School Design: A Classificatory Framework for a 21st-Century Approach to School Improvement

As attention turns from restructuring to school design as a means of securing school improvement, a bewildering range of design programmes/models are available. How are schools to make informed choices about their relative merits? This article suggests a classification, based on 10 criteria, by which to categorize their features, and to draw comparisons between them. The particular design adopted by the case school is described and analysed in terms of the classificatory framework, and its implementation by the perspective of the school leader/change agent. Finally, conclusions are drawn about the usefulness of the framework as a heuristic “device” for characterizing school design models (SDM) and their implementation. It is argued that refinement of the classificatory framework would result from similar case studies and the perspectives of others – besides the school leader/change agent – involved in their implementation.     

DYNAMICS OF ENGAGEMENT AND DISAFFECTION IN A SOCIAL STUDIES CLASSROOM CONTEXT

In this investigation, we replicated Skinner et al.’s study of the dynamics of engagement with a more diverse sample of Grades 6 and 7 students from a middle school with a large English learner (primarily Spanish‐speaking) student population. We tested dimensions of the self‐system model of motivational development in a specific academic domain (i.e., social studies). Some relationships found by Skinner and colleagues were supported, whereas others were not. Emotional engagement predicted changes in behavioral engagement and disaffection. The classroom context and students’ self‐perceptions predicted changes in engagement and disaffection. Students’ self‐perceptions also mediated the relation between teacher support and engagement and disaffection. None of these relations were moderated by language status.     

Teaching Bioinformatics and Neuroinformatics by Using Free Web-based Tools

This completely computer-based module''s purpose is to introduce students to bioinformatics resources. We present an easy-to-adopt module that weaves together several important bioinformatic tools so students can grasp how these tools are used in answering research questions. Students integrate information gathered from websites dealing with anatomy (Mouse Brain Library), quantitative trait locus analysis (WebQTL from GeneNetwork), bioinformatics and gene expression analyses (University of California, Santa Cruz Genome Browser, National Center for Biotechnology Information''s Entrez Gene, and the Allen Brain Atlas), and information resources (PubMed). Instructors can use these various websites in concert to teach genetics from the phenotypic level to the molecular level, aspects of neuroanatomy and histology, statistics, quantitative trait locus analysis, and molecular biology (including in situ hybridization and microarray analysis), and to introduce bioinformatic resources. Students use these resources to discover 1) the region(s) of chromosome(s) influencing the phenotypic trait, 2) a list of candidate genes—narrowed by expression data, 3) the in situ pattern of a given gene in the region of interest, 4) the nucleotide sequence of the candidate gene, and 5) articles describing the gene. Teaching materials such as a detailed student/instructor''s manual, PowerPoints, sample exams, and links to free Web resources can be found at http://mdcune.psych.ucla.edu/modules/bioinformatics.     

Regional Migration to and from Higher Education Institutions: Scale, Determinants and Outcomes

This paper examines patterns of movement to study by undergraduates and patterns of mobility into work by graduates. Using national data and a large-scale dataset, student movement across regions to Higher Education Institutions is described and modelled. The evidence points to a sizeable group of graduates who never move region and a significant proportion of graduates who move to study but then move back to their home region for work. Investigation is made of whether or not movement and mobility depend on the subject studied, the type of HE undertaken, the characteristics of the individual and the characteristics of the origin and destination regions. A hypothesis is proposed that the motive for movement is to secure greater rewards from Higher Education. However, those who move region to study report significantly lower satisfaction scores with their course of study. The implications of these findings for regional agencies, for institutions and for students are considered.     

Heartland: Forgiveness in Columbus,Three Billboards Outside Ebbing,Missouri, and Lady Bird

Recent movies have used the familiar conventions of classic revenge movies, but the former have avoided the latter's grim resolutions in favor of a wiser, more forgiving attitude toward those who have offended the wronged. This unconventional change in a familiar story line points to the contrast between the pleasure of vicarious vindictiveness and the more thoughtful approach that we prefer in real life.     

Acute effects of static stretching on characteristics of the isokinetic angle - torque relationship, surface electromyography, and mechanomyography

The aims of this study were to examine the acute effects of static stretching on peak torque, work, the joint angle at peak torque, acceleration time, isokinetic range of motion, mechanomyographic amplitude, and electromyographic amplitude of the rectus femoris during maximal concentric isokinetic leg extensions at 1.04 and 5.23 rad x s(-1) in men and women. Ten women (mean +/- s: age 23.0 +/- 2.9 years, stature 1.61 +/- 0.12 m, mass 63.3 +/- 9.9 kg) and eight men (age 21.4 +/- 3.0 years, stature 1.83 +/- 0.11 m, mass 83.1 +/- 15.2 kg) performed maximal voluntary concentric isokinetic leg extensions at 1.04 and 5.23 rad x s(-1). Following the initial isokinetic tests, the dominant leg extensors were stretched using four static stretching exercises. After the stretching, the isokinetic tests were repeated. Peak torque, acceleration time, and electromyographic amplitude decreased (P< or = 0.05) from pre- to post-stretching at 1.04 and 5.23 rad . s(-1); there were no changes (P > 0.05) in work, joint angle at peak torque, isokinetic range of motion, or mechanomyographic amplitude. These findings indicate no stretching-related changes in the area under the angle - torque curve (work), but a significant decrease in peak torque, which suggests that static stretching may cause a "flattening" of the angle - torque curve that reduces peak strength but allows for greater force production at other joint angles. These findings, in conjunction with the increased limb acceleration rates (decreased acceleration time) observed in the present study, provide tentative support for the hypothesis that static stretching alters the angle - torque relationship and/or sarcomere shortening velocity.     

The sales effect of word of mouth: a model for creative goods and estimates for novels

Weekly sales of creative goods—like music records, movies, or books—usually peak shortly after release and then decline quickly. In many cases, however, they follow a hump-shaped pattern where sales increase for some time. A popular explanation for this phenomenon is word of mouth among a population of heterogeneous buyers, but previous studies typically assume buyer homogeneity or neglect word of mouth altogether. In this paper, I study a model of new-product diffusion with heterogeneous buyers that allows for a quantification of the sales effect of word of mouth. The model includes Christmas sales as a special case. All parameters have an intuitive interpretation. Simulation results suggest that the parameters are estimable for data that are not too volatile and that cover a sufficiently large part of a title’s life cycle. I estimate the model for four exemplary novels using scanner data on weekly sales.

The roles of professional and trade associations

Under the former Communist regimes, trade associations were often effectively instruments of government. They now have to acquire a new role in the emergent democracies. But trade associations have few resources, are difficult to manage, and are subject to legal restraints. Yet these groups have an enormous job: to act on behalf of their members, to represent them to the government and other groups, and to achieve what they as an industry want and need. This requires that members reach a common position and provide support and assistance. It also requires that the association delegate some activities to commercial operators. A variety of book trade associations is described. Clive Bradley has been chief executive of the British Publishers Association since 1976 and director of the Confederation of Information Communication Industries since 1984. A barrister who studied law at Cambridge and Yale Universities, he has made special studies of the laws of copyright and industrial relations and of European law. This article was adapted from a presentation given at the seminar “East Meets West: Copyright and the Publisher in a Market Economy”, held in Hamburg in March 1991.