Have You Heard? Newsworthy items from the field

2019 ◽  
Vol 101 (4) ◽  
pp. 69-70
Keyword(s):  
Public Schools ◽  
Test Scores ◽  
Educational Opportunity ◽  
The United States ◽  
Economic Research ◽  
National Bureau ◽  
Religious Expression ◽  
Working Paper ◽  
Suspension Rates ◽  
The Relationship

A Pew survey reveals how much and what kinds of religious expression students encounter in U.S. public schools. Teachers surveyed by the Data Quality Campaign say they value data, although learning to use data well requires time and training. An interactive website from the Educational Opportunity Project at Stanford University enables users to explore average test scores, improvements in test scores, and trends in test scores in schools and districts across the United States. A new working paper from the National Bureau of Economic Research looks at the relationship between schools’ suspension rates and the future lives of students in those schools.

Does value matter? An examination of the impact of knowledge value on firm performance and the moderating role of knowledge breadth

2018 ◽  
Vol 22 (3) ◽  
pp. 678-695 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mahmoud Ibrahim Fallatah
Keyword(s):  
Firm Performance ◽  
Financial Performance ◽  
The United States ◽  
Economic Research ◽  
National Bureau ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Analytical Technique ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Knowledge Value

Purpose The purpose of the study is to examine the relationship between the value of created knowledge and financial performance. It also assesses how knowledge breadth moderates the aforementioned relationship. Design/methodology/approach Focusing on the US biotechnology industry, the study matches patents data from the National Bureau of Economic Research and the United States Patent and Trademark Office with firms’ data from COMPUSTAT. Generalized least squares estimation is used as an analytical technique, and random-effects models are used to evaluate effects of the independent variables based on both within- and between-organization variances. Findings The findings reveal that biotechnological firms that create knowledge of higher values are likely to have higher financial performance than those creating knowledge of less value. Moreover, knowledge breadth is shown to positively moderate the relationship between knowledge value and firm performance. Research limitations/implications Some of the limitations include not controlling for more firm-related and environmental factors that might have influenced firm performance. Practical implications The study provides evidence that the quality of knowledge should be significantly considered when creating new knowledge. That is, managers should prioritize the creation of highly valuable knowledge, even if it occasionally results in creating fewer numbers of patents. The paper also suggests that creating valuable knowledge that is broad and flexible should be an important objective for managers as it provides more opportunities to generate future rents. Originality/value The study emphasizes how the value of created knowledge impacts the financial performance of firms. It also illustrates how knowledge breadth moderates that relationship. The paper contributes to a stream of research that links knowledge management abilities and firm performance.

scholarly journals Religion in the public schools: An examination of school personnel knowledge of the law and attitudes toward religious expression

2019 ◽  
Vol 106 (1) ◽  
pp. 77-97
Author(s):  
Julie C. Herbstrith ◽  
Sarah Kuperus ◽  
Kathleen Dingle ◽  
Zachary C. Roth
Keyword(s):  
Public Schools ◽  
School Personnel ◽  
The United States ◽  
Religious Practices ◽  
Religious Activities ◽  
Religious Expression ◽  
Right Wing Authoritarianism ◽  
The Public ◽  
Increased Sensitivity ◽  
The Law

Many Americans are familiar with the First Amendment, but its application to prayer and religious activities in public schools is often misunderstood. Religious beliefs are increasingly diverse in the United States. Therefore, it seems imperative that school personnel are aware of the law and sensitive to an array of religious practices. We conducted two studies that explored school personnel’s (a) understanding of laws on religious expression in public schools; (b) attitudes toward religious expression in public schools; and (c) tolerance for different religions. Key Study 1 findings were that school personnel with more service years had less accurate knowledge of religious expression laws than school personnel with fewer service years, and more knowledge was related to increased sensitivity to religious practices in schools. Study 2 conceptually replicated these relations with a sample of pre-service teachers and found that Right-wing Authoritarianism mediated the relation between knowledge of the law and religious sensitivity, presenting an avenue for interventions to increase religious sensitivity.

scholarly journals Food Instability and Academic Achievement: A Quasi-Experiment Using SNAP Benefit Timing

2018 ◽  
Vol 55 (5) ◽  
pp. 897-927 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anna Gassman-Pines ◽  
Laura Bellows
Keyword(s):  
Academic Achievement ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Test Scores ◽  
The United States ◽  
Benefit Transfer ◽  
Assistance Program ◽  
Low Income Families ◽  
Nutrition Assistance ◽  
End Of Grade ◽  
The Relationship

Although social policies aimed at low-income families are thought to promote children’s educational success, little research has examined how these policies are related to children’s academic achievement. This article focuses on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), the United States’ largest food assistance program. Using administrative data on over 148,000 SNAP-receiving public school children, we analyze the recency of SNAP benefit transfer and children’s end-of-grade math and reading achievement test scores. Results indicate differences in students’ math and reading performance based on the recency of SNAP benefit transfer. Although the relationship is stronger for reading than for math, the relationship between students’ test scores and SNAP transfer is roughly curvilinear. Test scores peak in the third week following benefit transfer.

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