Search

This article investigates whether parents in the United States and Canada send their children to schools that are similar to the schools they attended. Intergenerational continuity in the type of high school attended may be generated by social status or religious socialization concerns, or simply through familiarity, identity, and network ties built through parents' high school experiences. Social reproduction as well as social identity processes, we argue, explain intergenerational continuity in schooling choices for children. Findings reveal that public schools are the most likely destination for children regardless of the type of school a parent attended. We also find intergenerational continuity in school sector among parents who opt out of traditional public schools. The school sector boundaries vary by educational context, however, with much higher boundaries between most sectors in the United States than in Canada. A notable exception is the very high levels of intergenerational continuity in the public Catholic sector in Canada, which reflects social identities built within the historical nexus of family, community, and religion. We conclude by discussing implications for researchers who study sector effects and school choice as well as practitioners vying for students in an increasingly competitive educational market.

Based on the assumption that all young people and their communities would benefit from students' active participation in community endeavours, some Canadian provinces and US states have included community involvement activities graduation requirement. Debates continue over whether students should be "forced" to volunteer. Ontario's 40-hour community involvement requirement is an interesting case study because of the level of autonomy it affords to students, who are free to choose how they will complete their community involvement hours. By contrast, most U.S. programs use a "service-learning" model, which focuses on furthering students' understanding of social problems through community-based and classroom learning opportunities. A study involving 50 current and recently graduated Ontario secondary school students from widely divergent socio-economic settings found that, while students may donate equal amounts time, they do not have equal access to meaningful community involvement placements. Socio-economic status influences the time, resources and social networks available to students, and therefore the types of community involvement open to them. (Contains 8 endnotes)

High-resolution aerial photography was captured covering a geological outcrop at Castle Creek, British Columbia, Canada. Here, for the purposes of hydrocarbon analog modeling, the outcrop was required to be accurately surveyed, so that key stratigraphic surfaces could be mapped in three dimensions. Because the outcrop strata were vertically orientated, these surfaces could be tracked over a wide area; however, to provide a true reconstruction of the geology, it was necessary to also model localized vertical cliffs providing a cross-section through the stratigraphy. Terrestrial lidar was utilized to cover these cliff sections which were poorly represented in the 2.5D aerial data. The integrated outcrop surface was textured with metric aerial and terrestrial imagery providing a photorealistic model that could be used for interpretation by geologists. This formed the basis for building a geocellular model of the geological volume, which was used to assist in the understanding of subsurface reservoirs where data are often limited. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Preharvest sprouting (PHS), defined as germination of seeds on plants before harvest, is an ever-present problem and concern for barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) growers, processors, and researchers worldwide. A major factor leading to PHS is a lack of seed dormancy, the failure of viable seeds to germinate under favorable conditions. The objectives of this research were to identify a simple, quick, and consistent method to determine the dormancy level and PHS resistance using 14 barley genotypes. The genotypes were grown in two greenhouse trials and six field experiments in North Dakota in 2004, 2005, and 2006. Two methods to determine dormancy and one method to determine PHS resistance were evaluated. Spikes harvested at harvest maturity were used for the germination test and artificial rain treatment to determine the dormancy level, whereas stirring number was measured on seeds from spikes that underwent field weathering to determine PHS resistance. All three methods evaluated had repeatability values ≥0.89. In addition, the "moderately strong" correlations (r = 0.73-0.88) between the three methods suggested that any of the methods could be used to determine the dormancy level and/or PHS resistance of barley genotypes. However, the germination test was preferred because it is simple and fast and does not require expensive equipment. Testing using greenhouse-grown materials can be used to screen for nondormant genotypes that may undergo PHS in the field and therefore must not be released as cultivars. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]