ABSTRACT Despite the difficulty of defining young adult literature (YAL), the benefits of it have been well recognised for adolescent learners. With the aim of exploring pedagogical approaches to L2 literature, this study reports on a YAL reading programme carried out in a secondary EFL classroom in China. To gain both teacher and student perspectives, data were collected from three main sources: semi-structured interviews with the teacher and student participants (N = 3); teacher’s reflective journal; students’ written works published on a social media platform (N = 304). Following the comprehensive approach model of L2 literature teaching [Bloemert, J., A. Paran, E. Jansen and W. van de Grift. 2019. Students’ perspective on the benefits of EFL literature education. The Language Learning Journal 47, no. 3: 371–384.], the teaching activities of the reading programme carried out over ten weeks arepresented and analysed, illustrated by samples of students’ work. Findings of the study suggest that YAL has positive effects on teenage L2 learners including interest in the story and relatable protagonists, enhanced understanding of the embedded culture, and personal growth. Teaching activities conducted in this programme are categorised into facilitating activities and reading tasks. Two principles for L2 literature teaching are drawn out of the teaching activities: providing others’ perspectives and eliciting students’ perspectives on the novel; and integrating multimodal production into literature teaching. Detailed implications for future practice are explored.

Improving Our Understanding of Medical Decision-Making Competence in Puberty Suppression.

IntroductionTactile and erogenous sensitivity of the neophallus after phalloplasty is assumed to affect the sexual well-being of transmasculine persons and, ultimately, their quality of life. The experienced and objective sensation of the neophallus and their association are largely unknown.AimThis study evaluated experienced tactile and erotic sensation of the neophallus in transmasculine persons and investigated how this was related to objective tactile sensitivity.MethodsBetween August 2017 and January 2020, 59 transmasculine persons who underwent phalloplasty were recruited to participate in a prospective follow-up study. Tactile sensitivity of the neophallus and donor-site was measured (Semmes-Weinstein Monofilament test) and compared, and participants were asked to fill out a questionnaire about experienced sensation of the neophallus and sexual wellbeing.Main outcome measuresExperienced and objective sensation of the neophallus were measured by using a questionnaire and Semmes-Weinstein Monofilament scores.ResultsNeophallic tactile sensitivity was significantly reduced compared to the donor-site (n = 44), with the proximal part being more sensitive than the distal part (median follow-up of 1.8 years, range 1.0–7.2)). Sensitivity of the neophallus was not significantly associated with the surgical flap used, yet increased significantly with follow-up time. The questionnaire was completed by 26 participants of which 24 (92.3%) experienced (some degree of) tactile sensitivity in their neophallus. Erogenous sensation was experienced by 23 (88.5%). Experienced and objectified tactile sensitivity were not significantly correlated (Spearmans's rho = 0.23, P = .26). Answers to open-ended questions showed that results often do not match expectations.ConclusionTactile sensation of the neophallus was reduced in most transmasculine persons and improved slowly over time. A significant association between subjective and objective measures could not be detected. Although experienced sensitivity varied between individuals, the vast majority reported to have tactile and erotic sensitivity in the neophallus.Transmasculine persons should be informed that sensitivity of the neophallus will likely be reduced.Elfering L, van de Grift TC, Al-Tamimi M, et al. How Sensitive Is the Neophallus? Postphalloplasty Experienced and Objective Sensitivity in Transmasculine Persons. Sex Med 2021;9:100413.

Patient-Reported Outcomes After Genital Gender-Affirming Surgery With Versus Without Urethral Lengthening in Transgender Men

The BJU International paper by van de Grift and colleagues includes important data outlining the long-term cosmetic and functional outcomes for masculinizing surgery in patients born with differences in sex development. This overview highlights some of the important findings and their context in what can be a controversial subject.

Abstract Despite scholarly recovery of many nineteenth-century women writers, especially those publishing mainly in periodicals, the fiction, travel writing and journalism of Fanny Van de Grift Stevenson (1840–1914) are still neglected. Situating Van de Grift Stevenson in the context of late nineteenth-century US periodical culture, this article considers how many of the author’s periodical writings cross not only geographical but also generic boundaries. Van de Grift Stevenson’s periodical publishing appears in a variety of modes and genres, at times with journalistic material entering her fiction, domestic life including recipes inserted in her journalism, and autobiography glimpsed in both fiction and journalism. The article examines this author’s transatlantic periodical writings in the context of gender and genre, noting the ways in which these categories intersect throughout her authorship. Focusing especially on the author’s regional writing as seen in her non-fiction ‘cookbook articles’ Ramblings of a Housewife and the short story ‘The Warlock’s Shadow’, the article argues that Van de Grift Stevenson’s blending of regional and domestic modes of writing presents a specific interrogation of cultural and geographical identities.

BackgroundMultiple options of genital gender-affirming surgery are available to transmen. The transman should be able to weigh these options based on the outcomes, risks, and consequences that are most important to him. For this reason, a decision aid for genital surgery in transmen (DA-GST) was developed. It aims to support the transman in making thoughtful choices among treatment options and facilitate shared decision-making between the healthcare professionals and the transindividual. AimThe aim of this study was to evaluate the newly developed DA-GST. MethodsThis was a cross-sectional study using mixed methods. Transmen considering to undergo genital surgery were eligible to partake in the study. The questionnaires used in this study were developed by adapting the validated Dutch translation of the “Decisional Conflict Scale,” the “Measures of Informed Choice,” and the “Ottawa Preparation for Decision-Making Scale.” Qualitative interviews were conducted querying their subjective experience with the DA-GST. The data from the questionnaires were statistically analyzed, and the data from the interviews were thematically analyzed. OutcomesThe main outcome measures were decisional conflict and decisional confidence measured via self-report items and qualitative data regarding the use of the DA-GST via interviews. ResultsIn total, 51 transmen participated in the questionnaires study, 99 questionnaires were analyzed, and 15 interviews were conducted. Although confident in their decision, most transmen felt responsible to collect the necessary information themselves. The ability to go through the decision aid independently aided the decision-making process by providing information and highlighting their subjective priorities. Suggested additions are pictures of postoperational outcomes and personal statements from experienced transmen. Clinical TranslationThe DA-GST could be implemented as an integral part of transgender health care. Clinicians could take the individual personal values into account and use it to accurately tailor their consult. This would ultimately improve the doctor-patient relationship and decrease decisional regret by enhancing effective shared decision-making. Strengths & LimitationsThis mixed-method design study confirmed the use of the DA-GST while taking a broad range of decisional factors into account. Limitations include the absence of a baseline analysis and the limited power for the comparison of treatment groups. ConclusionsThis study suggests that the DA-GST helped transmen feel more prepared for their personal consult with the surgeon, reduced decisional conflict, and increased their decisional confidence.Mokken SE, Özer M, van de Grift TC, et al. Evaluation of the Decision Aid for Genital Surgery in Transmen. J Sex Med 2020;17:2067–2076.

This essay offers a first critical reading of American author Fanny Van de Grift Stevenson’s short story “The Warlock’s Shadow” (1886), asserting that the tale appropriates historical traumas in order to navigate, and transgress, boundaries of genre and gender. The strangeness of the text’s Central Californian setting, to the narrator, precipitates a series of Gothic metamorphoses, and “The Warlock’s Shadow” engages with this transformation via a concept that this essay defines as the “Californian Uncanny”. The latter framework is a result of the specific, layered indigenous and colonial identities of post-Gold Rush California coming into contact with the unstable subjectivities of the Gothic genre. “The Warlock’s Shadow” manifests the Californian Uncanny primarily through the relationship between the home, the environment, and the “unassimilable” inhabitant. Stevenson’s text illustrates, through these images, the ways in which late-nineteenth-century American Gothic fiction has allowed the white feminine subject to negotiate her own identity, complicating the binary distinctions between Self and Other which underpin American colonialism both internally and externally. The phenomenon of the Californian Uncanny in “The Warlock’s Shadow” reflects these gendered and geographical anxieties of American identity, confronting the ghosts of the nation’s westernmost region.

The article “First-year university students’ academic success: the importance of academic adjustment,” written by Els C. M. van Rooij, Ellen P. W. A. Jansen, and Wim J. C. M. van de Grift, was originally published electronically on the publisher’s internet portal (currently SpringerLink) on 4 November 2017 without open access.

Didactical strategies are one of the most influential vehicles that directly contribute to transforming knowledge. Varying types of didactical approaches are being adopted and implemented in the preparation of future teachers in the initial teacher education set up. The current conceptual paper is based on rigorous literature review on the typologies of didactical strategies adopted in the initial teacher education. The purpose of this conceptual and theoretical study is to evaluate and contrast varying didactical approaches while navigating through literature. The study also aims at exploring the interrelationship of didactical approaches with teacher cognitions i.e., teacher pedagogical beliefs. The methodology of this study based on the selection of six types of didactical strategies by Van De Grift (2007) and to compare and contrast them with other typologies available in literature and to explore the interrelationship with teachers’ pedagogical beliefs. The study concludes that the varying typologies of didactical strategies are being adopted and implemented in the ITE set up and these strategies have strong relationship with teacher’s pedagogical beliefs. The study recommends that the teachers’ cognitions i.e., teachers’ pedagogical beliefs may be included in the curriculum when preparing future teachers in the initial teacher education setting. These findings are substantial for policy makers, curriculum developers, head teachers, and other stakeholders in the initial teacher education.

ABSTRACTThis article examines the first three literary reactions to Fenian terrorism: Robert Louis Stevenson and Fanny van de Grift Stevenson’s co-written novel, The Dynamiter (1885); Tom Greer’s A Modern Daedalus (1885) and Henry James’ The Princess Casamassima (1886). Although these works approach terrorism from different angles, they set the pattern for subsequent treatments that will “give primary voice to the perspective of the terrorist”. “Zero”, the hapless bomb-makers in The Dynamiter, is a surprisingly urbane, sympathetic figure; Greer illustrates both the necessity and the moral quandaries of terrorism and James shows considerable sympathy for anarchism’s causes, even though terrorism threatens high art and culture. I also hope to show that fiction can provide excellent source material for studying the cultural imaginary of terrorism and, by extension, make a bid for the inclusion of literature scholars under the umbrella of Critical Terrorism Studies.

Increasing class size is one of the key variables that policy makers can use to control spending on education. The average class size at the lower secondary level is 23 students in OECD countries, but there are significant differences, ranging from over 32 in Japan and Korea to 19 or below in Estonia, Iceland, Luxembourg, Slovenia and the United Kingdom (OECD, 2012). On the other hand, reducing class size to increase student achievement is an approach that has been tried, debated, and analysed for several decades. Between 2000 and 2009, many countries invested additional resources to decrease class size (OECD, 2012). Despite the important policy and practice implications of the topic, the research literature on the educational effects of class-size differences has not been clear. A large part of the research on the effects of class size has found that smaller class sizes improve student achievement (for example Finn & Achilles, 1999; Konstantopoulos, 2009; Molnar et al., 1999; Schanzenbach, 2007). The consensus among many in education research that smaller classes are effective in improving student achievement has led to a policy of class size reductions in a number of U.S. states, the United Kingdom, and the Netherlands. This policy is disputed by those who argue that the effects of class size reduction are only modest and that there are other more cost-effective strategies for improving educational standards (Hattie, 2005; Hedges, Laine, & Greenwald, 1994; Rivkin, Hanushek, & Kain, 2005). There is no consensus in the literature as to whether class size reduction can pass a cost-benefit test (Dustmann, Rajah & van Soest, 2003; Dynarski, Hyman & Schanzenbach, 2011; Finn, Gerber & Boyd-Zaharias, 2005; Muenning & Woolf, 2007). As it is costly to reduce class size, it is important to consider the types of students who might benefit most from smaller class sizes and to consider the timing, intensity, and duration of class size reduction as well. Low socioeconomic status is strongly associated with low school performance. Results from the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) point to the fact that most of the students who perform poorly in PISA are from socio-economically disadvantaged backgrounds (OECD, 2010). Across OECD countries, a student from a more socio-economically advantaged background outperforms a student from an average background by about one year's worth of education in reading, and by even more in comparison to students with low socio-economic background. Results from PISA also show that some students with low socioeconomic status excel in PISA, demonstrating that overcoming socio-economic barriers to academic achievement is indeed possible (OECD, 2010). Smaller class size has been shown to be more beneficial for students from socioeconomically disadvantaged backgrounds (Biddle & Berliner, 2002). Evidence from the Tennessee STAR randomised controlled trial showed that minority students, students living in poverty, and students who were educationally disadvantaged benefitted the most from reduced class size (Finn, 2002; Word et al. (1994). Further, evidence from the controlled, though not randomised, trial, the Wisconsin's Student Achievement Guarantee in Education (SAGE) program, showed that students from minority and low-income families benefitted the most from reduced class size (Molnar et al., 1999). Thus, rather than implementing costly universal class size reduction policies, it may be more economically efficient to target schools with high concentrations of socioeconomic disadvantaged students for class size reductions. In the case of the timing of class size reduction, the question is: when does class size reduction have the largest effect? Ehrenberg, Brewer, Gamoran and Willms (2001) hypothesized that students educated in small classes during the early grades may be more likely to develop working habits and learning strategies that enable them to better take advantage of learning opportunities in later grades. According to Bascia and Fredua-Kwarteng (2008), researchers agree that class size reduction is most effective in the primary grades. That empirical research shows class size to be most effective in the early grades is also concluded by Biddle and Berliner (2002) and the evidence from both STAR and SAGE back this conclusion up (Finn, Gerber, Achilles, & Boyd-Zaharias, 2001; Smith, Molnar, & Zahorik, 2003). Of course, there is still the possibility that smaller classes may also be advantageous at later strategic points of transition, for example, in the first year of secondary education. Research evidence on this possibility is, however, needed. For intensity, the question is: how small does a class have to be in order to optimize the advantage? For example, large gains are attainable when class size is below 20 students (Biddle & Berliner, 2002; Finn, 2002) but gains are also attainable if class size is not below 20 students (Angrist & Lavy, 2000; Borland, Howsen & Trawick, 2005; Fredrikson, Öckert & Oosterbeek, 2013; Schanzenbach, 2007). It has been argued that the impact of class size reduction of different sizes and from different baseline class sizes is reasonably stable and more or less linear when measured per student (Angrist & Pischke, 2009, see page 267; Schanzenbach, 2007). Other researchers argue that the effect of class size is not only nonlinear but also non-monotonic, implying that an optimal class size exists (Borland, Howsen & Trawick, 2005). Thus, the question of whether the size of reduction and initial class size matters for the magnitude of gain from small classes is still an open question. Finally, researchers agree that the length of the intervention (number of years spent in small classes) is linked with the sustainability of benefits (Biddle & Berliner, 2002; Finn, 2002; Grissmer, 1999; Nye, Hedges & Konstantopoulos, 1999) whereas the evidence on whether more years spent in small classes leads to larger gains in academic achievement is mixed (Biddle & Berliner, 2002; Egelson, Harman, Hood & Achilles, 2002; Finn 2002; Kruger, 1999). How long a student should remain in a small class before eventually returning to a class of regular size is an unanswered question. The intervention in this systematic review is a reduction in class size. What constitutes a reduced class size? This seemingly simple issue has confounded the understanding of outcomes of the research and it is one of the reasons there is disagreement about whether class size reduction works (Graue, Hatch, Rao & Oen, 2007). Two terms are used to describe the intervention, class size and student-teacher ratio, and it is important to distinguish between these two terms. The first, class size, focuses on reducing group size and, hence, is operationalized as the number of students a teacher instructs in a classroom at a point in time. For this definition, a reduced number of students are assigned to a class in the belief that teachers will then develop an in-depth understanding of student learning needs through more focused interactions, better assessment, and fewer disciplinary problems. These mechanisms are based on the dynamics of a smaller group (Ehrenberg et al., 2001). The second term is student-teacher ratio and is often used as a proxy for class size, defined as a school's total student enrollment divided by the number of its full time teachers. From this perspective, lowering the ratio of students to teachers provides enhanced opportunities for learning. The concept of using student-teacher ratios as a proxy for class size is based on a view of teachers as units of expertise and is less focused on the student-teacher relationship. Increasing the relative units of expertise available to students increases learning, but does not rely on particular teacher-student interactions (Graue et al., 2007). Although class size and student-teacher ratio are related, they involve different assumptions about how a reduction changes the opportunities for students and teachers. In addition, the discrepancy between the two can vary depending on teachers' roles and the amount of time teachers spend in the classroom during the school day. In this review, the intervention is class size reduction. Studies only considering average class size measured as student-teacher ratio at school level (or higher levels) will not be eligible. Neither will studies where the intervention is the assignment of an extra teacher (or teaching assistants or other adults) to a class be eligible. The assignment of additional teachers (or teaching assistants or other adults) to a classroom is not the same as reducing the size of the class, and this review focuses exclusively on the effects of class size in the sense of number of students in a classroom. Smaller classes allow teachers to adapt their instruction to the needs of individual students. For example, teachers' instruction can be more easily adapted to the development of the individual students. The concept of adaptive education refers to instruction that is adapted to meet the individual needs and abilities of students (Houtveen, Booij, de Jong & van de Grift, 1999). With adaptive education, some students receive more time, instruction, or help from the teacher than other students. Research has shown that in smaller classes, teachers have more time and opportunity to give individual students the attention they need (Betts & Shkolnik, 1999; Blatchford & Mortimore, 1994; Bourke, 1986; Molnar et al., 1999; Molnar et al., 2000; Smith & Glass, 1980). Additional, less pressure may be placed upon the physical space and resources within the classroom. Both of these factors may be connected to less pupil misbehaviour and disciplinary problems detected in larger classes (Wilson, 2002). In smaller classes, it is possible for students with low levels of ability to receive more attention from the teacher, with the result that not necessarily all students profit equally. More generally, teachers are able to devote more of their time to educational content (the tasks students must complete) and less to classroom management (for example, maintaining order) in smaller classes. An increased amount of time spend on task, contributes to enhanced academic achievement. It has often been pointed out, however, that teachers do not necessarily change the way they teach when faced with smaller classes and therefore do not take advantage of all of the benefits offered by a smaller class size. Research suggests that such situations do indeed exist in practice (e.g. Blatchford & Mortimore, 1994; Shapson, Wright, Eason & Fitzgerald, 1980). Anderson (2000) addressed the question of why reductions in class size should be expected to enhance student achievement and part of his theory was tested in Annevelink, Bosker and Doolaard (2004). To explain the relationship between class size and achievement, Anderson developed a causal model, which starts with reduced class size and ends with student achievement. Anderson noted that small classes would not, in and of themselves, solve all educational problems. The number of students in a classroom can have only an indirect effect on student achievement. As Zahorik (1999) states: “Class size, of course, cannot influence academic achievement directly. It must first influence what teachers and students do in the classroom before it can possibly affect student learning” (p. 50). In other words, what teachers do matters. Anderson's causal model of the effect of reduced class size on student achievement is depicted in Figure 1. Anderson's model predicts that a reduced class size will have direct positive effects on the following three variables: 1) Disciplinary problems, 2) Knowledge of student, and 3) Teacher satisfaction and enthusiasm. Each of these variables, in turn, begins a separate path. Fewer disciplinary problems are expected to lead to more instructional time, which in combination with teacher knowledge of the external test, produces greater opportunity to learn. In combination with more appropriate, personalised instruction and greater teacher effort, more instructional time potentially produces greater student engagement in learning as well as more in-depth treatment of content. Greater knowledge of students is expected to provide more appropriate personalised instruction, and in combination with more instructional time and greater teacher effort, potentially produces greater student engagement in learning and more in-depth treatment of content. Greater teacher satisfaction and enthusiasm are expected to result in greater teacher effort, which in combination with more instructional time and more appropriate, personalised instruction produces greater student engagement in learning and more in-depth treatment of content. Finally greater student achievement is the expected result of a combination of the three variables: Greater opportunity to learn, greater student engagement in learning, and more in-depth treatment of content. The path from greater knowledge of students through appropriate, personalised instruction and student engagement in learning to student achievement is tested in Annevelink et al. (2004) on students in Grade 1 in 46 Dutch schools in the school year 1999-2000. Personalised instruction is operationalised as the number of specific types of interactions. Teachers seeking to provide more personalised instruction are expected to provide fewer interactions directed at the organization and personal interactions, and more interactions directed at the task and praising interactions. These changes in interactions are expected to result in a situation where the student spends more time on task. The level of student engagement is operationalised as the amount of time a student spends on task. Students who spend more time on task are expected to achieve higher learning results. Smaller classes were related to more interactions of all kinds and more task-directed and praising interactions resulted in more time spent on task which in turn was related to higher student achievement as expected. Notice that more organizational or personal interactions in smaller classes were contrary to expectations whereas more task-directed interactions or praising interactions was consistent with expectations (Annevelink et al., 2004). Class size is one of the most researched educational interventions in social science, yet there is no clear consensus on the effectiveness of small class sizes for improving student achievement. While one strand of class size research points to small and insignificant effects, another points to positive and significant effects. The early meta-analysis by Glass and Smith (1979) analysed the outcomes of 77 studies including 725 comparisons between smaller and larger class sizes on student achievement. They concluded that a class size reduction had a positive effect on student achievement. Hedges and Stock (1983) reanalysed Glass and Smith's data using different statistical methods, but found very little difference in the average effect sizes across the two analysis methods. However, the updated literature reviews by Hanushek (Hanushek, 1989; 1999; 2003) cast doubt on these findings. His reviews looked at 276 estimates of pupil-teacher ratios as a proxy for class size, and most of these estimates pointed to insignificant effects. Based on a vote counting method, Hanushek concluded that “there is no strong or consistent relationship between school resources and student performance” (Hanushek, 1987, p. 47). Krueger (2003), however, points out that Hanushek relies too much on a few studies, which reported many estimates from even smaller subsamples of the same dataset. Many of the 276 estimates were from the same dataset but estimated on several smaller subsamples, and these many small sample estimates are more likely to be insignificant. The vote counting method used in Hanushek's original literature review (Hanushek, 1989) is also criticised by Hedges et al. (1994), who offer a reanalysis of the data from Hanushek's reviews using more sophisticated synthesis methods. Hedges et al. (1994) used a combined significance test.1 They tested two null hypotheses: 1) no positive relation between the resource and output and 2) no negative relation between the resource and output. The tests determine if the data are consistent with the null hypothesis in all studies or false in at least some of the studies. Further, Hedges et al. (1994) reported the median standardized regression coefficient.2 The conclusion is that “it shows systematic positive relations between resource inputs and school outcomes” (Hedges et al., 1994, p. 5). Hence, dependent upon which synthesis method3 is considered appropriate; conclusions based on the same evidence are quite different. The divergent conclusions of the above-mentioned reviews are further based on non-experimental evidence, combining measurements from primary studies that have different specifications and assumptions. According to Grissmer (1999), the different specifications and assumptions, as well as the appropriateness of the specifications and assumptions, account for the inconsistency of the results of the primary studies. The Tennessee STAR experiment provides rare evidence of the effect of class size from a randomized controlled trial (RCT). The STAR experiment was implemented in Tennessee in the 1980s, assigning kindergarten children to either normal sized classes (around 22 students) or small classes (around 15 students). The study ran for four years, until the assigned children reached third grade, but not even based on this kind of evidence do researchers agree about the conclusion. According to Finn and Achilles (1990), Nye et al. (1999) and Krueger (1999), STAR results show that class size reduction increased student achievement. However, Hanushek (1999; 2003) questions these results because of attrition from the project, crossover between treatments, and selective test taking, which may have violated the initial randomization. While the class size debate on what can be concluded based on the same evidence is acceptable and meaningful in the research community, it is probably of less help in guiding decision-makers and practitioners. If research is to inform practice, there must be an attempt to reach some agreement about what the research does and does not tell us about the effectiveness of interventions as well as what conclusions can be reasonably drawn from research. The researchers must reach a better understanding of questions such as: for who does class size reduction have an effect? When does class size reduction have an effect? How small does a class have to be in order to be advantageous? The purpose of this review is to systematically uncover relevant studies in the literature that measure the effects of class size on academic achievement and synthesize the effects in a transparent manner. The purpose of this review is to systematically uncover relevant studies in the literature that measure the effects of class size on academic achievement. We will synthesize the effects in a transparent manner and, where possible, we will investigate the extent to which the effects differ among different groups of students such as high/low performers, high/low income families, or members of minority/non-minority groups, and whether timing, intensity, and duration have an impact on the magnitude of the effect. The title for this systematic review was approved in The Campbell Collaboration on 9. October 2012. Types of study designs We will include study designs that use a well-defined control group. The main control or comparison condition is students in classes with more students than in the treatment classes. Non-randomised studies, where the reduction of class size has occurred in the course of usual decisions outside the researcher's control, must demonstrate pre-treatment group equivalence via matching, statistical controls, or evidence of equivalence on key risk variables and participant characteristics. These factors are outlined in section Assessment of risk of bias in included studies‘ under the subheading of Confounding, and the methodological appropriateness of the included studies will be assessed according to the risk of bias model outlined in section Assessment of risk of bias in included studies.‘ Different studies use different types of use test data on individual students and class-size data for use individual student data but average class-size data for students in that in use average for students in a level within a school and average class size for students in that We will only include studies that use of class size and of data at the individual or class We will studies that rely on of class size as and of outcomes to a level higher than the class school or school studies do not have class size data and use the average student-teacher ratio within the school (or at higher school Studies only considering average class size measured as student-teacher ratio within a school (or at higher levels) will not be eligible. Types of The review will include children in grades kindergarten to (or the in in education. Studies that meet will be from all We will children in in and in education. Types of interventions The intervention in this review is a reduction in class size. The more class size is measured the more the of a study will Studies only considering the average class size measured as student-teacher ratio within a school (or at higher levels) will not be eligible. Neither will studies where the intervention is the assignment of an extra teacher (or teaching assistants or other adults) to a class be eligible. The assignment of additional teachers (or teaching assistants or other adults) to a classroom is not the same as reducing the size of the class, and this review focuses exclusively on the effects of reducing class size. We that class size can change per or eventually vary during the day. The of the class size measure will be Types of The primary is on of academic achievement. achievement outcomes include and must be of academic achievement. The primary variables are tests (e.g. reading, and and tests (e.g. and level studies may test results in other academic of academic performance. The following effect sizes will also be as secondary outcomes when test in other academic at primary school level (e.g. in or second and of academic (e.g. of Achievement Grade In to the primary we will consider school as a secondary Studies will only be included if they consider one or more of the primary of Types of The of the intervention is classes, grades kindergarten to (or the in in regular or will be studies will be through of research policy and The will include studies from and are as the results of too studies may not be On the other we to include the STAR experiment which was implemented in Tennessee in the is in the terms An example of the for on the is The will be for the different Both and will be literature will be by of and and we will the first will also be used to for of relevant will be and we will the and of for relevant of relevant from will be We will the and of The two most in the will be of included studies and relevant reviews will be for with and researchers will be considered in order to and studies. We that a amount of studies will be of there is not a for in educational research. This among other from some of of to about of The Tennessee STAR experiment is an and provides rare evidence of the effect of class size from a randomized controlled The STAR experiment was implemented in Tennessee in the A of students and teachers at kindergarten through third were assigned at to three types of class within the same a small class (around a regular class (around 23 and a regular class with a In the students to regular classes and the experiment in the were to The sample included small classes, regular classes and regular classes with an A based in the an et al., but several other researchers have the data as data for students in the original have been (for example Nye et al., and Hanushek, 1999). An example of a controlled, though not randomised, trial is the Wisconsin's Student Achievement Guarantee in Education (SAGE) It was as a year that in the school The that schools four different of which one is to reduce the pupil-teacher ratio within a classroom to 15 students per teacher with kindergarten and first in the school year was in and third in The SAGE is based on comparisons of achievement in the schools that the in the of and a group of comparison schools with student and school characteristics. Achievement tests were in the SAGE and comparison schools at the and of the first (Molnar et al., 1999). A used approach that to the causal effect of class size the methodological development in and This method estimates the class size effect from in with a regression As a particular the class size, that schools an additional for example, the class size is then of students will result in one class of students will result in two classes of average size student outcomes by small and large classes in schools with students, and the effects of class size reductions. We will take account the of analysis of the studies to determine to whether were randomised in groups randomised whether may have whether there were treatment groups and whether several studies are based on the same data randomised randomised included in this review will be for in the of and the of as statistical analysis can when they are different. When appropriate have been we will effect estimates and their & In where study have not appropriate analysis that control for effects, we will the & and interventions groups and interventions per Studies with intervention groups with different will be included in this To problems with between effect sizes we will & 2010). However, studies show that this method needs studies included in the data synthesis (Hedges et al., 2010). If this number cannot be reached we will use a effect size (the in order to between effect This method provides an of the effect size but the

Linguistic Tools: <i>Basic Technical Japanese</i> . Edward E. Daub, R. Byron Bird, and Nobue Inoue. University of Wisconsin Press, Madison, and University of Tokyo Press, Tokyo, 1990. Variously paged. $35.; <i>Technical Japanese Supplements: Kanji for Understanding Technical Japanese</i> . Edward E. Daub. University of Wisconsin Press, Madison, and University of Tokyo Press, Tokyo, 1995. viii, 207 pp. Paper, $30.; <i>Technical

Linguistic Tools: <i>Basic Technical Japanese</i> . Edward E. Daub, R. Byron Bird, and Nobue Inoue. University of Wisconsin Press, Madison, and University of Tokyo Press, Tokyo, 1990. Variously paged. $35.; <i>Technical Japanese Supplements: Kanji for Understanding Technical Japanese</i> . Edward E. Daub. University of Wisconsin Press, Madison, and University of Tokyo Press, Tokyo, 1995. viii, 207 pp. Paper, $30.; <i>Technical

School Reform: The District Policy Implications of the Effective Schools Literature

When the societies are worried about their educative process and they consider get it better, they are planning the progress in all their dimensions. There is the importance to set up politics that tend to have a high quality education. Nevertheless, the efforts in the Soledad township are not enough. In the development plan SOLEDAD CONFIABLE 2016-2019, the community indicated as a main problem the low quality education in the township. That is reflected in the performance levels measured by the ISCE. Hence, the investigation ́s objective is to analyze the continuous improvement processes of the educative quality in the successful schools of Soledad township. In other matters, this investigation used the paradigm quali- quantitative with a descriptive design to explain the academic process and the description of the factors that have influenced on this continuous process. With the help of four tools: documentary review rubric, semi-structured interview script and two questionnaires; it was achieved determine the specific practices that are using the principals and teachers to support the improvement of learnings and the integral development of the students.

An Experimental Study of Effective Teaching in First-Grade Reading Groups

We report precision measurements of the dielectric constant e of liquid and solid 4 He at constant density as a function of temperature in the range0.1<T<1.2 K. For these measurements a capacitance bridge was used, the stability of which permitted a reproducibility of δe / e ≈ 6×10−9 in the dielectric constant. We find that the polarizabilityp, defined by the Clausius-Mosotti equation, is a weak function of temperature. This dependence onT at the low-temperature end diminishes as the density of 4 He is decreased to that at saturated vapor pressure. We also describe briefly attempts at measuring the change of e at the superfluid transition in 4 He and during the melting process, all corrected to conditions of constant volume, and upper limits for these changes are given. Finally, we present measurements of e in liquid 4 He at saturated vapor pressure between 0.15 and 1.3 K, from which we deduce the change in density. The results are compared with recent data obtained with a microwave cavity method and good agreement is found. Further comparisons are made with Van Degrift's results at 4 MHz and also with other recent data above 0.7 K.

A method (Gram-MGPLG) for demonstrating micro-organisms was compared with Gram and four other known methods. Each method was tested on tissue infected with Staphylococcus aureus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa or Neisseria gonorrhoeae, which were then fixed in Bouin's formol saline, formol sublimate, or Van de Grift solutions. Gram-positive organisms in tissues were easily seen even at low magnification when stained by several of the methods tested. Gram-negative organisms, however, are very difficult to locate when stained by Gram's method because tissue components and the organisms are all shades of red, whereas the Gram-MGPLG provided easier location of organisms because these are stained red while the nuclei are blue and connective tissue is green. All methods are markedly affected by fixation; better preservation of cytological detail and improved staining reactions were produced by fixative containing mercuric chloride.

Stories of the Latin American States. By Nellie Van de Grift Sanchez. (New York: Thomas Y. Crowell Company, 1934. viii + 391 pp. Maps. $2.50.) Get access Harold E. Davis Harold E. Davis Hiram College Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar Journal of American History, Volume 21, Issue 4, March 1935, Pages 603–604, https://doi.org/10.2307/1895513 Published: 01 March 1935