Vendor‐supplied usage data for electronic resources: a survey of academic libraries

A survey was sent to research libraries in the United States and Canada to learn about the level of effort involved in working with vendors' usage reports, how the data are used, and which data are most useful to librarians in managing electronic resources. Ninety‐two responses were received and analyzed. Lack of standards and inconsistencies in the usage data were identified as issues in effectively preparing the data for further analysis. In fact, the results showed that more time was spent acquiring, reformatting, and manipulating the data than on actually analyzing them. The number of full‐text downloads was specified as the most useful statistic for assessing the use of electronic resources.     

Talking about Assessment: Mentor-student dialogues about pupil assessment in initial teacher training

This is an account of a study, conducted over the period of one extended school placement lasting a term, which monitored the dialogues between student teachers undertaking their school-based initial training and their mentors. The study took place in the context of the increasing emphasis placed on pupil assessment in England and Wales and the increasing prominence of school-based work in initial teacher training. This particular analysis focuses on the extent and kind of attention within the dialogues given to the assessment of pupil learning, and the ways in which school-based mentors model assessment practice through their formative discussions with student teachers. The evidence suggests that the dialogues are tending to define assessment in terms of examinations, tests and class control rather than in terms of pupil learning. While this suggests that there is scope for continued development of the mentoring role and the interpretation of initial teaching competences, it also adds to existing evidence that pupil-assessment is an area of difficulty for many experienced teachers.     

Mandatory Teaching Experience for School Counselors: An Impediment to Uniform Certification Standards for School Counselors

A review of the research on the effects of teaching experience on success as a school counselor led to a conclusion that it is an unfair and unwise certification criterion.     

Choice, Diversity and 'Exit' in Schooling — A Mixed Picture

Traditionally, most systems have required that parents send their children to a school within the district of residence and close to the family home, sometimes with an elite private system co-existing alongside. In recent years, this basic model has been modified, with some countries witnessing more extensive changes than others. This article outlines the range of change that has taken place along the dual axes of promoting diversity and establishing room for the exercise of parental choice. The synthesis article draws on the material submitted by all the countries participating in the OECD study, and not only those which feature specifically in this issue.
The first section reviews the current situation regarding parental choice of school and evidence relating to how that choice is exercised by different groups of parents. For choice to be exercised, there must be alternatives to choose from, and hence there follows a review of some of the policies and practices for diversity. The article then examines diversity in more forms contrasting selective and non-selective schools, public and private schools, and formal and home schooling. Several countries have moved to greater diversification of public education, allowing for different types of schools accommodating different student ability levels or parents' educational preferences. The role of demand is clearly a central element in their emergence and differing fortunes. This in turn is closely, but not exclusively, related to the familiar factors of social advantage and reproduction as well as to issues of value choices and beliefs.     

Relationship Between Client-Learning Style and Preference for Counselor Approach

A client-counselor matching model based on Kolb's experiential learning theory was examined. A questionnaire, which included Kolb's Learning Style Inventory (LSI) and four counselor approach profiles, was completed by 205 counseling clients. The clients indicated which counselor they preferred. The following four preference patterns were predicted: concrete learners—experiential approach, abstract learners—rational approach, active learners— behavioral approach, and reflective learners—client-centered approach. The results did not confirm the hypothesized four-way model, although limited support for the matching concept was evident when only two counselor approaches were considered. Clients who preferred directive counselors were more abstract learners. Clients preferring nondirective counselors were more concrete learners. Overall, clients preferred the rational counselor approach. A nonclient comparison group (n = 75) preferred the client-centered approach.