An Exploration of Mentors’ and Teachers’ Experiences of Peer Mentoring during the Transition from Primary to Secondary School

Multiple studies have found the transition from primary to secondary school can be distressing for students. This study explored the experiences of mentors and teachers who delivered a peer mentoring for school transition programme with the aim of reducing distress. The project tasked Year 7 students with mentoring Year 6 students, who were identified as ‘vulnerable’ and were receiving an alternative provision nurture programme, before and after starting their secondary school to support mentees through the transition. A critical realist epistemological approach was taken to explore five mentors’ and five teachers’ experiences of the programme through semi-structured interviews. Interview schedules were developed in collaboration with a young person consultant who had mentoring experience. Thematic analysis of the transcripts led to the development of themes. Mentors discussed the need for confident, responsible and mature mentors who wanted to help mentees. They described using their skills to share experience and build trust. And with the time and support needed, this led to mentors developing transferrable skills and mentees settling in and developing a more positive relationship to help. Teachers explored the need for collaboration and engagement with the programme provider, a suitable environment and support for mentors. They highlighted the importance of shared experience within the mentoring relationship and trust within the programme system. They believed outcomes included transferrable skills for mentors and extra support and positive behaviour change for mentees. These findings provide support for the use of peer mentoring programmes as a form of support for young people which can reduce transition distress and promote peer- and school-connectedness. This prevention and early intervention approach provides accessible and normalising support, at a time when one-to-one professional support is increasingly difficult to access

APPROACH E: CHANGING MARKET SUPPLY BY RESTRICTING INPUTS

Agricultural and Food Policy,

Age discrimination and academic labor markets

In a sample of Canadian Ph.D.’s, Warman and Worswick (2010) report that forty-two percent obtained their degree at thirty-four years of age or older. One implication is that those starting their academic career vary in age. As a result, academic labor markets provide a somewhat unique way to investigate the outcomes of workers of different age with similar work experience. This study uses a national sample of over 9,000 faculty to look at the relationship between age at the time a person earns their degree and income. Older individuals are less likely to attend graduate programs in Carnegie Research I institutions, and they are less likely to find employment at a Research I institution. Males are less likely to obtain employment at Carnegie research or doctoral granting institutions even if they attended a graduate program in a Research I institutions. Regression analysis reveals a negative relationship between age at time of degree and earnings. The age penalty is largest for those with the title of professor working at Carnegie research/doctoral institutions. The size of the age penalty for females is less dependent on this distinction. Lastly, the age penalty is evident at the start careers as older faculty are found to learn less in the first three years of obtaining their degree

Influence of Detritus Levels and Organic Pollution on Interspecific Resource Competition, Oviposition Behavior, and Larval Survival of Two Tire-Inhabiting Mosquito Species (Diptera: Culicidae)

Mosquitoes (Diptera: Culicidae) are vectors of disease in the adult stage, but understanding the factors affecting distributions of the immature stages is important to the understanding and control of adult populations. Discarded automobile tires comprise important larval mosquito habitats. The Asian tiger mosquito (Aedes albopictus) and the southern house mosquito (Culex quinquefasciatus) are two medically important species commonly found in tires, but factors affecting their larval distributions in tires have not been studied, nor have their interspecific interactions. I investigated the effects of chemicals associated with organic pollution on oviposition preferences and larval survival of both species, and the effects of resource limitation, interspecific density, and chemical pollution on interspecific competition between both species. I conducted field oviposition bioassays in tires containing different pollution concentrations, and laboratory larval survivorship bioassays in the same concentrations. Both species laid significantly more eggs in higher pollution concentrations, but there was no relationship between oviposition preference and larval survival in polluted water. In the laboratory, I measured larval survivorship, development time, adult mass, and population growth of both species under different resource levels, interspecific larval densities, and pollution concentrations. Culex quinquefasciatus survivorship and population growth were more detrimentally affected at low resource levels and at high interspecific densities, indicating that Ae. albopictus is a superior resource competitor. The presence of pollution did not affect the competitive outcome. My results indicate that organic pollution increases the susceptibility of tires to colonization by these species, and that larval competition between these species may affect adult populations

The relationship between selected housing and demographic charateristics and employment status among rural, low-income families

This study was a secondary analysis of wave one data of the Rural Families Speak project, a multi-state longitudinal Agricultural Experiment Station project that focused on assessing changes in the well-being and functioning of rural low-income families in the context of welfare reform. Quantitative analysis was conducted to determine the housing situations of the families and the relationships of these factors with the family economic and cognitive well-being and employment circumstances of study participants. Discriminant analysis was used to develop a model to predict the employment circumstances (employed, not employed) of the participants. Housing costs usually take the first and largest portion of a family\u27s budget, leaving the rest of the income to purchase food, clothing, health care needs, school fees, etc. Without supplemental assistance from family, friends, and government agencies, the housing costs for many of the families would be a burden to the family budget, limiting the funds available for human capital needs. Most participants in this wave of the study did not have housing costs greater than the government standard of 30% of monthly income. However, the majority of the families could not have afforded to pay fair market rents for housing in their geographic areas with their current monthly incomes. Variables included in the final model to predict the participant\u27s employment status were the housing income adequacy of the family (fair market rent divided by monthly income), transportation assistance, child care assistance, Medicaid, TANF, and marital status. The model correctly classified over 70% of the cases. Family economic and cognitive well-being for rural low-income families was studied with housing tenure as the independent variable. Homeownership was found to increase the participant\u27s level of family economic well-being, as measured by the perception of income adequacy and the family\u27s total monthly income. Housing tenure was found to be independent of participant\u27s health, community awareness, and life satisfaction. By tracking these families over time, the changes in their family economic well-being and their employment circumstances can be examined. Housing costs and circumstances can be monitored and analyzed for relationships to employment and family economic situations

Setting an Agenda for the Future

Anniversaries are a time for reflection and planning for the future. The fiftieth year of the Journal of Economic Education motivated us to invite those who have been intimately involved with the Journal to provide reflections, which appear within this symposium. In addition to providing a wealth of information about the past, they set the stage for initiatives that support the path forward