The Communicative Criteria Found in 10th Year of Public Senior High School English Coursebooks

This thesis is a materials evaluation using communicative criteria. This topic is chosen considering that coursebooks are important teaching tools and communication ability is now a standard in pedagogical field. It aims to find the communicative criteria applied in the coursebooks. The writer attempts to find the criteria application and finds that the materials in the coursebooks apply to some extent the communicative criteria concerning the language knowledge, interaction, and language practice and use. The materials in the coursebooks are analyzed with constructed communicative criteria from Communicative Language Teaching principles by Larsen-Freeman and Anderson (2011). This study method is qualitative. The data are taken from English coursebooks for 10th Year of Public Senior High Schools in Indonesia. In conclusion, the coursebooks are fairly communicative because most materials apply one or more communicative criteria, except for materials in Vocabulary and Pronunciation sections. Further studies can be conducted on the materials suitability with students\u27 needs, the language skills and components and communicative competence taught

Noteworthy: Texas trade: exports take a turn for the worse

Exports have gone from a source of strength to a drag on the Texas economy. The state's real exports declined nearly 20 percent from their peak in second quarter 2008 through first quarter 2009, ending a five-year growth spurt.Economic conditions - Texas ; Exports

Rates of public health insurance coverage for children rise as rates of private coverage decline

This brief uses data from the 2008, 2009, and 2010 American Community Survey to document changes in rates of children’s health insurance, between private and public. The authors report that, nationally, private health insurance for children decreased by just under 2 percentage points, while public health insurance increased by nearly 3 percentage points. Rural places and central cities witnessed significant declines in rates of private health insurance for children in nearly every region. Rates of public insurance coverage rose in every region and place type. Children’s health insurance coverage overall continued to rise in 2010, increasing by 0.6 of a percentage point since 2009, and 1.9 percentage points since 2008

Through a Pedagogy of Belonging: Creating Cross-Cultural Bridges in Doctoral Programs

In this article, a student (Jessica) and professor (Julie) with cross-cultural characteristics—such as race, various identities, power dynamics, and backgrounds—offer a thesis that pedagogies of belonging, or educational strategies meant to foster a sense of belonging, that start in the classroom can create cross-cultural bridges that endure throughout doctoral study, and enrich the lives of both teacher and student. We begin with our personal stories: a Ph.D. student who is Asian American, cisgender and heterosexual, an immigrant, and a transracial adoptee raised by white parents; and a professor who is white, LGBTQ, and raised by biological parents of the same race. We each identify a parallel experience in education where a sense of belonging was borne of a cross-cultural interaction, and where key, positive academic outcomes resulted. The article then reflects on the importance of finding a sense of belonging in higher education, and the ways in which a pedagogy of belonging—an approach to teaching that places emphasis on every student being and feeling like a valuable, integral part of the classroom community—can help create cross-cultural bridges between faculty mentors and doctoral students. We conclude by explaining how to deploy a pedagogy of belonging in the classroom and beyond.Educatio

The unequal distribution of child poverty: highest rates among young blacks and children of single mothers in rural America

Measuring by race, place, and family, this brief highlights poverty rates for two rural groups--young black children and children of single mothers--who each face rates around 50%

Closing Racial-Ethnic Gaps in Poverty: How Government Programs Compare

In this data snapshot, authors Marybeth Mattingly and Jessica Carson explore the role of government programs in alleviating poverty for people with different racial-ethnic identities. Because poverty rates among non-Hispanic whites are significantly lower than among other groups, programs with disparate effects by race can either widen or decrease racial-ethnic gaps in the poverty rate. The authors find that SNAP and the EITC play particularly important roles for non-white populations; however, Social Security maintains low poverty rates among whites, and exacerbates the poverty gap between white and non-white populations. Policymakers who want to advance low income populations and promote racial-ethnic equity can consider both these programs’ roles in reducing poverty and racial-ethnic poverty gaps

Proposed EITC Expansion Would Increase Eligibility and Dollars for Rural and Urban “Childless” Workers

This brief uses data from the 2013 Annual Social and Economic Supplement to the Current Population Survey to examine how President Obama’s proposed expanded eligibility and higher credit values might affect tax filers in both rural and urban America. Authors Jessica Carson and Marybeth Mattingly report that proposed changes to the earned income tax credit (EITC) will increase the share of workers without a qualifying child eligible for the EITC equally in rural and urban places, although rural residents are more likely to be eligible under both current and proposed policies. The average increase in the credit is $476, more than double the average current credit, and would be similar for married and single filers without qualifying children in both rural and urban places. The number of unmarried filers who would become eligible for the credit is significantly higher than the number of married filers, in both urban and rural places