The effects of live parental infant-directed singing on infants, parents, and the parent-infant dyad: A systematic review of the literature.

Singing to infants is widely accepted as an enjoyable, positive, and beneficial interaction between the parent and infant across cultures. Whilst the literature suggests that live infant-directed singing impacts the infant, the parent doing the singing and the dyad in powerful ways, no systematic review of the evidence has yet been conducted. To this end, this systematic review identified 21 studies that investigated the effect of live parental infant-directed singing. These impacts were categorized as either being directly related to the infant, the parent, or the parent-infant dyad. Three main themes - one for each of the impact categories considered - were identified using thematic analysis techniques; infant-directed singing impacts on: infants' emotional regulation, provides validation of the parent's role, and promotes affect attunement within the dyad. The findings reinforce the benefits of live parental infant-directed singing for all parties involved, particularly when parents sing to typically developing infants born at full term. In contrast, the findings were inconsistent for pre-term infants. The implications of these findings are discussed.

Investigating the measurement of academic resilience in Aotearoa New Zealand using international large-scale assessment data.

Academic resilience captures academic success despite adversity and thus is an important concept for promoting equity within education. However, our understanding of how and why rates of academic resilience differ between contexts is currently limited by variation in the ways that the construct has been operationalised in quantitative research. Similarly, comparing the strength of protective factors that promote academic resilience is hindered by differing approaches to the measurement of academic resilience. This methodological variation has complicated attempts to reconcile disparate findings about academic resilience. The current study applied six commonly used operationalisations of academic resilience that combined different thresholds of high risk and high achievement, to three international large-scale assessments, to explore how these different operationalisations impacted the findings produced. The context of Aotearoa New Zealand was chosen as a case study to further academic resilience research within this context and investigate how academic resilience manifests in an education system with relatively high levels of average achievement alongside low levels of educational equity. Within international large-scale assessment datasets, prevalence rates differed markedly across subject areas, grade levels, and collection cycles, as a function of the measure of academic resilience employed, while the strength of protective factors was more consistent. Thresholds that were norm-referenced produced more consistent findings across the different datasets compared to thresholds that were criterion-referenced. High levels of missing data prevented the analysis of some datasets, and differences in the way that key constructs were measured undermined the comparability of findings across international large-scale assessments. The findings emphasise the strengths and limitations of utilising international large-scale assessment data for the study of academic resilience, particularly within the Aotearoa New Zealand context. Furthermore, the study highlights that researchers' methodological decisions have important impacts on the conclusions drawn about academic resilience. Supplementary Information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s11092-022-09384-0.

Effects of Ethnic Classification on Substantive Findings in Adolescent Mental Health Outcomes.

Although most adolescents are healthy, epidemiological studies show that a significant number experience mental health challenges, and that Indigenous and ethnic minority youth tend to have poorer mental health outcomes. However, ethnic classification in adolescence is complex due to increasing multi-ethnic identification, and little is known about how different classification methods affect research conclusions. This study used a nationally representative adolescent sample from Aotearoa New Zealand (N = 8275; ages 12-18; 55% female; 32% multi-ethnic) to investigate the effects that five ethnic classification methods have on substantive findings in three mental health outcomes: overall psychosocial difficulties, deliberate self-harm, and suicide attempts. The results showed that, depending on the classification method used, reported outcomes within the same nominal ethnic group varied by an effect size (d) of up to 0.12, and the reported magnitude of difference between nominal ethnic groups varied by an effect size (d) of up to 0.25. These effects are substantial given that they are solely due to a change in method. The impact that ethnic classification method has on substantive findings highlights the importance of criticality and transparency in research involving ethnicity data.

Demographic discrepancies between administrative-prioritisation and self-prioritisation of multiple ethnic identifications.

Ethnic classification is an inherently subjective process, especially when multiple ethnic identifications are involved. There are two methods commonly used to classify multiple ethnicities into single categories: administrative-prioritisation (assignment via a predetermined hierarchy) and self-prioritisation (where individuals select their "main" ethnicity). Currently, little is known about whether the demographic composition of outputted ethnic groups differs by prioritisation method. This study utilised large-scale data of multi-ethnic children (N = 1,860), adolescents (N = 2,413), and adults (N = 1,056) from Aotearoa New Zealand to examine individual and contextual demographic characteristics associated with discrepancies between administratively-prioritised and self-prioritised ethnicity. Results showed that discrepancy rates, which exceeded 50%, were systematically associated with neighbourhood ethnic composition and socioeconomic deprivation, but largely not associated with gender, age, and birthplace. The contextual nature of self-prioritisation highlights the importance of researchers' choice of ethnic classification method. Implications are discussed in the context of increasing multi-ethnic prevalence.

autopsych: An R Shiny tool for the reproducible Rasch analysis, differential item functioning, equating, and examination of group effects.

In this paper, we present autopsych, a novel online tool that allows school assessment experts, test developers, and researchers to perform routine psychometric analyses and equating of student test data and to examine the effect of student demographic and group conditions on student test performance. The app extends current open-source software by providing (1) extensive embedded result narration and summaries for written reports, (2) improved handling of partial credit data via customizable item-person Wright maps, (3) customizable item- and person-flagging systems, (4) item-response theory model constraints and controls, (5) many-facets Rasch analysis to examine item bias, (6) Rasch fixed item equating for mapping student ability across test forms, (7) tabbed spreadsheet outputs and immediate options for secondary data analysis, (8) customizable graphical color schemes, (9) extended ANOVA analysis for examining group differences, and (10) inter-rater reliability analyses for the verifying the consistency of rater scoring systems. We present the app's architecture and functionalities and test its performance with simulated and real-world small-, medium-, and large-scale assessment data. Implications and planned future developments are also discussed.

What constitutes globalised evidence? Cultural tensions and critical reflections of the evidence-based movement in New Zealand.

The evidence-based movement (EBM) is grounded in a well-intentioned desire to ensure resources are invested in high quality initiatives that generate the intended impact. Nevertheless, recent critiques contest the appropriateness of translating an approach rooted in a medical model to socially complex initiatives. Globalised notions of evidence can also be damaging for programs operating in small, culturally diverse countries with limited resources. Given these polemic views, our aim was to examine local perceptions of the EBM in New Zealand, a small, vibrant, bicultural society with a mix of homegrown and imported programs. Using a snowball sampling approach, 79 professionals working in the education and social sectors completed an anonymous online survey that contained a series of closed and open-ended questions. The results show that although participants positively endorsed a variety of quality evidence markers, traditionally positivist methodological leanings received lower and more varied endorsements compared to more inclusive and pluralistic approaches. Many also expressed concern that the EBM emphasises a narrow and colonised view of evidence that does not align with Maori and Pacific worldviews, and undermines innovation. We discuss the implications as an avenue for advancing intervention and social programming research in an increasingly multicultural and globalised world.

Mathematics Self-Concept in New Zealand Elementary School Students: Evaluating Age-Related Decline.

The underrepresentation of females in mathematics-related fields may be explained by gender differences in mathematics self-concept (rather than ability) favoring males. Mathematics self-concept typically declines with student age, differs with student ethnicity, and is sensitive to teacher influence in early schooling. We investigated whether change in mathematics self-concept occurred within the context of a longitudinal intervention to raise and sustain teacher expectations of student achievement. This experimental study was conducted with a large sample of New Zealand primary school students and their teachers. Data were analyzed using longitudinal multilevel modeling with mathematics self-concept as the dependent variable and time (which represents students' increasing age each year), gender, and ethnicity entered as predictors and achievement in mathematics included as a control variable. Interaction terms were also explored to investigate changes over time for different groups. All students demonstrated a small increase in mathematics self-concept over the 3-year period of the current study but mathematics self-concept was consistently greater for boys than girls. Maori, Asian, and Other students' initial mathematics self-concept was higher than that of New Zealand European and Pacific Islanders' (after controlling for achievement differences). However, a statistically significant decline in mathematics self-concept occurred for Maori students alone by the end of the study. The expected age-related reduction over time in student mathematics self-concept appeared to be mitigated in association with the longitudinal study. Nevertheless, the demonstration of a comparatively lower mathematics self-concept remained for girls overall and declined for Maori. Our results reinforce implications for future research into mathematics self-concept as a possible determinant of female student career choices.

Cultural invariance of goal orientation and self-efficacy in New Zealand: Relations with achievement.

BACKGROUND: There is substantial evidence indicating that various psychological processes are affected by cultural context, but such research is comparatively nascent within New Zealand. As there are four large cultural groups in New Zealand, representing an intersection of individualist, collectivist, indigenous, colonial, and immigrant cultures, New Zealand is an important context in which to investigate the role of culture in such processes. AIMS: This study investigated goal orientation and self-efficacy beliefs among students of different cultural backgrounds in New Zealand, associations between motivational beliefs and achievement, and whether any relations differed by cultural background. SAMPLE: Participants were 2,210 students attending three intermediate schools. METHODS: Participants responded to a questionnaire at the beginning of the school year to evaluate self-efficacy for mathematics and mastery and performance goal orientation. Participants also completed a standardized mathematics achievement test at the beginning and end of the year. RESULTS: The factor structure was sufficiently invariant by cultural group, but with statistically significant differences in average level of endorsement. Self-efficacy for mathematics predicted marginally higher end-of-year achievement after controlling for beginning-of-year achievement, with a stronger relationship for Maori and Pasifika, but no statistically significant relationship with achievement among Asian students. CONCLUSIONS: The questionnaire used was a valid instrument for the four main cultural groups in New Zealand. Differences were found in motivation levels, and Maori and Pasifika were more affected by their self-reported self-efficacy. Teachers may be able to raise students' self-beliefs by conveying high expectations for these students, potentially supporting higher academic outcomes.