There is much less gender bias against women candidates than election-year anecdotes would have us believe

As the 2016 elections draw closer, discussions of how Hillary Clinton’s gender will affect her presidential prospects have grown more frequent and frenzied. Using a two-wave panel survey, Kathleen Dolan examines how gender stereotypes actually affect voters’ decisions at the polls. She finds no evidence that beliefs about women in the abstract lead voters to evaluate individual candidates differently than their male opponents. Instead, the decision to vote for a female candidate depends on whether the voter shares her political party

How to Correct Fossilized Pronunciation Errors of English Language Learners

Being able to speak English with comprehensible pronunciation is key to communicative competency, yet pronunciation is one of the most difficult parts of learning English as a second language. English Language Learners (ELLs) are not receiving enough effective pronunciation instruction to correct their fossilized pronunciation errors. Currently, ESL teachers often lack effective tools and training in how to teach pronunciation. The purpose of this project is to give ESL teachers specific tools to help de-fossilize their ELLs persistent pronunciation errors. This literature review discusses five different linguistic theories that explore the journey and the obstacles (fossilization) in second language phonological acquisition: the Contrastive Analysis Hypothesis, the Noticing Hypothesis, the interlanguage system, the Selective Fossilization Hypothesis and the Markedness Differential Hypothesis. This paper includes a detailed teachers handbook that incorporates many key elements from the linguistic theories mentioned. In addition, this handbook illustrates how to use contextualized authentic material to de-fossilize common ELL pronunciation errors. Teaching students how to defossilize their English pronunciation errors requires the right tools, proper teacher training, and consistent practice in and outside of the classroom. At the end of this paper a number of recommendations are suggested on how to reinforce the ELL’s pronunciation progress made in the classroom

Examining the Durability of PEERS for Adolescents with ASD: Maintenance of Neurological and Behavioral Effects

To date, there are no known published studies that have assessed the maintenance of treatment effects in the context of neurological changes and their relationship to behavioral outcomes following a social skills intervention for adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). The few studies that have incorporated long-term assessment into their design have focused exclusively on sustained behavioral responses to treatment. Individuals with ASD across the lifespan exhibit aberrant neural activity, which is thought to underlie social skill deficits noted in persons on the spectrum. Thus, this study sought to examine the impact of a social skills intervention, the Program for the Education and Enrichment of Relational Skills (PEERS: Laugeson, Frankel, Mogil, & Dillon, 2009), on the maintenance of neural plasticity and treatment gains in social functioning. Neural activity was assessed via electroencephalography (EEG) in terms of spectral power and asymmetry, which also was compared to a cohort of typically developing adolescents. Additionally, behavioral outcomes, examining a variety of social domains, at pre, post, and 6-month follow-up, were investigated for their relationship to changes in EEG activity. Results revealed that adolescents with ASD demonstrated a decrease in gamma activity in the right temporal region following PEERS, which was maintained at 6-month follow-up. This sustained neural change related to fewer problem behaviors and improved social cognition, which highlights the role of neural plasticity as a mechanism for maintaining improvements in behavioral presentation following intervention

Voter Sex, Party, and Gender-Salient Issues: Attitudes about Sexual Harassment and Brett Kavanaugh in the 2018 Elections

Since the election of President Trump and the dawning of the #MeToo movement, gender-salient issues have had a primary place in recent American politics. This was particularly evident in 2018 in the wake of Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation hearings amid accusations that he has sexually assaulted a classmate. Previous research suggests that women should be more concerned about issues like sexual harassment and mobilized to participate in elections in which these issues are prominent. Yet, American politics has become more polarized in the last 25 years, requiring us to re-examine the impact of gender-salient issues on women’s electoral behavior. Employing data from a 2018 ANES pilot study, we examine the relative impact of gender and party on attitudes toward sexual harassment, Brett Kavanaugh, and participation in the 2018 elections. We find that, while gender plays some role in 2018, partisanship is still the dominant influence in these elections.</p

The Variable Nature of the Gender Gap in Political Knowledge

Previous research demonstrates that long-standing gender gaps in political knowledge are often a function of measurement artifacts. This article examines two potential measurement issues – question content and format – to determine whether gender differences in knowledge are sensitive to decisions we make when choosing and constructing knowledge measures. Using an original survey from the 2014 Cooperative Congressional Election Study (CCES), we demonstrate that, while expected gender differences exist when we ask traditional knowledge questions, these gender gaps are ameliorated when we employ items that measure knowledge about women in politics. We also examine gendered response patterns regarding “don’t know” responses, which can deflate women’s knowledge levels. Finally, we examine the determinants of political knowledge for women and men, and uncover an important role for political interest in shaping women’s knowledge levels. These results suggest that scholars should take steps to create political knowledge measures that can most accurately gauge the political capacities of women and men.</p

Blaming Women or Blaming the System? Public Perceptions of Women’s Underrepresentation in Elected Office

While scholars understand some of the reasons for the underrepresentation of women in elected office in the United States, we know almost nothing about what the public sees as the explanation for this reality. We also know relatively little about the degree to which people see women’s underrepresentation as a problem. Drawing on blame attribution theories, we examine whether people believe that there are systematic or individual explanations for the number of women in elected office. As blame explanations often influence positions on outcomes, we also test whether these explanations are related to people’s attitudes toward women in office and their vote choice behaviors in U.S. House races with women candidates present. Using data from a 2014 Cooperative Congressional Election Study (CCES) survey, we find differences among people in the blame explanations they make. These explanations are significantly related to attitudes about women in office but do not influence vote choice decisions when women run for office.</p

Cross-Pressures on Political Attitudes: Gender, Party, and the #MeToo Movement in the United States

The #MeToo movement has brought heightened attention to issues of sexual harassment and assault in the United States since it burst onto the scene in 2017. Because sexual harassment is an issue that often affects women differently than men, we find a gender gap in support for the #MeToo movement in the contemporary period. Yet, given the polarized nature of our times, a more complete picture of this issue requires that we consider the impact of political party as well. With this approach, we are able to examine several important aspects of these attitudes—differences between women and men, diversity within gender groups, and gender gaps within each party. In doing so, we are also able to identify whether some individuals experience cross-pressures because of their gender and partisan identities. Using American National Election Studies data from 2018 to 2020, we find that partisanship is a significant influence on opinion on this highly gender-salient issue, identifying partisan differences that are larger than the differences between women and men. At the same time, we find that women are more polarized in their attitudes toward #MeToo than are men and that Republican women and Democratic men can exhibit the impact of cross-pressured identities.</p

Bee and Butterfly Response to Floral Resources in Central Iowa Prairie Restorations

Over 90 percent of Iowa’s land is devoted to cultivated row crops and pasture, which has caused a decline in biodiversity and habitat for many bee and butterfly species. To restore lost ecosystems and conserve pollinator diversity, the USDA recently developed a new Conservation Reserve Program Pollinator Habitat conservation practice (CP-42). Since 2012, Iowa farmers have enrolled over 200,000 acres in this program with little evaluation of its effectiveness. In 2017, a team of students and faculty from the University of Northern Iowa and Tallgrass Prairie Center developed methods to evaluate vegetation and pollinator activity in CP-42 restoration plantings. Using this new protocol, we recorded over 300 individual pollinator sightings and 15 different species of butterfly. In 2018-2019, the team will evaluate pollinator habitat plantings on ~60 farms in central Iowa

Gender Gaps, Partisan Gaps, and Cross-Pressures: An Examination of American Attitudes toward the Use of Force

This article explores the gender gap in attitudes toward the use of military force in the United States. Given that the United States has been continuously engaged in war for the last 17 years, we revisit the topic and explore whether a gender gap in attitudes persists by utilizing Cooperative Congressional Election Study data for 2006–16. In addition, given the primacy of partisanship to issue attitudes, we go beyond examining the gender gap to explore the impact of partisanship on these attitudes. We find that women are less likely than men to support the use of force in most circumstances. We also find gender gaps in the Democratic and Republican parties and acknowledge the diversity among women and among men in these attitudes because of partisan identity. Finally, we identify points of cross-pressure on individuals whose gender and partisan identities pull them in different directions, namely, Republican women and Democratic men.</p

The Project Approach Meta-Project: Inquiry-Based Learning in Undergraduate Early Childhood Teacher Education

This article describes a case study involving the planning, phases, and outcomes of an exploration of the Project Approach led by four teacher candidates as part of an undergraduate early childhood teacher preparation program. Four undergraduate junior-level teacher candidates investigated the phases of the Project Approach during their junior year; this work took place during a 26-week learning module comprised of a seminar and part-time student teaching placement in a preschool setting. The candidates aligned the stages of their investigation with the phases of the Project Approach, which provided a framework complementary to that of action research, within which the candidates directed their own exploration of essential issues of early childhood pedagogy and curriculum. This investigation took place both at the Loyola and at a preschool in which the Project Approach was in use. Candidates assumed the role of the teacher and led actual projects with preschoolers; these served as culminating events for their project. In addition, at the conclusion of the module, candidates planned and hosted a session at which they shared documentation of their learning and outcomes of the investigation for an audience of university faculty and other teacher candidates. Candidates demonstrated an increased understanding of the Project Approach and a greater appreciation for its use with preschoolers. They also identified perceived advantages and challenges of implementing projects in various types of early childhood settings. Candidates exhibited high levels of collaboration with mentor co-teacher educators, and acquired knowledge and skills that informed their roles in guiding preschoolers through project planning and investigation during student teaching