Able and gifted: judging by appearances?

In this article I reflect upon an aspect of my research involving Year 6 pupils identified by their teachers as ‘able’ or ‘gifted’ in mathematics, using ‘able’ to refer to high achievers and ‘gifted’ to exceptionally high achievers. I discuss the differences I observed between the able and gifted when solving mathematical tasks, and consider what these differences may mean for professionals involved in identifying gifted pupils. I speculate that teachers’ judgements are highly influenced by those aspects of achievement that are readily visible, such as answering questions quickly, and discuss the potential problems associated with judging by appearances

Keeping up with the Joneses and staying ahead of the Smiths: evidence from suicide data

This paper empirically assesses the theory of interpersonal income comparison using a unique data set on suicide deaths in the United States. We treat suicide as a choice variable, conditional on exogenous risk factors, reflecting one's assessment of current and expected future utility. Using this framework we examine whether differences in group-specific suicide rates are systematically related to income dispersion, controlling for socio-demographic characteristics and income level. The results strongly support the notion that individuals consider relative income in addition to absolute income when evaluating their own utility. Importantly, the findings suggest that relative income affects utility in a two-sided manner, meaning that individuals care about the incomes of those above them (the Joneses) and those below them (the Smiths). Our results complement and extend those from studies using subjective survey data or data from controlled experiments.Income distribution

Happiness, unhappiness, and suicide: an empirical assessment

The use of subjective well-being (SWB) data for investigating the nature of individual preferences has increased tremendously in recent years. There has been much debate about the cross-sectional and time series patterns found in these data, particularly with respect to the relationship between SWB and relative status. Part of this debate concerns how well SWB data measures true utility or preferences. In a recent paper, Daly, Wilson, and Johnson (2007) propose using data on suicide as a revealed preference (outcome-based) measure of well-being and find strong evidence that reference-group income negatively affects suicide risk. In this paper, we compare and contrast the empirical patterns of SWB and suicide data. We find that the two have very little in common in aggregate data (time series and cross-sectional), but have a strikingly strong relationship in terms of their determinants in individual-level, multivariate regressions. ; This latter result cross-validates suicide and SWB micro data as useful and complementary indicators of latent utility.Happiness ; Suicide

Agreement Between HEDIS Performance Assessments in the VA and Medicare Advantage: Is Quality in the Eye of the Beholder?

Medicare Advantage (MA) plans and the Veterans Affairs (VA) health care system assess quality of care using standardized Healthcare Effectiveness Data and Information Set (HEDIS) performance measures. Little is known, however, about the relative accuracy of quality indicators for persons receiving care in more than one health care system. Among Veterans dually enrolled in an MA plan, we examined the agreement between MA and VA HEDIS assessments. Our study tested the hypothesis that private health plans underreport quality of care relative to a fully integrated delivery system utilizing a comprehensive electronic health record. Despite assessing the same individuals using identical measure specifications, reported VA performance was significantly better than reported MA performance for all 12 HEDIS measures. The VAs performance advantage ranged from 9.8% (glycosylated hemoglobin [HbA1c] < 7.0% in diabetes) to 54.7% (blood pressure < 140/90 mm Hg in diabetes). The overall agreement between VA and MA HEDIS assessments ranged from 38.5% to 62.6%. Performance rates derived from VA and MA aggregate data were 1.6% to 14.3% higher than those reported by VA alone. This analysis suggests that neither MA plans nor the VA fully capture quality of care information for dually enrolled persons. However, the VAs system-wide electronic health record may allow for more complete capture of quality information across multiple providers and settings

Educational Leadership and Technology Guide

Subject guide for researching educational leadership and technology issues using the resources of the Sturgis Library

Professional Writing Studies Research Guide

Subject guide for researching issues in professional writing using the resources of the Sturgis Library

Certified Women: Professional Program Curriculum at the Macdonald Institute for Domestic Science in Guelph, Ontario, Canada, 1903-1920

Curriculum, as both practice and text, is a medium for negotiating and defining preferred roles, practices, perspectives, and knowledge sets. The generation and implementation of curriculum in the domestic science teacher certification and professional housekeeping programs at the Macdonald Institute for Domestic Science was instrumental in defining emerging professions and subjectivities for women at the turn of the twentieth century. They tied women to familiar spheres of influence while allowing them to extend that influence into the public realm

Legal Research Guide

Subject guide for researching legal issues using the resources of the Sturgis Library