The effects of single-sex schooling on student achievement and attitudes in Nigeria

This study of Form Three (ninth grade) students in Nigeria indicates that single sex schools improve girls'achievement in mathematics and engender less stereotypic ideas about mathematics. But Nigerian males experience lower achievement and hold a more stereotypic view of mathematics under single sex schooling. Why are there different responses? In part, differences between the types of students attending single-sex and coeducational schools may be responsible. Girls'schools also differed from boys schools in several important ways. While these and other differences beween students and schools were found to contribute to differences in student achievement, a statistically significant residual effect for single-sex schools remained after adjustments were made, suggesting that other organizational or student background factors may account for the observed differences in effects.Adolescent Health,Primary Education,Gender and Education,Health Monitoring&Evaluation,Teaching and Learning

Gender Equity in Mathematics Achievement in East African Primary Schools: Context Counts

Although primary school enrollment is gradually on the increase in the developing world, differences in mathematics achievement between girls and boys persist. A complex combination of factors that is related to issues of the home environment, the school context, and national policy influences the performance of female students when compared to their male peers. We focus on three countries in East Africa with a female disadvantage in mathematics achievement and use data from 8,795 primary school students in 529 schools. We explore the influence of contextual factors and organizational processes that are associated with better overall performance and with the improved gender distribution of achievement.

Cross-sectional study of risky substance use by injured emergency department patients

INTRODUCTION: Survey data regarding the prevalence of risky substance use in the emergency department (ED) is not consistent. The objective of this study was to identify the prevalence of risky substance use among injured ED patients based on the Alcohol, Smoking and Substance Involvement Screening Test (ASSIST v3.0). A secondary objective was to report on the feasibility of administering the ASSIST to this population, based on the time to conduct screening. METHODS: This cross-sectional study used screening data from a randomized controlled trial. Injured ED patients completed the ASSIST on a tablet computer, and an ASSIST score was computed that indicated the need for a brief or intensive treatment intervention (risky use) for alcohol and other substances. For a subsample, data on time to complete each step of screening was recorded. RESULTS: Between July 2010 and March 2013, 5,695 patients completed the ASSIST. Most (92%) reported lifetime use of at least one substance and 51% reported current risky use of at least one substance. Mean time to complete the ASSIST was 5.4 minutes and screening was considered feasible even when paused for clinical care to proceed. CONCLUSION: Estimates of risky substance use based on the ASSIST in our large sample of injured ED patients were higher than previously reported in other studies of ED patients, possibly due to the current focus on an injured population. In addition, it was feasible to administer the ASSIST to patients in the course of their clinical care.Published versio

“What Was That All About?” Using Critical Personal Narrative For Inquiry And Critical Reflective Practice

I position Critical Personal Narrative (CPN) within the larger field of interpretive narrative inquiry, offer a framework for its use as a research tool, and conclude by suggesting ways CPN can be utilized by adult educators wanting to be critically reflective in their practice. I illustrate this with two stories of discourses at work

Adult Education and the Body: Changing Performances of Teaching and Learning

I discuss recent scholarship on the body and present two theoretical frameworks that attempt to explain how the body might be constituted in educational institutions, discourses and practices, and suggest these analytical tools and the literature on the body can be linked to adult education practice

Vocalization Behavior of the Endangered Bahama Oriole (Icterus northropi): Ontogenetic, Sexual, Temporal, Duetting Pair, and Geographic Variation

Many birds communicate via a diverse set of vocalizations, but the contexts, roles, and structure of their varied songs and calls may change with age, differ between sexes, and vary temporally and geographically. In New World orioles, most tropical species exhibit the ancestral states of sexual monochromatism (both sexes have similar plumage) and monovocalism (both sexes sing and often duet together), whereas migratory temperate species tend toward dichromatism (males brightly colored and females drab) and divocalism (males sing almost exclusively). In this study, I examined the vocalizations of the Bahama Oriole, a non-migratory, monochromatic species, to learn where it fits within this generalized dichotomy; to document sources of variation in vocalization rates and spectrographic structure; and to improve survey design for this critically endangered species. Accordingly, this study describes the primary vocalizations of the Bahama Oriole, and examines how vocalizations vary with age, between sexes, at different times of day, during the breeding season, and among the three remaining island metapopulations on Andros, The Bahamas. Hatchlings and fledglings produced vocalizations that were higher pitched than those of adults. Adults possessed a large repertoire, including five main vocalization types that were delivered independently or in combination. Second-year and aftersecond-year-plumaged adults produced spectrographically similar vocalizations at similar rates. Although adult males and females could not be reliably distinguished in the field, both individuals of pairs were often heard giving the full range of vocalizations and frequently duetted together, particularly during the pre-incubation period. Antiphonal duets involved mated pairs, were limited to songs and whistle calls, and exhibited similar within-individual and between-individual variation in the spectrographic and temporal features of duets. Thus, the Bahama Oriole more closely resembles tropical oriole species (monovocal) than temperate species (divocal) in its vocalization behaviors. Adults vocalized at similar rates throughout the day prior to incubation, suggesting that surveys can be conducted at virtually any time of day during this period. Singing and most call types waned after chicks hatched, but whines increased dramatically as adults engaged in caring for their offspring. Minor but significant clinal variation in singing existed among the three metapopulations, suggesting possible cultural drift

“Knowing One’s Self”: Selfwriting, Power and Ethical Practice

Adult educators are increasingly concerned with issues of power and identity. Drawing on my research text, The Body’s Tale, and Foucault’s writings, I explore how pastoral power effects construct subjectivities. Using three genealogical narratives—of eating, elimination and swarming—I show how we can interrupt self-regulation, and through self-writing, develop an embodied ethical practice

Vocalization Behavior of the Endangered Bahama Oriole (Icterus northropi): Ontogenetic, Sexual, Temporal, Duetting Pair, and Geographic Variation

Many birds communicate via a diverse set of vocalizations, but the contexts, roles, and structure of their varied songs and calls may change with age, differ between sexes, and vary temporally and geographically. In New World orioles, most tropical species exhibit the ancestral states of sexual monochromatism (both sexes have similar plumage) and monovocalism (both sexes sing and often duet together), whereas migratory temperate species tend toward dichromatism (males brightly colored and females drab) and divocalism (males sing almost exclusively). In this study, I examined the vocalizations of the Bahama Oriole, a non-migratory, monochromatic species, to learn where it fits within this generalized dichotomy; to document sources of variation in vocalization rates and spectrographic structure; and to improve survey design for this critically endangered species. Accordingly, this study describes the primary vocalizations of the Bahama Oriole, and examines how vocalizations vary with age, between sexes, at different times of day, during the breeding season, and among the three remaining island metapopulations on Andros, The Bahamas. Hatchlings and fledglings produced vocalizations that were higher pitched than those of adults. Adults possessed a large repertoire, including five main vocalization types that were delivered independently or in combination. Second-year and after second-year-plumaged adults produced spectrographically similar vocalizations at similar rates. Although adult males and females could not be reliably distinguished in the field, both individuals of pairs were often heard giving the full range of vocalizations and frequently duetted together, particularly during the pre-incubation period. Antiphonal duets involved mated pairs, were limited to songs and whistle calls, and exhibited similar within-individual and between-individual variation in the spectrographic and temporal features of duets. Thus, the Bahama Oriole more closely resembles tropical oriole species (monovocal) than temperate species (divocal) in its vocalization behaviors. Adults vocalized at similar rates throughout the day prior to incubation, suggesting that surveys can be conducted at virtually any time of day during this period. Singing and most call types waned after chicks hatched, but whines increased dramatically as adults engaged in caring for their offspring. Minor but significant clinal variation in singing existed among the three metapopulations, suggesting possible cultural drift