Differential predictors of academic achievement: individual and familial factor interactions with community poverty

We present an analysis of the contexts within which adolescents graduate from high school and enroll in college. Data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health show that adolescents’ school engagement, maternal academic monitoring, and community poverty significantly interact to explain differences in high school graduation and college enrollment rates (n?=?7100). To examine this association, we performed weighted logistic regression analyses, controlling for gender, race, block level unemployment, and block level median income. Findings suggest that protective factors can help youth overcome the challenges associated with community poverty and achieve academically in low and medium levels of poverty, but that youth in high-poverty contexts may need more resources to reach higher levels of academic attainment.     

Sense of School Membership and Associated Academic and Psychological Outcomes in Post-Institutionalized Adopted High School Students

Research highlights lasting cognitive and academic challenges in youth internationally adopted from institutional care. However, there is a lack of research examining internationally adopted students' sense of membership at school and associated academic and psychological outcomes. The current study measured sense of school membership and academic and psychological outcomes in post-institutionalized internationally adopted high school students (n = 29) compared to adolescents internationally adopted from foster care (n = 28) and non-adopted adolescents (n = 32). Post-institutionalized males had a lower sense of school membership than males adopted from foster care or non-adopted males. Group differences in school membership were mediated by academic achievement and psychological well-being.     

Playing the game of school mathematics: being explicit for Indigenous learners and access to learning

Drawing on studies of successful remote schools in one region of Australia, it was found that two key strategies were common in the approaches at these schools. First, to make the strategies and expectations being adopted explicit to all those involved in the learning enterprise, and second, that consistency in approaches was crucial. Bourdieu’s theoretical project is used to understand how the practices are being adopted by the schools and how they contribute to the success of learners of mathematics.     

The effects of information form and domain-specific knowledge on choice deferral

Three studies examined the effect of information form on choice deferral in consumer choice and explored the moderating role of knowledge about the product domain. Two theoretical approaches were contrasted: (1) The process approach predicting that choice deferral varies as a function of information form, and (2) the communication approach predicting an interaction of information form and domain-specific knowledge. Participants were presented with different laptops described in an absolute (e.g. ‘300 GB hard disc’), evaluative-numerical (e.g. ‘hard disc with 30 out of 100 points in an expert rating’) or evaluative-verbal (e.g. ‘bad hard disc’) information form, and they could choose to buy one of the laptops or defer. Domain-specific knowledge was also assessed. In Study 1, evaluative-numerical and evaluative-verbal values led to more deferral in people with high domain-specific knowledge. The pattern for evaluative-numerical and evaluative-verbal values was replicated for a different information organization in Study 2. Study 3 showed that absolute values led to more deferral the less knowledgeable participants were and demonstrated that domain-specific knowledge and deferral were unrelated when absolute and evaluative-verbal values were presented in combination. In sum, the results support the communication approach and have methodological implications for decision research and theoretical implications for understanding choice deferral in real-life decisions.     

The logic of strategic ignorance

Ignorance and knowledge are often thought of as opposite phenomena. Knowledge is seen as a source of power, and ignorance as a barrier to consolidating authority in political and corporate arenas. This article disputes this, exploring the ways that ignorance serves as a productive asset, helping individuals and institutions to command resources, deny liability in the aftermath of crises, and to assert expertise in the face of unpredictable outcomes. Through a focus on the Food and Drug Administration's licensing of Ketek, an antibiotic drug manufactured by Sanofi-Aventis and linked to liver failure, I suggest that in drug regulation, different actors, from physicians to regulators to manufacturers, often battle over who can attest to the least knowledge of the efficacy and safety of different drugs - a finding that raises new insights about the value of ignorance as an organizational resource.     

The role of ethnic identity in school engagement: perceptions of immigrant Tibetan adolescents in select US public schools

This purpose of the study was to ascertain the level of ethnic identity formation and its perceived role on school engagement for Tibetan adolescents enrolled in public schools in two Midwestern states in the USA. The journey of these students from culturally encapsulated schools from Nepal, Bhutan, and India to multiculturally diverse settings was one of the most fascinating facets of the Tibetan Diaspora. Subjects included 16 girls, 25 boys, and 2 who did not identify their gender. The multigroup ethnic identity measure was used to determine the level of ethnic identity formation of Tibetan students while a questionnaire gathered information on school engagement. The overall ethnic identity measure for this sample was high with a mean of 3.58, while the cognitive and affective aspect of the measure was also high with a mean of 3.56 and 3.74, respectively. The girls showed more emotional commitment to ethnic identity, as their mean score was 3.92, while boys scored 3.62. The results clearly corroborated findings and conclusions drawn by other scholars. School and community partnership contributed to the healthy ethnic identity development of adolescents who were thus encouraged to be more engaged in meaningful school activities.     

高职学生文献信息需求的阶段性特征及服务

分析了高职院校学生在入学初期、专业学习、实验实训、毕业准备四个阶段对图书馆文献资源和信息服务的需求特点,提出了根据阶段性需求特点开展高职院校图书馆读者服务的思路和举措,以期为创新高职院校图书馆读者服务模式提供参考。     

高职院校强化实践教学的思考

目前,高职院校毕业生就业难与某些岗位空缺并存。造成这种局面的原因是多方面的,其中一个重要原因是高职院校的培养计划与培养目标错位,实践教学力度不够,导致培养出的毕业生不能满足社会对人才的需求。文章对高职院校实践教学存在的问题进行分析,提出对策性建议。     

试论骨干校建设背景下高职院校“双师”型教师队伍建设

实施国家骨干校建设是加快我国高职教育改革与发展的重要举措。骨干校建设改革的重点之一是提高教育教学质量。提高教育教学质量的关键在教师,骨干校建设对高职院校教师提出了新要求。文章结合骨干校建设的实践,对高职院校在骨干校建设中如何加强师资队伍建设提出了一些看法。     

我国职业技术培训现状及对策研究

我国近年来出现了"用工荒"和大学生"就业难"并存的问题,该问题的解决需要从劳动力的"质"上去突破,要通过职业技术培训来改善我国的人才结构。但是我国目前的"学校-企业-培训机构"三位一体的职业技术培训体系还存在诸多不足,文章将从主体资格、培养方式两个方面提出解决对策。