Effect of Students' After-School Activities on Teachers' Academic Expectancies

Teacher expectancies can have an impact on students' academic achievement. These expectancies can be based on diverse student characteristics, only one of which is past academic performance. The present study investigated three student individual differences that teachers may use when forming academic expectancies: the sex of the student, the family socioeconomic status (SES) of the student, and the student's after-school activities. Results indicated teachers held higher grade, graduation, and college attendance expectancies for females than for males and for middle-SES than low-SES students. Also, students who participated in extracurricular activities were expected to achieve more academically than either students who were employed after school or who did nothing after school. The latter two groups did not elicit different teacher expectancies. Interactions revealed that (a) lowest expectations were held for low-SES males who did nothing after school and (b) the difference in graduation expectancies between the SES groups was only half as great for students who took part in extracurricular activities than it was for students who had no involvements after school or who had jobs. Copyright 2000 Academic Press.     

General and task-related experiences affect early object interaction

The effects of 2 weeks of no, general, and task-related enhanced movement experiences on 8- to 12-week-old infants' (N = 30) hand and foot interactions with objects were assessed using standard video and motion analysis. For hand-object interaction ability, general and task experience led to greater success than did no experience, and task experience led to greater success than did general experience. Only general experience led to greater success for foot-object interaction ability. Experiences therefore resulted in differential effects depending on which limbs infants used. The results suggest that different movement experiences can advance infants' earliest object interactions. They also indicate that even early purposeful behaviors result from a complex interplay of experience, current ability, and task demands.     

New fathers' postbirth views of antenatal classes: satisfaction, benefits, and knowledge of family services

New fathers (men whose partners had recently given birth) were asked to indicate to what degree antenatal classes had prepared them for childbirth, for their role as support persons, and for lifestyle and relationship changes after the birth. These postbirth findings were compared with a previous exit survey of male attendants at antenatal classes in which fathers-to-be predicted that the antenatal classes had prepared them well on all fronts. The new fathers in this study, however, reported that the antenatal classes had prepared them for childbirth but not for lifestyle and relationship changes after the birth. Additionally, couples who attended antenatal classes were asked to what extent they were familiar with family-related services in the region and how often they had used these services since the birth of their baby. Fathers were less familiar than mothers with the family-related services.     

Information providers and videodisc/optical disk technology.

Although industrial and consumer videodisc technology has been available since 1978, information providers are now just beginning to explore the possibilities of using videodisc and optical disk technology as publishing media. Firms involved in the design, development, and delivery of information products and services are looking at these technologies as new business opportunities and distribution channels. The areas in which information providers are using videodisc and optical disk technology are covered briefly.     

Perpetuating Privilege: Students’ Perspectives on the Culture of a High-Performing and High-Pressure High School

The present study used focus group data to explore students’ perceptions of the culture of their upper-middle-class high school. Although students described a high-pressure school with negative physical and psychological consequences, they valued the social and educational advantages this context conferred. They also simultaneously faulted and appreciated parents’ efforts to maintain the school's competitive climate and status. The discussion addresses how stakeholders work to sustain a culture of privilege, despite costs entailed.     

Partnership,participation and parental disillusionment in home–school contacts: a study in two schools in Norway

This small‐scale study investigates the origins of parental disillusionment with school, with a focus on the extent to which disillusionment is related to the level and quality of partnership between parents and teachers. It also compares the reactions of parents when teachers take the initiative in contacting them about a child's learning or social problems with those of teachers when parents contact them. Sixteen pairs of parents and teachers who had met to discuss such problems agreed to take part in separate interviews. At least at the outset, partnership was consistently more effective when teachers initiated the contact than when parents initiated it. Initial tensions in the relationship could be reduced when either a parent or a teacher took action to improve the relationship. Parental disillusionment occurred in only three cases, where neither parent nor teacher could see their way to any compromise.     

Parental disillusionment with school: prevalence and relationship with demographic variables,and phase,size and location of school

This study examines the prevalence of parental disillusionment with school and its relationship with demographic variables, and phase, size and location of schools. Findings are based on data from 1569 parents of children in grades 5 to 10 from 20 schools in 9 municipalities in Norway. Previous research in other countries shows benefits for the children's attainments at school of positive relationships between parents and teachers. However, only a few studies in Norway have focused on home–school collaboration. Parents in this study are more likely to report disillusionment in big schools than in small schools. Also, parents with low income tend to be more disillusioned than parents with high income. However, the general lack of significant differences between schools might indicate that parental disillusionment was more likely to arise from conflicts between teachers and parents and from policy and practice in the school.     

Classroom influences on bullying

The relationship between estimates of teachers' management of the class, the social structure of the class and bullying otherswas investigated by questionnaires answered by 2,002 pupils and 99 teachers in Norwegian primary schools. A path analysis demonstrated that the social structure of the class had a direct impact on bullying behaviour. Classroom management had a direct impact on the prevalence of bullying other children, and an indirect impact on this variable via the social structure. The joint impact of management and social structure on bullying others was substantial. Class-level estimates of family conditions of the pupils were included in the analyses. Implications for preventing bullying by general management of the class are discussed.     

The effect of induced alkalosis and submaximal cycling on neuromuscular response during sustained isometric contraction

Abstract

The aim of this study was to determine if inducing metabolic alkalosis would alter neuromuscular control after 50 min of standardized submaximal cycling. Eight trained male cyclists (mean age 32 years, s = 7; [Vdot]O_2max 62 ml · kg^?1 · min^?1, s = 8) ingested capsules containing either CaCO₃ (placebo) or NaHCO₃ (0.3 g · kg^?1 body mass) in eight doses over 2 h on two separate occasions, commencing 3 h before exercise. Participants performed three maximal isometric voluntary contractions (MVC) of the knee extensors while determining the central activation ratio by superimposing electrical stimulation both pre-ingestion and post-exercise, followed by a 50-s sustained maximal contraction in which force, EMG amplitude, and muscle fibre conduction velocity were assessed. Plasma pH, blood base excess, and plasma HCO₃ were higher (P < 0.01) during the NaHCO₃ trial. After cycling, muscle fibre conduction velocity was higher (P < 0.05) during the 50-s sustained maximal contraction with NaHCO₃ than with placebo (5.1 m · s^?1, s = 0.4 vs. 4.2 m · s^?1, s = 0.4) while the EMG amplitude remained the same. Force decline rate was less (P < 0.05) during alkalosis-sustained maximal contraction and no differences were shown in central activation ratio. These data indicate that induced metabolic alkalosis can increase muscle fibre conduction velocity following prolonged submaximal cycling.     

Socially desirable responding in an environmental context: development of a domain specific scale

Numerous studies have pointed to a gap between the attitudes people express about the natural environment and their subsequent behaviors toward that environment. Variables identified within these studies include: how significant others view behaviors related to the attitudes; demographic variables such as sex, age or education; self‐perceived ability to do the attitude‐related behavior; attitude strength; and personal relevance of the attitude. This study proposes the concept of environmental desirability responding (EDR) as another factor which might contribute to the attitude‐behavior discrepancy. The development and construct validation of the Environmentally Desirable Response Scale (EDRS), which is designed to identify the existence and level of EDR, is described. The EDRS contains items designed to measure two types of socially desirable responding – ‘Self‐deception’ and ‘Image management’. A total of 1024 usable data sets were obtained from a sample of respondents in several countries (Japan, the US and Australia). Principal factors and correlation analyses revealed that the EDRS comprises three factors identified as ‘Self‐deception/Assertion of positives’, ‘Image management’ and ‘Self‐deception/Denial of negatives’. Cronbach alpha estimates of reliability for the three factors were .74, .66, and .61. Suggestions for further research regarding the scale and EDR are offered.