Lina Guzman

A cross-national analysis of parental involvement and student literacy

Using data from the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), we examine the association between parental involvement and student literacy in 21 countries. We consider how the nature of the association between parental involvement and student literacy varies in direction and magnitude across national borders and across multiple dimensions of parental involvement and measures of literacy. Across the 21 countries, we observe that, in general, increased social and cultural communication with parents is associated with higher levels of student literacy, although the association is most consistent in the area of reading literacy. Specifically, for students residing in eight countries (Australia, Austria, Canada, Denmark, Finland, Ireland, Norway and the United Kingdom), there are consistent reading literacy benefits when their parents engage in various forms of social and cultural communication. Consistently across all 21 countries, students have significantly lower literacy scores the more frequently parents assist with homework. This finding provides robust cross-national support for the reactive hypothesis.

Cultural capital: what does it offer students? A cross-national analysis

This study continues the refinement of the cultural capital concept, addressing gaps in existing scholarship by analyzing data from two major international datasets: the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) and the Third International Math and Science Study (TIMSS). Using these datasets, the relationship between student participation in culturally enriching activities and the possession of cultural resources and student academic outcomes across nine western industrialized countries is examined. This study focuses on European and North American countries that share a Western cultural history. Caution is warranted in generalizing the literature or results summarized below to countries that have not been shaped by a similar cultural history due to this sampling limitation. This study provides a basis on which to measure the extent to which the effect of cultural capital differs across national borders, even those that share common cultural histories. - See more at: http://www.childtrends.org/?publications=cultural-capital-what-does-it-offer-students-a-cross-national-analysis#sthash.6uH1fBwV.dpuf

Cognitive Interviews: Designing Survey Questions for Adolescents

The Flourishing Children Project responds to a call for rigorous indicators of positive development in adolescents by creating scales for 19 constructs of positive development in the categories of flourishing in school and work, personal flourishing, flourishing in relationships, relationship skills, helping others to flourish, and environmental stewardship. Each scale can be used alone or in combination to fill gaps in available measures of important constructs of adolescent flourishing. This chapter describes how items for the scales were developed, revised, and tested in cognitive interviews to ensure that items in the scales assessed each construct as it was conceptually defined and that items could be answered by respondents. To test the validity of items and identify problems with item wording, three rounds of cognitive interviews with adolescents ages 12–17 years and parents were conducted in 15 cities across the United States. A variety of techniques were used in the interviews, including concurrent and retrospective “think alouds,” follow-up probes, paraphrasing, and the use of semistructured, open-ended items. Sixty-eight cognitive interviews were conducted with adolescents and 23 parallel interviews were completed with parents. The adolescent sample was spread across racial/ethnic, age (12–13 years old and 14–17 years old), and income groups.

The use of fertility awareness methods (FAM) among young adult Latina and black women: what do they know and how well do they use it? Use of FAM among Latina and black women in the United States.

OBJECTIVES Although a sizeable percentage of minority women use fertility awareness methods (FAM), little is known about their use in the United States. We sought to fill this gap by examining FAM use among Latina and black women -- groups that have high rates of unintended childbearing and FAM use -- focusing on knowledge, sources of information and accuracy of use. Unlike other methods, accurate use of FAM requires relatively high levels of knowledge. STUDY DESIGN In-depth, semistructured interviews were conducted with 58 Latina and black women who were current or past users of FAM. Participants were recruited through local clinics and ads posted in neighborhoods and local Web sites. A purposive sample design was used to ensure that the sample included individuals with characteristics associated with FAM use. An inductive approach was used in the data analysis. RESULTS Women learned about FAM from family, professionals and the Internet. In general, what they learned fell into one of two levels of information -- basic or in-depth -- and many women possessed moderate to low levels of knowledge. By decomposing accuracy of use into its components, we find that it is driven largely by knowledge. While the vast majority of women were abstaining from unprotected sex during what they believed to be their fertile window, only 34 of the 58 participants accurately identified their fertile period. CONCLUSIONS Findings speak to a gap in reproductive literacy that has important implications for FAM users. The gap between behavior and knowledge could help account for high failure rates associated with FAM use.

Studying Aspects of Flourishing Among Adolescents

The Flourishing Children Project responds to a call for rigorous indicators of positive development in adolescents by creating scales for 19 constructs of positive development in the categories of flourishing in school and work, personal flourishing, flourishing in relationships, relationship skills, helping others to flourish, and environmental stewardship. Each scale can be used alone or in combination to fill gaps in available measures of important constructs of adolescent flourishing. This chapter presents background and overview of the project. Our work is based on a framework for generating positive indicators that we developed previously. The current project began with a review of the research and extant measures for the constructs. With that information, we created definitions for each of the 19 constructs that represented a consensus from the literature. We then selected existing items that measure these constructs or adapted or created new items, which we tested through three rounds of cognitive interviews. To ensure that they were suited for national surveys, the scales were tested on a nationally representative sample of adolescents and parents. Finally, we conducted psychometric analyses to ensure the scales possessed desired psychometric properties.

Pilot Study and Psychometric Analyses

The Flourishing Children Project responds to a call for rigorous indicators of positive development in adolescents by creating scales for 19 constructs of positive development in the categories of flourishing in school and work, personal flourishing, flourishing in relationships, relationship skills, helping others to flourish, and environmental stewardship. Each scale can be used alone or in combination to fill gaps in available measures of important constructs of adolescent flourishing. In the final stage of the project, described in this chapter, the items chosen for each scale were tested in a pilot study based on a survey of a nationally representative sample to ensure that they were suited for administration in national surveys and possessed the desired psychometric properties. The web-based survey, conducted in conjunction with Knowledge Networks, yielded a sample of 1,951 adolescents and 2,240 parents, or 1,833 parent-adolescent dyads. To assess the psychometric properties of each scale, data from the pilot survey were analyzed for reliability (alpha), concurrent validity, skewness, differences among subgroups (e.g., age, gender, and income groups), and other characteristics.