Binge-eating and vomiting: A survey of a high school population

A survey of 421 high school females was conducted to determine the prevalence of the binge/purge practice, bulimia, an eating disorder. Teenage vomiters in this study were found to have higher levels of somatic symptoms, anxiety, social dysfunction, and depression than did nonvomiters. They were also found to have disturbed attitudes toward food, eating, and dieting. Of the vomiters, 58% scored above the threshold score that indicates the presence of psychological and behavioral symptoms characteristic of anorexia nervosa. The findings provide information useful to school personnel who work with the social, behavioral, and academic problems of adolescents.     

A state of constant prodding: live music,precarity and regulation

Live music makes a vital contribution to the cultural and creative identities of cities. In turn, the spaces in which such activity takes place contribute strongly the functioning of local music and arts scenes. However, particularly in large Australian cities, there is a tension between economic development, fuelled by an extended property bubble, and the viability of small-to-medium live music venues. This tension is compounded by community attitudes toward arts and culture as well as a range of regulatory measures which govern the spaces in which this activity takes place. This paper examines the challenges inherent with developing and sustaining of live music venues in relation to the regulatory barriers associated with doing so. This paper draws on data from two qualitative examining producer accounts of live music operation in Perth, the capital of Western Australia, and Sydney, the capital of New South Wales. Both studies focused on the regulatory frameworks, and barriers associated with being able to support local, original contemporary music activity and were prompted following the closure of several highly supportive, high profile live music venues in each location. This research came in the wake of the so-called ‘lock out laws’, in the entertainment district of Kings Cross and surrounding suburbs, resulting in significant local and national debate around the impact and effectiveness of such laws. This paper is contextualised within debates relating to the importance of supportive live music venues, the challenges associated with developing, supporting and maintaining such spaces in light of gentrification and urban renewal strategies. As argued, these strategies, which work to enhance the vibrancy of cities – and often position arts and culture activity as being a vital component - often displace and/ or cause tensions for the spaces in which cultural and creative activity takes place during and after such regeneration.     

The assessment has become the curriculum: Teachers’ views on the Phonics Screening Check in England

The Phonics Screening Check (PSC) was introduced in England in 2012 for Year 1 children (aged 5 and 6). There have been criticisms of the check in relation to its reliability and appropriateness as an assessment for early reading, although advocates of the check see it as a valuable tool in securing progress in early reading. This mixed methods study sought to evaluate the intended and possible unintended consequences of the PSC, foregrounding the voices of children and their teachers. This article reports on findings from the teachers’ data. The study focused initially on questionnaire data from 14 schools (59 teachers) selected for their diversity in relation to attainment data (PSC and reading) and socio-economic status. Focus groups in seven of the schools (25 teachers) enabled a more in-depth exploration of teachers’ views and practices in relation to the PSC. The study identified the ‘negative backwash’ of assessment. The PSC was seen as an end in itself, rather than a way of securing progress in one of the skills of reading. It found that, the assessment had become the curriculum, to the detriment of specific groups of learners (higher-attaining readers and children with English as an Additional Language). Teachers were found to use the assessment processes of the PSC as objectives for teaching rather than using them as the tools of assessment.     

Effects of graphing conventions and response options on interpretation of small n graphs

The present study examined the effects of manipulation of two graphing conventions on judgements of time‐series data by novice raters. These conventions involved the presence of phase change lines between baseline and intervention data and whether data points across phase changes were connected. The 1990 study of Matyas and Greenwood was also partially replicated and participant error rates were examined when responses were on a non‐binary scale (no effect, uncertain, clear effect) in contrast to the binary scale used in the original study. Thirty postgraduate special education students rated intervention effects on 36 graphs. There was no substantive evidence that graphing conventions affected judgements. Type I errors, defined as a response of ‘clear effect’ when no intervention effect was present, were very low (0–7%) and Type II errors were correspondingly high (0–100%), particularly with low intervention effects and high random error. Thus, judges were very conservative when using a non‐binary response scale, in contrast with the results of Matyas and Greenwood. Several directions for further research are proposed.