Schools and the Structure of Female Occupational Aspirations

The purpose of this paper is to clarify some popular misconceptions within the sociology of education about the mechanisms which maintain the position of women within the labour market. Sociologists have often argued that the experiences of young women within the educational system are largely responsible for maintaining the existing sexual division of labour. I will be suggesting here that the influence exerted within the educational system is limited, given the strength of parental, and particularly maternal, role models upon the development of female occupational aspirations.     

Predicting school weapon possession: A secondary analysis of the youth risk behavior surveillance survey

As school psychologists are asked to help schools evaluate the level of violence risk posed by specific students, they need to fully consider the technical adequacy of any test or procedure that is proposed to “predict” future violent behavior or conditions. In this article, we contribute to this discussion by examining responses of 40,435 students from the 1993, 1995, and 1997 administrations of the Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance Survey. Student self‐reported school risk behaviors and experiences are used to “predict” recent weapon possession on school campuses and to illustrate the use of receiver operating characteristic curves to evaluate the performance of a test for prediction purposes. An index of nine school risk behaviors was moderately correlated (r = .36) with school weapon possession. However, when the accuracy of using this school risk index to predict weapon possession is evaluated, it is found that the area under the ROC curve was approximately .75, a moderate‐to‐large effect size but still demonstrating inadequate prediction at the individual student level. Further, there were twice as many frequent weapon carriers with zero school risks than with 7–9 risks, suggesting that attention directed toward violence risk profiles may promote inattention to another group of students who engage in potentially high‐risk behaviors at school. It is argued that school psychologists should consider school violence appraisals within a developmental, long‐term model. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

A study of staff development programs for improving school discipline

This paper reports two phases of an ongoing study of the effectiveness of teacher training programs related to school discipline. An exhaustive review of efficacy studies of programs such as Reality Therapy, Teacher Effectiveness Training, and Human Relations Training revealed serious methodological weaknesses. Most studies indicated programs involved teacher attitudes towards more humane discipline, but there were few demonstrations of actual behavior change in students. After phase 1, programs were examined for teaching strategies and processes taught to teachers to improve school discipline. A list of 38 processes were identified and each program examined for their presence. Phase 2 reports the incidence of these processes across programs and suggests further approaches to using these data for continuing research.The research reported here was supported by the National Institute of Education. The opinions expressed are the authors', and no official endorsement of the NIE should be inferred.Presented at the Annual Meeting of The American Psychological Association, Montreal, September 1980.     

Introduction to the special issue on the appraisal and prediction of school violence

This article provides an overview of a special issue of Psychology in the Schools that critically examines issues related to the appraisal of the risk for violence among students. It is argued that school psychologists can assume the important role of informing communities about the limitations of school violence screening and assessment procedures and can implement student‐appraisal techniques that focus on long‐term student development. They can also work toward more accurate measurement of general school violence trends and intervention needs. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Effects of Mobility Patterning Techniques upon Selected Motor Skills of Primary School Educable Mentally Retarded Children

Abstract

This study compared the effects of mobility patterning techniques to the effects of special physical education activities upon selected motor skills of primary school educable mentally retarded children. The experimental group received the appropriate mobility patterns in creeping, crawling, and walking, which later were practiced in game situations. The control group received special physical education activities. Both groups received daily 30-minute classes, Monday through Friday, from September 1966 to December 1966. Based on the differences in leg power as measured by the hurdle jump and the standing broad jump, it appeared that the special physical education activities contributed more to the development of the subjects. However, neither program was more effective than the other in terms of dynamic balance, agility, or fine manual motor coordination.     

Biology in Community Education: a Philippine Scenario for Lifelong Education

Summaries

English

This paper describes the various activities undertaken by an educational institution as it seeks through a R & D project to improve the quality of life (and learning) in a rural community in The Philippines. Although the subject matter focus is on science education (biology), the project staff became involved in several activities which were only remotely related to biological education, but more closely related to the immediate concerns of the community; these concerns were mainly related to the economic and individual welfare. Efforts to bridge the gap between the community and classroom are described, including educational activities for adults of the community, identifying topics for in‐service seminars of teachers, educational activities for children. Some major principles of lifelong education are then reviewed, and implications to educators are then drawn.     

The teacher I wish to be: exploring the influence of life histories on student teacher idealised identities

This paper examines the influence of life histories and apprenticeship of observation on the formation of student teachers’ idealised identities. The life histories of 15 student teachers are decoded. Through eliciting from the student teachers the teacher they wish to be, the paper focuses on the interplay between the personal histories and ideal teacher identities for the future. The implications of the findings for initial teacher education are considered.     

IDENTIFYING INFLUENTIAL FACILITATORS OF MATHEMATICS PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT: A SURVEY ANALYSIS OF ELEMENTARY SCHOOL TEACHERS

This paper builds on results from a previous phenomenological study examining characteristics of influential facilitators of elementary mathematics professional development. The current study utilized a survey design where results from the qualitative investigation were quantitized to develop an instrument that allowed participants to identify qualities of facilitators that are necessary to motivate teachers to be engaged in professional development sessions related to mathematics at the elementary level. This paper describes the instrument development process and results when implemented to a sample of teachers in the USA (n = 565). Findings from this research indicate that participants share the same perceptions of what it means to be an influential facilitator as participants from the phenomenological investigation of facilitator characteristics.