Teachers face continuous changes, many of which significantly influence their professional identities and work practices. This study investigates Finnish vocational teachers' pathways in the course of a curriculum reform. The data were obtained by interviewing 14 vocational teachers twice, i.e. at the initial and later stages of the reform. This…

In this review, the authors interrogate the recent identity turn in literacy studies by asking, How do particular views of identity shape how researchers think about literacy and, conversely, how does the view of literacy taken by a researcher shape meanings made about identity? To address this question, the authors review various ways of…

Teachers are being increasingly held accountable for their quality of student instruction. They need to prepare well for each lesson taught and provide for individual differences among learners. Documentation of teaching success is desired. Tracking results of teacher effectiveness is salient. Thus, there needs to be an effective approach to use…

A friend and fellow academic recently told the author that her dean, who directs a professional school at a state university, spends most of his time at conferences hanging out with professors from his institution, as well as with their graduate students and his co-authors on research papers. She said, and the author agreed, that such habits…

A milestone in human development is coming to recognize that how something looks is not necessarily how it is. We tested appearance-reality understanding in chimpanzees ("Pan troglodytes") with a task requiring them to choose between a small grape and a big grape. The apparent relative size of the grapes was reversed using magnifying and…

This study investigates word reading skill in Down Syndrome (DS). Two main questions are addressed: (1) Is reading an island of ability in DS? and (2) What are the cognitive correlates of word reading ability in DS? In particular, how do language versus visual-spatial skills relate to individual differences in reading ability in DS? Participants…

Sackett, Borneman, and Connelly's article and recent meta-analyses (e.g., Kuncel & Hezlett, 2007) should lay to rest any doubt over whether high-stakes standardized tests predict important academic and professional outcomes--they do. The challenge now is to identify noncognitive individual differences that determine the same outcomes. Noncognitive…

What, exactly, do individuals with social phobia fear? Whereas fear of anxiety-related bodily sensations characterizes and defines panic disorder, is there a fundamental focus of anxiety that unifies individuals under the diagnostic category of social phobia? Current conceptualizations of social phobia suggest several possible candidates,…

In this article we examine how social capital affects the creation of human capital. Specifically, we study how college students' peers affect academic performance. Building on existing research, we consider the different types of peers in the academic context and the various mechanisms through which peers affect performance. We test our model…

We estimated the invariance of educational achievement (EA) and learning attitudes (LA) measures across nations. A multi-group confirmatory factor analysis was used to estimate the invariance of educational achievement and learning attitudes across 55 nations (Programme for International Student Assessment [PISA] 2006 data, N = 354,203). The…

The purpose of this study was the program evaluation of a special education day school compared to a set of best practice standards for school programs for students with emotional and behavioral disorders. This evaluation will enable the organization to make decisions about which aspects of the program to continue, strengthen, or discontinue. …

This article examines responses of 13 preservice students to a mentoring program during their junior year. Throughout the first two terms of a five semester teacher education program, senior physical education specialists agreed to mentor them (in pairs or trios) relative to their development. This qualitative analysis included collection of…

This study sought to better understand the early integration experiences of college students with disabilities by examining two research questions: (1) How well do the variables in Tinto's (1993) classic model of student attrition predict the early integration experiences of college students with disabilities? and (2) How do students with…

The schizophrenia-crime relationship was studied in 151 research participants meeting DSM-IV criteria for schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder and with histories positive or negative for criminal charges, convictions and offences involving violence. These crime-related variables were regressed on a block of nine predictors reflecting…

This study investigated the effects of visual cues in multiple external representations (MER) environment on the learning performance of novices' program comprehension. Program codes and flowchart diagrams were used as dual representations in multimedia environment to deliver lessons on C-Programming. 17 field independent participants and 16 field…