Elizabeth Ashman Rowe

The timing of academic difficulties among maltreated and nonmaltreated children

OBJECTIVEnIn this study we examined the relationship between child maltreatment and the timing of academic difficulties.nnnMETHODnThis study uses survival analysis to investigate the timing of risk of experiencing an academic difficulty for the first time. Three types of academic difficulties were examined-grade repetitions, poor English grades, and poor math grades. The sample included approximately 300 maltreated and 300 nonmaltreated children aged 5-18.nnnRESULTSnMaltreated children displayed greater risk than nonmaltreated children of repeating a grade and receiving a poor English and mathematics grade for the first time across most elementary years. Maltreated and nonmaltreated children share the same peaks in risk: first grade for their first grade repetitions and kindergarten for their first poor English and math grade. The best-fitting discrete time hazards models suggested underlying temporal patterns of risk vary according to the type of academic difficulty. For instance, maltreated children were at substantially higher risk than nonmaltreated children of repeating kindergarten and first grade. From second through sixth grade, maltreated and nonmaltreated children were indistinguishable in their risk of repeating a grade for the first time. In contrast, discrete-time hazards modeling showed that while the absolute risk of receiving a poor English or mathematics grade changes across the elementary years, the relative risk by maltreatment status does not.nnnCONCLUSIONSnWhile maltreated and nonmaltreated children share the same peaks in risk, the relative risk changes across time for grade repetitions but not for the first occurrence of a poor English or mathematics grade. In summary, this study highlights the importance of time in understanding the relationship between child maltreatment and academic difficulties.

Helpful Danes and Pagan Irishmen: Saga Fantasies of the Viking Age in the British Isles

The fornaldarsogur that subscribe to the myth of the Viking Empire have a degree of historical accuracy in that they describe Danes invading England, killing Northumbrian kings, and assuming rule there, whereas other fornaldarsogur portray Scandinavians in England as helpful heroes assisting rather weak Anglo-Saxon kings. Unlike the relationship between Scandinavians and the English, which these sagas represent as consistently positive, the relationship between the Scandinavians and the Scots varies, and the relationship with the Irish is entirely negative. The depiction of these peoples diverges considerably from that found in Islendingabok, Landnamabok, Sturlunga saga, the Islendingasogur, and the Islendingaþœttir. The fornaldarsogur focus on England is argued to be the accidental result of mixing literary traditions handed down from the Viking Age with late medieval values and the influence of romance, and the contemporary relationships of Ireland, Scotland, and England probably reinforced their treatm...