The Role of Poetry in Cultivating Attentiveness, Curiosity, and Affinity in the Science Classroom

Poetry is endemic to classical education and often studied for its own sake. However, poetry is also posited to possess a pedagogical power not shared by prose or formal scientific language. Poetry’s distinctive effects on learning outcomes have been well articulated by philosophers since Plato and Aristotle, but their claims have not been subjected to an empirical test. We fill that gap in this study. We collaborated with a local classical grammar school and divided kindergarten, first grade, and second grade classrooms into two groups for a two-week science unit. One group of classrooms integrated poems about the topic of study into the science unit, while the other group of classrooms did not. Measuring students’ levels of affinity, attentiveness, curiosity, and enjoyment of poetry both at baseline and after the poetry intervention, we found that poetry increased students’ attentiveness and their enjoyment of poetry. There was less evidence of poetry’s impacts on affinity and curiosity. Implications about the role of poetry for teaching and learning and the place of empirical research for classical education are discussed

Volunteering and Charitable Giving among Australian Young Adults and the Mediating Role of Community Service Emphasis in Secondary Schools

Schools play a vital role in sustaining civil society by tending to the civic formation of their students. Prior research has focused on assessing students on a variety of civic outcomes including volunteering and charitable giving, and often compares students in Government, religious Independent, and non-religious Independent schools. However, this work has mostly been conducted in North American contexts. Nor has much attention been given to developing theory and then empirically testing mediating variables that explain any observed differences across these schooling sectors. We fill these gaps in this study. Using a nationally representative sample of 4,000 Australian adults, we first replicate prior research that compares volunteering and charitable giving rates across school sectors. Based on the theory of moral ecologies, we then hypothesize and empirically demonstrate that observed differences in outcomes across school sectors are mediated by the degree to which schools have emphasized community service in their curricula. Implications about civic education and subsequent research into civic formation are discussed

English Language Learners and Their Postsecondary Education Outcomes: Evidence from Arkansas

Nearly 10% of students enrolled in public schools in the U.S. are identified as English Language Learners (ELLs). The population of ELL students is expected to continue to rise, therefore research about ELLs is both timely and essential. An increasing body of literature addresses the experience and outcomes of ELLs in the context of both K-12 and postsecondary education. Most studies, however, focus on California, Texas, Florida, and New York (Aguilar, 2010; Callahan et al., 2023; Flores, Batalova & Fix, 2012) presenting a need for more research to make state-by-state comparisons especially from rural states that have become new destinations for many immigrant families. This study seeks to understand the postsecondary enrollment trends of ELL students in Arkansas. Using administrative data from the Arkansas Department of Education and the National Student Clearinghouse, we found that ELLs in Arkansas are less likely to attend postsecondary institutions compared to native English speakers. Results vary by urbanicity and socioeconomic status. Similar themes appear when analyzing the types of postsecondary institutions that ELLs enrolled in after high school graduation. We conclude our analysis by providing discussions and policy recommendations based on the results

English Language Learners and Their Postsecondary Education Outcomes: Evidence from Arkansas

Nearly 10% of students enrolled in public schools in the U.S. are identified as English Language Learners (ELLs). The population of ELL students is expected to continue to rise, therefore research about ELLs is both timely and essential. An increasing body of literature addresses the experience and outcomes of ELLs in the context of both K-12 and postsecondary education. Most studies, however, focus on California, Texas, Florida, and New York (Aguilar, 2010; Callahan et al., 2023; Flores, Batalova & Fix, 2012) presenting a need for more research to make state-by-state comparisons especially from rural states that have become new destinations for many immigrant families. This study seeks to understand the postsecondary enrollment trends of ELL students in Arkansas. Using administrative data from the Arkansas Department of Education and the National Student Clearinghouse, we found that ELLs in Arkansas are less likely to attend postsecondary institutions compared to native English speakers. Results vary by urbanicity and socioeconomic status. Similar themes appear when analyzing the types of postsecondary institutions that ELLs enrolled in after high school graduation. We conclude our analysis by providing discussions and policy recommendations based on the results

World Policy Analysis

Food is one of the fundamental aspects of human existence. Thus, it important for every country in the world to be able to be food-secure. Providing access to food for its citizens will bring positive long-term impacts ranging from economic growth and job creation, poverty reduction, trade opportunities, increasing global security and stability, and also improving health and healthcare in a nation (National Institute of Food and Agriculture, n.d.). However, not every nation has the capacity to achieve that goal due to several contributing factors such as 1) Drought and other extreme weather events, 2) Pests, livestock diseases and other agricultural problems, 3) Climate change, 4) Military conflicts, 5) Lack of emergency plans, 6) Corruption and political instability, 7) Cash crops dependence, 8) AIDS as it reduces the available workforce in agriculture and puts an additional burden on poor households, 9) Rapid population growth.  Yemen, and Burundi were intentionally chosen to be analyzed because of their unambiguous differences in order to show the various needs and solutions of each country. These 2 countries represent different rankings in the Global Food Security Index (GFSI 2018) where Burundi became the lowest ranking country, yet poses an interesting connection to Yemen. Yemen was selected because of the current famine crisis happening. From the analysis conducted, it can be concluded that long-standing conflict, Scarcity of basic needs, blockade of import and export activities are the main factors contributing to Yemen's food insecurity. On the other hand, it was found that Gender inequality especially the role of women in labor force, climate shock, and political instability are the main factors contributing to Burundi's food insecurity.&nbsp

The Impacts of the COVID-19 Pandemic on First-generation, Low-income and Rural Students in Indonesia and Vietnam: A cross-cultural comparative study

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant impact worldwide, affecting 600 million students in higher education institutions across 200 countries. However, comparative studies by country on this topic are limited. In this paper, we explore the question: how has the COVID-19 pandemic affected higher education students and which ones have been impacted the most? Indonesia and Vietnam are our focus. We leveraged a rich set of data collected online from college/university students from both countries involving over 2600 participants, and used regression analyses to measure the students\u27 outcomes, including the dimensions of their wellbeing, financial hardships, access to technology, and educational satisfaction. As expected, we find that there are statistically significant differences between both countries, especially among first-generation, low-income and rural students in almost all the outcomes in our four domains. We observed that low-income students and rural students in both countries were less likely to have access to technology during the pandemic than their more affluent and urban counterparts. They also were more likely to endure financial hardships during the pandemic. We did not find any statistically significant estimates for students’ burnout measures among the students in these two countries. In addition, we observed lower likelihood of satisfaction from rural and low-income students in Indonesia. We provide our policy recommendations for both countries