Solving the Equation


Book Description

The book focuses on the underrepresentation of women in engineering and computing and provides practical ideas for educators and employers seeking to foster gender diversity. From new ways of conceptualizing the fields for beginning students to good management practices, the report recommends large and small actions that can add up to real change.




Peer Effects in the Classroom


Book Description

Peer effects are potentially important for understanding the optimal organization of schools, jobs, and neighborhoods, but finding evidence is difficult because people are selected into peer groups based, in part, on their unobservable characteristics. I identify the effects of peers whom a child encounters in the classroom using sources of variation that are credibly idiosyncratic, such as changes in the gender and racial composition of a grade in a school in adjacent years. I use specification tests, including one based on randomizing the order of years, to confirm that the variation I use is not generated by time trends or other non-idiosyncratic forces. I find that students are affected by the achievement level of their peers: a credibly exogenous change of 1 point in peers' reading scores raises a student's own score between 0.15 and 0.4 points, depending on the specification. Although I find little evidence that peer effects are generally non-linear, I do find that peer effects are stronger intra-race and that some effects do not operate through peers' achievement. For instance, both males and females perform better in math in classrooms that are more female despite the fact that females' math performance is about the same as that of males




Handbook of the Economics of Education


Book Description

The Handbooks in Economics series continues to provide the various branches of economics with handbooks which are definitive reference sources, suitable for use by professional researchers, advanced graduate students, or by those seeking a teaching supplement. With contributions from leading researchers, each Handbook presents an accurate, self-contained survey of the current state of the topic under examination. These surveys summarize the most recent discussions in journals, and elucidate new developments. Although original material is also included, the main aim of this series is the provision of comprehensive and accessible surveys. *Every volume contains contributions from leading researchers *Each Handbook presents an accurate, self-contained survey of a particular topic *The series provides comprehensive and accessible surveys




Equity in the Classroom


Book Description

Concerned with pedagogy and the learning achievement of both girls and boys, this book examines international trends in subject performance throughout schooling and looks critically at a range of interventions in difference contexts and countries, all aimed at enhancing equity in schools and higher education institutions.; The book argues that pedagogy can not be isolated from the overarching gender-education system. What can be done, it claims, is that teachers can be provided with a range of pedagogic strategies which can be used to make education, as it is experienced by students and reflected in their achievements, more just.




Multilevel and Longitudinal Modeling with IBM SPSS


Book Description

This book demonstrates how to use multilevel and longitudinal modeling techniques available in the IBM SPSS mixed-effects program (MIXED). Annotated screen shots provide readers with a step-by-step understanding of each technique and navigating the program. Readers learn how to set up, run, and interpret a variety of models. Diagnostic tools, data management issues, and related graphics are introduced throughout. Annotated syntax is also available for those who prefer this approach. Extended examples illustrate the logic of model development to show readers the rationale of the research questions and the steps around which the analyses are structured. The data used in the text and syntax examples are available at www.routledge.com/9780415817110. Highlights of the new edition include: Updated throughout to reflect IBM SPSS Version 21. Further coverage of growth trajectories, coding time-related variables, covariance structures, individual change and longitudinal experimental designs (Ch.5). Extended discussion of other types of research designs for examining change (e.g., regression discontinuity, quasi-experimental) over time (Ch.6). New examples specifying multiple latent constructs and parallel growth processes (Ch. 7). Discussion of alternatives for dealing with missing data and the use of sample weights within multilevel data structures (Ch.1). The book opens with the conceptual and methodological issues associated with multilevel and longitudinal modeling, followed by a discussion of SPSS data management techniques which facilitate working with multilevel, longitudinal, and cross-classified data sets. Chapters 3 and 4 introduce the basics of multilevel modeling: developing a multilevel model, interpreting output, and trouble-shooting common programming and modeling problems. Models for investigating individual and organizational change are presented in chapters 5 and 6, followed by models with multivariate outcomes in chapter 7. Chapter 8 provides an illustration of multilevel models with cross-classified data structures. The book concludes with ways to expand on the various multilevel and longitudinal modeling techniques and issues when conducting multilevel analyses. It's ideal for courses on multilevel and longitudinal modeling, multivariate statistics, and research design taught in education, psychology, business, and sociology.




Gender Influences in Classroom Interaction


Book Description

Educational Psychology Series: Gender Influences in Classroom Interaction compiles papers presented at a conference funded by the National Institute of Education and held at the Wisconsin Center for Education Research, University of Wisconsin—Madison in October 1983. This book focuses on the interactional influences that may be related to differential classroom experiences for females and males. A diversity of issues that have a bearing on gender-related influences, such as contextual factors and teacher and student characteristics, from both theoretical and empirical perspectives are also deliberated. This compilation is addressed primarily to researchers, but is also useful to teachers, educational policy makers, and others who want to insure every child, regardless of gender or other status, the opportunity of a rewarding and challenging education.




School Meals, Educational Achievement, and School Competition


Book Description

Vermeersch and Kremer examine the effects of subsidized school meals on school participation, educational achievement, and school finance in a developing country setting. They use data from a program that was implemented in 25 randomly chosen preschools in a pool of 50. Children's school participation was 30 percent higher in the treatment group than in the comparison group. The meals program led to higher curriculum test scores, but only in schools where the teacher was relatively experienced prior to the program. The school meals displaced teaching time and led to larger class sizes. Despite improved incentives, teacher absenteeism remained at a high level of 30 percent. Treatment schools raised their fees, and comparison schools close to treatment schools decreased their fees. Some of the price effects are caused by a combination of capacity constraints and pupil transfers that would not happen if the school meals were ordered in all schools. The intention-to-treat estimator of the effect of the randomized program incorporates those price effects, and therefore it should be considered a lower bound on the effect of generalized school meals. This insight on price effects generalizes to other randomized program evaluations. This paper--a product of the Poverty Reduction and Economic Management 2, Africa Technical Families--is part of a larger effort in the region to increase our understanding of the impact of programs aimed at reaching the Millennium Development Goals.




The Role of Gender in Educational Contexts and Outcomes


Book Description

Volume 47 of Advances in Child Development and Behavior includes chapters that highlight some the most recent research in the area of gender in educational, contexts and outcomes. A wide array of topics are discussed in detail, including sexism, race and gender issues, sexual orientation, single-sex education, and physical education. Each chapter provides in-depth discussions, and this volume serves as an invaluable resource for developmental or educational psychology researchers, scholars, and students. - Chapters that highlight some of the most recent research in the area. - A wide array of topics are discussed in detail







Social Dynamics


Book Description

This collection of essays presents a variety of approaches to understanding the dynamics of human interaction.