Physical activity levels of 5-11-year-old children in England as determined by continuous observation.

Continuous observation of the physical activity of 56 preadolescent children was conducted in four regions of England from October 1988 to July 1989. Observations were undertaken during school break times, lunch times, and physical education lessons, as well as during the children's free time. Of total time observed, the children spent 32.4% of it engaged in moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA). Children were shown to be most active during school breaks and least active during free time at home. However, it is thought that cardiorespiratory benefits are best achieved by participation in sustained periods of MVPA. Only 8 (14%) of the 56 children were observed to participate in MVPA for sustained periods of 20 min or longer. A random sample of 55 physical education lessons was observed. Only 6 children engaged in MVPA for sustained periods of 5 min or more, and no children participated in MVPA for 10 min or longer. The implications of these results are that, although the children engaged in a reasonable amount of MVPA, it may not have been sustained for periods of sufficient length to produce a cardiovascular training response. Consideration is given to ways of promoting lifelong involvement in physical activity.     

Integration Factors Related to the Academic Success and Intent to Persist of College Students with Learning Disabilities

Despite increased enrollment, outcomes such as grade point average (GPA), persistence, and graduation rates for college students with learning disabilities (LD) continue to lag behind those of their nondisabled peers. Reasons for the differences vary but may include academic and social integration, factors identified as important to the success of college students in general. This research investigated the relative influence of background characteristics, precollege achievement, and college integration variables on the academic success and intent to persist of college freshmen and sophomores with LD. While academic and social integration were not unique predictors of college GPA, both integration variables were unique predictors of intent to persist. The findings suggest that beyond high school achievement and background characteristics, college experiences as captured by academic and social integration are promising constructs to help explain the persistence of college students with LD. Implications for future research and practices for high school and college personnel are discussed.     

Gardening as a cognitive activity

Gardening and children are a natural combination; children love to play in the dirt, and are fascinated by growing things. The benefits of having a garden can go beyond the fresh vegetables and flowers, a lot can be learned in the process. Although skills involved in planting and caring for the garden and acquiring a rudimentary knowledge of biology are obvious benefits, many other cognitive skills can be introduced or reinforced with a garden project.Deborah G. Ventis is Associate Professor of Psychology, College of William and Mary, Williamsburgh, VA.     

The Technical Quality of Performance Assessments: Standard Errors of Percents of Pupils Reaching Standards

How accurate is the reported percent of students’reaching standards at the school level? How are standard errors for these statistics computed? How do estimates vary with choice of generalizability model?     

Academic libraries and university presses

In recent years university presses have undergone some significant changes, such as expansion of their scope to include materials that may have appeal beyond the scholarly market. This article investigates, through the use of a survey of university libraries, the acquisition of university press products by libraries. In general, recent years have been changes in the relationship between university presses and libraries that have resulted in fewer items being purchased by the libraries.