Academic Performance of Subsequent Schools and Impacts of Early Interventions: Evidence from a Randomized Controlled Trial in Head Start Settings

The role of subsequent school contexts in the long-term effects of early childhood interventions has received increasing attention, but has been understudied in the literature. Using data from the Chicago School Readiness Project (CSRP), a cluster-randomized controlled trial conducted in Head Start programs, we investigate whether the intervention had differential effects on academic and behavioral outcomes in kindergarten if children attended high- or low-performing schools subsequent to the preschool intervention year. To address the issue of selection bias, we adopt an innovative method, principal score matching, and control for a set of child, mother, and classroom covariates. We find that exposure to the CSRP intervention in the Head Start year had significant effects on academic and behavioral outcomes in kindergarten for children who subsequently attended high-performing schools, but no significant effects on children attending low-performing schools. Policy implications of the findings are discussed.     

Relational rurals: Some thoughts on relating things and theory in rural studies

This paper considers how shifts within the social sciences towards conceptualising spatiality in relational terms have unfolded in rural studies in particular ways over the past decade or so. A period in which networks, connections, flows and mobility have all established themselves as compelling conceptual frames for research, the rural has increasingly been recast in relational terms as a multi-authored and multi-faceted space, constituted through local-global interconnections and their place specific, sometimes contested, manifestations. In this way, the multiple meanings of the rural continues to be a focus of critical concern, as are the implications ‘of’ and ‘in’ rural spaces for some of the major issues currently being faced by governments and citizens around the world; including climate change and food security. Apprehending the complexity of the rural in these terms, we argue, requires not only thinking space relationally, but at the same time being epistemologically relational or theoretically pluralist. That is, recognising the co-constituent production of rural space through material and discursive phenomenon, processes and practices, and thus the value of existing theoretical resources (social constructionism, political and economic materialism) in relation with the critical and rigorous appraisal of ‘new’ concepts and ideas to better comprehend rural space in its multidimensional complexity and particularity. To this end, we identify Cindi Katz's notion of ‘countertopography’ as a promising conceptual and methodological addition to the rural scholar's toolkit insofar as it attends to a politics of location and differentation in relation to global processes. We conclude our discussion by sketching out possible objects of countertopographical analysis for understanding ongoing processes of change in rural space(s).     

How do people differentiate between jobs: and how do they define a good job?

Employed individuals from a range of jobs (n=18) were interviewed using a repertory grid technique, to explore the criteria they used to distinguish between different jobs. The concepts of 'a good job' and 'a job good for health' were also discussed. Interactions with others and the job itself were the most commonly used criteria and were also the most common features of a 'good job'. Pay and security were mentioned frequently but were less important when comparing jobs and when defining a 'good job'. Physical activity was rarely associated by interviewees with a 'good job' but was frequently associated with a 'job good for health'. A comprehensive definition of a 'good job' needs to take all these factors into account.     

Urban impacts on tropical island streams: Some key aspects influencing ecosystem response

Improving our understanding of the impacts of urbanization on tropical island streams is critical as urbanization becomes a dominant feature in tropical areas. Although the ??urban stream syndrome?? has been successful in summarizing urban impacts on streams, the response of some island streams is different to that expected. Here we review available information on urban impacts to tropical island streams and describe unique responses to urbanization. We identified three key aspects that play particularly important or unique roles in determining tropical-island stream integrity: biotic response to water pollution, movement barriers along the stream network, and altered geomorphology that results in habitat loss. As expected, water pollution negatively impacts stream ecosystems in tropical islands and in some regions impacts can be severe, as untreated wastewaters are directly discharged into streams. While aquatic insects show the expected responses to pollution, other native fauna (e.g., shrimps and fishes) appear to be less impacted by moderate levels of pollution. Movement barriers along the stream network are especially important as much of the tropical island fauna have diadromous (either amphidromous or catadromous) life histories. Most native freshwater mollusks, shrimps, and fishes inhabiting tropical islands are diadromous and depend on unimpeded connections between freshwater and marine environments to complete their life cycles. The presence of these species in urban streams is best explained by longitudinal connectivity rather than by the degree of urban impact. Finally, in streams that remain connected to marine environments, the presence of native shrimps and fishes is strongly related to the physical habitat. Fish assemblages in channelized and severely altered stream reaches are almost completely devoid of native fauna and tend to be dominated by non-native species. In contrast, relatively diverse shrimp and fish assemblages can be found in reaches that retain their physical habitat complexity, even when they are impacted by urbanization. Our understanding of urban impacts on tropical island streams remains limited. However, the identification of key aspects can help us better understand urban impacts on streams in tropical islands, and best focus our management and research efforts to protect these unique ecosystems.     

East Asian childbearing patterns and policy developments

Childbearing behavior in East Asian countries has changed rapidly during the past half century from an average of five to seven children per family, to replacement-level fertility, and subsequently to unprecedentedly low levels, the lowest in the world. This article analyzes fertility trends in Hong Kong, Japan, singapore, south Korea, and Taiwan using cohort fertility data and methods, then examines social and economic causes of the childbearing trends, and surveys policies pursued to reverse the fertility trends. Postponement of childbearing started in the 1970s with continuously fewer delayed births being "recuperated," which resulted in ultra-low fertility. A rapid expansion of education and employment among women in a patriarchal environment has generated a stark dilemma for women who would like to combine childbearing with a career. Policy responses have been slow, with a more serious attempt to address issues in recent years. Thus far public and private institutions are not devoting sufficient attention to generating broad social change supportive of parenting.     

Lessons from the Niagara Movement: Prosopography and Discursive Protest

This article uses a case study of the Niagara Movement, which functioned from 1905–1910, to demonstrate that the use of prosopography (collective biographies) is a propitious methodological tool, particularly for those interested in the social-psychological analysis of movement actors within networks. I present a prosopography of the founders of the Niagara Movement. Learning more about the identity of political actors provides clues to the ways strategic choices are made and how collective action frames are developed. The prosopography of the Niagara Movement also provides theoretical insights into discursive processes that are often lost in studies of long movement trajectories. I analyze potential explanations for the absence of organizations such as the Niagara Movement from the civil rights canon, and, through an analysis of talk as a resource for mobilization, pinpoint directions for future researchers interested in micro theories of mobilization.     

Gender,Field, and Habitus: How Gendered Dispositions Reproduce Fields of Cultural Production

Bourdieu argues that fields of action produce a specific habitus in participants, and views this specific habitus as a mechanism through which the field is reproduced. Although Bourdieu acknowledges the habitus as gendered, he does not theorize gender as part of the mutually constitutive relationship between field and habitus. Using evidence from two cultural fields, the Toronto heavy metal and folk music scenes, I show that gender is central to the process through which field and habitus sustain each other. The metal field produces a “metalhead habitus” that privileges gender performances centered on individual dominance and status competition. In contrast, the “folkie habitus” encourages gender performances centered on caring, emotional relations with others, and community‐building. These differently gendered habitus support different working conventions: music production occurs largely through volunteer‐based nonprofit organizations in the folk field, and individual entrepreneurship in the metal field. The gendered habitus also supports different stylistic conventions: guitar virtuosity in the metal field, and participatory music‐making in folk. Applying a gendered lens to the field–habitus relationship clarifies the mechanisms through which cultural fields shape individual action, and the mechanisms through which cultural fields are reproduced and maintained.     

An autecological interpretation of the firm and its environment

Explaining the survival and failure of firms is an important issue for researchers and managers of firms in society. Ecological approaches to the study of firms have existed for over 100 years, and have been increasingly popular during the past 40 years, especially since the pioneering works of Hannan and Freeman on one hand, and Aldrich on the other. This paper, in keeping with recent developments elsewhere in mainstream ecology outlines and positions the theoretical and philosophical foundations of an alternative ecological approach, autecology, that has not yet been formulated for the study of firms. The autecological approach affords the individual firm more autonomy in creating its own future evolutionary trajectory. The idea of an ecological complex is developed to provide clear focus on what is central to the application of autecology to the study of firms. The paper also considers several emergent research opportunities that highlight the potential value of employing an autecological approach to the study of firms.     

A Preliminary Examination of Covitality as Integrated Well-Being in College Students

The emergence of positive psychology has generated increased interest about the correlates of positive psychological functioning. Researchers have identified and studied various positive psychological constructs (e.g., hope, optimism, self-efficacy, gratitude, and life satisfaction) and found them to covary and to be positively associated with optimal human functioning and negatively associated with mental illness. This study of 528 college students examined the co-occurrence of selected positive psychological traits and explored their relations with a proposed second-order latent construct called covitality and with psychological well-being. Structural equation modeling examined each first-order positive psychology construct related to the second-order concept of covitality. Findings supported the second-order latent factor model of covitality, which was also significantly related to indicators of psychological well-being. Implications for theory development related to understanding positive human resources and applications within the context of college student populations are discussed.