bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Review of diesel emissions and control
Authors: Johnson T V
Published: July 2009

This summary covers key and representative developments in diesel emissions regulations, engine developments, and nitrogen oxide (NO x), particulate matter (PM), and hydrocarbon (HC) remediation. In California discussions are taking place on another round of criteria pollutant tightening on light duty. Carbon dioxide (CO2) regulations are being discussed in the developed markets. The US mandates on fuel economy and the proposed standards in Europe and California will result in a paradigm shift, wherein technologies previously rejected based on customer value will now be re-evaluated. Heavy-duty regulatory developments are now focused on Europe, where Euro VI regulations have been proposed for about 2013. The regulations are intended to be technology harmonizing with the US and Japanese regulations.

Engines are continuing to make very impressive progress, with clean combustion strategies in active development mainly for US light-duty application. Heavy-duty research engines are more focused on traditional approaches, and will provide numerous engine/aftertreatment options for hitting the tight US 2010 regulations.

NO x control is focusing on selective catalytic reduction (SCR) for diverse applications. Zeolite catalysts will be the mainstay for Japan, US, and Euro VI applications. The focus is catalyst improvements and system optimization. Lean NO x traps (LNTs) are effective up to about 70–80 per cent deNO x efficiency, and are being used for light-duty applications with significant improvements coming on precious metal utilization.

Diesel particulate filter (DPF) technology is in a state of optimization and cost reduction. Very sophisticated management strategies are being utilized, which open up options for new filter materials and alternative system architectures. New catalyst formulations that oxidize soot at the catalyst—soot interface are emerging and are enhancing regeneration in the first commercial applications.

Diesel oxidation catalysts (DOCs) are lighting-off and generating more NO2 for DPF regeneration at lower temperatures.

For a more comprehensive review of these technologies the reader is directed to Johnson, T. V., Diesel emissions in review, SAE 2008-01-0121.
Experimental study of pollutant emission reduction for near-stoichiometric diesel combustion in a three-way catalyst
Authors: Sung K , Kim J , Reitz R D
Published: July 2009

An experimental study was performed to examine the possibility of simultaneous reductions of NO x, hydrocarbons (HC), CO, and soot emissions for near-stoichiometric diesel combustion using a three-way catalyst and a diesel particulate filter (DPF). The DPF was deactivated in order to ensure the non-regeneration state and was just used as a soot filter trap upstream of the three-way catalyst. The goal of the research was to investigate the efficiency of emission conversion for an automotive diesel engine with a general three-way catalyst normally used for gasoline-powered vehicles under near-stoichiometric combustion operation. A modified single-cylinder engine was used for the experiments that considered throttled diesel combustion at 65–90 kPa intake pressure to achieve near-stoichiometric conditions, and a common rail injection system with 90 MPa injection pressure was used for mixture preparation and to avoid spray wall impingement. The results showed that the three-way catalyst was able to reduce NO x and CO emissions by up to nearly 98 per cent, and the DPF trapped soot emissions up to 99.6 per cent for near-stoichiometric operation. However, the particular palladium/rhodium catalyst formulation used in the study was less effective for HC emissions, which were only reduced by up to 57 per cent. It is concluded that the use of the present proposed three-way catalyst/DPF aftertreatment system provides significant promise for future efficient, low emission diesel engines.
Heuristic algorithm for constrained redundancy reliability optimization and performance evaluation
Authors: Kumar P , Chaturvedi D K , Pahuja G L
Published: July 2009

This paper presents a new heuristic method for solving constrained redundancy reliability optimization problems for complex systems and compares its performance with existing heuristic methods. The method consists of two steps: selection of an optimal path and then determination of optimal components in the chosen path. Computational results show that the proposed algorithm performs better than the considered existing algorithms. The proposed method requires less computational effort than the considered existing algorithms.
Organizational Attributes and the Distribution of Rewards in a Region: Managerial Firms vs. Knowledge Clusters
Authors: Gambardella Alfonso , Giarratana Marco S.
Published: July 2009

This paper expands the organization theory and evidence on regional industrial agglomerations. We define regional economic activities according to the attributes of the organizations that populate a region and investigate how organizational characteristics influence macro-outcomes at a regional economic level. We focus on two dimensions emerging from two widely known organizational forms: the managerial corporation and the knowledge cluster with a marked orientation toward interfirm knowledge spillovers. We use an original data set of 146 U.S. cities to obtain variations in the extent to which they are populated by managerial firms or knowledge clusters. By utilizing city-level measures of managerial salaries, we test how the intensity of managerial corporation versus knowledge cluster characteristics affects the mean and dispersion of the “rewards” of cities. Our evidence suggests that higher managerial corporate characteristics lower the variability of rewards, while they have no effect on the mean of rewards. Higher-knowledge cluster characteristics produce both higher dispersion and higher expected rewards. We explain these results by looking at the different learning mechanisms of the two organizational types. In so doing, we highlight the role of intra- and interfirm knowledge processes as important sources of differences in the rewards of the two models. From an empirical point of view, results are confirmed using both patent-based and skill mobility-based measures of knowledge spillovers.
A General Framework for Estimating Multidimensional Contingency Fit
Authors: Parker Simon C. , Witteloostuijn Arjen van
Published: July 2009

This paper develops a framework for estimating multidimensional fit. In the context of contingency thinking and the resource-based view of the firm, there is a clear need for quantitative approaches that integrate fit-as-deviation, fit-as-moderation, and fit-as-system perspectives, implying that the impact on organizational performance of series of bivariate (mis)fits and bundles of multiple (mis)fits are estimated in an integrated fashion. Our approach offers opportunities to do precisely this. Moreover, we suggest summary statistics that can be applied to test for the (non)significance of fit linkages at both the disaggregated level of individual bivariate interactions, as well as the aggregated level of groups of multivariate interactions. We systematically compare our approach with extant alternatives using simulations, including the fit-as-mediation alternative. We find that our approach outperforms these established alternatives by including fit-as-moderation and fit-as-deviation as special cases, by being better able to capture the nature of the underlying fit structure in the data and by being relatively robust to mismeasurements, small sample sizes, and collinearity. We conclude by discussing our method's advantages and disadvantages.
Supercuspidal characters of reductive p -adic groups
Authors: Adler Jeffrey D. , Spice Loren
Published: July 2009

We compute the characters of many supercuspidal representations
of reductive $p$-adic groups.
Specifically, we deal with representations that arise
via Yu's construction from data satisfying a certain
compactness condition.
Each character is expressed in terms of a depth-zero character
of a smaller group,
the (linear) characters appearing in Yu's construction,
Fourier transforms of orbital integrals,
and certain signs and cardinalities
that are described explicitly
in terms of the datum associated to the representation
and of the element at which the character is evaluated.
The topology of spaces of knots: cosimplicial models
Authors: Sinha Dev P.
Published: July 2009

We present two models for the space of knots which have endpoints at fixed boundary points in a manifold with boundary, one model defined as an inverse limit of spaces of maps between configuration spaces and another which is cosimplicial. These models build on the calculus of isotopy functors and are weakly homotopy equivalent to knot spaces when the ambient dimension is greater than three. The mapping space model, and the evaluation map on which it builds, is suitable for analysis through differential topology. The cosimplicial model gives rise to spectral sequences which converge to ohomology and homotopy groups of spaces of knots when they are connected. We explicitly identify and establish vanishing lines in these spectral sequences.
Gerby localization, ℤ₃-Hodge integrals and the GW theory of [ℂ³/ℤ₃]
Authors: Cadman Charles , Cavalieri Renzo
Published: July 2009

We exhibit a set of recursive relations that completely determine all
equivariant Gromov-Witten invariants of $[{\Bbb C}^3/{\Bbb Z}_3]$.
We interpret such invariants as ${\Bbb Z}_3$-Hodge integrals, and produce relations among them
via Atiyah-Bott localization on moduli spaces of twisted stable maps to gerbes over~${\Bbb P}^1$.
Heegaard Floer homology and fibred 3-manifolds
Authors: Ni Yi
Published: July 2009

Given a closed $3$-manifold $Y$, we show that the Heegaard Floer
homology determines whether $Y$ fibres over the circle with a
fibre of negative Euler characteristic. This is an analogue of an
earlier result about knots proved by Ghiggini and the author.
Tubular neighborhoods of nodal sets and diophantine approximation
Authors: Jakobson Dmitry , Mangoubi Dan
Published: July 2009

We give upper and lower bounds on the volume of a tubular
neighborhood of the nodal set of an eigenfunction of the Laplacian
on a real analytic closed Riemannian manifold $M$. As an
application we consider the question of approximating points on
$M$ by nodal sets, and explore analogy with approximation by
rational numbers.
Le discours de la «nouvelle sensibilité conservatrice» au Québec
Authors: Belkhodja Chedly
Published: July 2009

This article proposes to highlight the main characteristics of the critical discourse about Canadian multiculturalism which is appearing among a new generation of academics and essayists from Quebec. We are here trying to distance ourselves from the more academic works in political science and study the "political" writings of young writers-essayists. This analysis is based on the study of a body of writing which comprises recent editions of two journals, Argument and L'Action nationale , as well as writings from two young authors illustrating in their own way this new conservative sensitivity in Quebec.
Multiculturalism and Ethnic Pluralism in Sociology: An Analysis of the Fragmentation Position Discourse
Authors: Wong Lloyd
Published: July 2009

This article provides an overview and analysis of the sociological discourse that views multiculturalism as a force of societal fragmentation. It begins with a contextualization of multiculturalism (or ethnic/cultural pluralism) in terms of sociological theory. This allows for different conceptualizations of multiculturalism with respect to the bases of social cohesion. From the literature search there is a selection and analysis of some of the major sociologists in Canada and Europe over the past three to four decades who have adopted some form of the fragmentation perspective on multiculturalism. These sociologists include John Porter, Reginald Bibby, Michel Wieviorka, Bruno Latour, and Tahir Abbas, and for each of them there is not only a description of their fragmentation position on multiculturalism, but also a brief application of a "sociology of knowledge" approach to their work. The article ends with a discussion and conclusion that considers what the implications of this discourse might be on policy. Cet article offre une vue d'ensemble et une analyse du discours sociologique qui considère le multiculturalisme comme une force de fragmentation sociétale. Il présente d'abord une contextualisation du multiculturalisme (ou pluralisme ethnique / culturel) dans le cadre de la théorie sociologique, ce qui donne lieu à différentes conceptualisations du multulturalisme selon les bases de la cohésion sociale. À partir de la recherche documentaire, l'article présente une sélection et une analyse des écrits de quelques sociologues parmi les plus importants au Canada et en Europe au cours des trois à quatre dernières décennies, et qui ont adopté une forme ou une autre de la perspective de la fragmentation sur le multiculturalisme. Cette sélection comprend John Porter, Réginald Bibby, Michel Wievorka, Bruno Latour et Tabir Abbas, et nous ne donnons pas seulement pour chacun d'entre eux une description de leur position concernant la fragmentation sur le multiculturalisme, mais encore une brève application de la «sociologie de la connaissance» dans l'appréhension de leurs travaux. L'article se termine par un examen et une conclusion dans lesquels nous considérons quelles implications ce discours pourrait avoir en politique.
Les intellectuels québécois face au multiculturalisme: hétérogénéité des approches et des projets politiques
Authors: Labelle Micheline
Published: July 2009

In the first part, this article proposes an analysis of the critical discourse produced by intellectuals in Quebec's universities about Canadian multiculturalism. The second part concerns an alternative model, the Quebec model of interculturalism. Whereas the critical discourse on multiculturalism is often presented as an undifferentiated whole representing "Quebec's point of view," we have high-lighted the heterogeneity of such a discourse. It would be erroneous to assume that the critical discourse about multiculturalism can be reduced to the fragmentation thesis. A clear conclusion emerges from our findings: Quebec intellectuals' thoughts vary greatly depending on the authors and the various disciplinary traditions. This variation concerns the central concepts used in the analysis, the themes that receive most attention, and the theses that are elaborated. The same applies to the political projects that are explicit or implicit in such discourses.
Press, Public Sphere, and Pluralism: Multiculturalism Debates in Canadian English-Language Newspapers
Authors: Karim Karim H.
Published: July 2009

Editorials, journalists' columns, op-eds, and letters to editors on multiculturalism published by nine newspapers in 2006 are examined. The qualitative content analysis is carried out under four categories: values, identity, and citizenship; societal integration and disintegration; terrorism, multiculturalism, and Muslims; and multiculturalism in other countries. Some of the most prominent journalists in Canada wrote about multiculturalism. Critics of the policy focused their opposition on the appearance of the symbolic aspects of minority religions in the public sphere as well as on their perceptions about the encouragement that multiculturalism afforded members of minority groups prone to terrorism. Muslims served as lightning rods for writers who were against the policy. But apart from such criticism, there were many articles that sought to bring multi-generational Canadians and newcomers to work towards accommodating each other's cultures. The overall findings of this study indicate that, compared to coverage of the policy in the 1980s, the media debate on this topic has shifted in favour of maintaining Canadian multiculturalism and making suggestions for improvements in areas where there appear to be problems. Cette étude porte sur des éditoriaux, des articles de journaux, des chroniques et commentaires des pages «op-ed» et des lettres à l'éditeur portant sur la politique multiculturelle et publiés dans neuf journaux en 2006. L'analyse qualitative du contenu comprend quatre catégories : d'abord valeurs, identité et citoyenneté, en second intégration et désintégration sociale, ensuite terrorisme, multiculturalisme et les musulmans, et enfin le multiculturalisme dans d'autres pays. Quelques journalistes parmi les plus éminents au Canada ont écrit sur la question multiculturelle. Des critiques de cette politique ont concentré leur opposition sur l'apparence des aspects symboliques de religions minoritaires dans la sphère publique aussi bien que sur leurs perceptions de l'encouragement que le multiculturalisme donnait aux membres de groupes minoritaires enclins au terrorisme. Les musulmans ont servi de cible aux auteurs qui étaient contre cette politique. Mais, en dehors de ce genre de critique, de nombreux articles ont cherché à rassembler les Canadiens de naissance depuis une génération ou plus et les nouveaux arrivants autour d'un projet qui donne place aux cultures des uns et des autres. Les résultats globaux de cette étude indiquent que, en comparaison avec la politique des années 1980, le débat médiatique à ce sujet a évolué vers le maintien du multiculturalisme canadien et suggéré des améliorations là où il semble y avoir des problèmes.
Integration and Identity in Canada: The Importance of Multicultural Common Spaces
Authors: Dib Kamal , Donaldson Ian , Turcotte Brittany
Published: July 2009

Contrary to some public and media discourse that multiculturalism is divisive and perpetuates enclavism and separate identities, this article describes a variety of multicultural common spaces wherein Canadians of all backgrounds interact and together contribute to an evolving, shared identity. There is a correlation between advancing Canadian multiculturalism and strengthening common spaces, on the one hand, and enhancing Canadian identity, on the other. The data presented below show that such spaces are expanding. Bridging social distance within the diverse population of Canada shifts the social dynamic from conflict and misunderstanding towards developing and strengthening a sense of shared citizenship and collective experiences. Canadians accept cultural pluralism and multiculturalism which, as a policy, is a strong component of Canadian history, and the changing Canadian demographics confirm its growing relevance to Canada's future. Contrairement au discours du grand public et des médias à savoir que le multiculturalisme est fractionnel et perpétue l'enclavisme ainsi que les identités séparées, cet article décrit une variété d'e-spaces communs multiculturels où les Canadiens de toutes les origines interagissent et, ensemble, contribuent à une identité partagée en évolution. Il existe une corrélation entre, d'une part, l'avancement du multiculturalisme canadien ainsi que le renforcement des espaces communs et, d'autre part, le raffermissement de l'identité canadienne. Les données présentées cidessous démontrent que de tels espaces s'élargissent. Le fait de réduire l'écart social entre les diverses populations du Canada fait passer la dynamique sociale de conflit et de malentendu vers le développement et le renforcement d'un sentiment de citoyenneté partagée et d'expériences collectives. Les Canadiens acceptent le pluralisme culturel et le multiculturalisme qui, en tant que politique, constitue une solide composante de l'histoire canadienne, et le paysage démographique canadien changeant confirme sa pertinence croissante pour l'avenir du Canada.
Exploring Challenges That Threaten to Impede the Academic Success of Academically Underprepared Black Males at an HBCU
Authors: Palmer Robert T. , Davis Ryan J. , Hilton Adriel A.
Published: July 2009

Historically, education has played a central role in the lives of Blacks. Although Blacks continue their penchant for education, Black males have not fared as well in the educational pipeline. Data for this study emerged from a qualitative investigation of factors that promote success for academically underprepared Black males at a historically Black college and university (HBCU). Although all of the participants persisted to graduation, the participants discussed challenges that threatened to impede their academic success. This article discusses those challenges and outlines recommendations for the ways in which colleges and universities can work more effectively toward preventing attrition for Black males in higher education, particularly at HBCUs.
The College Persistence Questionnaire: Development and Validation of an Instrument That Predicts Student Attrition
Authors: Davidson William B. , Beck Hall P. , Milligan Meg
Published: July 2009

The investigators reviewed the retention literature and developed a 53-item questionnaire and tested its validity. Component analysis of the responses of 2,022 students at four schools yielded six reliable factors: Institutional Commitment, Degree Commitment, Academic Integration, Social Integration, Support Services Satisfaction, and Academic Conscientiousness. A second study on 283 first-semester freshmen examined whether factor scores predicted which students returned for their sophomore year. Logistic regression found that three factors were statistically significant predictors of enrollment status, after controlling for high school class rank and standardized test scores: Institutional Commitment, Academic Integration, and Academic Conscientiousness. Strategies are provided for making use of scores based on differences between institutions and between individual students.
Exploring Parental Factors, Adjustment, and Academic Achievement Among White and Hispanic College Students
Authors: Yazedjian Ani , Toews Michelle L. , Navarro Alice
Published: July 2009

The purpose of this study was to examine whether college adjustment mediated the relationship between parental factors, such as parental attachment, parental education, and parental expectations, and academic achievement among White and Hispanic first-year college students. We found that adjustment mediated the relationship between parental factors—quality of the parental relationship and parental education—and GPA for White students. However, none of the parental factors explained GPA for Hispanic students. These findings support previous research asserting that correlates of academic achievement might vary across ethnic groups.
Student Attachment Stances, Instructor Immediacy, and Student–Instructor Relationships as Predictors of Achievement Expectancies in College Students
Authors: Creasey Gary , Jarvis Patricia , Gadke Daniel
Published: July 2009

In the present research, associations between student attachment stances, verbal and nonverbal instructor immediacy, student–instructor relationships, and student achievement orientations were specified. It was predicted that positive student–instructor relationships would mediate associations between student attachment stances, instructor classroom behaviors and achievement orientations. To test this prediction, college students ( N = 263) completed measures assessing achievement orientations, attachment stances, instructor relationship, and instructor-related behaviors in a randomly determined class. Instructor immediacy was significantly related to student achievement orientations; however, this association was partially mediated by student–instructor relationship quality. Highly immediate instructors had students who reported positive relationships with them, and this stance was associated with proficient achievement orientations. Student attachment stances were largely unrelated to relationships with instructors and achievement orientations. Implications for research and practice are offered.
Falling Off Track during the Transition to High School: What We Know and What Can Be Done
Authors: Neild Ruth Curran
Published: July 2009

Ninth grade, observes Ruth Curran Neild, marks a critical juncture in American schooling. Students who manage the academic demands of the transition to high school have a high probability of graduating four years later. But those who do not—who fail to earn as many credits as they should during ninth grade—face a substantially elevated risk of dropping out of high school.

Neild examines four theories about why ninth grade poses difficulties for some students. The first is that ninth grade coincides with life-course changes, such as reduced parental supervision and increased peer influence. The second is that in moving to a new school, students must break the bonds they have formed with their middle-school teachers and peers. The third is that some students are inadequately prepared for high school. The final theory is that the organization of some high schools is itself a major source of students’ difficulty. Each theory, says Neild, suggests a particular type of policy response.

The strongest evidence, observes Neild, points to inadequate preparation for high school and the organization of high schools. Reform efforts thus far have tended to address high school organization, with or without a focus on instructional quality or helping students to catch up on academic skills. Evaluations of these reforms, says Neild, suggest that both school organization and instructional improvement are necessary to keep ninth graders on track to graduation.

Neild notes that school districts and state departments of education also are addressing the problem. In addition to supporting comprehensive school reform with a focus on ninth graders, districts have created accountability indicators of how well high schools are keeping ninth graders on track. States are helping districts to develop their capacity to maintain and analyze data on ninth-grade progress, including “early warning indicator systems” that identify students who are falling off track to graduation.
Improving Low-Performing High Schools: Searching for Evidence of Promise
Authors: Fleischman Steve , Heppen Jessica
Published: July 2009

Noting that many of the nation’s high schools are beset with major problems, such as low student reading and math achievement, high dropout rates, and an inadequate supply of effective teachers, Steve Fleischman and Jessica Heppen survey a range of strategies that educators have used to improve low-performing high schools.

The authors begin by showing how the standards-based school reform movement, together with the No Child Left Behind Act requirement that underperforming schools adopt reforms supported by scientifically based research, spurred policy makers, educators, and researchers to create and implement a variety of approaches to attain improvement.

Fleischman and Heppen then review a number of widely adopted reform models that aim to change “business as usual” in low-performing high schools. The models include comprehensive school reform programs, dual enrollment and early college high schools, smaller learning communities, specialty (for example, career) academies, charter high schools, and education management organizations. In practice, say the authors, many of these improvement efforts overlap, defying neat distinctions. Often, reforms are combined to reinforce one another.

The authors explain the theories that drive the reforms, review evidence of their reforms’ effectiveness to date, and suggest what it will take to make them work well. Although the reforms are promising, the authors say, few as yet have solid evidence of systematic or sustained success.

In concluding, Fleischman and Heppen emphasize that the reasons for a high school’s poor performance are so complex that no one reform model or approach, no matter how powerful, can turn around low-performing schools. They also stress the need for educators to implement each reform program with fidelity to its requirements and to support it for the time required for success. Looking to the future, the authors suggest steps that decision makers, researchers, and sponsors of research can take to promote evidence-based progress in education.
How Do American Students Measure Up?: Making Sense of International Comparisons
Authors: Koretz Daniel
Published: July 2009

In response to frequent news media reports about how poorly American students fare compared with their peers abroad, Daniel Koretz takes a close look at what these comparisons say, and do not say, about the achievement of U.S. high school students. He stresses that the comparisons do not provide what many observers of education would like: unambiguous information about the effectiveness of American high schools compared with those in other nations.

Koretz begins by describing the two principal international student comparisons—the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) and the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA). Both assessments, he stresses, reflect the performance of students several years before they complete high school. PISA, which targets fifteen-year-old students, measures students’ abilities to apply what they have learned in school to real-world problems. By contrast, TIMSS tests fourth and eighth graders. Unlike PISA, TIMSS follows the school curriculum closely.

Because the findings of the two tests are sometimes inconsistent, Koretz stresses the importance of considering data from both sources. He cautions against comparing U.S. students with an “international average,” which varies widely from survey to survey depending on which countries participate, and recommends instead comparing them with students in other nations that are similar to the United States or that are particularly high-achieving.

Many observers, says Koretz, speculate that the lackluster average performance of American students in international comparisons arises because many, especially minority and low-income U.S. students, attend low-performing schools. But both TIMSS and PISA, he says, show that the performance of American students on the exams is not much more variable than that of students in countries that are socially more homogeneous or that have more equitable educational systems.

Koretz emphasizes that the international comparisons provide valuable information and are a useful source of hypotheses about American secondary schooling to be tested by researchers. Studies designed to explain differences between U.S. students and those in very similar countries, he says, might provide especially useful suggestions for changes in policy and practice.
College Readiness for All: The Challenge for Urban High Schools
Authors: Roderick Melissa , Nagaoka Jenny , Coca Vanessa
Published: July 2009

Melissa Roderick, Jenny Nagaoka, and Vanessa Coca focus on the importance of improving college access and readiness for low-income and minority students in urban high schools. They stress the aspirations-attainment gap: although the college aspirations of all U.S. high school students, regardless of race, ethnicity, and family income, have increased dramatically over the past several decades, significant disparities remain in college readiness and enrollment.

The authors emphasize the need for researchers and policy makers to be explicit about precisely which sets of knowledge and skills shape college access and performance and about how best to measure those skills. They identify four essential sets of skills: content knowledge and basic skills; core academic skills; non-cognitive, or behavioral, skills; and “college knowledge,” the ability to effectively search for and apply to college. High schools, they say, must stress all four.

The authors also examine different ways of assessing college readiness. The three most commonly recognized indicators used by colleges, they say, are coursework required for college admission, achievement test scores, and grade point averages. Student performance on all of these indicators of readiness reveals significant racial and ethnic disparities.

To turn college aspirations into college attainment, high schools and teachers need clear indicators of college readiness and clear performance standards for those indicators. These standards, say the authors, must be set at the performance level necessary for high school students to have a high probability of gaining access to four-year colleges. The standards must allow schools and districts to assess where their students currently stand and to measure their progress. The standards must also give clear guidance about what students need to do to improve.

College readiness indicators can be developed based on existing data and testing systems. But districts and states will require new data systems that provide information on the college outcomes of their graduates and link their performance during high school with their college outcomes.
Can the American High School Become an Avenue of Advancement for All?
Authors: Balfanz Robert
Published: July 2009

As the twenty-first century opens, says Robert Balfanz, the United States is developing a deep social consensus that American high schools should ensure that all adolescents graduate from high school prepared for postsecondary schooling and training. Balfanz asks how well high schools are succeeding in this mission and whether they can ultimately fulfill it.

Balfanz first surveys the structure and demographics of today’s high schools. Forty percent of white students attend high schools that are 90 percent or more white, while roughly one-third of Latino and African American students attend high schools that are 90 percent or more minority. Minority students are also much more likely than white students to attend high schools that confront the challenges of concentrated poverty. In predominantly white, affluent suburban school districts, nearly every student arrives ready for high school work and then graduates. In all-minority inner city schools in high-poverty neighborhoods, most entering students lack a good middle school education and only half to two-thirds graduate.

With only a third to a half of high school graduates today prepared to succeed in college, how likely is it that American high schools will succeed in their mission of preparing all students for additional schooling or training? Balfanz argues that reforms over the past twenty-five years offer some hope. The standards and accountability movement has made the American high school a more focused and academic place. College preparatory course-taking has increased substantially, as has standardized testing. Mandatory exit exams have been imposed. And during the past decade, in particular, reformers have made a concerted effort to improve the low-performing high schools that serve low-income and minority students. Investments by the federal government and by foundations have led to the development of several types of reforms that have been proven effective, thus raising hopes that the nation’s lowest-performing high schools can better serve their students. Still, the American high school has a considerable way to go to be able to prepare all students for further schooling or training. To advance all its students, it must find a way to bring to scale the methods and mechanisms, conditions, and know-how that have enabled a few low-performing high schools to achieve this transformation.
Instruction in High Schools: The Evidence and the Challenge
Authors: Corcoran Tom , Silander Megan
Published: July 2009

The combined effects of standards-based reforms and accountability demands arising from recent technological and economic changes, say Tom Corcoran and Megan Silander, are requiring high schools to accomplish something they have never been required to do—ensure that substantially all students achieve at a relatively high level. Meeting that challenge, say the authors, will require high schools to improve the effectiveness of their core technology—instruction.

The authors first examine how organizational structures affect instruction. Most high schools, they say, organize instruction by subject or discipline, thus encouraging an isolated and independent approach to teaching rather than one in which teachers are guided by a shared vision or goals. Many schools have focused on increasing teacher collaboration, often through teaming, interdisciplinary teaching, or professional learning communities. Citing limited evidence that these reforms improve instruction and learning, Corcoran and Silander urge researchers to examine whether the changes help schools implement specific instructional reforms and support sustained efforts to improve instruction.

Next the authors explore the effects on student learning of instructional strategies such as interdisciplinary teaching, cooperative learning, project-based learning, adaptive instruction, inquiry, and dialogic teaching. The evidence suggests the power of well-designed student grouping strategies, of allowing students to express their ideas and questions, and of offering students challenging tasks. But, the authors say, less than half of American high school students report working in groups, and little class time is devoted to student-centered discussions.

The authors conclude that schools should promote the use of proven instructional practices. In addition, teachers should systematically monitor how students vary in what they are learning and adapt their instruction in response to students’ progress and needs, in the process learning more about what variations in instruction respond most effectively to common variations in students’ learning. The authors argue that such “adaptive instruction” has the greatest potential for success in today’s standards-based policy environment with its twin values of equity and excellence.
U.S. High School Curriculum: Three Phases of Contemporary Research and Reform
Authors: Lee Valerie E. , Ready Douglas D.
Published: July 2009

Valerie Lee and Douglas Ready explore the influences of the high school curriculum on student learning and the equitable distribution of that learning by race and socioeconomic status. They begin by tracing the historical development of the U.S. comprehensive high school and then examine the curricular reforms of the past three decades.

During the first half of the twentieth century, the authors say, public high schools typically organized students into rigid curricular “tracks” based largely on students’ past academic performance and future occupational and educational plans. During the middle of the century, however, high schools began to provide students with a choice among courses that varied in both content and academic rigor. Although the standards movement of the 1980s limited these curricular options somewhat, comprehensive curricula remained, with minority and low-income students less often completing college-prep courses.

During the 1990s, say the authors, researchers who examined the associations between course-taking and student learning reported that students completing more advanced coursework learned more, regardless of their social or academic backgrounds. Based largely on this emerging research consensus favoring college-prep curriculum, in 1997 public high schools in Chicago began offering exclusively college-prep courses. To address the needs of the city’s many low-performing ninth graders, schools added extra coursework in subjects in which their performance was deficient. A recent study of this reform, however, found that these approaches made little difference in student achievement.

Lee and Ready hypothesize that “selection bias” may explain the divergent conclusions reached by the Chicago study and previous research. Earlier studies rarely considered the unmeasured characteristics of students who completed college-prep courses—characteristics such as motivation, access to academic supports, and better teachers—that are also positively related to student learning. Although the Chicago evaluation is only one study of one city, its findings raise the worrisome possibility that the recent push for “college-prep for all” may not generate the improvements for which researchers and policy makers had hoped.
Bachofen’s Rome and the Fate of the Feminine Orient
Authors: Valdez Damian
Published: July 2009

The work of the Swiss scholar J. J. Bachofen, renowned for advancing the theory of Mother-Right as a universal
stage of history, underwent an important turn, which has not been recognized by the literature on the subject. During
the 1860s, as Bachofen looked to the world-historical role of Rome as the champion of the West against the feminine
East, he opposed a severe and conquering Rome with its civil law, to the theocratic Orient (a quality he had earlier
associated with the ancient Roman state), with critical consequences for the trajectory of the myth of Matriarachy and
its subsequent political resonance.
Polanyi in the United States: Peter Drucker, Karl Polanyi, and the Midcentury Critique of Economic Society
Authors: Immerwahr Daniel
Published: July 2009

This essay explores the connections between Karl Polanyi's The Great Transformation (1944) and midcentury social
theory in the United States. It argues that Polanyi shared with his U.S. colleagues a critique of market society. In
particular, Polanyi's work bears close resemblance to the early thought of management theorist Peter Drucker, with
whom Polanyi lived while writing his celebrated book. By comparing Polanyi to his contemporaries who advanced
similar ideas, one gains a clearer sense of the particularities of Polanyi's project and of the fairly widespread
movement in the United States to reject economistic thinking.
Significs and the Origins of Analytic Philosophy
Authors: Pietarinen Ahti-Veikko
Published: July 2009

In this article I bring to light a group of scientific and philosophical ideas and intellectual currents from the early era of
the significs movement, contemporaneous with the origins of early analytic philosophy. Significs was a strong
candidate for the science of language, meaning, and communication during the new century. Its heyday coincided
with the forums of the Vienna Circle, yet its intellectual and cultural climate persisted until fading in the turmoil of the
mid-century's analytic thought.
The Jewish Spinoza
Authors: Nadler Steven
Published: July 2009

The seventeenth-century Dutch-Jewish philosopher, Baruch Spinoza, was expelled from the Amsterdam Portuguese-
Jewish community when he was a young man, and in his philosophy he adopts a critical, even hostile attitude toward
sectarian religions. Scholars have debated the extent to which Spinoza's thought, despite his own fraught relationship
to Judaism, belongs to the history of Jewish philosophy. This review article looks at various trends in scholarship on
Spinoza and Judaism, and particularly at recent illuminating work showing the precedents of Spinoza's ideas in
medieval Jewish rationalism, especially Maimonides.
The Plagiarism of the Heathens Detected: John Wood, the Elder (1704–1754) on the Translation of Architecture and Empire
Authors: Eigen Edward A.
Published: July 2009

John Wood the Elder's The Origin of Building: Or, The Plagiarism of the Heathens Detected (1741) appears a late
contribution to a widespread early modern polemic that engaged architects, scholars, antiquarians, and exegetes.
Yet the startling originality of Wood's treatise resides in his accusation against the heathen Vitruvius, for it was he who
allegedly committed the culminating act of plagiarism Wood set out to detect. This essay shows how Wood's model
of architectural history—that is, history as the legacy of plagiaristic depredation—was framed by the notion of translatio
imperii (translation of empire), particularly as articulated in the prophetic book of Daniel. The essay places Wood's
attempt to expose the mistaken posterity of classical architecture within the context of contemporary debates on the
origin and transmission of primordial wisdom.
Variations on Montesquieu: Raynal and Diderot’s Histoire des deux Indes and the American Revolution
Authors: Ansart Guillaume
Published: July 2009

This essay discusses an important early French response to the American Revolution, chapters 38-52 in Book 18 of
Raynal and Diderot's Histoire des deux Indes (1780), and explores how this reponse was shaped by the influence of
Montesquieu. In Raynal and Diderot's conception of political freedom, as in Montesquieu's, universalism is tempered
by empiricism. Public opinion must never be ignored, local factors matter: the two philosophes praise the American
revolutionaries for their wisdom in this respect. Clearly Montesquieuan in inspiration, the American chapters of the
Histoire des deux Indes constitute one of the most significant pre-revolutionary examples of moderate liberalism in
France.
The Orients of Gertrude Stein
Authors: Park Josephine Nock-Hee
Published: July 2009

“The Orients of Gertrude Stein” reads two well-known texts by Stein in which the Orient makes a significant appearance: Stein’s portrait-poem “Susie Asado” (1913) and her opera Four Saints in Three Acts (written in 1927). The first case features an intimate, eroticized Orient at its heart, while the second presents an astonishing moment of Oriental exclusion: the Orient is both welcomed into and banished from her work. By reading these contrasting invocations of the Orient, this essay seeks to examine Stein’s aesthetic habits of incorporation and rejection.
Prepreprofessionalism: Rankings, Rewards, and the Graduate Admissions Process
Authors: Fehrman Craig T.
Published: July 2009

This essay argues that those applying to graduate programs in English now professionalize at an unprecedented and unacknowledged rate. After surveying several websites where applicants share information and advice, I suggest that these applicants already think of themselves as specialized research scholars—that they are pre preprofessionalizing, to adapt John Guillory’s idea of “preprofessionalism.” To establish what this means, and why it matters, I compare these applicants to the few previous discussions of graduate admissions; I also analyze their reactions to the popular rankings of English departments and to the reduction of graduate programs. While literary scholars have examined many of these issues, they have consistently overlooked applicants, and I argue that we should remember how applicants shape and are shaped by metaprofessional issues—from graduate admissions to the job market.
The Postcolonial Orphan’s Autobiography: Authoring the Self in Jamaica Kincaid’s Mr. Potter and Calixthe Beyala’s La Petite fille du réverbère
Authors: Everett Julin
Published: July 2009

The genre of autobiography in the hands of an orphan might seem ironic: The writing of history by an individual without knowable pre-history. Yet, there is logic to the orphan’s life writing if one views autobiography as the written record of a self-made life. This paper explores the postcolonial orphan autobiography through a reading of Jamaica Kincaid’s Mr. Potter (2002) and Calixthe Beyala’s La Petite fille du réverbè (1998), exposing the coincidence of states of orphanage and states colonization. I demonstrate the manner in which orphanage dominates the postcolonial space; how it manifests itself within individuals and within the state itself. I situate the works within the context of life-writing so as to consider the theme of literacy in postcolonial literature, the agency displayed by the colonized orphan who becomes a writer and the implications for postcolonial states fully prepared to write their own histories.