A review of interventions for adolescents with insomnia and the role of the educational and child psychologist: when sleep does not come easily

The role of an educational and child psychologist involves the promotion of mental health and wellbeing. While adolescents who have insomnia are usually referred to Primary Healthcare services, it might be argued that insomnia can be seen as a barometer of psychological wellbeing and should warrant a psychological intervention. A search of PSYCHINFO and Medline revealed that interventions carried out thus far with adolescents who have difficulty initiating and/or maintaining quality sleep include Sleep Hygiene and Sleep Education, Cognitive Behavioural and Multi Component interventions. In this review it will be posited that using multi-modal approaches which are tailored to specific needs may have the most positive outcomes in the treatment of insomnia, by helping adolescents to develop a sense of self-efficacy and emotional regulation in the context of family and peer support. Educational and child psychologists are ideally placed to offer this type of input to adolescents with insomnia.     

Cognitive and Family-Support Mediators of Preschool Effectiveness: A Confirmatory Analysis

Investigated in this study were the mediators of the effects of preschool intervention on children's school achievement in sixth grade. A confirmatory structural model developed in a previous study of third graders was tested with 360 low-income, mostly black children who were available at the 3-year follow-up. The model incorporated cognitive readiness at kindergarten entry and parent involvement in school (rated by teachers and parents) as primary mediators of preschool effectiveness. In sixth grade (age 12), preschool participation at ages 3 or 4 was significantly associated with higher reading achievement, higher math achievement, and with lower incidence of grade retention. Cognitive readiness and parent involvement in school significantly mediated the estimated effects of preschool participation on school achievement and grade retention 7 years postprogram. Teacher ratings of school adjustment, school mobility, and grade retention also contributed to the transmission of effects. This integrated model fit the data better than several alternative models, including those based on the cognitive-advantage and family-support hypotheses.     

Reading in examination‐type situations: the effects of text layout on performance

Examinations are conventionally used to measure candidates' achievement in a limited time period. However, the influence of text layout on performance may compromise the construct validity of the examination. An experimental study looked at the effects of the text layout on the speed and accuracy of a reading task in an examination‐type situation. A survey of the reading strategies used in examinations was conducted to help in defining the reading context in which text layout may have an effect. A set of guidelines was also derived from research on typographic features of text and these were used to select three text layouts (intended to be more or less legible) from the layouts used in English language reading examinations. Results of the experiment showed that task time was significantly shorter and the number of correct answers per second was significantly higher with the layout conforming to legibility guidelines. Participants' judgements indicated that this layout was also the easiest in which to find answers and the most attractive. The main conclusion of the study is that text layout affects performance in a task that involves reading text to search for specific information in order to answer questions on it under time pressure. Consequently, the construct validity of examinations may be compromised by confounding legibility with reading skills.     

Further evidence for the efficacy of an evidence-based,small group,literacy intervention program for young struggling readers

Abstract

An earlier series of pilot studies and small-scale experimental studies had previously provided some evidence for the efficacy of a small group early literacy intervention program for young struggling readers. The present paper provides further evidence for efficacy based on a much larger sample of young, socially disadvantaged, at-risk readers. The participants comprised 14 successive intakes of Year 1 and Year 2 students into small group remedial literacy intervention programs hosted by two charitably run tutorial centres. In each semester, over the years 2005–2011, eight students (on average) attended each centre for one hour, for four days per week, for 15 weeks. Pre- and post-test assessment data on eight measures of early literacy performance were available on up to 194 students who completed the program. Substantial and statistically significant gains were evident on all literacy measures with large effect sizes. These results provide further evidence for the efficacy of the small group literacy intervention program.     

A Partisan Evaluation‐‐John Elliott on school effectiveness

This paper is a response to ‘School effectiveness research and its critics; alternative visions of schooling’ by John Elliott (Cambridge Journal of Education, 1996, 26, pp. 199‐223). It is argued that Elliott knows little of the knowledge base, misinterprets what he knows and fails to support his criticisms with evidence. It is concluded that educational advance and improvement can be furthered by school effectiveness research.     

’Equal Opportunities’ and Local Management of Schools — what happens now?

The introduction of the 1988 Education Reform Act in Britain marks the beginning of the most substantial changes to the system of State education since the 1944 Education Act. Many have argued that the rationale for these changes rests on the introduction of the principles of ‘market forces’ and represents an attempt to create an internal and external educational market. Already some research has begun to examine the ideology behind some of the measures introduced by the Act such as the National Curriculum and the likely effects of the testing and assessment which accompanies it on issues of ‘race’, gender and class. However, as yet, little work has focused on another measure introduced by the Act which threatens ‘equal opportunities’, that is local management of schools (LMS). It is my argument that central to all these measures is an ideology that sees education as performing a certain function, State schools as certain types of institutions and teachers and pupils as certain types of people. Indeed, just as it is often argued that the National Curriculum rests on an assumption of a specific type of educational knowledge and a certain type of educational practice, so it is my contention that local management assumes a specific model of pupil, school, governor, teacher and parent. Both the ideology behind the 1988 Education Reform Act and the measures flowing from it seek to create a market in education. It is this tenet in the recent reforms which theatens the continuance of ‘equal opportunities’. The creation of this educational market aims to replace the notions of quality of opportunity which in one form or another have represented the British post‐war educational consensus with the rhetoric of choice, standards and differentiation which have been the hallmark of British domestic social policy since 1979.     

Bringing Engineering Design into High School Science Classrooms: The Heating/Cooling Unit

Infusing engineering design projects in K-12 settings can promote interest and attract a wide range of students to engineering careers. However, the current climate of high-stakes testing and accountability to standards leaves little room to incorporate engineering design into K-12 classrooms. We argue that design-based learning, the combination of scientific inquiry and engineering design, is an approach that can be used to meet both K-12 educators’ and engineering advocates’ goals. This paper describes an 8-week high school curriculum unit, the Heating/Cooling System, in which engineering design is used to teach students central and difficult chemistry concepts such as atomic interactions, reactions, and energy changes in reactions. The goals of the paper are to (1) describe this successful design-based unit, (2) provide guidelines for incorporating design-based learning into other science topics, and (3) provide some evidence of its value for teaching difficult chemistry concepts and increasing interest in engineering careers.     

The Pathic Model of Disability: Identity,Moral Force and the Politics of Pain

Critics of the ‘strong social model’ of disability developed in the U.K. commonly claim that it focuses too one-sidedly on social oppression, thereby neglecting the role of individual impairment. In this theoretical article, we contrast that model with what we call the ‘pathic model’ of disability, which we characterise through the case of people living with chronic pain in the U.S.A. We argue that the difference between these two models is due to differing socio-political contexts and national policies concerning welfare and addiction as well as normative assumptions regarding the moral force of focusing on individual pain. We conclude that the political goals of proponents of the ‘pathic model’ present a challenge to the presumption that the ‘strong social model’ is the most or only politically effective way to rectify disability-related social oppression.     

Objectivity of scoring for the McCarthy drawing tests

Two doctoral level school psychologists independently scored 50 McCarthy drawing booklets. Children producing the drawings ranged from 4–6 to 6–10, with a mean age of 5–11. Interscorer reliability for Draw-A-Design was.93 and for Draw-A-Child was.96. No significant difference occurred in the mean score for either test across scorers.     

Methodological and statistical problems in discerning profile reliability: Comment on Roffe and Bryant

A variety of methodological and statistical problems in the Roffe and Bryant (1979) study of the McCarthy Scales' profile reliability are pointed out. Major problems of failure to take practice effects into account and use of the Pearson correlation to determine profile reliability substantially limit the utility of the study. Alternative procedures and more efficacious use of the Roffe and Bryant data are suggested.