scholarly journals A Quantitative Investigation into the Impacts of 1:1 iPads on Early Learner’s ELA and Math Achievement

10.28945/2175 ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 14 ◽  
pp. 191-215 ◽  
Author(s):  
Damian Bebell ◽  
Joseph Pedulla
Keyword(s):  
Student Achievement ◽  
Longitudinal Study ◽  
English Language ◽  
Math Achievement ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Implementation Period ◽  
Literacy Performance ◽  
Performance Gains

Many parents, educators, and policy makers see great potential for leveraging tools like laptop computers, tablets, and smartphones in the classrooms of the world. Although increasing students’ technology access may be associated with increased student achievement, there is little research directly investigating objective measures of student achievement. This study addresses the short-term and long-term quantitative impacts of one of the world’s first school efforts to provide Kindergarten through 3rd grade classrooms with 1:1 iPad access and a range of English Language Arts (ELA) and math Apps. This report summarizes two investigations conducted during this iPad implementation. First, a 9-week pre/post randomized control trial was conducted in which 8 Kindergarten classes used literacy and numeracy apps while another 8 Kindergarten classes used their traditional (non-iPad) resources. At the end of this short implementation period, slightly stronger literacy performance gains were observed in the iPad settings. In a second longitudinal study, three years of assessment data were explored before and after the 1:1 iPad implementation in grades K to 2. Results from the longitudinal study provide emerging evidence of potential increases in ELA achievement, but no consistent results in math achievement. This paper adds to the sparse literature in this area and provides a springboard for further research.

Stimulating Academic Optimism

2020 ◽  
pp. 178-203
Author(s):  
Anugamini Priya Srivastava ◽  
Uta M. Stelson
Keyword(s):  
Student Achievement ◽  
English Language ◽  
School Effectiveness ◽  
Economic Status ◽  
Academic Optimism ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Future Studies ◽  
Online Databases ◽  
Developed Nations

This study attempts to provide the bibliography and future agenda of a school attribute: academic optimism. Academic optimism refers to a tool used in the hands of school teachers to attain student achievement which can help side-line their socio-economic status. In other words, it explains teachers' belief in self, colleagues, and students in order to manage change in student outcomes. The study evaluates the different taxonomies used within the concept of academic optimism through a comprehensive review of existing literature located in different databases. However, only English language full-text articles available in online databases between the periods of 2000-2019 were considered in this study. The result provided significant lines for future studies that can be conducted in this area by examining publications in 39 journals and 19 countries. Since the topic was considered as key school attribute to achieve student achievement and school effectiveness, this study provides the contextual gaps where future studies can be conducted. The result indicated that most of the research underlying the selected papers on the topic was conducted in developed nations rather than developing nations. The current analysis will contribute understanding in two ways: first it adds value to highlight the conceptual gap available in the literature; second, the gaps identified will pave the way for future research. Practically, this study provides ways for policy makers and other constituents involved in education to design their academic curriculum and motivate their faculty to remain academically optimistic.

An old picture … or is it? The relations between business and political networks in Hungary

IMP Journal ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 483-511 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tibor Mandják ◽  
Judit Simon
Keyword(s):  
Market Economy ◽  
Relevant Literature ◽  
Informal Networks ◽  
Market Socialism ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Political Networks ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Research Findings

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to address two questions: how do business and political (i.e. party politics and state) networks relate? What are the consequences of the relations between these two networks for the behaviour of the actors involved? Design/methodology/approach The research design consists of the historical approach based on relevant literature sources of the past, a relatively long period – from 1968, the beginning of the era of market socialism, until the first decade of the twenty-first century, by which time the market economy had been established for more than 20 years. The authors analyse the behaviour of economic and non-economic actors in Hungary based on cases and historical data, applying the IMP network approach. Findings Research findings demonstrate the long-term influence of the relation between business and bureaucratic networks on managerial and organizational network behaviour. The old and new pictures of the economic system are different, but the background to the pictures and the movement in the two pictures are quite similar. Research limitations/implications The historical illustrations and cases the authors have presented cannot be too widely generalized: the characteristics of the Hungarian mode of transition from market socialism to market economy impose important limitations on the generalizability of the findings. Practical implications The study offers lessons to policy makers: policy decisions can have long term, unanticipated impacts on non-target areas as well. Social implications The results confirm that the informal networks of socialism can replicate themselves and network structures can be repurposed in the system after the transition as well. Originality/value One contribution of the paper is related to the second network paradox: the cases illustrate non-business relationships with non-economic factors, particularly relations with bureaucracy. The other contribution is the description of how the transition from socialism to capitalism affected the networks that firms were embedded in before and after the transition.

scholarly journals Advice to policy-makers for improving services to the drug-death bereaved

2021 ◽  
pp. 145507252110183
Author(s):  
Svanaug Fjær ◽  
Kari Dyregrov
Keyword(s):  
Psychosocial Support ◽  
Survey Questionnaire ◽  
National Guidelines ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Term Basis ◽  
Drug Death ◽  
Drug Problems

Aims: The objective of this study is to contribute to an improvement of bereavement services and experiences for the bereaved after drug-related deaths (DRDs) by investigating their expressed opinions on what would constitute improvements. Methods: As part of a larger survey questionnaire, we asked people bereaved by DRDs what advice they would give to politicians to improve bereavement services. Out of 255 respondents, we received 196 written statements of advice, 83 focusing on the time after death. Two-thirds of these respondents were either parents or siblings, the other third were other family members or close friends. A thematic analysis was conducted to examine the written statements. Results: We found four central themes: broad-spectrum help, routinised help, respectful help and competent help. The advice represents a long list of psychosocial support to ideally be offered on a regular and long-term basis. Furthermore, the bereaved also discussed the cognitive and normative side of the services by including considerations about stigma and respect, and the need for more research- and experience-based knowledge about their experiences both before and after DRDs. Conclusions: Many of the services sought by the bereaved are already in place and described in national guidelines for follow-up strategies after sudden unexpected deaths. DRDs, however, has not been included as a task for the services and are not explicitly mentioned in these guidelines. The scope of research and policymaking on drug problems and DRDs should be broadened to include families and social networks in order to make the group more visible and strengthen their influence on policy.

Attentional Effort of Beginning Mindfulness Training Is Offset With Practice Directed Toward Images of Natural Scenery

2016 ◽  
Vol 49 (5) ◽  
pp. 536-559 ◽  
Author(s):  
Freddie Lymeus ◽  
Tobias Lundgren ◽  
Terry Hartig
Keyword(s):  
Attentional Control ◽  
Mindfulness Training ◽  
Waiting List ◽  
Mindfulness Practice ◽  
Natural Environments ◽  
Attentional Resources ◽  
Present Experience ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Performance Gains

Mindfulness involves curious and detached attention to present experience. Long-term mindfulness practice can improve attentional control capabilities, but practice sessions may initially deplete attentional resources as beginners struggle to learn skills and manage distractions. Without using skills or effort, people can have mindful experiences in pleasant natural environments; natural scenery may therefore facilitate mindfulness practice. Twenty-seven participants completed an 8-week mindfulness course; 14 served as waiting-list controls. We tested participants’ attention every other week before and after 15-min sessions of conventional mindfulness practice, mindfulness practice with nature images, or rest with nature images (controls). Mindfulness practice incurred attentional effort; it hampered performance gains seen in controls during practice/rest sessions, and attentionally weak participants completed fewer course exercises. Viewing nature images during practice increasingly offset the effort of mindfulness practice across the 8 weeks. Bringing skill-based and nature-based approaches together offers additional possibilities for understanding and facilitating mindfulness and restorative states.

scholarly journals Impact of auditor tenure on audit quality: European evidence

2018 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 374-386 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria I. Kyriakou ◽  
Augustinos I. Dimitras
Keyword(s):  
Audit Quality ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Auditor Tenure ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Generalized Methods Of Moments ◽  
Relationship Of ◽  
Methods Of Moments ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Robustness Check

This study examines the relationship of auditor tenure and audit quality in four European countries, namely Germany, France, Italy and Spain, with the innovative GMM (Generalized Methods of Moments) model during the period from 2005 to 2013.Two GMM methods are used with two alternative definitions of crisis – the main and the robustness method. The results agree regardless of the fact that some of the control variables are excluded in the robustness test.The results support the finding that in Spain, there is an impact of auditors’ long-term tenure on discretionary accruals, affecting auditors’ quality and independence indirectly. In addition, the crisis affected Germany and France as far as the change in negative and positive values of GDP is concerned. In this respect, the crisis affected the above two countries when the years before and after the crisis are considered as a robustness check. The results contain important implications for accountant regulators and policy makers.

scholarly journals Impacts of California Proposition 47 on Crime in Santa Monica, CA

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jennifer Crodelle ◽  
Celeste Vallejo ◽  
Markus Schmidtchen ◽  
Chad Topaz ◽  
Maria R. D'Orsogna
Keyword(s):  
Light Rail ◽  
Community Based ◽  
Significant Drop ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Santa Monica ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Long Term Trends ◽  
The City

We examine crime patterns in Santa Monica, California before and after passage of Proposition 47, a 2014 initiative that reclassified some non-violent felonies to misdemeanors. We also study how the 2016 opening of four new light rail stations, and how more community-based policing starting in late 2018, impacted crime. A series of statistical analyses are performed on reclassified (larceny, fraud, possession of narcotics, forgery, receiving/possessing stolen property) and non-reclassified crimes by probing publicly available databases from 2006 to 2019. We compare data before and after passage of Proposition 47, city-wide and within eight neighborhoods. Similar analyses are conducted within a 450 meter radius of the new transit stations. Reports of monthly reclassified crimes increased city-wide by approximately 15% after enactment of Proposition 47, with a significant drop observed in late 2018. Downtown exhibited the largest overall surge. The reported incidence of larceny intensified throughout the city. Two new train stations, including Downtown, reported significant crime increases in their vicinity after service began. While the number of reported reclassified crimes increased after passage of Proposition 47, those not affected by the new law decreased or stayed constant, suggesting that Proposition 47 strongly impacted crime in Santa Monica. Reported crimes decreased in late 2018 concurrent with the adoption of new policing measures that enhanced outreach and patrolling. These findings may be relevant to law enforcement and policy-makers. Follow-up studies needed to confirm long-term trends may be affected by the COVID-19 pandemic that drastically changed societal conditions.

scholarly journals Postmortem memory of public figures in news and social media

2021 ◽  
Vol 118 (38) ◽  
pp. e2106152118
Author(s):  
Robert West ◽  
Jure Leskovec ◽  
Christopher Potts
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Collective Memory ◽  
Cultural Memory ◽  
English Language ◽  
Online News ◽  
Rapid Decay ◽  
Unnatural Death ◽  
Public Figures ◽  
Before And After

Deceased public figures are often said to live on in collective memory. We quantify this phenomenon by tracking mentions of 2,362 public figures in English-language online news and social media (Twitter) 1 y before and after death. We measure the sharp spike and rapid decay of attention following death and model collective memory as a composition of communicative and cultural memory. Clustering reveals four patterns of postmortem memory, and regression analysis shows that boosts in media attention are largest for premortem popular anglophones who died a young, unnatural death; that long-term boosts are smallest for leaders and largest for artists; and that, while both the news and Twitter are triggered by young and unnatural deaths, the news additionally curates collective memory when old persons or leaders die. Overall, we illuminate the age-old question of who is remembered by society, and the distinct roles of news and social media in collective memory formation.

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