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.     

Setting Reliable National Curriculum Standards: a guide to the Angoff procedure

The Northern Ireland Curriculum, like the English National Curriculum, records pupil achievement on a 10‐level scale. The level to which a pupil is ‘assigned’ at the end of a Key Stage is based upon two sources of assessment information: classroom‐based measures provided by the teacher and summative information from Common Assessment Instruments (CAIs), which are pen‐and‐paper tests taken at the end of the Key Stage. CAIs play a central role in confirming the accuracy with which teachers judge the level at which a pupil is working. While the teacher might judge a pupil to have mastered level 7 in Algebra, for example, based upon observation in class, test data and homeworks, the CAI will only confirm this level if the pupil scores above the level 7 cutscore on the CAI. If this cutscore does not accord with a reliable measure of what constitutes level 7 performance in Algebra in the classroom, there is likely to be misclassification of pupils with attendant difficulties for the efficient planning of teaching and learning. Misclassifications can be minimised when examiners and teachers interpret level 7 achievement in Algebra similarly. The Angoff standard‐setting procedure was used to establish level 5 cutscores in the Number and Handling Data tests of the mathematics CAI so that comparisons might be made between the published level 5 cutscores and those which result from a judgemental standard‐setting procedure. The 21 teachers involved in the procedure were offered the opportunity to recommend a level 5 ‘standard’ using the Angoff methodology, and to review their recommendations in the light of test data from the February 1993 CAI administration. A further opportunity was offered following a discussion during which individual teachers articulated their reasons for the standards they recommended. The results confirm that the reliability of recommended standards increases both as a consequence of receiving normative data and of discussion. All statistical measures reported in this article indicate that the procedure could command the confidence of examiners, teachers and the public. While the recommended cutscore for Number is in close accord with that published by the examiners, the extent of the mismatch in the Handling Data test is such as might give rise to some misclassification of pupils. It is important to stress that this mismatch had no real consequences since 1993 was a pilot year and no test outcomes were reported. The article concludes with an outline of the contribution which the Angoff methodology can make to the resolution of some of the difficulties faced by English national assessment, as identified in Sir Ron Dealing's interim report “The National Curriculum and its Assessment”.     

Textbooks of doubt: using systemic functional analysis to explore the framing of climate change in middle-school science textbooks

Middle school students are learning about climate change in large part through textbooks used in their classes. Therefore, it is crucial to understand how the language employed in these materials frames this topic. To this end, we used systemic functional analysis to study the language of the chapters related to climate change in four sixth grade science textbooks adopted in the state of California. The linguistic variables investigated were: types of nominal groups; processes; circumstances; and the modality system. Our findings showed that these textbooks framed climate change as uncertain in the scientific community – both about whether it is occurring as well as about its human-causation. The implications for science education are discussed in relation to how the current political and public discourses of climate change, rather than the scientific discourse, is influencing how textbooks discuss this topic.     

Significant vs meaningful differences in the effects of tangible reinforcement on intelligence test achievement and reliability of tmr subjects

The effects of tangible reinforcement on a set of four different intelligence test measures for 72 trainable mentally retarded children was investigated. Performance under a standard and reinforced (M & M) condition, differences in split-half reliability, power estimates, as well as the effect size resulting from treatments, were considered. The Lorge-Thorndike vocabulary, WISC Arithmetic, Picture Arrangement, and Comprehension subtests were administered. Reinforced administration resulted in significantly superior performance on all but the Comprehension test, although magnitude of treatment effects was low. Reliabilities under the reinforced condition were higher for all but the Lorge-Thorndike measures. Confidence bounded effect sizes even at their maximal value did not result in “meaningful” differences in performance, however.     

省级电大远程教育资源库的开发与设计

远程教育教学资源库是现代远程教育教学支持服务体系的重要组成部分,它的构建和应用极大地推动了我国远程教育的发展,促进了教学资源建设的规范化、系统化和标准化。本文阐述了以实现教学资源的共建共享为出发点,基于B/S模式、Asp技术和SQL数据库的省级电大教学资源库的设计思想和实现方法,研发的资源库系统实现了资源收集、实体库管理、课件库管理等功能,具有良好的开放性和可扩展性。     

Explain This,Explore That: A Study of Parent–Child Interaction in a Children's Museum

Parents visiting a gear exhibit at a children's museum were instructed to encourage their children (N = 65; ages 4–6) to explain, explore, or engage as usual. Instructions led to different patterns of play at the exhibit: Encouragement to explain led to greater discussion of gear mechanisms, whereas encouragement to explore led to more time connecting gears. In the explain condition, parents’ questions predicted their children's discussion and further testing of gears. Questions also predicted the amount of time children spent on a follow-up task. Parents’ exploration predicted an increase in exploration by their children. These data indicate that minimal interventions impact parent–child interaction at a museum exhibit and that prompts to explore or explain uniquely influence parent and child behavior.