Bystanders in Schools: What Do They Do and What Do They Think? Factors Influencing the Behaviour of English Students as Bystanders

This article reports on the English data from an international research project. Students' reports of being bullied are detailed but the main emphasis is on the role of the bystander, that is, what students did when they witnessed bullying in school and the reasons they gave for their actions. The study found that there were differences between students, in particular between primary and secondary phase students, and schools, in these areas. The responses are explored and the characteristics of those who intervened or did not. The implications for research and practice are debated.     

A systematic review of evidence on the effectiveness of interventions and strategies for widening participation in higher education

Widening participation (WP) in higher education (HE) is an increasingly important policy issue, with interventions to increase participation from minority ethnic, low-income and other under-represented groups undertaken in HE sectors in many countries. In the UK there is a large amount of WP activity but a lack of robust evidence of its effectiveness. This article presents a systematic review in the topic area of WP in HE. We included studies of systematic review, randomised controlled trial (RCT) and quasi-experimental (QE) designs, and assessed evidence of the effectiveness of university access strategies and approaches in relation to the participation of disadvantaged students at university. We searched for, quality appraised and synthesised the international evidence, that is, evidence published in any country, in the English language. The findings from 4 systematic reviews and 12 experimental studies (4 RCTs, 4 RDDs and 4 QEDs) are presented as narrative syntheses in a series of thematic sub-topics. We found some evidence of effectiveness for a number of university access interventions. ‘Black box’ WP programmes (those with multiple elements in a single programme) and financial incentives were found to be effective. However, much of the evidence had design limitations and the majority were conducted in the US. The article concludes with research recommendations in relation to UK interventions, including suggested designs for future quasi-experimental evaluation.     

Yoga for Stress Management Program as a Complementary Alternative Counseling Resource in a University Counseling Center

A Yoga for Stress Management Program (YSMP) that served as a complementary alternative therapy resource was successfully implemented at a midsize, predominantly undergraduate university. It was offered in addition to traditional treatments for student mental health. Counselors, Residence Life staff, and faculty found that the program was useful for their students/clients, who reported many benefits from participation. Participants in this YSMP included students and faculty/staff. Logistics of setting up a YSMP are outlined.     

Effect of Racial/Ethnic Composition on Transfer Rates in Community Colleges: Implications for Policy and Practice

This study examines factors associated with community college transfer rates. Regression models are developed using community college data at the institution level. The analyses employ two different definitions of the transfer rate and two different time spans over which to observe transfer behavior. Holding constant other factors expected to influence differences in transfer rates, the results reveal disparities in transfer rates according to the racial/ethnic composition of the student body. Community colleges with higher percentages of either Latino or African American students have lower 6-year transfer rates. The findings also confirm the results of other studies: community colleges with higher transfer rates tend to have younger student populations, students with higher socioeconomic status and better academic preparation, and a greater focus on academic programs. The important policy implications of these findings for states where the percentages of students of color are increasing are discussed.     

Moderate level alcohol during pregnancy, prenatal stress, or both and limbic-hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenocortical axis response to stress in rhesus monkeys

This study examined the relationship between moderate-level prenatal alcohol exposure, prenatal stress, and postnatal response to a challenging event in 6-month-old rhesus monkeys. Forty-one rhesus monkey (Macaca mulatta) infants were exposed prenatally to moderate level alcohol, maternal stress, or both. Offspring plasma cortisol and adrenocorticotrophic hormone (ACTH) were determined from blood samples before maternal separation and after separation. Behavioral observations were made repeatedly across separation. Moderate-level prenatal alcohol exposure was associated with significantly higher plasma ACTH response to maternal separation. Offspring exposed to prenatal alcohol, prenatal stress, and prenatal alcohol and stress showed reduced behavioral adaptation to stress compared with controls. Baseline, 2-hr, and 26-hr plasma ACTH levels were intercorrelated and predicted behavior during separation.     

The use of minimization to form comparison groups in educational research

Randomized controlled trials in educational research tend to be small. Small trials can have large, chance, imbalances in important covariates. For studies with sample sizes greater than 50, chance imbalances can be corrected using analysis of covariance; for small trials, however, statistical power is maximized if the trial is balanced and analysis of covariance is used in the analysis. The aim of the present study was to discuss methods of improving covariate balance in trial design and to demonstrate the method of minimization. Using an exemplar of a cluster or class‐randomized trial with 29 classes, we employed minimization to achieve covariate balance. Minimization achieved good balance on four prognostic variables. Many trialists in education use restricted forms of allocation, including pairing or stratified randomization. These approaches have disadvantages. Another approach rarely used in educational research is minimization. Minimization uses a simple arithmetic algorithm to produce balanced groups across a number of important covariates and should be more widely used in educational and psychological research.     

Changes in Myocardial Mass Associated with Age and Stress: Reexamination of Ventricular Hypertrophy

Abstract

Hearts from 126 male Sprague-Dawley rats (two age groups) were studied to determine effects of age, chronic hypoxia, and exercise on ventricular weight. Exercised rats had significantly heavier absolute total ventricular weights (right plus left) compared with chronically hypoxic or control rats. Whether expressed as absolute or percent total ventricular weight, chronically hypoxic rats had significantly larger right ventricles but significantly smaller left ventricles than exercised or control rats. Expressed as absolute weight, older rats (11 months) had significantly larger right or left ventricles than young rats (3 months). Expressed as percent total ventricular weight, young rats had left ventricles 4% smaller, but right ventricles 4% larger than older rats (p <.05). Type of work overload (volume or pressure) and functional location of workload (pulmonary or systemic) were suggested physiological mechanisms for stress- and age-related changes in myocardial mass.