Students in rural schools have limited access to advanced mathematics courses

This Carsey brief reveals that students in rural areas and small towns have less access to higher-level mathematics courses than students in urban settings, which results in serious educational consequences, including lower scores on assessment tests and fewer qualified students entering science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) job pipelines

Asperger's syndrome: learner characteristics and teaching strategies

Students with Asperger's syndrome present a particular challenge for their parents, teachers, and peers. Therefore it is important for teachers working in inclusive settings to become aware of the unique needs of these students. In this paper, challenges for students with Asperger's syndrome are discussed in terms of five aspects; communication, motor clumsiness, obsessional interests, attention and social skills. These characteristics are discussed in a wav that will facilitate teachers' understanding of the difficulties associated with student participation in the school environment. Challenges for teachers are discussed under the headings: inclusive schooling; need for a structured program; behaviour management; communication; and creativity in planning. Adaptive and compensatory strategies for teachers are described which will facilitate learning and participation of students with Asperger's syndrome in the regular classroom

Reading levels of rural and urban third graders lag behind their suburban peers

This brief examines the complex interplay of family, school, and place factors in the reading achievement levels of third grade students. Third grade reading achievement is critical to later academic and occupational success. Using data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, the authors report that suburban children realize greater gains in reading achievement from kindergarten to Grade 3 than their rural or urban counterparts. Rural students who were struggling readers at the beginning of kindergarten have lower average reading achievement in third grade than both urban and suburban students when children of the same socioeconomic status are compared. The differences in third grade reading achievement between rural and nonrural children who were low achievers in kindergarten most likely reflect different educational opportunities and school resources available to these children. The authors suggest that improved professional development opportunities for rural teachers may help narrow the differences in the third grade reading achievement of rural, urban, and suburban students who were struggling readers in kindergarten

Mathematics achievement gaps between suburban students and their rural and urban peers increase over time

In this brief, authors Suzanne Graham and Lauren Provost examine whether attending a school in a rural, urban, or suburban community is related to children’s mathematics achievement in kindergarten, and whether increases in mathematics achievement between kindergarten and eighth grade differ for children in rural, urban, and suburban schools. They also consider whether achievement differs by region of the country and for children of different racial and ethnic groups. Finally, they discuss the impact of a family’s socioeconomic status, and the ways in which place and socioeconomic status together affect both early mathematics achievement levels and change over time. They report that rural and urban kindergarten students have slightly lower average mathematics achievement levels than their suburban peers. In addition, the average increase in mathematics achievement from kindergarten to eighth grade for rural and urban children is smaller than the increase for suburban children, resulting in a widening achievement gap over time

Drivers of the foreign policies of Southern African small states

Abstract: In international relations small states are either discarded as irrelevant, unimportant, or weak; held in high regard as potential movers and shakers in especially smart or niche diplomacy areas; powerful in blocs; or as a non-classification, that is undeserving of a unique type separate from the world body of states. Regardless of varying perceptions, small states exist and more so, they exist with foreign policies. This study examines what drives the foreign policies of the southern African small states of Botswana, the Comoros, Lesotho, Mauritius, Namibia, the Seychelles and Swaziland. It finds that state size is important in shaping the foreign policies of these southern African small states but that it is not mutually exclusive from other typical domestic and international determinants which play roles in conditioning most states’ foreign policies. Moreover, defence of national interest features as a common and undeniable primary foreign policy objective of these states

Getting creative in the languages classroom

The following principles are central to the work of ‘Linguistic Creativity in Language Learning’, a research strand of Creative Multilingualism: We create language every day. Language diversity facilitates creative diversity. Linguistic diversity nurtures diverse expression of feelings, thoughts and identities, and diverse ways of knowing and seeing the world. In this chapter we outline how they might be considered in relation to classroom language learning. One of the authors of this chapter..

The quality of elections in African small island developing states

Abstract: There are six African small island developing states: the Union of the Comoros; the Republic of Guinea‐Bissau; the Republic of Cabo Verde; the Republic of Mauritius; the Seychelles and the Democratic Republic of São Tomé and Príncipe. Apart from Mauritius, the other five states are relatively new to democracy with several of these states only transitioning from one party states to multi‐party states in the early 1990s. International and domestic observers declared the last round of elections in all ASIDS free and fair, but this reveals little of the quality of elections in these small island developing states. All six states are members of the African Union (AU) and are therefore obliged to adhere to its election principles. Therefore, this article examines the quality of elections in the ASIDS by analysing the extent to which they are free and fair using the principles of the AU’s Declaration on the Principles Governing Democratic Elections in Africa. Findings reveal that despite continued logistical and other problems that persist, the election process is generally well managed and violence relatively minimal, a remarkable achievement given the volatile political histories in all save one of these small island states. Challenges appear to centre on continued inter‐institutional instability in some cases, failure to adhere to constitutional amendments in others, some instances of continued harassment and a lack of financial and technical resources, all of which have to some extent impacted electoral qualit

Beyond the Law: Connecting with Expertise in Other Fields

For a variety of reasons, law school graduates might find themselves in need of advanced degrees or continuing education in other disciplines. The how-to and where of navigating to the best, most-current resources and continuing education opportunities in fields beyond the law might be less obvious. The following tips are to provide basic, but vetted, resources for pursuing continuing education in areas outside of the law. Professionals can and should consult with experts in other fields. There is no quick and easy substitute for years of in depth study reinforced by practical application. However, retooling is a reality and the approaches discussed below provide credible means to develop a competency beyond the law