Revisiting the association between reading achievement and antisocial behavior: new evidence of an environmental explanation from a twin study

Previous studies have reported, but not explained, the reason for a robust association between reading achievement and antisocial behavior. This association was investigated using the Environmental Risk (E-Risk) Longitudinal Twin Study, a nationally representative 1994-1995 birth cohort of 5- and 7-year-olds. Results showed that the association resulted primarily from environmental factors common to both reading and antisocial behavior and was stronger in boys. Environmental factors also explained the relation between reading disability and conduct disorder. Leading candidate environmental risk factors weakly mediated the association. For boys the best explanation was a reciprocal causation model: poor reading led to antisocial behavior, and vice versa. In contrast, the relation between reading achievement and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder was best explained by common genetic influences.     

Developmentally invariant dissociations in children's true and false memories: not all relatedness is created equal

The role of categorical versus associative relations in 5-, 7-, and 11-year-old children's true and false memories was examined using the Deese-Roediger-McDermott (DRM) paradigm and categorized lists of pictures or words with or without category labels as primes. For true items, recall increased with age and categorized lists were better recalled than DRM lists. For false items, recall increased with age except for picture lists, there were no differences between categorized and DRM lists and no effect of priming, and there were fewer false memories for pictures than words. Like adults, children's false memories are based on associative not thematic relations, whereas their veridical memories depend on both. This new, developmentally invariant dissociation is consistent with knowledge- and resource-based models of memory development.     

Recruitment and management development for primary headship

This article seeks to explain the ways in which leadership makes a difference to the quality of instruction in US schools by reviewing research published since 2000. The review of research is presented in three major sections, organised according to the methodology used in each study. The first section looks into quantitative studies that probe the structural relationships among members and activities related to teaching and learning. Primarily drawing on surveys completed by school stakeholders, these studies uncover patterns of influence using advanced statistical methods. The second section summarises findings from qualitative case study research, which provide specific examples of conditions that support the leadership patterns previously identified. The final section offers further explanations of how these patterns of influence operate by examining the alignment of formal and social components of interactions through network methodology.     

AD/HD: Towards Resolution – A Personal View

The debate on AD/HD has stimulated a great deal of interest, and parents are beginning to ask whether their children may have the condition and how they might be treated.

Professionals need to create a personal philosophy and be ready to advise parents in relation to any fears and apprehensions they may have.

In this paper the author presents his philosophy, summarises its practical benefits and describes how he would reassure parents (and professionals) in relation to common concerns regarding the implementation of a multi-modal approach.

Part of the paper is based on a chapter from the author's new book ADHD: How to Deal with Very Difficult Children, published by Souvenir Press Ltd. in March 1996.     

Improving school attendance: can participation in outdoor learning influence attendance for young people with social,emotional and behavioural difficulties?

The link between good attendance in school and academic performance has been acknowledged for some time now. However, improving school attendance for young people with social, emotional and behavioural difficulties (SEBD) or pupils at risk of exclusion can be a challenging task for educational leaders. This paper begins with a discussion of earlier studies on outdoor learning and school attendance. It adds to the discourse by presenting findings from a one-year outdoor learning programme situated within an English special school for young people with SEBD. The research reported here is part of a larger study that used an action research design. The paper concludes that although improvements in attendance can be achieved, the factors affecting attendance are complex and that improvements may be restricted to programmes that utilise an outdoor learning approach rather than being achievable across the whole school curriculum.