The Raw Materials of Reform: Rethinking the Knowledge of School Improvement

Despite widespread conviction that adequateknowledge exists for improving schools, weargue that the knowledge needed for successfulschool reform goes far beyond what is currentlyavailable and accessible. Drawing on theexample of ATLAS, a collaboration among fourexperienced reform organizations in the UnitedStates – the Coalition of Essential Schools,the School Development Program, EducationDevelopment Center, and Harvard Project Zero –we argue that four significant ``problems ofknowledge' made it difficult to collect,integrate, and use what the members of theseorganizations had learned about schoolimprovement. First, the ATLAS partners quicklyfound that, while they had substantialknowledge and resources in many areas ofschooling, there were many other aspects ofschooling, school change, and organizationaldevelopment where further knowledge wasrequired. Second, even in areas where thepartner organizations had considerableexperience, they often found that it was hardto articulate and share that knowledge in atimely and efficient way. Third, in someinstances, the lessons that members of thepartner organizations took away from theirprevious experiences were either inconsistentwith one another or downright contradictory.Fourth, the difficulties of creating andmaintaining a new collaborative organizationmay have discouraged the development andsharing of knowledge across the partnerorganizations.     

The interplay of social competence and psychopathology over 20 years: testing transactional and cascade models

Associations among internalizing, externalizing, and social competence were examined in a longitudinal cohort (N = 205) of 8- to 12-year-old children reassessed after 7, 10, and 20 years. Theoretically informed nested structural equation models tested interconnections among broad multi-informant constructs across four developmental periods. Follow-up analyses examined gender invariance, measurement and age effects, and putative common causes. Key model comparisons indicated robust negative paths from social competence to internalizing problems from childhood to adolescence and from emerging adulthood to young adulthood. Social competence and externalizing problems showed strong initial associations in childhood but no longitudinal cross-domain paths. Using a developmental psychopathology framework, results are discussed in relation to cascade and transactional effects and the interplay between competence and symptoms over time.     

Hurry Up and Wait: Rethinking Special Education Identification in Kindergarten

This article makes the case that it no longer makes sense to delay the process of identifying children with disabilities until after kindergarten. The purposes, expectations, and day-to-day realities of kindergarten have changed, and children who eventually will be identified for special education are put at a considerable disadvantage when their special learning needs are not addressed during the kindergarten year. The article identifies inadequate solutions and suggests strategies that teachers and schools can use to address the status quo and work to change policy and tradition regarding special education identification in kindergarten.     

Using data for decision-making: perspectives from 16 principals in Michigan, USA

In response to the vast amounts of data associated with the accountability movement and the rhetoric of data-informed decision-making, we interviewed 16 principals to find out what streams of data they used and what decisions they made by using the data. We found that: (a) student achievement data are predominantly used to the extent of neglecting other streams of data such as student and community background data and school process data; (b) student achievement data are used more for accountability purposes—for assessing “of” rather than “for” the learning; (c) different streams of data are rarely used together to derive rich meaning for decision-making; and (d) school districts differ in the extent to which their principals use data to improve curriculum and instruction. The study pointed both to the challenges and to the opportunities of making data-informed decisions to improve our schools.     

Neuromuscular, biochemical and perceptual post-match fatigue in professional rugby league forwards and backs

In this study, we investigated changes in creatine kinase, perceptual and neuromuscular fatigue of professional rugby league players after match-play. Twenty-three male rugby league players (10 backs, 13 forwards) had their creatine kinase, perceptual ratings of fatigue, attitude to training, muscle soreness, and flight time in a countermovement jump measured before and 1 and 2 days after (day 1 and day 2 respectively) league matches. Total playing time, offensive and defensive contacts were also recorded for each player. Creatine kinase was higher both 1 and 2 days after than before matches (P < 0.05) in forwards and backs. Similarly, perceived fatigue and muscle soreness were higher than pre-match on both days 1 and 2 (P < 0.05), but did not differ between groups (P > 0.05). Jump performance was lower on day 1 but not day 2 for both groups (P < 0.05). While total playing time was longer in backs (P < 0.05), relative frequencies for all contacts were greater in forwards (P < 0.05). Contacts for forwards were correlated with all markers of fatigue (P < 0.05), but only flight time was correlated with offensive contacts in backs (P < 0.05). Despite the mechanisms of fatigue being different between forwards and backs, our results highlight the multidimensional nature of fatigue after a rugby league match and that these markers do not differ between positions.     

Developing strategies for the information society

Abstract

Much has been written about the coming Information Society and the possible benefits and problems that could accompany its evolution. However, there is no grand design for the Information Society. Its general shape, speed, and direction are being shaped by a wide variety of forces, only some of which are technological. However, an argument can be made that the lack of a coherent strategy for the evolution of the Information Society may prove dysfunctional in the long run, because it results in ambiguity, confusion, waste, and lost opportunity in both the public and private sectors. In fact, there are many strategic choices that could be taken today which would help shape the future Information Society so as to improve the prospects for overall societal benefits. Five strategic choices in the public sector and five in the private sector are offered as examples of the kinds of actions that would appear to be appropriate today to lay the groundwork for the successful evolution of the Information Society.