview of language diversity in the South, it notes that this multilingual reality has often been ignored by policy-makers acting in their own interests, unaccountable to those affected by their decisions. It considers how world trends of increasing democratisation and strengthening of minority rights are generating calls for greater accountability and language rights, so that governments become more accountable to communities for their decisions about language. Some dimensions of accountability are explored, focussing on the need to integrate the perspectives of both government and community. Structures are addressed, with an emphasis on the role of local communities and illustrations from two particular African contexts, in Cameroon and Zaire. The paper concludes with a discussion of some practical dilemmas relating to policy and research, technical input, financial assistance and community ambivalence.     

Self-perceived occupational stress and distress in a Scottish police force

Abstract

This paper describes an empirical study (n = 699) of occupational stress in a Scottish police force. The self-perceived stress associated with a variety of organizational and opearational stressors was examined along with the associated distress in the police officers in terms of symptoms of anxiety, somatic complaint, severe depression and social dysfunction. The analysis revealed that in spite of the potential that police work offers for exposure to adverse opeational situations such as violence or death, the highest levels of associated stress lie in relation to organizational factors such as officers' perceptions of staff shortages, inadequate resources, time pressures, lack of communication and work overload. Differential rates of perceived stress are reported accordng to gender, rank and working location. This paper further validates previsous research on stress in British police and addresses the situation from a Scottish perspective.     

Estimates of human immunodeficiency virus prevalence and proportion diagnosed based on Bayesian multiparameter synthesis of surveillance data

Summary.  Estimates of the number of prevalent human immunodeficiency virus infections are used in England and Wales to monitor development of the human immunodeficiency virus–acquired immune deficiency syndrome epidemic and for planning purposes. The population is split into risk groups, and estimates of risk group size and of risk group prevalence and diagnosis rates are combined to derive estimates of the number of undiagnosed infections and of the overall number of infected individuals. In traditional approaches, each risk group size, prevalence or diagnosis rate parameter must be informed by just one summary statistic. Yet a rich array of surveillance and other data is available, providing information on parameters and on functions of parameters, and raising the possibility of inconsistency between sources of evidence in some parts of the parameter space. We develop a Bayesian framework for synthesis of surveillance and other information, implemented through Markov chain Monte Carlo methods. The sources of data are found to be inconsistent under their accepted interpretation, but the inconsistencies can be resolved by introducing additional 'bias adjustment' parameters. The best-fitting model incorporates a hierarchical structure to spread information more evenly over the parameter space. We suggest that multiparameter evidence synthesis opens new avenues in epidemiology based on the coherent summary of available data, assessment of consistency and bias modelling.     

Urbanization affects the trophic structure of arboreal arthropod communities

Urbanization is one of the most significant causes of habitat fragmentation on the planet, resulting in substantial losses of biodiversity and disruptions to ecological processes. We examined the effects of urbanization on the diversity and abundance of arboreal invertebrates in a dominant tree species (Angophora costata) in a highly urbanized landscape in Sydney, Australia, identifying the potential ecological consequences of shifts in diversity. We hypothesized that trophic structure would be influenced by landscape context with a greater richness and abundance of invertebrates in small remnants and edges. Canopy arthropods were sampled via beating from trees in 15 sites in three landscape contexts; five large patches of continuous vegetation, five edges of large patches and five small urban remnants. Trees in large patches supported fewer individuals compared to trees in small urban remnants and edge sites. The composition of assemblages and overall trophic structure also differed between edges and large patches, with a greater abundance of grazing insects in edges. No differences were detected between small urban remnants and edges, suggesting that observed differences might be attributed to an edge effect as opposed to an area effect per se. These changes in trophic structure, revealing a greater abundance of grazing herbivores and a reduced abundance of predators and parasitoids in edge sites, are consistent with work describing elevated levels of herbivory in edges of remnant vegetation. Future management of remnant urban vegetation and associated biodiversity requires not only an understanding of how trophic status influences the extent of responses by arboreal invertebrate communities, but also how these will affect ecosystem functioning.     

Changing compatibility of cohabitation and childbearing between young British women born in 1958 and 1970

We investigate the effect of parenthood on whether non-marital unions led to marriage or parting for two cohorts of British women when they were aged between 16 and 29. We compare the effect of conceptions leading to births and the presence and characteristics of children on the odds that a cohabitation was dissolved, or that it was converted to marriage, for women born in 1958 and 1970. A multilevel, multiprocess, competing-risks model allows for multiple cohabitation per woman and endogeneity of fertility status. We find that cohabiting couples' response to impending parenthood and the presence of children changed over time. In particular, the proportion of cohabiting couples who married before a birth decreased and, in the 1970 cohort only, the risk of dissolution declined during pregnancy. There is also evidence that the presence of a child cemented a cohabiting union for women from the 1970, but not the earlier, cohort.