Science for the handicapped‐gifted child

Teachers and administrators who participate in developing a philosophy statement for gifted education learn more about the field and are able to realistically apply what they have learned to their specific responsibilities.     

The Birth to School Study: evidence on the effectiveness of PEEP,an early intervention for children at risk of educational under‐achievement

This article presents the findings of the Birth to School Study (BTSS) a longitudinal evaluation of the Peers Early Education Partnership (PEEP); a family‐focused intervention aimed at promoting early literacy, numeracy and self‐esteem in a community at risk of educational underachievement. The main aim of the study was to investigate the effects of PEEP on the children and families from the community it served. Embedded within this aim were dual objectives: to determine if the intervention had an effect within the community as a whole, and simultaneously to determine whether it had an effect on the sub‐group of families who participated in the PEEP weekly sessions. Outcomes in favour of the intervention were found for parents and for children's progress in language and early literacy skills, both at community and sub‐group level. The study is located within a discussion of social exclusion, the potentially mediating influence of education and the accessibility of literacy skills to intervention and change.     

Place-responsive pedagogy: learning from teachers’ experiences of excursions in nature

The nature-based excursion has been a significant teaching strategy in environmental education for decades. This article draws upon empirical data from a collaborative research project where teachers were encouraged to visit natural areas to provide an understanding of their roles and experiences of planning and enacting excursions. The analysis indicates that teachers’ sensitisation towards place was aided by collaboration, advance planning visits and the very practice of making place-responsive excursions with pupils. The authors build on the analysis to propose a theory of place-responsive pedagogy. At its core, place-responsive pedagogy involves the explicit efforts to teach by means of an environment with the aim of understanding and improving human–environment relations. Some implications for teacher professional development are offered.     

The Effect of Addition and Subtraction Practice within a Word-Problem Intervention on Addition and Subtraction Outcomes

This study examined the influence of addition and subtraction practice embedded within a word-problem intervention for Grade 3 students experiencing word-problem difficulty. Students (N = 448) were randomly assigned to one of two variants of a word-problem intervention or a business-as-usual comparison condition. Within the word-problem interventions, students participated in targeted addition and subtraction fact and computation practice for approximately 3 minutes of each 30-minute session across 47 intervention sessions, but also continually practiced addition and subtraction through word-problem solving. At posttest, students who participated in the intervention demonstrated improved single-digit addition and subtraction performance as well as improved double-digit addition and subtraction performance. At follow-up in Grade 4, persistence of effects was only identified for double-digit addition. Considering addition and subtraction are foundational to many other mathematics skills, addition and subtraction practice serves as an important component of mathematics intervention.     

The impact of 100 hours of exercise and sleep deprivation on cognitive function and physical capacities

Abstract

In this study, we examined the effect of 96–125 h of competitive exercise on cognitive and physical performance. Cognitive performance was assessed using the Stroop test (n = 9) before, during, and after the 2003 Southern Traverse adventure race. Strength (MVC) and strength endurance (time to failure at 70% current MVC) of the knee extensor and elbow flexor muscles were assessed before and after racing. Changes in vertical jump (n = 24) and 30-s Wingate performance (n = 27) were assessed in a different group of athletes. Complex response times were affected by the race (16% slower), although not significantly so (P = 0.18), and were dependent on exercise intensity (less so at 50% peak power output after racing). Reduction of strength (P < 0.05) of the legs (17%) and arms (11%) was equivalent (P = 0.17). Reductions in strength endurance were inconsistent (legs 18%, P = 0.09; arms 13%, P = 0.40), but were equivalent between limbs (P = 0.80). Similar reductions were observed in jump height (?8 ± 9%, P < 0.01) and Wingate peak power (?7 ± 15%, P = 0.04), mean power (?7 ± 11%, P < 0.01), and end power (?10 ± 11%, P < 0.01). We concluded that: moderate-intensity exercise may help complex decision making during sustained stress; functional performance was modestly impacted, and the upper and lower limbs were affected similarly despite being used disproportionately.     

Effects of a feint on reactive agility performance

Abstract

This study compared reactive agility between higher-standard (n = 14) and lower-standard (n = 14) Australian footballers using a reactive agility test incorporating a life-size video image of another player changing direction, including and excluding a feint. Mean agility time in the feint trials was 34% (509 ± 243 ms; p < 0.001; effect size 3.06) longer than non-feint trials. In higher-standard players, agility time was shorter than for lower-standard players in both feint (114 ± 140 ms; p = 0.18; effect size 0.52; likely beneficial) and non-feint (32 ± 44 ms; p = 0.22; effect size 0.47; possibly beneficial) trials. Additionally, the inclusion of a feint resulted in movement time increasing over three times more in the lower-standard group (197 ± 91 ms; p = 0.001; effect size 1.07; almost certainly detrimental) than the higher-standard group (62 ± 86 ms; p = 0.23; effect size 0.66; likely detrimental). There were weak correlations between the feint and non-feint trials (r = ?0.13–0.14; p > 0.05), suggesting that reactive agility involving a feint is a unique skill. Also, higher-standard players are more agile than their lower-standard peers, whose movement speed deteriorates more as task complexity increases with the inclusion of a feint. These results support the need for specific training in multi-turn reactive agility tasks.     

UNDOING GENDER THROUGH LEGISLATION AND SCHOOLING: THE CASE OF AB 537 AND AB 394 IN CALIFORNIA, USA

This article investigates California laws AB 537: The Student Safety and Violence Prevention Act of 2000, and the recently enacted AB 394: Safe Place to Learn Act. Both demand that gender identity and sexual orientation be added to the lexicon of anti-harassment protection in public education. However, despite these progressive measures, schools have an unconscious acceptance of heteronormativity and gendered norms, which undermines both the spirit and language of these laws. This paper examines how California schools can both change standard practices and realise the transformative social change that laws like AB 537 and AB 394 can instigate. I assert that the systemic implementation of these laws, through the adoption, enforcement and evaluation of existing AB 537 Task Force Recommendations, is necessary for their success. My second assertion is that AB 537 and AB 394 have the potential to change and reconstitute gender-based and heteronormative standards at school sites.     

Catalytic tools: understanding the interaction of enquiry and feedback in teachers’ learning

This paper investigates how the use of Pupil Views Templates (PVTs), a tool designed to elicit, record and analyse the development of students’ awareness of their own learning processes, supports teachers’ professional learning. This paper reports on a three‐year collaborative practitioner enquiry project involving more than 30 primary and secondary schools in England. The data set includes practitioners’ case studies, interviews, questionnaires and cross‐project analysis completed by the university team. Analysis focuses on the role of feedback, stimulated through the use of PVTs, in teachers’ learning through three dimensions: the influence of student feedback on teachers as part of the pedagogical encounter; the influence of student feedback on schools within the context of the practitioner enquiry projects; the influence of feedback on the lead teacher researchers. Links between the tools used, the source of the feedback, and teachers’ learning are mapped from a ‘second order perspective’ derived from the diverse data sources.     

Research and teacher education in the UK: Building capacity

The need for capacity-building in teacher education in the UK has been raised as a serious issue by a number of commentators. Tensions about the place of research in teacher education have persisted for many decades, but following changes to the core funding mechanisms in the UK, the maintenance of education research bases within many universities has become increasingly tenuous. This paper provides an analytical account of an initiative conducted by the Teacher Education Group (TEG) to build research capacity in teacher education. With reference to a review of the national contexts for research in the UK and research on teacher educators, the article argues that, in order to build research capacity initiatives we need to provide motivation and new types of networking opportunities for researchers, as well as developing their expertise. In developing this argument, the article also explore the relationships between national policy changes, institutional research cultures and individual habitus and agency in research capacity-building. The paper also describes a new initiative in England, the Teacher Education Research Network (TERN).