Sara Speybroeck

Different pathways towards dropout: the role of engagement in early school leaving

In this study, we examine the development of student engagement in relation to dropout. We focus on different growth trajectories of engagement between groups of students and on whether these trajectories lead to differences in the survival of the student. The development of behavioural and emotional engagement of 4063 graduates and 541 (11.7%) dropouts is examined from Year 7 to Year 12 and this development is linked to the probability of dropping out in each grade by means of a discrete-time survival mixture model. For emotional engagement, results point to a model with two different subgroups: one group starting at a high level of engagement and following a (relatively) stable pattern and the other group starting at a lower level of engagement and following a decreasing trend. For behavioural engagement, the results indicate that a three-class model showed the best fit: a high and (relatively) stable group, a high and decreasing group and a low and stable group. In terms of dropout, the unstable and low groups demonstrate a significantly higher probability of dropping out, as evidenced in the steep, declining survival curves. Different background variables are included to gain more insight into engagement and dropout, and to predict membership in the low and decreasing class.

The perceived impact of publications on Neglected Tropical Zoonoses as measured by their impact factor

We investigated whether papers on Neglected Tropical Zoonoses are published in journals with lower impact factors than research on diseases with a similar global health burden. We found that, despite being cited equally often, the papers on Neglected Tropical Zoonoses were published in journals with lower impact factors. The scopes of these journals are mainly restricted to Tropical medicine. A clustering analysis revealed that The Lancet, a high impact general medical journal, does pay attention to Neglected Tropical Zoonoses. We discuss our findings in the context of the ongoing discussion about the publishing policies of medical journals. Moreover, our findings stress the importance of recent suggestions that impact factors should not be used for assigning public funding to research (programs) on Neglected Tropical Zoonoses.

Experiential Education in Kindergarten: Associations with School Adjustment and the Moderating Role of Initial Achievement.

Experiential education is a child-centered educational framework that is popular in Flemish kindergartens. In this study, the impact of five experiential practices (autonomy support, stimulation, emotional support, time for choice activities, and interest-based activities) and the moderating influence of initial achievement (language and arithmetic achievement) was examined. Data were collected on 2,360 kindergartners (139 classes), their parents, and their teachers. Hierarchical linear models examined the extent to which experiential practices and children’s background characteristics predicted several aspects of children’s school adjustment: language and arithmetic achievement, school enjoyment, and independent participation. Results indicated that not all experiential practices were related to optimal school adjustment; a stimulating teaching style was related to greater learning gains in academic achievement, but an autonomy-supportive teaching style was related to smaller learning gains in academic achievement, especially among low-achieving children.