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Purpose: Educational technology ("EdTech") served a pivotal role in keeping schools functioning during the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. Little is known about EdTech leaders' roles in shaping this response. This study explores EdTech leaders' perspectives and backgrounds, their response to the pandemic, how they envision their roles as educators, and their perspectives about how technology facilitates educational innovation. Design/Approach/Methods: This study uses a qualitative, phenomenological approach to understand how 11 EdTech leaders experienced the pandemic. Participants were recruited for interviews in summer 2021 via purposive sampling to include diverse backgrounds and perspectives. Data were analyzed inductively. Findings: The findings show that a four-category typology can be used to describe EdTech leaders' diverse backgrounds and experiences. Leaders emphasized equity and open collaboration in their pandemic responses, by expanding access to their tools and adapting their products as users' needs evolved. EdTech leaders anticipate streamlined user experiences, improvements in online learning, and increased adoption of artificial intelligence and simulated learning environments. Originality/Value: This study addresses a gap in the research concerning EdTech leaders' perspectives on their efforts to support educators and their experiences during the pandemic. We hope this study sparks additional research on EdTech leaders' experiences and roles in education.

This Notes in Brief contribution explores the use of autosomal DNA to engage college faculty and staff in a different approach to diversity and inclusion discussions, including antisemitism, on campuses. The author provides results from DNA testing and how he has used his results to discuss his common ancestry with students to build bridges as a former chair of the Diversity and Inclusion Council on his campus.

Knowing the factors affecting fear of large carnivores is important for wildlife management and conservation. In this regard, the effect of worldviews of human-wildlife and human-nature relationships on the fear of large carnivores needs to be investigated in different cultures. In this study, the influence of wildlife value orientations (WVOs), connectedness with nature, religiosity, fear of dogs, and gender on the fear of wolves and wild boars were examined. Quantitative research was conducted via a questionnaire on a convenience sample of 656 university students from state universities in various regions of Turkey. Domination orientation did not influence the fear of either animal. Mutualism negatively influenced the fear of wolves but did not significantly influence the fear of wild boar. Connectedness to nature is related negatively to the fear of both animals. More religious students feared wild boars more. Female students had a greater fear of both animals than male students. In addition, students with a fear of dogs had a greater fear of both animals. The relationship between worldviews and fear of large carnivores can vary across different species and needs to be investigated in different cultures

"Deficit remediation" as an educational governance paradigm has given rise to many problems, whereas principal positive leadership under the "strengths development" paradigm has the potential to give new impetus to school development. Based on large-scale survey data within a provincial region, this study investigates how the school context and principal positive leadership impact student academic achievement using structural equation models. Research findings show that principal positive leadership as a structural latent variable has positive impacts on student academic performance and significantly mediates the effects of the school context on student academic results; and that the patterns of the impacts of principal positive leadership differ according to the variations of the school's autonomy in operation.

The present study examined critical thinking (CT) and its importance in Saudi secondary education. The sample included upper-secondary students and teachers in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia's capital and largest city. Qualitative and quantitative methods were used to study students' CT skill development, barriers to growth, instructors' views on CT advancement, and students' views on their CT skills. The study examines secondary school students' critical thinking development and impediments. It also examined teachers' perceptions of their students' progress in CT. The research collected quantitative data from 374 questionnaires and qualitative data from eight interviews. SPSS performed regression analysis on survey quantitative data. A thematic analysis was employed to evaluate qualitative interview data. The quantitative findings from the surveys revealed uneven CT skills. The findings also showed that gender, Grade Point Average (GPA) and family background affect CT. The qualitative findings from the interviews with the teachers stressed the importance of collaborative programming and active student engagement in classroom activities to foster CT. Bullying and peer pressure hindered autonomous and CT, making it difficult for instructors to motivate and support students. The findings emphasised the importance of teachers in creating a safe learning environment and encouraging analytical thinking. Recommendations for improving CT in Saudi secondary education were proposed addressing several critical aspects of CT advancement, including curriculum development, teacher training, parental involvement, government-led extracurricular learning, teacher-student interactions, and gender equality in CT advancement. This study could help Saudi students develop CT skills to meet the challenges of the modern world.

School counselors work closely with students and are often the first point of contact regarding traumatic experiences. It is generally understood that exposure to other individuals' trauma may lead to a reduction in compassion satisfaction and an increase in secondary traumatic stress, while long-term exposure may result in professional burnout. This study examined the role of school counselors' (N = 240) own adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) as related to compassion satisfaction, secondary traumatic stress, and burnout. Results indicated that 50% of the professional school counselors in this convenience sample had personal histories of four or more ACEs, which is significantly higher than the general public and passes the threshold for significant risk. Results indicated that the ACEs of school counselors in the present study, as well as some demographic variables, significantly correlated with rates of compassion satisfaction, secondary traumatic stress, and burnout.

This qualitative article focuses on the high school experiences and post-secondary education (PSE) plans of 57 youth with refugee backgrounds from the Horn of Africa living in Ontario. The article is guided by two conceptual frameworks. The first is an anti-oppressive approach, which helps us examine the structural barriers at school that prevent, impede, and discourage the youth from successfully transitioning to PSE. We then use Yosso's (2005) community cultural wealth framework to highlight the cultural capital that the youth bring from their homes and communities to navigate the challenges at school and embark on a pathway to PSE. Our findings show that while a significant number of the youth continue to face challenges, some are pushing back on the common narrative that Black African refugees are not capable of attending PSE.

This article aims to describe the mapping done by teachers in elementary schools regarding students' backgrounds before they apply differentiated instruction. Mapping students' backgrounds is very important considering the focus of attention from implementing differentiated instruction is alignment with student characteristics, so as to make learning comfortable and enjoyable. There are several methods and aspects used for mapping student backgrounds. The main thing that is expected from the implementation of differentiated instruction is the suitability of what is learned with what is found in students. With these conditions, it is hoped that it will create fun learning that will support an increase in the academic achievement of learning outcomes. There were 44 teachers who participated in this study which was carried out through workshop activities in the community service program. The results of the study revealed that there were things that became problems in mapping students' backgrounds in the implementation of differentiated instruction.

Career opportunities for U.S.-educated student affairs professionals to work outside of the U.S. in student affairs have become increasingly available over the past two decades. The purpose of this study was to determine demographics of U.S.-educated expatriate student affairs professionals and their motivations to work abroad, which remains a unique experience in the landscape of student affairs professional experiences. Using a national recruitment approach of social media, networks, and snowball sampling, 43 self-initiated expatriate student affairs professionals participated in the survey to determine their demographics and motivations to work abroad. Results include the personal and educational backgrounds of respondents as well as information about the institutional types, locations, and level of positions of their work experiences abroad. The results indicate that a desire for a new experience, adventure, and an enhancement of career prospects were the main reasons for student affairs professionals seeking work abroad. Implications for future research and career development support are provided.

This study explores Vietnamese students' engagement to develop intercultural competence (IC) both in-class and out-of-class. The study relies on cultural theories and conceptual frameworks on IC to examine three forms of student engagement in IC in the higher education settings, including cognitive, affective, and behavioral engagement. A total of 236 Vietnamese EFL students were invited to self-reflect and self-rate their current IC levels. Findings suggested that students' cognitive engagement seemed to be weaker than their affective and behavioral engagement. Secondly, both qualitative and quantitative findings also found that the self-rated levels of IC were statistically different between groups of students.

The goal of the current study was to examine teaching students' positions and perceptions regarding the transition to an online format for practical teaching during COVID-19, and whether differences exist between Jewish and Arab students' positions. The study also examines teaching students' technological and pedagogical self-efficacies for distance teaching and the extent of differences between the Arab and Jewish students' self-efficacies. In addition, the study examined which background and personality variables predict positions and perceptions. The findings are based on a questionnaire completed by 279 Arab and Jewish teaching students from two Israeli teacher education colleges that transitioned to online practical teaching as a result of the COVID-19 crisis. Semi-structured interviews were also conducted to gain a deeper understanding of the questionnaire findings and to expand on topics not referred to in the questionnaire. The study reveals that teaching students accept the importance of the distance teaching experience during training in order to prepare them for the changing reality. Nevertheless, this cannot fully replace field experience because of the need for support and the limited ability to learn from the distance experience about face-to-face teaching.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the academic world came into contact with a virtual learning environment that allows students and educators to leave the boundaries of space and time and maintain academic interactions at unrestricted times and sites. After three semesters of remote learning, there is a feeling that the return to universities and to closed spaces will deter students and that they will prefer remote learning. Studying from home spares valuable time, time otherwise wasted in traffic jams, as well as petrol and other expenses. Remote learning gives a feeling of freedom, comfort, flexible time, and a better sense of control over one's studies than in the classroom. The current study, conducted about one year after the outbreak of the pandemic, examined students' background variables: gender, years of schooling, marital status, financial and employment status -- with the goal of exploring the association between these variables and students' preference for either face-to-face or digital teaching. It is evident from the research findings that after this experience of e-Learning neither of these two methods shows a clear advantage over the other. Was the e-Learning experience during the crisis a one-time, incidental event? Or perhaps, in light of the crisis, academic institutions should prepare for a different type of learning, one that combines face-to-face with digital learning? The study illuminates an issue that is confronting educational institutions in general and academic institutions in particular, i.e., preparations for teaching and learning in the post-crisis world, after the considerable upheaval to which we were subjected.

Using data from twenty-one interviews conducted with student affairs practitioners within a constructivist grounded theory study, we examined how legal issues influence the daily work of student affairs professionals. Findings demonstrate that concerns about legal issues may intrude on student-centered practice, which participants identified as a core value of the student affairs profession. The paper concludes by offering recommendations for navigating the tension between student-centered practice and legal issues.

Social changes have resulted in an increase of students living in households that do not include both a mother and a father, reducing the efficacy of common survey questionnaire approaches to measuring student socioeconomic status (SES). This paper presents two studies conducted to develop and test a new,more inclusive set of student SES items appropriate for students from a range of household types. In the first study, we held group interviews with 57 students in Grades 4, 8, and 12 who lived in four nontraditional household types. The study goal was, first, to understand how students thought about their household members and learn what they knew about the educational background and employment status of their caregivers and, second, to develop draft items based on these findings. In the second study, we held 51 individual cognitive interviews with a similar sample to evaluate draft item clarity and function.We found that although students may live with a broad range of family members and other adults, they understood the term caregiver to refer to a person who provides resources and support. Students found it easier to answer items when the items included the titles of their caregivers. Our results demonstrate that a customizable approach to measuring student SES allows more students to report information about their caregivers than the current standard of asking about mothers and fathers. We provide recommendations for student SES measurement and potential next steps for research on this topic.

READY is a self-report prospective longitudinal study of deaf and hard of hearing (DHH) young people aged 16 to 19 years on entry. Its overarching aim is to explore the risk and protective factors for successful transition to adulthood. This article introduces the cohort of 163 DHH young people, background characteristics and study design. Focusing on self-determination and subjective well-being only, those who completed the assessments in written English (n = 133) score significantly lower than general population comparators. Sociodemographic variables explain very little of the variance in well-being scores; higher levels of self-determination are a predictor of higher levels of well-being, outweighing the influence of any background characteristics. Although women and those who are LGBTQ+ have statistically significantly lower well-being scores, these aspects of their identity are not predictive risk factors. These results add to the case for self-determination interventions to support better well-being amongst DHH young people.

Inclusive education is seen as promising way to accommodate students with disabilities in accessing higher education; yet, the implementation leaves challenges for the students with disabilities and also the faculties. Regarding the secondary education curriculum that is not preparing students with disabilities to attend higher education, students with disabilities are struggling in adjusting college life. This research aimed at confirming the influence of college readiness to college engagement of students with disabilities. There were 61 college students with disabilities participated in the survey on college readiness and college engagement. Independent T-Test and simple regression analysis was applied to test the hypothesis. The result showed that the college readiness influence college engagement with large effect size (r=0.769>0.50, F=85.494, p (0.000) <0.01) which indicates that the more students are college-ready, the more they are engaged. Subsection's variables of gender and education background do not statistically significant affect the college readiness and engagement of students with disabilities. As the opportunity for students with disabilities attending college is uprising, college transition program is highly suggested to prepare students with disability for college life.

In co-taught classes, general education and special education teachers can improve the content-area learning and literacy skills of students with learning disabilities by helping them read texts effectively. Co-teachers can improve comprehension by providing students with background and vocabulary knowledge before reading. In this article, a routine for introducing background (world) and vocabulary (word) knowledge--the world knowledge and word knowledge routine (world and word)--is described. The article includes explanations how each part of the routine works and uses an example to illustrate how co-teachers could use the routine to promote student reading comprehension.

The purpose of this paper is to identify factors that can explain the attitudes of business students towards mathematics, using data from a business school in Norway. This article focusses on gender, personality traits (Big Five Model) and mathematical background. The independent variables were investigated simultaneously using a linear regression model. Mathematical abilities are important for success in business studies, and therefore, attitudes towards mathematics matter, since they will affect students' effort and their choice of further studies. It was found that mathematical background has the strongest effect on student attitudes towards mathematics. Personal characteristics also explain the variation in the attitudes towards mathematics to some degree. Gender has little or no impact on the dependent variable. If there is any gender difference it is in favour of female students.

This phenomenological study examined the experiences of high school students of color (n = 33) living in a rural, predominately White state in the United States of America (U.S.) Drawing data from in-depth interviews and questionnaires, qualitative analysis revealed that participants experienced heightened levels of academic, cultural, and social isolation. Data also revealed that learners' histories, cultural traditions, validation of race/ethnicity and personal stories were missing in classroom instruction particularly in social studies curricula. Other findings indicated that caring and empathetic teachers helped to mitigate some of the negative experiences that students experienced, thus creating space for academic success. Therefore, this study concludes that teachers' dispositions such as care and empathy are critical aspects of culturally responsive pedagogy that can meet the needs of diverse learners. Finally, this study offers implications for classroom teachers and teacher educators.

Teaching sensitive histories in post-conflict societies makes particular demands on educators to understand students' identities and their relationships to the past. This paper expands our understanding of post-conflict youth identities and experiences of history education through a small-scale study of students' life stories in Northern Ireland which defied sectarian boundaries in different ways: some were children of interfaith marriages, while others attended integrated schools or were part of cross-community peace-building organisations. Participants saw themselves as forging new identities and 'moving on' from the past, although this process was fraught with ambivalence. I describe these expressions of identity through Ulrich Beck's (1992) model of triple individualisation. For these 'postsectarian' students, school history was seen largely as a tool towards achieving qualification, far removed from their everyday struggles of self-fashioning.

In this personal and candid essay by Carl Glickman, he examines the confluence of early experiences with his evolving concepts and theories of education, supervision, democracy, and school renewal that resulted in his studies, activities, university and school networks and partnerships, and widely read books. He covers the first 33 years of his life including being a child of immigrants and freedom from adults; academics, social life, and speech disability; identity, new worlds, and marriage; the teacher corps and forced integration of schools; the years as a principal of schools; and the origins of developmental supervision; and the significance of the Council of Professors of Instructional Supervision (COPIS). He frames the essay between the borders of saying not enough or saying too much. And between those lines, the reader may be surprised by how much unknown becomes known and what might be instructive for the next generations of educators, scholars, and activists who believe in the public purpose of education.

This article is a research summary of a dissertation in progress that explores the experiences of Black Sub-Saharan African-born (BSSA) graduate students pursuing degrees in the STEM fields at a predominantly white institution (PWI). This includes meaning-making of their experience with the campus climate at PWIs from BSSA graduate students' community cultural wealth, familial background, and other funds of knowledge in their educational journey and academic success. Hence, the study is guided by complementary theoretical frameworks that shed light on the assets of BSSA graduate students as they navigate challenging educational environments such as STEM departments and PWIs. The preliminary results of the study are presented along with implications of the research.

Effective communication about science is a core skill undergraduates should learn, but little research has explored how students communicate about culturally controversial science topics. In this study, we explored how Black undergraduate science students took on the role of science communicators in their communities during the COVID-19 pandemic. We interviewed 23 Black students about their experiences learning about COVID-19 vaccines and communicating about COVID-19 vaccines to their communities. We found that students' racial/ethnic and science backgrounds made them feel a responsibility to be effective communicators about COVID-19 vaccines as potential trusted messengers within their communities. However, students were using limited strategies when communicating and were unsure how to communicate about COVID-19 topics effectively to those who were vaccine-hesitant or doubted the severity of the pandemic. Finally, students described ways that their biology instructors could have helped them be more confident when communicating about COVID-19 vaccines with their communities. Findings suggest that biology instructors could teach science communication principles in addition to content knowledge about culturally controversial science topics in their undergraduate classes to build on students' developing science communication skills.

In this paper, we describe the development of an in-class exercise designed to teach students how to craft social engineering attacks. Specifically, we focus on the development of phishing emails. Providing an opportunity to craft offensive attacks not only helps prepare students for a career in penetration testing but can also enhance their ability to detect and defend against similar methods. First, we discuss the relevant background. Second, we outline the requirements necessary to implement the exercise. Third, we describe how we implemented the exercise. Finally, we discuss our results and share student feedback.

This paper uses data mining from a French project management MOOC to study learners' performance (i.e., grades and persistence) based on a series of variables: age, educational background, socio-professional status, geographical area, gender, self- versus mandatory-enrollment, and learning intentions. Unlike most studies in this area, we focus on learners from the French-speaking world: France and French-speaking European countries, the Caribbean, North Africa, and Central and West Africa. Results show that the largest gaps in MOOC achievements occur between 1) learners from partner institutions versus self-enrolled learners 2) learners from European countries versus low- and middle-income countries, and 3) learners who are professionally active versus inactive learners (i.e., with available time). Finally, we used the CHAID data-mining method to analyze the main characteristics and discriminant factors of MOOC learner performance and dropout.

In the U.S., it is well documented that many students enter universities unprepared, lacking the basic academic skills necessary for optimal, or even positive, outcomes. However, less evidence has been reported on this problem in Canada, and there appears to be a public impression that Canada's universities have higher standards, on average, than American universities. This perception is reflected in documents produced by the Ontario Government, but documents prepared by independent sources, such as Statistics Canada and the Higher Education Quality Council of Ontario (HEQCO), suggest otherwise. The present article adds to this independent literature, reporting on a new empirical measure based on a suite of questions assessing the basic academic skills necessary to meet the challenges of higher education. Seven sets of skills were identified, and through exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses, two forms of academic capital were identified, as were three clusters of students. Evidence for the validity of these measures was found in terms of hypothesized associations with student grades, satisfaction, and thoughts of dropping out. Demographic differences (e.g., family background, gender) were minimal. The results suggest that a majority of Ontario's university students are at risk of sub-optimal academic outcomes, including a sizeable minority that is likely dysfunctional in contexts in which using basic academic skills would be necessary to pass courses if it were not for grade inflation. These students report lower grades, greater dissatisfaction with the university experience, and more frequent thoughts of dropping out. Policy implications are discussed in terms of what governments, secondary schools, and universities might do to reduce skill deficiencies and the associated negative experiences with post-secondary education.

For international students, seeking a tertiary education outside of their home countries has been a common practice for centuries. However, recent years have brought a significant influx in the number of international students entering the United States to procure a postsecondary education. In 2018-2019, Open Doors (Institute for International Education, 2019) reported an increase in the number of international students studying in the United States for the 14th consecutive year. Because maintaining this stream of international students is of utmost importance to university officials, they strive to meet the educational goals of this student population. Understanding factors that impact the academic achievement of international students is critical. The background characteristics, precollege characteristics, and college experiences of international students have been found to predict cognitive skills development, and cognitive skills development has been linked to optimal academic achievement and student satisfaction.

Purpose: The present study aims to develop a valid and reliable scale that measures attitude towards using technology in music education and to investigate pre-school and primary school pre-service teachers' attitudes towards using technology in music education concerning their demographic variables and musical experiences. Research Methods: A total of 640 students studying in pre-school and primary education departments at a public university in Turkey participated in this research (N=640). Data were collected using a questionnaire for collecting the demographic information and the musical background of the respondents in addition to Attitude towards Using Technology in Music Education Scale, which was developed by the researchers in this study. Findings: Analyses resulted in an 8-item Attitude towards Using Technology in Music Education Scale with a Cronbach's a of 0.931. Confirmatory factor analysis demonstrated a statistically significant model fit to the data with six indices indicating a good fit and three indicating a substantial fit. Attitude towards using technology in music education did not show any significant difference concerning gender and musical background. However, primary school pre-service teachers had a more positive attitude than those of pre-school pre-service teachers. Finally, age correlated with the attitude towards using technology in music education. Implications for Research and Practice: Attitude towards Using Technology in Music Education Scale is a valid and reliable research instrument. Having more experience in using technology or perceiving that the future profession and instructional program at the universities necessitate the use of technology improves attitude towards using technology. Positive attitudes of pre-service teachers, who feel themselves inadequate about using their voice and instruments, and have inadequate musical experience, maybe due to their belief that they will be able to compensate for these deficiencies in music with the opportunities offered by technology.

In this policy brief we examine the initial licensure process of all 50 states and the District of Columbia, and classify each licensure process as traditional, transitional, or transformative, based on criteria suggested by a panel of expert practitioners and university faculty from the field of educational leadership. The expert panel recommended general certification requirements like a teaching certificate, teaching experience, a master's degree, field experiences embedded in principal preparation coursework, and a yearlong internship. The panel suggested a number of specific leadership capacities that should be measured by assessment instruments, calling for the measurement higher-level capacities that integrated knowledge, skills, and dispositions. The experts proposed that assessment instruments be related directly to PSEL and NELP standards, and cautioned the instruments should be equitable. The panel advocated the use of multiple assessment instruments and multiple assessment environments, constructed responses, discussion with assessors, and performance-based assessment. Based on the expert panel's recommendations, we created a set of rubrics to classify state principal licensure processes as traditional, transitional, or transformative across a number of indicators. We reviewed documents on the initial principal licensure process for each of the 50 states and the District of Columbia, and using the rubrics, we classified the certification processes of 24 states as traditional and those of 26 states and the District of Columbia as transitional. Our analysis of state licensure processes is followed by our own recommendations for policy and practice leading to a transformative licensure process.

This article provides a systematic review of the literature related to college transition programs for students with autism. It addresses how individual programs themselves, as well as associated research, can be enhanced to accommodate the needs, identities, and pathways of individual students with autism more effectively. Methods entailed searching three education databases to yield peer-reviewed journal articles on college autism transition programs. The analysis revealed an emphasis on students' social skills and self-advocacy skills, often with a peer mentorship component, and a deficiency of literature in attending to these students' career objectives, trajectories into college, and multifaceted backgrounds. Implications for practice include offering early exposure to college, redesigning programs to include more awareness of students' other identities, embedding more content on career development, and accounting for community college students' and transfer students' unique pathways.

This study presents a pattern for Home Computer Use (HCU) and its relation to children's social and behavioural development during primary education. This study answers whether and how HCU (either educational or recreational) during primary school is related to children's social/ behavioural development such as self-regulation, anti-social behaviour and pro-social behaviour. To do so, information about types and frequency of HCU from nearly 2000 children were analysed using hierarchical linear regression and path analysis on children ranging from 3 to 11 years old. Hierarchical linear regression was applied to study the main effects (i.e. direct effects) and the path analysis was used to investigate mediating (i.e. indirect effects) of HCU on children outcomes. The results showed that the use of HCU for playing games has a linear and negative association with children's Pro-social behaviour as reported by class teachers in Year 6, while the effects of other background characteristics were partialled out. Two other social/behavioural outcomes--anti-social behaviour and self-regulation--were not associated with children's HCU over and beyond what can be predicted based on children's prior social/behavioural profile and their demographic background characteristics. The theoretical and practical implications of these results are discussed.

The use of confidence intervals (CIs) for making a statistical inference is gaining popularity in research communities. To evaluate college statistics instructors' readiness to teach CIs, this study explores their attitudes toward teaching CIs in elementary statistics courses, and toward using CIs in inferential statistics. Data were collected with a survey that classifies instructors' attitudes on the basis of three previously established pedagogical components: affective, cognitive, and behavioral. Based on the survey responses from 270 participants, we created three profiles (subgroups) via latent profile analysis, and identified each profile's pattern of attitudes toward CIs and common characteristics of the instructors that fit each profile. In addition, we compared the profiles across groupings created by six variables: gender, academic background, statistics teaching experience, subject preference, degree level, and desire to improve teaching. The results of the latent profile analysis support three profiles within the population of statistics instructors, and the results of the comparative analysis of teacher characteristics indicate that the six variables are moderate to strong predictors of the grouping of the sample into three profiles.

Policy makers and the general public have become increasingly concerned about the extent to which different qualifications/subjects prepare young people for Higher Education. Despite policy efforts and claims of equivalence, progression might differ depending on the qualifications/subjects studied, even after controlling for background characteristics. In England, the principal measure of academic attainment for 18 year-olds is the A Level. Choosing A Levels, however, is not straightforward as some subjects are seen as providing better grounding for Higher Education than others. Furthermore, many courses require particular subjects and there is a disparity in the attitudes of admissions staff towards certain A Levels. This research provides a better understanding of how useful A Level subjects are for gaining admission to Higher Education. In particular, it investigated the A Levels (and combinations of A Levels) that students who enrolled in Higher Education institutions in 2016/17 took and how students' background interacted with their A Level choices to influence the type of Higher Education institution attended.

The view of the government in England is that good English and mathematics knowledge is key to employment and education prospects. Students who do not achieve a GCSE grade 4 or above in these subjects must continue to study English and mathematics alongside their chosen post-16 studies. This article outlines the background to this situation, then brings together findings from research literature on the challenges and issues faced by students and teachers affected by this requirement. Focusing on GCSE resits and Functional Skills qualifications, the article identifies ways in which post-16 students and teachers can be supported and whether their support needs differ according to the qualification students are working towards.

Teacher motivation is an integral part of the success of the teaching and learning processes. The purpose of this study was to establish the factors underlying teacher recruitment, motivation and retention within a rural context. A case study design was employed as a methodology for the study. The collected data was analysed by establishing themes and emerging categories. The study established that teachers at rural schools were motivated by crucial work-related factors which were both intrinsic and extrinsic in nature. Employment opportunities, family background, leadership, rural environment and support services were some of the major factors motivating teacher to be recruited and retained with rural school teaching. The study recommended that school leaders should acquire a holistic understanding of the diverse factors motivating teachers, so that they can nurture these factors and motivate teachers appropriately. This will ensure that rural schools remains with motivated teaching personnel for improved performance.

Using a framework of colonization in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM), this U.S.-based study examined how seven Native American PhD students/ postdoctoral scholars experienced impostor phenomenon. Participants were identified/ contacted at a national conference on minorities in STEM through purposeful sampling. Surveys computed impostor phenomenon scores on a validated scale, while interviews documented how identity and culture contributed to impostor phenomenon in academia. Using a phenomenological approach, interviews were analyzed inductively using a constant comparative method. Surveys scores indicated high to intense impostor phenomenon. Interviews with the same participants further identified the following aspects of impostor phenomenon in relation to their minoritized identity: cultural differences and lack of understanding of Indigenous culture, lack of critical mass and fear of standing out, academic environment, family background and upbringing, and looks and diversity status. Developing a diverse and culturally competent STEM workforce requires a deeper understanding of what deters Native American individuals from pursuing a STEM career. They have the lowest college enrollment and retention rates compared with any race in the United States and could be vulnerable to racial bias and discrimination. Understanding impostor phenomenon through culturally relevant experiences would be crucial to broaden participation in STEM careers.

Background: We examine the sensitivity of the Heyneman-Loxley Effect to the influence of an error-prone family background measure in 15 education systems from Southern and Eastern Africa. Our aim is to revisit a claim by Abby Riddell from the November 1989 issue of the "Comparative Education Review" concerning the reliability of family background measures and the estimation of the Heyneman-Loxley Effect. Three questions guide our study: does national income have an association with the reliability of a family background measure, is the association between a family background measure and student achievement sensitive to measurement error, and is the association between national income and the school effect sensitive to measurement error? Methods: Our analysis relies on the SACMEQ III data archive and, most importantly, a known error-prone family background measure (i.e., socioeconomic status index) and its corresponding measurement error (i.e., conditional standard error of measurement). For each SACMEQ III education system, we calculate the reliability of the socioeconomic status index and examine its association with national income. We use a Bayesian multilevel regression model to estimate naive and correction parameters representing the association between the socioeconomic status index and student achievement. Finally, we explore the associations between national income and the naive and correction estimates for the school effect across SACMEQ III education systems. Results: We observe three results. First, the association between national income and the reliability of the socioeconomic status index appears negative among SACMEQ III education systems (albeit questionable due to the small n-size and influential outliers). Second, the association between the socioeconomic status index and student achievement is sensitive to measurement error across content areas and SACMEQ III education systems. Third and finally, the association between national income and the school effect is insensitive to measurement error across content areas and SACMEQ III education systems. Conclusions: Throughout our study, we discuss measurement error, its consequences, and why the correction of error-prone family background measures is important. We highlight the need for auxiliary information for measurement error correction (e.g., reliability ratio, conditional standard error of measurement). Lastly, in addition to encouraging the correction of error-prone family background measures when attempting to replicate the Heyneman-Loxley Effect, we invite further research on improving the reliability and comparability of family background measures.

The study examines the association of social background, academic-related and institution-related factors with indicators of higher education dropout risk, i.e. students' perceived probability of graduating and their consideration of leaving their studies. Bivariate analysis and multilevel logistic models were used to analyse data from 1533 students from 25 study programs of the University of Zagreb, Croatia. The results confirmed the assumption that higher education dropout risk may be associated with different factors (i.e. social background, academic and institution-related characteristics), but also that there may be differences regarding the two indicators of perceived dropout risk. Moreover, the analysis revealed that perceived dropout risk may be viewed as part of a process of self-selection in which a combination of different factors leads a student to withdraw from higher education. Accordingly, the impact of the covariates of dropout risk should not be viewed only relative to each other, but should be evaluated in the context of educational decision-making net of academic ability.