DOCSLIB.ORG

Relative Age Effects and Measures of Potential in the Primary Grades Rebecca O'brien University of Connecticut - Storrs, [email protected]

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Relative Age Effects and Measures of Potential in the Primary Grades Rebecca O'brien University of Connecticut - Storrs, Rebecca.Obrien@Uconn.Edu University of Connecticut OpenCommons@UConn Doctoral Dissertations University of Connecticut Graduate School 9-5-2018 Relative Age Effects and Measures of Potential in the Primary Grades Rebecca O'Brien University of Connecticut - Storrs, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://opencommons.uconn.edu/dissertations Recommended Citation O'Brien, Rebecca, "Relative Age Effects and Measures of Potential in the Primary Grades" (2018). Doctoral Dissertations. 1970. https://opencommons.uconn.edu/dissertations/1970 Relative Age Effects and Measures of Potential in the Primary Grades Rebecca Lynn O’Brien, Ph.D. University of Connecticut, 2018 In education, relative age effects (RAE) are present when a student’s age when compared to that of his/her classmates has implications for scores on measures of achievement and performance. Researchers studying relative age have established significant, but inconsistent effects of being relatively older or younger in a grade level on measures of achievement. Test results are used to identify students’ needs for educational services and interventions, and the effects of relative age could influence a student’s access to these academic supports. This study used the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Kindergarten Class of 2010-11 (ECLS-K:2011) dataset to analyze the effect of relative age on measures of potential in the early grades. The goal of this study was to investigate the strength and persistence of relative age effects on achievement assessments and teacher observations of student behavior in elementary school. I used an instrumental variable of the student’s predicted relative age to isolate the exogenous effects of students’ relative age in the fall of kindergarten. I integrated the instrumental variable framework into an autoregressive cross-lagged pathway to model the direct, indirect, and total effects of relative age on a measure of students’ academic achievement, teacher ratings of students’ academic performances, and teacher ratings of students’ learning behaviors. I identified an attenuation in the direct effects of relative age on students’ achievement and teacher ratings of students’ learning behaviors by the end of third grade. Further examination of the data revealed a Rebecca Lynn O’Brien, University of Connecticut, 2018 decrease in the total effect of relative age on students’ achievement by the end of third grade, but a sustained total effect of relative age on teacher ratings of students’ academic performance and learning behaviors from kindergarten through third grade. Relative Age Effects and Measures of Potential in the Primary Grades Rebecca Lynn O’Brien B.S., Centenary College of Louisiana, 2006 M.Ed., Northwestern State University, 2013 A Dissertation Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy at the University of Connecticut 2018 Copyright by Rebecca Lynn O’Brien 2018 ii APPROVAL PAGE Doctor of Philosophy Dissertation Relative Age Effects and Measures of Potential in the Primary Grades Presented by Rebecca Lynn O’Brien, B.S., M.Ed. Major Advisor: _________________________________________________ Dr. Catherine A. Little Associate Advisor: ______________________________________________ Dr. D. Betsy McCoach Associate Advisor: ______________________________________________ Dr. Del Siegle Associate Advisor: ______________________________________________ Dr. E. Jean Gubbins University of Connecticut iii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Thank you to my advisor and mentor, Catherine, for your kindness, patience, sense of humor, friendship, encouragement, editorial skills, and wisdom. You’ve given me the courage to learn things on my own, the support to do those things well, the opportunity to become a researcher, and an example of what it means to be an incredible advisor/boss/mentor. You’ve done more for me than I have the space to thank you for and I appreciate every bit of it. You’re the only person for whom I’ll use an Oxford comma! Thank you to Betsy for being so smart, patient, and enthusiastic. I could not have made it through these chapters without your guidance. Thank you to Del and Jean for your feedback and support over the last 5 years and for encouraging me to finally leave the nest. Thank you to Joe for providing comments and encouragement. Thank you to Alan for your invaluable help and insight. Thank you to Lisa and Kelly for becoming my work family, being the love and support I didn’t always think I needed. Thank you to Katy for your friendship, love, kindness, and generosity. I am so glad that our paths intersected and we got to walk a stretch of the road together. Thank you to the Tasker family for sharing laughs, feedback, and support. Thank you to my family for your continued love and support. There’s no way this paper would have ever seen daylight without your help to keep me moving forward. Thank you to Dave. You’ve believed in me from the beginning of this journey and I will never be able to thank you for helping me to make this work. To my dear Genevieve. You’re exactly what I never knew I needed. Your smile and laughter have gotten me through some of the most difficult days. You’ve given me the courage to finish this project and move on to whatever comes next in life. Your spunkiness, curiosity, enthusiasm, and easy-going nature have made being a mom an incredible joy. Thank you. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS Page CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION 1 Theoretical Basis 3 Statement of the Problem 8 Statement of the Purpose 9 Research Questions 9 CHAPTER TWO REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE 11 Inconsistencies in Gifted Education 11 Relative Age Effects 13 Relative Age Effect in Athletic Performance 14 Relative Age Effects in Academic Performance 16 Persistence of Relative Age Effects 18 Demographic Differences in Relative Age Effects 22 Teacher Judgment and Perception of Student Performance 25 Accuracy of Teacher Judgments 28 Factors of Variation in Teacher Judgments 31 CHAPTER THREE METHODS 41 Research Questions and Hypotheses 41 Sample Description 43 Data Collection 44 Instruments 45 Direct Cognitive Assessments 45 Child-level Teacher Questionnaires 48 Demographics 49 Variables 49 Computation of Variables 49 Variable Coding 53 Missing Data 62 Data Cleaning 64 Inclusion Criteria 64 Model Modifications and Measures of Fit 65 Research Design 65 Instrumental Variable Approach 66 The Predictor and Outcome Relationship 71 The Outcome Variable Structure 72 Instrumental Variable Integration 76 Procedures 79 Descriptive Analysis 80 Factor Analysis 80 Structural Equation Modeling 96 v Data Analysis 102 Research Question 1 102 Research Question 2 102 Research Question 3 103 CHAPTER FOUR RESULTS 106 Descriptive Analyses 106 Structural Equation Modeling 114 Research Question 1 114 Research Question 2 121 Research Question 3 132 Conclusion 146 CHAPTER FIVE DISCUSSION 147 Research Question 1 147 Research Question 2 149 Research Question 3 154 Limitations 158 Implications 159 Areas for Future Research 160 Conclusion 161 APPENDIX A: Summarized Review of Literature 162 APPENDIX B: Sample Characteristics 166 REFERENCES 167 vi LIST OF TABLES Table 3.1 55 School-level Cutoff Dates and Codes Table 3.2 61 Summary of Important Dummy Coded Variables Table 3.3 82 Factor Loadings and Item Statistics of Student Achievement Scores Table 3.4 83 Factor Loadings and Item Statistics of Teacher Ratings of Academic Performance Table 3.5 84 Factor Loadings and Item Statistics of Teacher Ratings of Students’ Learning Behaviors Table 3.6 87 Correlations Between Student Achievement Assessment Indicators Table 3.7 88 Correlations Between Ratings of Students’ Academic Performance Indicators Table 3.8 89 Correlations Between Teacher Ratings of Student Learning Behavior Indicators Table 3.9 90 Scale Statistics of Student Achievement Assessment Scores Table 3.10 91 Scale Statistics of Teacher Ratings of Academic Skills Table 3.11 91 Scale Statistics of Teacher Ratings of Students’ Learning Behaviors Table 3.12 95 Correlations Between Latent Variables Table 4.1 107 Descriptive Statistics of Covariates Table 4.2 108 Correlations Between Covariates Table 4.3 110 Descriptive Statistics of Age-related Variables vii Table 4.4 111 Correlations Between Age-related Variables Table 4.5 113 Standardized Path estimates for Variables Regressed on Covariates Table 4.6 114 Model Fit Statistics for Phase 1 and 2 Models Table 4.7 119 Phase 1 Standardized and Unstandardized Path Estimates Table 4.8 123 Path Coefficient Estimates on Age-Related Variables Table 4.9 128 Phase 2 Standardized Total, Direct, and Indirect Effects Table 4.10 135 Correlations Between Latent Variables Table 4.11 137 Standardized Autoregressive Parameter Estimates Table 4.12 144 Standardized Cross-lag Parameter Estimates viii LIST OF FIGURES Figure 3.1 68 Diagrams Representing the OLS and IV Approaches to Estimating Causal Relationships Figure 3.2 71 The Path Model of the Instrumental Variable Approach Figure 3.3 73 Measurement Model for Wave 1 Latent Variables Figure 3.4 74 Measurement Model for Wave 2 Latent Variables Figure 3.5 74 Measurement Model for Wave 4 Latent Variables Figure 3.6 75 Measurement Model for Wave 6 Latent Variables Figure 3.7 75 Measurement Model for Wave 7 Latent Variables Figure 3.8 78 Phase 2 Autoregressive Cross-lagged Model Figure 3.9 92 CFA of Wave 1 Latent Variables Figure 3.10 92 CFA of Wave 2 Latent Variables Figure 3.11 93 CFA of Wave 4 Latent Variables Figure 3.12 93 CFA of Wave 6 Latent Variables Figure 3.13 94 CFA of Wave 7 Latent Variables Figure 3.14 97 Final Phase 1 Model of the Instrumental Variable Relationship Figure 3.15 101 Final Phase 2 Model ix Figure 4.1 118 The Phase 1 Structural Model with Standardized Path Coefficient Estimates Figure 4.2 124 Phase 2 Model With Highlighted Instrumental Variable and Relative Age Pathways Figure 4.3 136 Phase 2 Model With Highlighted Autoregressive Pathways Figure 4.4 145 Phase 2 Model With Highlighted Cross-lagged Pathways x CHAPTER ONE Introduction In the United States, formal schooling and the establishment of an annual cohort begins with kindergarten.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • The Effect of Birthday on the Fluctuation of Suicides in Hungary
    REVIEW OF SOCIOLOGY 20(2): 96–105. The Effect of Birthday on the Fluctuation of Suicides STUDIES in Hungary (1970–2002) Tamás ZONDA – Károly BOZSONYI – Előd VERES – Zoltán KMEttY email: [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected] ABSTRACT: The authors have not found any studies that show an unambiguous and close relation between the date of suicide and the birthday of the victims. They made an analysis on the Hungarian suicides between 1970 and 2002 with a method known from the literature and also with a modern, more sophisticated one. It was found that Hungarian men show explicit sensitivity to their birthday’s date: significantly more men commit suicide on their birthday in all age groups than on any other day of the year. Among women, a relation of weak significance appeared only in the older age group. The authors suggest the special sensitivity of Hungarian men which they interpret in the framework of Gabennesch’s ”broken promise effect”, but they think it necessary to do further research on this theme in Hungary. Introduction Researches in the past decades have revealed several circumstances in the back- ground of a particular suicide that are generally typical and almost identical in every fatal action, but many circumstances and relationships that are inter- pretable or understandable with difficulty are discovered during the precise reconstruction of a tragic action. The decision of self-destruction is composed of a complicated mesh of numerous life events, injuries and constellations of personality development. It is known that certain biographical dates affect the personality to a greater or lesser extent.
    [Show full text]
  • Looking Back Featured Stories from the Past
    ISSN-1079-7832 A Publication of the Immortalist Society Longevity Through Technology Volume 49 - Number 01 Looking Back Featured stories from the past www.immortalistsociety.org www.cryonics.org www.americancryonics.org Who will be there for YOU? Don’t wait to make your plans. Your life may depend on it. Suspended Animation fields teams of specially trained cardio-thoracic surgeons, cardiac perfusionists and other medical professionals with state-of-the-art equipment to provide stabilization care for Cryonics Institute members in the continental U.S. Cryonics Institute members can contract with Suspended Animation for comprehensive standby, stabilization and transport services using life insurance or other payment options. Speak to a nurse today about how to sign up. Call 1-949-482-2150 or email [email protected] MKMCAD160206 216 605.83A SuspendAnim_Ad_1115.indd 1 11/12/15 4:42 PM Why should You join the Cryonics Institute? The Cryonics Institute is the world’s leading non-profit cryonics organization bringing state of the art cryonic suspensions to the public at the most affordable price. CI was founded by the “father of cryonics,” Robert C.W. Ettinger in 1976 as a means to preserve life at liquid nitrogen temperatures. It is hoped that as the future unveils newer and more sophisticated medical nanotechnology, people preserved by CI may be restored to youth and health. 1) Cryonic Preservation 7) Funding Programs Membership qualifies you to arrange and fund a vitrification Cryopreservation with CI can be funded through approved (anti-crystallization) perfusion and cooling upon legal death, life insurance policies issued in the USA or other countries.
    [Show full text]
  • 5 Ways to Deal with Anniversary Reactions What Do You Do When Anniversary Memories Are Anything but Silver Or Gold? Posted Sep 22, 2016
    Psychology Today Ellen Hendriksen, Ph.D. Reprinted from Psychology Today September 22, 2016 5 Ways to Deal with Anniversary Reactions What do you do when anniversary memories are anything but silver or gold? Posted Sep 22, 2016 Anniversaries aren’t just for couples, and some aren’t so happy. The anniversary reaction: it’s the annual echo of a trauma or loss such as the death of a beloved, a nightmarish experience like sexual assault, a near-fatal accident, or military combat. Regardless of what happened, the anniversary reaction is specifically timed (hence the name), emotionally invested, and truly distressing. Moreover, it’s common; some researchers think the anniversary reaction should even be an official symptom of post-traumatic stress disorder. But despite the patterns being predictable, the reactions themselves are as varied as the individuals experiencing them. Sometimes, the mind remembers, even unconsciously, and a psychological reaction—like a spike in depression or PTSD—can be triggered by the weather, the light, or other seasonal reminders like back to school or the first signs of spring. For example, a study conducted by the Yale University School of Medicine looked at anniversary reactions in veterans of the early 1990s Gulf War. Several years after the war ended, each veteran, along with his or her spouse, was asked how well the veteran functioned over each of the previous 12 months. Each person identified the veteran’s worst month, best month, the month with the most PTSD symptoms, and the month with the fewest. Then, the researchers compared the veterans’ functioning to documented dates of their traumatic war experiences.
    [Show full text]
  • PINTS for PRESS Business Park in Scottsdale, Arizona, Offers Two Types of “Cryonic Suspension” Services: Full-Body for $200,000, and APRIL 24 Head-Only for $80,000
    COVER STORY THEFROZEN FIGHT FOR THE ONE SON’S MISSION TO MAKE HIS DAD WHOLE AGAIN BY TYLER HAYDEN Dr. Laurence Pilgeram didn’t believe in heaven, but HEAD he did believe in life after death. In 1990, at the age of 66, Pilgeram signed a contract with the Alcor Life Extension Foun- dation to freeze his body upon his death with the hope that, decades or centuries from now, medical science would resurrect him. Alcor, headquartered in a sand-colored PINTS FOR PRESS business park in Scottsdale, Arizona, offers two types of “cryonic suspension” services: full-body for $200,000, and APRIL 24 head-only for $80,000. It’s a bargain for Dr. Laurence Pilgeram a shot at immortality. Clients typically pay by signing over their life insurance policies. The head-only option, the company This article’s author, Tyler Hayden, will explains, is the most cost-effective way When Kurt demanded to to preserve a patient’s identity; using know why his father’s whole body COURTESY discuss the reporting and writing of this story future nanotechnology, a new hadn’t been preserved, he received conflicting with editor Matt Kettmann on Wednesday, body might be grown around accounts from Alcor, according to court records. First, the the brain. But Pilgeram never company said Laurence’s body had decayed beyond saving. Then, it April 24, 5:30 p.m., at Night Lizard liked the idea of “Neurocryo- claimed he hadn’t kept up with his yearly $525 membership dues. Finally, preservation,” his family has it suggested the technicians didn’t want to wait for the permit necessary Brewing Company in the Santa Barbara said, so he chose “Whole-Body to transport a full body across state lines.
    [Show full text]
  • Clash of Norms Final 29June21
    Clash of norms Judicial leniency on defendant birthdays1 Daniel L. Chen Arnaud Philippe Abstract We document judicial leniency on defendant birthdays across 5 million decisions. Our results are consistent with reference-dependent social preferences. First, French sentences are 1% fewer and around 5% shorter. Second, U.S. federal judges also round down sentences except when rounding up makes available sentencing reductions for good behavior. No leniency appears on the days before or after a defendant’s birthday. Judges’ experience and economic reasoning seem to mitigate the effect, consistent with isolating a judicial channel. 1. Introduction Individuals frequently have to evaluate others’ productions, acts or personhood. In professional settings, those evaluations usually have to be done in an impartial way. Professors marking exams, loan officers evaluating demands, judges deciding cases are supposed to follow precise rules and to only evaluate some defined material. While they are supposed to be independent, surrounding norms could affect those evaluations. National or religious holidays, birthday of the evaluated person, birth or death of one of the person’s relatives could change the evaluators’ judgment. 1 Daniel L. Chen, [email protected], Toulouse School of Economics, Institute for Advanced Study in Toulouse, University of Toulouse Capitole, Toulouse, France; [email protected], LWP, Harvard Law School. Arnaud Philippe, [email protected], Institute for Advanced Study in Toulouse, Toulouse School of Economics, University of Toulouse Capitole, Toulouse, France. First draft: June 2017. Current draft: June 2018. Latest version at: http://users.nber.org/~dlchen/papers/Clash_of_Norms.pdf. Work on this project was conducted while Chen received financial support from the European Research Council (Grant No.
    [Show full text]
  • June 2021 Issue 2 Using Data in the Presence of Uncertainty Can Numbers Go Wrong?
    IR CORNER June 2021 Issue 2 Using Data in the Presence of Uncertainty Can numbers go wrong? Lost in the Pandemic Which groups of students returned at lower rates in 2020? Online, Choose Your Time Did outcomes differ between asynchronous and synchronous TARRANT COUNTY COLLEGE online sections? OFFICE OF INSTITUTIONAL RESEARCH DIVISION OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY EDITORIAL IR OFFICE: In the Presence of Robert Lorick Uncertainty Interim Executive Director of IR Holly Stovall Kira Barrington Asst. Executive Director of IR From varying 2020 election polls to widely differing projections for the number of COVID- Arjun Banjade 19 cases, some may question how the numbers Director of State Reporting that defined 2020 could have been so ‘wrong’. Unfortunately, information consumed through Sarah Davis sound bites and character-limited tweets is inspIRe Research Analyst often reduced and presented as news-worthy absolutes with no mention of limitations or Bonnie Hurford implications of uncertainty. Lead Programmer Analyst In 2021, you are watching the beginning miles of the Olympic marathon when an app on your Sarah Mizher phone alerts you that the 2-hour mark is being “Knowledge is Administrative Assistant broken. Should you be surprised when the winner’s final time is not faster than this an unending Elizabeth Northern famous threshold? Perhaps statements that adventure at Research Analyst the race will likely be finished very near the 2- hour mark or if the early pace holds the 2-hour the edge of Teresa Ray mark will be shattered more aptly convey some uncertainty.”* Coordinator of State Reporting uncertainty in the prediction with the embedded assumption that the current average pace continues.
    [Show full text]
  • Reproductions Supplied by EDRS Are the Best That Can Be Made from the Original Document
    DOCUMENT RESUME ED 443 037 CG 030 087 AUTHOR Hann, Della M., Ed.; Huffman, Lynne C., Ed.; Lederhendler, Israel I., Ed.; Meinecke, Douglas, Ed. TITLE Advancing Research on Developmental Plasticity: Integrating the Behavioral Science and Neuroscience of Mental Health. Proceedings (Chantilly, Virginia, May 12-15, 1996). INSTITUTION National Inst. of Mental Health (DHEW), Rockville, MD. REPORT NO NIMH-98-4338 PUB DATE 1998-00-00 NOTE 299p. PUB TYPE Books (010) Collected Works Proceedings (021) EDRS PRICE MF01/PC12 Plus Postage. DESCRIPTORS Adjustment (to Environment); *Behavior Development; *Behavioral Sciences; Cognitive Development; *Developmental Stages; *Individual Development; Intervention; *Mental Health; Neuropsychology; Prevention; Psychiatry; *Research Needs; Social Behavior IDENTIFIERS *Neurosciences ABSTRACT This book represents the proceedings of the Conference on Advancing Research on Developmental Plasticity: Integrating Behavioral Science and the Neuroscience of Mental Health. The conference featured scientific presentations from many leading scientists in behavioral sciences, neuroscience and psychiatry, as well as a poster session for newer investigators and roundtable seminars for more in-depth discussion. The conference focused on three primary areas of development: stress and early development, cognition, and social behavior. The primary goal of the conference was to bring together scientists from neuroscience, the behavioral sciences, and psychiatry in order to begin identifying substantive topics that may benefit from more integrated cross-disciplinary research on developmental plasticity. The proceedings emphasize the importance of developmental plasticity in brain and behavior to mental health. Identifying the mechanisms and the timing by which these mechanisms operate could produce a greater understanding of the multiple and interconnected levels of functioning that lead to adjustment, as well as a much better understanding of when and how functioning becomes impaired.
    [Show full text]
  • The Power of Voodoo
    HIST/ANTH 442 The Power of Voodoo Voodoo’s Effect on the Haitian African Diaspora (Name Removed) 2013 CSUCI L ast Name | 1 The Power of Voodoo: Voodoo’s Effect on the Haitian African Diaspora Voodoo has been a powerful force in the lives of innumerable people of African descent, both positively and negatively. One of its largest groups of adherents resides in Haiti, where Voodoo is practiced by close to 5 million people, which accounts for nearly half of the population. Voodoo is a true syncretism; a mix of the worship of the gods their West African ancestors observed from ancient times and the worship of the Catholic saints that the slaves were taught in the New World. Its strongest influence came from the West African kingdom of Dahomey, and the word “voodoo” itself means a “god, spirit, or sacred object” in the Dahomean language (Wilmeth, 28). Voodoo brings a community together, remembering and honoring those that came before, but it also tends to create fear in outsiders who don’t understand it. Its demise has been predicted many times due to the “anti-superstitious persecution it aroused,” but it holds together against all the pressure against it and is practiced around the world to this day (Dominique, 104). L ast Name | 2 The positive effects of Voodoo on the diaspora are more obvious than the negative. When the anthropologist Katherine Dunham visited Haiti to observe the Haitian peoples’ lives and practices, Voodoo provided her with “a sense of ethnic ‘belonging’ that she never possessed before (Gelder, 92).” Levi-Strauss thinks of Voodoo as a social force, and believes it has the ability to hold a society together.
    [Show full text]
  • Too Young to Die: Regression Discontinuity of a Two-Part Minimum Legal Drinking Age Policy and the Causal Effect of Alcohol on Health
    Working Paper 2018:4 Department of Economics School of Economics and Management Too Young to Die: Regression Discontinuity of a Two-Part Minimum Legal Drinking Age Policy and the Causal Effect of Alcohol on Health Gawain Heckley Ulf-G. Gerdtham Johan Jarl March 2018 Too young to die: Regression discontinuity of a two-part minimum legal drinking age policy and the causal effect of alcohol on health∗ March 5, 2018 Gawain Heckley Ulf-G Gerdtham Johan Jarl Health Economics Unit, Health Economics Unit, Health Economics Unit, Dep of Clinical Science; Dep of Clinical Science; Dep of Clinical Science, Centre for Economic Centre for Economic Lund University Demography, Demography; Lund University and Dep of Economics, Lund University Abstract This study examines the impact of Sweden’s unique two-part Minimum Legal Drinking Age (MLDA) policy on alcohol consumption and health using regression discontinuity design. In Sweden on-licence purchasing of alcohol is legalised at 18 and off-licence purchasing is legalised later at 20 years of age. We find an immediate and significant 6% jump in participation and a larger increase in number of days drinking at age 18 of about 16% but no large jumps at age 20. No discernible increases in mortality at age 18 or 20 are found but hospital visits due to external causes do see an increase at both 18 and 20 years. Compared to previous findings for single MLDAs the alcohol impacts we find are smaller and the health impacts less severe. The findings suggest that a two-part MLDA can help young adults in their transition to unrestricted alcohol and help contain the negative health impacts that have been observed elsewhere.
    [Show full text]
  • Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)
    John Curtin Institute of Public Policy – Curtin Business School Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder Policy, Practice and Regulatory Capture in Australia 1992–2012 Martin Paul Whitely This thesis is presented for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy of Curtin University March 2014 Declaration To the best of my knowledge and belief this thesis contains no material previously published by any other person except where due acknowledgment has been made. This thesis contains no material which has been accepted for the award of any other degree or diploma in any university. Signature: …………………………………………. Date: ………………………... Abstract Like many first world nations, Australia has demonstrated an increasingly pharmaceuticalized response to Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). Per capita rates of prescriptions of ADHD medications grew 277 percent between 1995 and 2010. However, there have been large and inconsistent intertemporal variations between state jurisdictions (shifting over time in relative terms). Most notably, in Western Australia (WA) in 2002 the child Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) per capita prescribing rate was 142 percent above the national average. However, after 2003, while in other states prescribing rates grew, they fell by 50 percent in WA, and by 2011 they were 11 percent below the national average. There has been significant academic, public and media interest not only about the growing and inconsistent prescribing rates, but also about concerns that conflicts of interests and ‘regulatory capture’ may have affected significant policy development and regulatory processes in relation to ADHD. Regulatory capture occurs if an entity that is supposed to advance the public interest instead acts to benefit commercial or industry interests in ways that are contrary to the public interest.
    [Show full text]
  • Longevity Through Technology Volume 50 - Number 04
    ISSN-1079-7832 A Publication of the Immortalist Society published with the cooperation of the American Cryonics Society and the Cryonics Institute. Longevity Through Technology Volume 50 - Number 04 The Immortalist Society wishes to thank the American Cryonics Society (ACS) and cryonics trusts managed by ACS for sponsoring non- subscriber mailings for this edition www.immortalistsociety.org www.cryonics.org | www.americancryonics.org Who will be there for YOU? Don’t wait to make your plans. Your life may depend on it. Suspended Animation fields teams of specially trained cardio-thoracic surgeons, cardiac perfusionists and other medical professionals with state-of-the-art equipment to provide stabilization care for Cryonics Institute members in the continental U.S. Cryonics Institute members can contract with Suspended Animation for comprehensive standby, stabilization and transport services using life insurance or other payment options. Speak to a nurse today about how to sign up. Call 1-949-482-2150 or email [email protected] MKMCAD160206 216 605.83A SuspendAnim_Ad_1115.indd 1 11/12/15 4:42 PM Why should You join the Cryonics Institute? The Cryonics Institute is the world’s leading non-profit cryonics organization bringing state of the art cryonic suspensions to the public at the most affordable price. CI was founded by the “father of cryonics,” Robert C.W. Ettinger in 1976 as a means to preserve life at liquid nitrogen temperatures. It is hoped that as the future unveils newer and more sophisticated medical nanotechnology, people preserved by CI may be restored to youth and health. 1) Cryonic Preservation 7) Funding Programs Membership qualifies you to arrange and fund a Cryopreservation with CI can be funded through vitrification (anti-crystallization) perfusion and cooling approved life insurance policies issued in the USA or other upon legal death, followed by long-term storage in liquid countries.
    [Show full text]
  • Promoting an Affordable Housing Market
    PROMOTING AN AFFORDABLE HOUSING MARKET An Institutional Analysis P a g e | 2 To Ashok, without whom Cambridge wouldn’t even be a dream! P a g e | 3 Declaration This dissertation is the result of my own work and includes nothing which is the outcome of work done in collaboration except as declared in the Preface and specified in the text. It is not substantially the same as any that I have submitted, or, is being concurrently submitted for a degree or diploma or other qualification at the University of Cambridge or any other University or similar institution except as declared in the Preface and specified in the text. I further state that no substantial part of my dissertation has already been submitted, or, is being concurrently submitted for any such degree, diploma or other qualification at the University of Cambridge or any other University of similar institution except as declared in the Preface and specified in the text It does not exceed the prescribed word limit for the relevant Degree Committee. ___________________ Padmini Ram Department of Land Economy, University of Cambridge P a g e | 4 Acknowledgement I am indebted to a number of people without whom this thesis might not have been written. I thank Professor Phil Allmendinger, for accepting me as his student, and welcoming me to the University. He provided invaluable support during the first two years of my work, and supported me well while applying for scholarships. I am grateful to my supervisor Professor Ian Hodge for guiding me in all earnestness during the final two years.
    [Show full text]