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Few would contest that teachers are a very important determinant of how much students learn in school, and how to improve teacher performance has been the focus of lively policy debate in both rich and poor countries. This paper examines how teacher incentives, both pecuniary and non-pecuniary, correlate with teacher effort. Using school survey data from Lao PDR, we estimate measures of teacher effort, including the number of hours that teachers spend preparing for classes and teacher provision of private tutoring outside of class hours, which are not the typical measures used in previous research. Estimation results fit well under the standard labour supply framework and indicate that greater teacher effort is associated with non-pecuniary incentives such as more teacher autonomy over teaching materials and monitoring as measured by the existence of an active parent -teacher association and the ability of school principals to dismiss teachers. Methodologically, this paper provides a detailed derivation of a simultaneous OLS-probit model with school random effects that can jointly estimate teacher work hours and tutoring provision. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Parental involvement has been defined in various ways by researchers and is reported to have many advantages for children's education. The research utilises a case study strategy to investigate teachers' perspectives of parental involvement at four case sites in Barbados. In-depth interviews were done with teachers and analysis utilised content analysis of transcripts and open and axial coding frameworks. Findings suggest that one needs to understand the layered realities that dictate and influence the nature and level of parental participation in children's education. In-school factors such as a lack of democratisation of parent consultation processes, discontinuation of programmes, how active Parent Teacher Associations were and out-of-school factors such as parents' levels of collaboration and coping influenced parental involvement at the case sites. More research is needed to understand how these factors shape and influence parental involvement in special education settings in Barbados. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article focuses on the intersecting strands of the movement for desegregation in public schools and in the National Parent Teacher Association ( PTA), the largest volunteer organization dedicated to youth and education in the twentieth century. The PTA underwent a slow, contentious transition in at least two significant ways. First, while the National PTA office at first supported the rights of state and local chapters to dictate their own affairs, eventually it asserted control on all policy (including desegregation) for its branches. Second, the unification of the PTA's membership did not occur until 1970. While the PTA suffered from internal divisions along racial lines, black women wished to sustain their guidance on school policies and programs for young people in their communities. Eventually, PTA members enacted a policy that guaranteed inclusion and authority for black members. Leaders in the PTA, therefore, guided a significant shift in policy over time away from acceptance of segregation to an overt insistence on inclusion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Virtual worlds are online graphical environments that are becoming an increasingly large part of the online experience of young people. Virtual worlds have the potential to become one additional environment, like school, home, and the playground, where youth can learn, play, and grow. The physical world is becoming interconnected with virtual worlds, and it is important for researchers to understand how this will affect children's development. Virtual worlds technologies provide a unique opportunity to allow youth to explore many types of content creation, including customizable avatars, media galleries, and virtual representations of personal spaces. This ability for youth to create content can be an important means by which to support and encourage adolescent identity development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents information on how reading teachers can engage students' families in children's education. The authors discuss the experience of increasing family involvement in education through school-family partnerships with the help of the Parent Teacher Association (PTA) organization. The role of family involvement in improvements in school attendance, educational interest and motivation, and student achievement is explored. The article includes a chart of online resources for encouraging relationships between families and schools the "Getting Involved" web site from the PTA, the "Parent Resources" web site from the International Reading Association, and the "Teaching Tips" web site from the everythingESL online resource company.

This article discusses youth out-migration on the non-metropolitan New South Wales Eastern Seaboard. High levels of in-migration and counter-urbanisation, typical of many coastal non-metropolitan towns in NSW, mask the out-migration of youth. There are relatively few 15–24 year olds in the coastal communities of non-metropolitan New South Wales, because many youths out-migrate to larger centres, for a range of reasons. Out-migration also demarcates a life transition away from school life, adolescence and the parental home. This paper draws from research with senior high school students in one coastal town – Coffs Harbour – where such trends have been particularly apparent. It examines the propensity for youth out-migration and discusses how young people articulate their migration intentions. Young people's perceptions of their current and future prospects feature prominently in their discourses about intended migration, although this research also demonstrates that the life courses of regional youth are unorthodox and diverse in nature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The role of language in relation to identity formation has received relatively little attention from geographers. Here, drawing on empirical research with Somali young people (aged 11–18) now living in the UK, we explore the role that choice and use of language play in how young people make sense of their identities and affiliations within the specific situated context of everyday encounters at home, and school. In doing so, we explore the role of language as a situated practice in (re)making identities in local contexts, and the possibility that language can change the way that spaces are ordered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two-parent working families, safety factors, shifts in gender roles, and many other factors have led to rapid development of out-of-school-time programming to provide youngsters with the kinds of experiences they might have historically received at home and in the neighborhood. This article elaborates on key issues in quality, the quality of relationships with both peers and staff, opportunity for youth voice, and the activities provided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: A motivational theory of children''s coping identified aspects of relationships—involvement, structure and autonomy support—that are expected to determine whether coping will be characterized by approach (active) or avoidance. Associations between adolescents’ (, Age ) relationships with families and teachers, and coping behaviours were examined. Whether a Family Primacy Model or a Context-Specific Model best explained the findings was also determined. A Family Primacy Model received predominant support; adolescents with more positive family relationships used more active coping with problems at home and school. Positive relationships with teachers predicted more active coping behaviours, especially at school. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The effects of routine daily separations occasioned by out-of-home care on the formation and maintenance of infant-mother attachment relationships were examined in a population of economically disadvantaged mothers. 3 groups were constituted on the basis of the lime in the infant's life when out-of-home care began: (1) before 12 months; (2) between 12 and 18 months; (3) home-care controls. The infant-mother pairs were observed in the Ainsworth strange situation at both 12 and 18 months, and were classified as secure, anxious-avoidant, or anxious-resistant. Because previous research has implicated the psychological accessibility of the mother to the infant in the development of anxious-avoidant attachments during the first year of life, the hypothesis that physical inaccessibility due to out-of-home care would also be associated with anxious-avoidant attachments was tested. The data support this hypothesis. At 12 months 47% of the infants whose mothers had returned to work/school were classified in the anxious-avoidant group, while the other 2 groups did not differ significantly in the proportions of infants assigned to the 3 attachment classifications. At 18 months, differences among the 3 work status groups also showed a large proportion of anxious-avoidant infants (41%) in this early working group. However, infants whose out-of-home care began after 12 months did not show an increase in the proportion of anxious attachments. Additional analyses of variables related to mother's return to work indicated that single mothers were more likely to return to work/school, that mothers who worked reported higher levels of life stress than mothers who stayed home with theft infants, and that, by 18 months, both anxious-avoidant and anxious-resistant attachments were also associated with non-intact families. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article cites a study that reports a joint investigation by the respective psychology departments of a hospital for epileptics and a home and training school for mental retardates into differential diagnosis of chronic brain syndrome and familial mental retardation. In the past, a number of studies involving organic populations have reflected the imprecision of the term "brain-damage" by failing to take into account significant behavioral differences resulting from localized areas of neurologic abnormality.

The article presents information on the need for providing science education in a new way. In secondary schools of the U.S., the level of science education is not satisfactory. Science education is gaining popularity, and some new methods are needed to make science education more interesting and comfortable. Science teachers are required to find solutions for the problems and needs of new science students. Teacher education is also necessary for making the students understand the new aspects of science. Science teachers should understand that a modification in science curriculum is needed for meeting the changing needs in science. Parents of the students should also be informed about the new programs in science, so that they can understand the purpose of the program. Parent-Teacher's Associations also need to take interest in learning about the new programs in science.

The article discusses the significance of in-service education program in the teaching of science in elementary classes. With the rising importance of science for both adults and children, making science a part of children's living both at school and home is being stressed. When children are provided with creative atmosphere, they grow concerned with the natural environment. What comes as a hurdle in the way of such activity, however, is the lack of interest and ability of the science teachers. Some important factors to prepare for science in-service education are also given. First the atmosphere should be cooperative: each one should take one's share of responsibility. An open atmosphere should be promoted so that everyone could express themselves freely. The principals should be made an integral part of the program. Besides all, parents should also be included in the in-service program of science education.