She Poses,He Performs: A Visual Content Analysis of Male and Female Professional Athlete Facebook Profile Photos

Using branding theory and a content analysis of the visual components of male and female professional athlete Facebook profile photos, this study suggests that hegemonic gender portrayals persist in visual representations of athletes. Female athletes were more likely to pose for photos and smile while male athletes were more likely to look away from the camera and be in motion. Athletes most often were visually represented in their uniforms, while sexualized visual portrayals of athletes of either gender were not affirmed in this study.     

Urban regimes and school compacts: The development of the Detroit Compact

School compacts between the business community and school officials have increased in recent years. This paper examines the development and implementation of a school compact program in the Detroit Public School system. The paper shows that the Detroit Compact was initiated by Detroit's corporate leaders. The article highlights some of the issues faced in forging compact agreements between the business community, Detroit Mayor Coleman Young, school officials, and school activists. The paper concludes with a discussion of some of the problems the Detroit Compact faces.     

Student Motivation and Learning in Mathematics and Science: A Cluster Analysis

The present study focused on an in-depth understanding of student motivation and self-regulated learning in mathematics and science through cluster analysis. It examined the different learning profiles of motivational beliefs and self-regulatory strategies in relation to perceived teacher autonomy support, basic psychological needs (i.e. autonomy, competence, and relatedness), motivational regulations, and academic achievement. Grounded in self-determination theory, this study examined the learning profiles of 782 students from eight secondary schools in Singapore. The cluster analyzes revealed four distinct learning profiles, and they were compared in association with perceived teacher autonomy support, needs satisfaction, motivational regulations, and grades. Cluster profiling enables teachers to have better understanding of their students’ self-regulated learning so that they can apply effective teaching strategies to foster their motivation. The findings offer a perspective to secondary students’ psychological needs along with some insights into their perceived task value and self-efficacy in the contexts of mathematics and science.     

Learning in professional practice schools: Beyond clinical experiences and teacher workshops

Over the past two years, Florida State University's Science Education Program and Sabal Palm Elementary have collaborated to develop a PPS. The formation of the Sabal Palm PPS was not based upon a predetermined design nor has one group served as an authority to direct how the PPS ought to operate. The success of this model relies on PPS participants working collaboratively to establish goals and plans for actions to be taken to support teacher-learning. The Sabal Palm PPS continues to evolve as dynamic model for creating a center for teacher and student learning. The purpose of this paper is to discuss our involvement in the formation a PPS and implications for enhancing teacher education programs. Specializations: professional practice school development, teacher research, primary science education Specializations: environmental science, primary science education.     

Overreporting and underreporting of child abuse: teachers' use of professional discretion

OBJECTIVE: According to mandatory reporting laws for professionals, the relationship between initial recognition that a child may have been abused and the subsequent reporting of that suspected case of child abuse to the responsible agency would, at first glance, appear to be clear. However, this relationship has developed into one of the major social policy controversies of the recent past. Our major goal is to present research findings that address this social policy debate concerning the problems of underreporting and overreporting, focusing specifically on teachers. METHOD: A factorial survey design, that combines the advantages of the factorial experiment with those of surveys, was employed in a probability sample of teachers (N=480) who responded to vignettes in which case characteristics were systematically manipulated. Teachers responded with judgments about whether the vignette was child abuse and the likelihood that they would report this suspected case. Characteristics of the teachers and their work setting (school) were also measured. RESULTS: When comparing the teachers' recognition and reporting scores, we found that they gave the same score for 63% of the vignettes they judged, gave higher reporting than recognition scores (overreporting) for 4% of the vignettes, and gave higher recognition than reporting scores (underreporting) for 33% of the vignettes. Discrepancies between recognition and reporting (over and under reporting) were related to characteristics of the case, teacher, and school where the teacher was employed. CONCLUSIONS: Teachers in our Ohio sample evidence the use of professional discretion in making judgments about the recognition and reporting of child abuse and do not appear to make these judgments with equal certainty. Their use of discretion is more likely to result in underreporting than overreporting.     

Characteristics of School Districts That Participate in Rigorous National Educational Evaluations

Given increasing interest in evidence-based policy, there is growing attention to how well the results from rigorous program evaluations may inform policy decisions. However, little attention has been paid to documenting the characteristics of schools or districts that participate in rigorous educational evaluations, and how they compare to potential target populations for the interventions that were evaluated. Utilizing a list of the actual districts that participated in 11 large-scale rigorous educational evaluations, we compare those districts to several different target populations of districts that could potentially be affected by policy decisions regarding the interventions under study. We find that school districts that participated in the 11 rigorous educational evaluations differ from the interventions' target populations in several ways, including size, student performance on state assessments, and location (urban/rural). These findings raise questions about whether, as currently implemented, the results from rigorous impact studies in education are likely to generalize to the larger set of school districts—and thus schools and students—of potential interest to policymakers, and how we can improve our study designs to retain strong internal validity while also enhancing external validity.     

Attention deficits: current concepts,controversies, management,and approaches to classroom instruction

This article reviews the current criteria for diagnosis of Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder and Undifferentiated Attention-Deficit Disorder, according to the American Psychiatric Association, and describes other typical presenting features of children with attentional disorders. The current theories of the biological basis of attentional disorders are reviewed. Treatments of attentional disorders are discussed, including medical treatments with stimulants and tricyclic antidepressants, and non-medical treatments, such as behavior modification, psychotherapy, diets, and specific educational modifications that are felt to be helpful. Finally, our current thinking about the long-term outlook for children with attentional disorders is summarized. This work received support from a Clinical Investigator Development Award, NS 01212, from the NINDS.