Gregory J. Marchant

Is the Revised Psychopathy Checklist Clinically Useful for Adolescents

Recent studies have provided evidence for the reliability and validity of Hares Psychopathy Checklist, Revised (PCL-R) for forensic samples. The present study investigated PCL-R psychometric properties among Caucasian and African-American adolescent males from forensic and school settings. The clinical utility of the PCL-R was investigated in terms of predicting future delinquency above and beyond data that are more readily available. Good reliability and validity for the PCL-R were found. PCL-R Total and Factors scores were greatest for participants with conduct disorder, followed by those with oppositional defiant disorder, with the smallest scores observed for participants with neither disorder. In a 1-year follow-up, PCL-R scores accounted for a unique proportion of the variance in juvenile criminal justice sentencing above and beyond the baseline number of delinquent acts recorded in juvenile criminal justice records and above a baseline disruptive behavior diagnosis continuum score. Compared to conduct disorder diagnosis, the PCL-R psychopath threshold score provided much better sensitivity with only slightly worse specificity for predicting delinquency during the 1-year follow-up.

A teacher is like a …: Using simile lists to explore personal metaphors

Abstract Educational researchers have begun exploring teachers’ beliefs and construction of knowledge through their use of metaphors. In this study undergraduate and graduate education students were asked to respond to open‐ended statements and a list of similes describing what teachers, students, and classrooms were like. A comparison of the subject generated similes with the simile list responses suggested that the simile list responses were valid reflections of the subjects’ personal metaphors. A factor analysis of the responses to the similes generated interpretable constructs for understanding the relationships underlying the similes.

Faculty Activities and Rewards: Views from Education Administrators in the USA.

ABSTRACT The heads of education divisions of 245 colleges and universities in the USA were surveyed regarding their opinions about faculty activities and reward procedures. Tenure, which was viewed as having the greatest effect on faculty behavior, received significantly more attention from decision‐making bodies in the colleges, and merit pay received significantly less. Education administrators at top universities and larger universities viewed the desire for reputation as more motivating than did other education administrators. The department chairs believed that internal satisfaction was more of a motivating factor than did deans. The deans rated merit pay, contract renewal, promotion and tenure higher as motivators than did the department heads. Although evaluations of teaching were considered the most important for year‐to‐year contract renewal, article and book publication were the most important considerations in merit pay, promotion and tenure. A factor analysis grouped faculty activities into th...

A profile of motivation, self-perception, and achievement in black urban elementary students

The purpose of this study was to develop a profile of a sample of black urban elementary students based on motivational tendencies, self-perceptions, and achievement. The article explores the intrinsic motivation and self-perceptions of these students and seeks to find relationships among these qualities and academic achievement and attendance. The results of the study present a profile that reflects a lack of social acceptance of vocabulary skills and a lack of social acceptance of preferring challenging work. Perception of scholastic competence was related to behavioral conduct but not to global self-worth. The results supported previous research indicating that some black students perceive schooling and academic success as inconsistent with their racial-cultural goals. Implications for urban schools are presented.

State Comparisons of SAT Scores: Who’s Your Test Taker?

Differences among states’ average SAT scores are almost entirely attributable to differences in percentage of test takers, parent education and income of the test takers, and the high school rank and GPA of the test takers rather than to the quality of states’ education systems. This article includes statistical support, graphic comparisons, and recommendations concerning the reporting and interpretation of SAT scores in judging quality education.

Family factors and immigrant students’ academic achievement

Purpose – The purpose of the paper is to examine the relationship between family-related factors and academic performance for Asian and Hispanic immigrant students. Design/methodology/approach – The study used data drawn from the Children of Immigrants Longitudinal Study. Data were collected from second-generation immigrant students in forms of surveys. A total of 10th to 12th grade Asian (n=3,022) and Hispanic immigrant students (n=1,664) reported their family income, father’s and mother’ education, parents’ education aspiration for them, their own education aspiration, English proficiency, family cohesion, and parent-child conflict. Their school performance indicated by grade point average demonstrated in school records was also collected. Data were analyzed with analysis of variance and regression techniques. Findings – Family income and parent-child conflict were identified as predictors of immigrant students’ grade point average. When regression analyses were conducted separately for Asian and Hispan...

Facilitating Self-Regulated Learning Skills and Achievement With a Strategic Content Learning Approach

Whether out of financial concerns for student retention or altruistic goals involving facilitating successful learning, efforts are being made to ensure college student success beyond chance independent study skills. Students often lack effective self-regulatory skills and study strategies necessary for success in college. With guidance through specific task-related learner activities, these skills may be enhanced. The current study investigated how student performance in an introductory psychology course at a midwestern community college might be impacted by a structured, content-learning approach engaging students in specific academic study skills activities. Results indicated that the intervention group performed significantly better across all three exam events and achieved higher semester course grades. Performance on the learning packet itself was positively correlated with exam performance.

Professional Development Schools and Indicators of Student Achievement.

Abstract Two approaches were used in a study to examine the relation between indicators of student achievement, including the state mandated standardized achievement test, and the functioning of professional development schools (PDSs). Comparing schools that had PDS relationships with a midwestern university to schools that did not resulted in no significant differences in achievement. When PDS ratings relating to nine PDS goals and functions were compared to achievement indicators, higher staff development ratings were significantly related to higher student achievement. Limitations of the study precludes a definitive causal relation; however, the results suggest the need for further study and suggest the possibility of staff development as a major tool for student achievement in PDSs.

Faculty Questionnaires A Useful Resource for LD Support Services

Faculty questionnaires can facilitate ongoing communication between LD support services and college faculty.

Voices in Education: Professional Teacher Associations

Every semester in my undergraduate educational psychology course we have a discussion about teaching as a profession. Is teaching a profession? We compare and contrast with other occupations that are definitely considered professions, such as physicians, lawyers, architects, and accountants. Is there an exam required to enter the profession? Yes. Is there a high level of education and training required? Yes and no (alternative certifications). Is the salary commensurate with the skills, education, and work required? No. Is there respect and admiration for the occupation? Increasingly no. Is there an association that sets standards and determines who gets to practice in the profession? No. Teacher associations are often referred to as ‘‘unions,’’ suggesting a division of labor and management, where teachers are part of the labor force. Teachers are not a self-governing body like other professions. Teachers do not determine the criteria for licensure. Teachers do not determine who can and cannot practice. Teachers do not set policy at any level. Yet, teachers enter their classroom the first day fully responsible for everything that happens and all of the outcomes. I have a professional rule: never accept responsibility without authority. That is to say, do not accept a task that will allow me to be judged based on the performance of others without the authority to control the situation. Teaching as a profession violates my rule on at least two levels. Teachers have no control over the ‘‘quality’’ of the material (students) they get to work with, but are held responsible for the product at the end of the year. Small changes in the nature of a teacher’s students can have a big impact on assessments of teachers based on student performance. This is reflected in the most damning criticism of value-added models of teacher evaluation. Teachers are inconsistently labeled as good or bad from year-to-year based on the changing nature of their students. The second, larger level is the policies that establish the rules of the game, from the district to the national level. Would we, unlike any other country, be testing students every year? Maybe, but not if those tests did not help kids or make a major contribution to instruction. Would we make privatization through charters or vouchers a major reform effort without any evidence of improving education? This costly distraction probably would be replaced with actual programs that benefit students. But none of this is to suggest that teachers do not need a ‘‘union.’’ On the contrary, the lack of control by teachers over the conditions of their occupation demands a union. In the face of self-serving political agendas and profiteering, teachers must stand together for themselves and their students. The lack of respect for teachers in this country is a national embarrassment. Accountability is a two-edged sword, and while reformers wield it to attack ‘‘bad’’ teachers, it cuts deep into every teacher in every classroom. It tells the