Effects of Paternal Presence and Family Stability on Child Cognitive Performance

This study uses data from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study (FFCWS) to examine the effects of a father?s presence on the cognitive performance of his pre-school aged child. Cognitive performance is measured by the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test (PPVT), a well-known indicator of cognitive ability and academic readiness for young children. Like previous studies, the richness of the data is exploited by including numerous covariates in the OLS regression model. In addition, the study also employs a Proxy Variable-OLS Solution to dealing with the problem of omitted variable bias. Subsequently, causal inferences can be made from the empirical findings. The study finds two distinct effects of paternal presence based on whether the child belongs to a stable versus disruptive family structure. The empirical results indicate that cognitive outcomes are statistically similar for children in stable single-parent and stable two-parent family households. However, disruptive family structures, characterized by a father?s partial presence in the home, are shown to have deleterious effects on cognitive performance compared to a stable single-parent family structure where the father has never even been present. One profound implication of these findings is the importance of family stability above family structure in producing positive child outcomes. Moreover, there is suggestive evidence that the effect of disruptive paternal presence is significantly larger for girls than for boys.

Narrating unfinished business: the accumlation of credentials and re-imagined horizons across the life-course

This paper examines the relationship between lifelong learning and the lifecourse and draws on the findings from interviews with part-time mature learners who are either completing previous studies from another institution or returning to higher education to study further undergraduate level qualifications. In this work we position past learning as institutional cultural capital and explore the role of this past capital in enabling students to orient towards their future self (Stevenson and Clegg,2011) and realise imagined career horizons (Hodkinson, 2008). Adopting a narrative analysis, the paper outlines three emerging narrative themes, travelling, exploring and unfinished business. We need to understand a range of possible narratives that students draw upon to support successful learning and to move forward the flexibility of our student centred curriculum

Undocumented: The Stress of Status

From 2010 to 2012 researchers from Fairfield University, Loyola University Chicago, and Santa Clara University talked to students who were undocumented and attending Jesuit colleges. The project culminated in a book, Undocumented and in College: Students and Institutions in a Climate of National Hostility (Fordham University Press, 2017)

Re-thinking assessment : a dynamic approach to assessment for practitioners working in education : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Education, Massey University, Aotearoa New Zealand

Figure 2.1 (=Lundy, 2007 Fig 1) was removed for copyright reasons.Understanding learners, determining how they learn, what hinders their learning, and how to bring about change are critical aspects of practitioners’ assessments when supporting young people who access learning support. Practitioners working for the Ministry of Education continually evaluate current and new assessment approaches to improve their ability to understand and effect change for learners. This research introduced a group of practitioners to a structured dynamic approach to assessment, using the REThink framework through a professional learning and development workshop. Such an approach to assessment is principled, ethically responsible and culturally responsive, and one that enables practitioners to investigate change in a young person’s learning in context. The methodology of this research takes a socio-constructivist approach, grounded in qualitative inquiry. The theoretical and analytical framework of cultural-historical activity theory (CHAT) was used for its responsiveness to the multi-dimensional and situatedness of the research activity, for exploring individual practices of assessment and investigating the challenge of changing or adapting assessment practice. The results foreground the essence of change within and across practitioners’ assessment practices and the systems within which they work. It highlights how a dynamic approach to assessment has the potential to build educator capability, manipulate the activity through analysis, develop a young person’s cognitive and metacognitive skills using games, and increase practitioner knowledge of the cognitive and metacognitive skills embedded within the key competencies of the New Zealand Curriculum. This research points to the importance of developing practitioners’ assessment literacy to enable them to make informed decisions about their assessment practice, to move beyond given and ‘typical’ assessment tools, and afford them the opportunity to grow their competence and confidence to advocate for alternative options. This study concludes that a dynamic approach to assessment is an alternative or complementary approach, and has the potential to be transformative for practitioners, educators, and young people in Aotearoa New Zealand

The Namesake: A Struggle for Identity

The Namesake, by Jhumpa Lahiri, is a story of culture, race, and inheritance and how these factors mold our attitudes and direct our lives in an ever-changing society. The novel follows the lives of Ashima and Asoke Ganguli, and how they left behind a life in India that they had grown to know and love to live the American dream and provide the best life for themselves and their children. Gogol, their only son, and the carrier of their family name, struggles incessantly to find his identity while attempting to mold to his family’s expectations and the expectations of American society. The latter dictated that adhering to the model of the Standard North American family establishes normalcy. Gogol engages in a constant struggle to remain loyal to both worlds. Hence, the major theme portrayed in the novel is one of identity. This them is illustrated vividly by examining the importance of one’s culture and background, gender, and name as the definition of patriarchal lineage and destiny in life. Such factors that contribute to problems with identity are not only recognizable in Indian cultures, but can become hindrances for many immigrants who enter the United States each year