New Lessons: The Power of Educating Adolescent Girls

Offers data and analysis on the impact of education on adolescent girls' lives and highlights promising approaches. Calls for evaluating girl-friendly education programs, compiling data on non-formal schools, and improving curricula, access, and supports

Some Latinate deverbal suffixes in Middle English: their integration, productivity and semantic coherence

The meanings of deverbal nouns have been classified by various linguists in terms of case, such as instrument or result of action. However, there is some debate as to whether meaning can attach to the derivational suffixes such as -ation, -ment, etc., which form these nouns. For some the meanings of the suffixes themselves are unspecified,a part from the grammatical recategonsation involved in changing a verb to a noun. Others see an affix as interacting with the base to affect the semantics of the derivative. Earlier historical linguists described deverbal suffixes as attracting a 'nexus' of meanings which are common to all of them, and which cluster round a central semantic notion such as 'action/fact'. Furthermore,it has been suggested that each suffix develops through time a unique combination of such meaningsin a hierarchy of its own.This is the question I am concerned with here. My interest is in the French nominal suffixes -ment, -ancel-ence, -ation, -age and -al, which entered Middle English (ME) via borrowings from French, and which now form abstract nouns in English by attaching themselves mainly to verbs. I shall argue that from their earliest appearance in English these suffixes began to select characteristically from the nexus of common meanings, in terms both of the kinds of bases to which each suffix was characteristically attached, and also of the kinds of contexts in which words formed in it tended to appear. I further conclude that each one may specialise in a distinct aspect of the central meaning 'action/fact', such as specific instance or quality. My method has been to examine the integration into English of each suffix, then to take samples of about 200 words in each, in order to determine the semantic categories in which they were used in their earliest recorded citations in the MED and OED. Some of these contexts will be analysed in detail. I will then compare these findings with those from an examination of the same suffixes in five plays by Shakespeare. By comparing the earlier semantic profiles for ME words with those for the same words in Shakespeare, as well as with those for words of later origin in the same suffixes, I hope to touch on some ways in which suffix use might develop over time, in the selection both of bases and semantic contexts

Summary of New Lessons: The Power of Educating Adolescent Girls

Over the past 15 years, girls’ education in the developing world has been a story of progress, as noted in Promoting Healthy, Safe, and Productive Transitions to Adulthood Brief No. 33. Interest from the development community has grown steadily in response to evidence documenting the benefits of girls’ schooling, and female education is now a major part of global development commitments. Education helps adolescent girls avoid long working hours and early pregnancies, and lowers risk of HIV/AIDS, and secondary education offers greater prospects of remunerative employment. But according to a 2008 United Nations report, 113 countries failed to reach the 2005 Millennium Development Goals on gender equality in education. The Population Council’s research on schooling seeks to foster a deeper understanding of the patterns and trends in schooling for girls and the relationship between experiences in school, school quality, and adolescent outcomes. Findings from the Council’s most recent work on girls’ education are outlined in New Lessons: The Power of Educating Adolescent Girls, which builds a case for rigorous efforts by governments and NGOs to improve educational standards for adolescent girls

Girls\u27 schooling in developing countries: Highlights from Population Council research

As more girls from developing countries attend school into their teens, the importance of schooling experiences and school quality for adolescent sexual and reproductive health, as well as for girls’ successful transitions to adult roles, is clear. The Population Council’s research on schooling seeks to foster a deeper understanding of the patterns and trends in schooling for girls and more particularly the relationship between experiences in school, school quality, and various adolescent outcomes. Promoting Healthy, Safe, and Productive Transitions to Adulthood Brief No. 24 summarizes highlights from this research program under five subtopics: the demography of schooling; school attendance and its benefits for girls; sexual and reproductive experiences and school progress; gender equity, teacher attitudes, and school quality; and adolescent girls’ participation in the nonformal education sector. The research has been both comparative and in depth in selected countries, including Bangladesh, Egypt, Guatemala, Kenya, Pakistan, Senegal, and South Africa. It has run in parallel with the development and evaluation of programs to address the needs of out-of-school girls and other marginalized groups of girls

Girls Count: A Global Investment & Action Agenda

Explains how girls' welfare affects overall economic and social outcomes. Outlines steps to disaggregate health, education, and other data by age and gender; invest strategically in girls' programs; and ensure equitable benefits for girls in all sectors

Schooling opportunities for girls as a stimulus for fertility change in rural Pakistan

This paper tests Caldwell’s mass schooling hypothesis in the context of rural Pakistan. His hypothesis was that the onset of the fertility transition is closely linked to the achievement of “mass formal schooling” of boys and girls. Punjab and Northwest Frontier Province (NWFP) were selected for this study because they appear to be on the leading edge of the demographic transition-a transition that has only recently begun-as suggested by rapid recent increases in contraceptive practice. The study covered a range of rural villages or communities with very different socioeconomic and schooling conditions in order to examine the effects of both school access and quality on family-building behavior in Pakistan. The study concludes that gender equity in the schooling environment, as measured by the number of public primary schools for girls in the community or by the ratio of the number of girls’ schools to boys’ schools, has a statistically significant effect on the probability that a woman will express a desire to stop childbearing and, by extension, on the probability that she will operationalize those desires by practicing contraception. Indeed, the achievement of gender equity in primary school access in rural Punjab and NWFP could lead to a 14-15 percentage point rise in contraceptive use in villages where no girls’ public primary school currently exists and an 8 percentage point rise in villages with one primary school for girls. This is entirely supportive of the Caldwell argument that mass schooling is an important determinant of fertility change, particularly when girls are included. It would appear that fertility change will be much more difficult and will come much more slowly when girls are left behind

Women\u27s lives and rapid fertility decline: Some lessons from Bangladesh and Egypt

In some of the more traditional parts of the world, fertility is falling steadily, sometimes rapidly, in environments where women’s lives remain severely constrained. The recent experiences of Bangladesh and Egypt, both predominantly Muslim countries, are illustrative in this regard. Since the late 1970s, rural and urban areas in both countries have experienced steady declines in fertility, with recent declines in rural Bangladesh similar to those in rural Egypt, despite lower levels of development and higher rates of poverty. This paper provides an in-depth exploration of the demographic transition in these two societies as seen through the dual lens of society-wide gender systems and a range of relevant state policies. It addresses three basic questions: (1) have measurable improvements in economic opportunities for women been a factor in the fertility decline in either country?; (2) have differences in gender systems at the societal level provided a more favorable environment for fertility decline in Bangladesh in comparison to Egypt, despite the former’s more modest economic achievements?; (3) in what ways can the development strategies adopted by the governments of Bangladesh and Egypt, with their very different implications for women’s opportunities in contexts where personal autonomy remains limited, be seen as additional factors in explaining the similar rural fertility declines despite dissimilar economic circumstances? After reviewing the evidence, the paper concludes that neither differences in existing gender systems nor measurable changes in women’s opportunities have been key factors in the notable demographic successes recorded in these two countries. Indeed, low levels of women’s autonomy have posed no barrier to fertility decline in either country. However, there is a case to be made that Bangladesh’s distinct approach to development, with considerable emphasis on reaching the rural poor and women and a strong reliance on non-governmental institutions may have played a part in accelerating the transition in that environment and in helping women to become more immediate beneficiaries of that process

Gender differences in the schooling experiences of adolescents in low-income countries: The case of Kenya

Little research on education in developing countries has focused on adolescent issues at the same time, despite the fact that a growing proportion of young people are spending some time in school during the phase of their lives between puberty and marriage, there is little research on schooling as a key dimension of the adolescent experience. This paper examines the school environment in Kenya and the potential ways it can help or hinder adolescents. We focus on gender differences with a view toward illuminating some of the factors that may present particular obstacles or opportunities for girls. The paper begins with a review of what is known about schooling and adolescence focusing on what the literature can tell us about the relationship between adolescent schooling experiences and “successful” transitions to adulthood, including not only the development of cognitive competencies, but the fulfillment of personal educational goals, the avoidance of pregnancy and the development of self-esteem and empowerment of young women. While the demographic literature views education as uniformly positive leading women to delay marriage and childbearing, the education literature views schools as conservative institutions that act to reinforce gender inequality in the society. Using both qualitative and quantitative data, the paper then continues with an analysis of 36 primary schools in three districts of Kenya chosen to reflect the spectrum of school quality in the country. The focus is on primary schools because the majority of adolescents in school attend primary school. In schools that encompass the range in terms of performance and parental status, disorganization coexists with strict punishment, minimal comforts are lacking, learning materials are scarce, learning is by rote, and sex is practiced but not taught. We find that girls do worse than boys in the primary school leaving exam and that better performing schools are not necessarily more gender equitable. Teachers’ attitudes and behavior reveal lower expectations for adolescent girls, traditional assumptions about gender roles and a double standard about sex

Teaching Elementary Accounting To Non-Accounting Majors

A central recurring theme in business education is the optimal strategy for improving introductory accounting, the gateway subject of business education. For many students, especially non-accounting majors, who are required to take introductory accounting as a requirement of the curriculum, introductory accounting has become a major obstacle for achieving their goal of obtaining undergraduate degree in business. This paper reviews a variety of common but underutilized strategies for presenting learning opportunities to non-accounting majors in their first accounting course. Effective teaching methodologies that will promote active learning to help non-accounting majors develop interest in accounting and enhance their critical thinking skills in the acquisition of accounting knowledge are explored. Included in this review are discussions about the adjustments that can be made relative to class size and individuality in the early pre-course stages. Teaching strategies such as the use of remedial modules, case studies, hands-on student participation opportunities, within or separate from the classroom lecture, mini-quizzes, and mnemonics are discussed. Guidance is offered to accounting academics who wish to fulfill their responsibility to students in the most difficult, rule-dominated, math-oriented, and consequently, high risk course of introductory accounting

Sediment flux and recent paleoclimate in Jordan Basin, Gulf of Maine

Author Posting. © The Author(s), 2014. This is the author's version of the work. It is posted here by permission of Elsevier for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Continental Shelf Research 96 (2015): 45-55, doi:10.1016/j.csr.2015.01.008.We report planktonic foraminiferal fluxes (accumulation rates) and oxygen isotopes (δ18O) from a nine-month sediment trap deployment, and δ18O from three sediment cores in Jordan Basin, Gulf of Maine. The sediment trap was deployed at 150 m, about halfway to the basin floor, and samples were collected every three weeks between August 2010 and May 2011. The planktonic foraminiferal fauna in the trap is dominated by Neogloboquadrina incompta that reached a maximum flux in the second half of October. Oxygen isotope ratios on that species indicate that on average during the collecting period it lived in the surface mixed layer, when compared to predicted values based on data from a nearby hydrographic buoy from the same period. New large diameter piston cores from Jordan Basin are 25 and 28 m long. Marine hemipelagic sediments are 25 m thick, and the sharp contact with underlying red deglacial sediments is bracketed by two radiocarbon dates on bivalves that indicate ice-free conditions began 16,900 calibrated years ago. Radiocarbon dating of foraminifera indicates that the basin floor sediments (270-290 m) accumulated at >3 m/kyr during the Holocene, whereas rates were about one tenth that on the basin slope (230 m). In principle, Jordan Basin sediments have the potential to provide time series with interannual resolution. Our results indicate the Holocene is marked by ~2°C variability in SST, and the coldest events of the 20th century, during the mid 1960s and mid 1920s, appear to be recorded in the uppermost 50 cm of the seafloor.Cruise 198 of R/V Knorr was supported by the Grayce B. Kerr Fund