Early identification of special educational needs and the definition of 'at risk': The Early Years Transition and Special Educational Needs (EYTSEN) Project

Education in the early years is a key element in the Government's current strategy. Recently, the Department for Education and Skills (DfES) funded a major study of Effective Provision of Pre-School Education (EPPE). The Early Years Transition and Special Educational Needs (EYTSEN) Project developed from the EPPE research and was also funded by the DfES. The authors of this article, Brenda Taggart, Pam Sammons, Rebecca Smees, Kathy Sylva, Edward Melhuish, Iram Siraj-Blatchford, Karen Elliott and Ingrid Lunt, all worked on the EYTSEN Project, based at the Institute of Education, University of London. In this article, they provide a summary of the findings from the EYTSEN Project, reviewing the impact of pre-school provision on children said to be 'at risk' of developing special educational needs. They suggest that pre-school experience has a positive impact on cognitive attainment and social or behavioural development and that integrated centres (where education and care are fully combined) and nursery schools have the most positive influence among the different f o rms of pre-school provision. This paper also discusses the identification of special educational needs; quality in pre-school centres; parents' perspectives; and future developments. The article closes with a call for improved training for practitioners working in early years settings.     

Adoption and adaptation in the use of transaction processing systems: The case of OCLC software

Library networks have developed transaction processing software as automation tools for technical and public services, based on generic library models. Transaction processing systems are shown to be a flexible type of design, allowing users to introduce modifications which aid their individual objectives: 92% of user institutions reported they made local modifications to standard OCLC practices and procedures. These findings are discussed in terms of network models for decision making in software use; methodology of software user studies; and diffusion of innovation processes in post-implementation stages of transaction processing software.     

Intellectual interest mediates gene × socioeconomic status interaction on adolescent academic achievement

Recent studies have demonstrated that genetic influences on cognitive ability and academic achievement are larger for children raised in higher socioeconomic status (SES) homes. However, little work has been done to document the psychosocial processes that underlie this Gene × Environment interaction. One process may involve the conversion of intellectual interest into academic achievement. Analyses of data from 777 pairs of 17-year-old twins indicated that Gene × SES effects on achievement scores can be accounted for by stronger influences of genes for intellectual interest on achievement at higher levels of SES. These findings are consistent with the hypothesis that higher SES affords greater opportunity for children to seek out and benefit from learning experiences that are congruent with their genetically influenced intellectual interests.     

Those who ignore the past … : 12 'easy' lessons for the next millennium

Efforts to improve US schools through curriculum reform, attention to teaching and, the specifications of objectives and standards for education, have been recurrent themes during the past half-century. I offer a distillation of 12 'easy' lessons that can be learned from the careful examination of ideas and practices concerning the improvement of schools. I discuss each of these lessons with respect to their potentialities and their complexities, and try to provide a summary of what can be learned from US history which can guide efforts to make schools genuinely educative institutions. Whether those lessons will be learned and applied are consequences that I do not, and cannot, confidently address. However, my arguments may promote debate that might decrease the likelihood that the past will be repeated.     

Bildung and educational action research: resources for hope in neoliberal times

This paper draws upon empirical research to provide insights into current teacher learning practices under broader neoliberal conditions, and how the latter might be resisted. The paper contrasts neoliberal approaches to teachers’ learning with the Nordic tradition of educational action research and ‘Bildung’ as alternative resources to guide teachers’ and principals’ collective learning practices in schools, and draws upon empirical research to provide evidence of the benefits and challenges of doing so. The paper draws upon research into the learning practices of primary teachers in Australia, early childhood teachers in Sweden, and principals in Finland. The research reveals the influence of more Bildung-informed conceptions of educational action research, even as these are challenged by existing administrative cultures, and neoliberal pressures. The research presents ‘resources for hope’ to promote collective learning based on democratic values, not in an idealized or abstract manner, but in a way which is simultaneously cognizant of empirical realities.     

The Private Voice: Homeschooling,Hannah Arendt,and Political Education

What becomes of the political orientation of American education when children are educated in the home rather than in public schools? Homeschooling critics raise concerns over the larger consequences: political exit and even indoctrination. Drawing on a recent study of 62 interviews with 35 homeschooling families in 11 states in the USA, we offer a theoretical argument grounded in empirical observations and perceptions of homeschoolers themselves. Using the work of political theorist Hannah Arendt as a guide, we suggest that, contrary to critics’ claims of political exit over voice, homeschooling may provide the opportunity for some families to respond with a “private voice” that is politically robust because it is intentionally subversive to a (perceived) homogenous dominant culture. We thus argue that some homeschoolers offer an understanding of private life that is political without being “public,” and that they reconcile this irony by attempting to cultivate reflexive “thinking” in their children regarding questions of conformity, materialism, and plurality.     

INSTRUCTOR AND STUDENT ATTITUDES TOWARD DISTANCE LEARNING

Eleven community college instructors and the 334 students in their distance learning classes were surveyed. Data showed instructors had conflicting attitudes about distance education. They were willing to teach a distance learning class again, but they rated the quality of the courses as equal or lower quality than other classes taught on campus. Their students, on the other hand, were highly satisfied with these instructors and the courses . But the critical factor in much of traditional classroom instruction, direct interaction with instructors, played no role in determining students' satisfaction in these courses. This difference in the nature of student-teacher interaction in distance learning classes may explain instructors' conflicting attitudes.     

Automated scoring in context: Rapid assessment for placed students

This study investigated the use of automated essay scoring (AES) to identify at-risk students enrolled in a first-year university writing course. An application of AES, the Criterion^® Online Writing Evaluation Service was evaluated through a methodology focusing on construct modelling, response processes, disaggregation, extrapolation, generalization, and consequence. Based on the results of our two-year study with students (N = 1,482) at a public technological research university in the United States, we found that Criterion offered a defined writing construct congruent with established models, achieved acceptance among students and instructors, showed no statistically significant differences between ethnicity groups of sufficient sample size, correlated at acceptable levels with other writing measures, performed in a stable fashion, and enabled instructors to identify at-risk students to increase their course success.     

Choice of sprint start performance measure affects the performance-based ranking within a group of sprinters: which is the most appropriate measure?

Sprint start performance has previously been quantified using several different measures. This study aimed to identify whether different measures could influence the performance-based ranking within a group of 12 sprinters, and if so, to identify the most appropriate measure. None of the 10 performance measures ranked all sprinters in the same order; Spearman's rho correlations between different block phase measures ranged from 0.50 to 0.94, and between block phase measures and those obtained beyond block exit from 0.66 to 0.85. Based on the consideration of what each measure quantifies, normalised average horizontal external power was identified as the most appropriate, incorporating both block velocity and the time spent producing this velocity. The accuracy with which these data could be obtained in an externally valid field setting was assessed against force platform criterion data. For an athlete producing 678 ± 40 W of block power, a carefully set-up manual high-speed video analysis protocol produced systematic and random errors of +5 W and ± 24 W, respectively. Since the choice of performance measure could affect the conclusions drawn from a technique analysis, for example the success of an intervention, it is proposed that external power is used to quantify start performance.     

Untangling citation networks

The pattern of citation links between articles permits a placement in a space of points representing these articles. Using the rule that articles are placed at the centroid of the articles to which they are linked, pictures can be drawn revealing key papers and their descendants. This simple rule for placing papers by their citation pattern may also be used to scale other citation-based data. The example used in this paper is the placement of overlapping groups of articles linked by shared articles.