Adult learners in three countries: Models for counselling services

One of the more pervasive and important innovations of adult education practice in the seventies can be seen in full blossom in the educational guidance and information centre, a service which specializes in counselling adults about learning opportunities. While most visible in the United States with some 300 centres, similar organizations now exist in many other countries; one European centre in fact predates the seventies and may have pioneered the concept. In 1978 and 1979, the author visited various communities in North America and Europe in search of models for counselling adults about new careers, education options and life goals. This paper describes four centres and discusses how they exemplify aspects of a variety of models for organizing counselling services.Paper presented at Ninth International Round Table for the Advancement of Counselling, Thessaloniki, Greece, April 1980.     

An Exploration of the Relationship Among Teacher Efficacy,Collective Teacher Efficacy,and Goal Consensus

This study explored the relationships among individual teacher efficacy, collective teacher efficacy, and goal consensus/vision. Participants included 113 teachers of a high school located in the southwestern USA. During a teacher inservice meeting, teachers completed three surveys that measured the variables under study. Correlational and regression analyses were performed to examine the relationships among individual teacher efficacy, collective teacher efficacy, and goal consensus/vision. Collective teacher efficacy was found to be correlated with all of the other variables examined, but was most highly correlated with goal consensus/vision. Individual teacher efficacy, while related to collective teacher efficacy, was not found to be related to goal consensus/vision. Findings from this study suggest that, because individual teacher efficacy, collective teacher efficacy and goal consensus/vision are related, changing one could have an impact on the others. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

An Expanded View of Joint Attention: Skill,Engagement, and Language in Typical Development and Autism

This study provides an expanded view of joint attention and its relation to expressive language development. A total of 144 toddlers (40 typically developing, 58 with autism spectrum disorder [ASD], 46 with developmental delay [DD]) participated at 24 and 31 months. Toddlers who screened positive for ASD risk, especially those subsequently diagnosed with ASD, had poorer joint attention skills, joint engagement during parent–toddler interaction, and expressive language. Findings highlight the dynamic relation between joint attention and language development. In the ASD and DD groups, joint engagement predicted later expressive vocabulary, significantly more than predictions based on joint attention skills. Joint engagement was most severely impacted when toddlers did not talk initially and improved markedly if they subsequently began to speak.     

Concurrent validity of the Stanford-Binet: Fourth edition and Kaufman assessment battery for children with learning-disabled students

This study examined the concurrent validity of the composite and area scores of the Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale: Fourth Edition (SBIV) and the Mental Processing Composite and global scale scores of the Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children (K-ABC). The tenability of interpreting the SBIV using the fluid/crystallized model, as suggested by the authors, was also considered. The subjects were 30 Black, learning-disabled elementary school students. Results of a t test indicated that the Mental Processing Composite score of the K-ABC was significantly higher than the SBIV Composite score. Moderate to high correlations were obtained when SBIV composite and area scores were compared to K-ABC composite and scale scores, reflecting a positive relationship between the two tests. The measures of fluid abilities (K-ABC Composite score; SBIV Abstract/Visual Reasoning) were highly correlated. The results of a multiple regression analysis indicated a moderate degree of correlation among the measures of crystallized ability (K-ABC Achievement; SBIV Verbal Reasoning and Quantitative Reasoning). The findings of this study demonstrated adequate concurrent validity for the SBIV. In addition, the results provided limited support for describing test results utilizing the fluid/crystallized interpretation model. Further research is suggested in order to examine other validity issues, such as classification of special education students and the SBIV's relationship to other similar instruments.     

Relationship between foot strike pattern,running speed,and footwear condition in recreational distance runners

Compared to competitive runners, recreational runners appear to be more prone to injuries, which have been associated with foot strike patterns. Surprisingly, only few studies had examined the foot strike patterns outside laboratories. Therefore, this study compared the foot strike patterns in recreational runners at outdoor tracks with previously reported data. We also investigated the relationship between foot strike pattern, speed, and footwear in this cohort. Among 434 recreational runners analysed, 89.6% of them landed with rearfoot strike (RFS). Only 6.9 and 3.5% landed with midfoot and forefoot, respectively. A significant shift towards non-RFS was observed in our cohort, when compared with previously reported data. When speed increased by 1 m/s, the odds of having forefoot strike and midfoot strike relative to RFS increased by 2.3 times and 2.6 times, respectively. Runners were 9.2 times more likely to run with a forefoot strike in minimalists compared to regular running shoes, although 70% of runners in minimalists continued to use a RFS. These findings suggest that foot strike pattern may differ across running conditions and runners should consider these factors in order to mitigate potential injury.