The Elusive Search for Teacher Collaboration

Collaboration is a well-used term in the field of education, identified as promising practice for student learning and teaching learning alike. However, collaboration comes in different shapes and sizes, leading to radically different ends. The authors examine teachers’ own understandings and practices of collaboration with teacher colleagues within their school contexts and within a professional development model designed to allow for collaborative conversation between teachers. Implications for teacher education are then considered.     

Does Inattention and Hyperactivity Moderate the Relation Between Speed of Processing and Language Skills?

The causal role of speed of processing (SOP) in developmental language disorder (DLD) is unclear given that SOP has been implicated in other neurodevelopmental disorders such as attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. This study investigated associations between SOP, language, and inattention/hyperactivity in a U.K. epidemiological cohort (N = 528). Monolingual children from a range of socioeconomic backgrounds were assessed longitudinally; at ages 5–6 (2012/2013) and 7–8 years (2014/2015). Persistent weaknesses in SOP characterized children with DLD but did not predict language longitudinally. Ratings of inattention/hyperactivity moderated the association between SOP and language, indicating that SOP deficits are particularly detrimental for language when coupled with poor attention/hyperactivity. SOP may be a shared risk factor for DLD and inattention/hyperactivity or a general marker of neurodevelopmental disorder.     

Redistributing load using wearable resistance during power clean training improves athletic performance

A popular method to improve athletic performance and lower body power is to train with wearable resistance (WR), for example, weighted vests. However, it is currently unknown what training effect this loading method has on full-body explosive movements such as the power clean. The purpose of this study was to determine what effects WR equivalent to 12% body mass (BM) had on the power clean and countermovement jump (CMJ) performance. Sixteen male subjects (age: 23.2?±?2.7 years; BM: 90.5?±?10.3?kg) were randomly assigned to five weeks of traditional (TR) power clean training or training with 12% BM redistributed from the bar to the body using WR. Variables of interest included pre and post CMJ height, power clean one repetition maximum (1RM), peak ground reaction force, power output (PO), and several bar path kinematic variables across loads at 50%, 70%, and 90% of 1RM. The main findings were that WR training: (1) increased CMJ height (8.7%; ES?=?0.53) and 1RM power clean (4.2%; ES?=?0.2) as compared to the TR group (CMJ height?=??1.4%; 1RM power clean?=?1.8%); (2) increased PO across all 1RM loads (ES?=?0.33–0.62); (3) increased barbell velocity at 90% 1RM (3.5%; ES?=?0.74) as compared to the TR group (?4.3%); and (4) several bar path kinematic variables improved at 70% and 90% 1RM loads. WR power clean training with 12% BM can positively influence power clean ability and CMJ performance, as well as improve technique factors.     

Black self-concept: An individual/collective analysis

The study of the self-concept of African-Americans has been approached in two major ways: studies have sought either to measure personal self-concept, excluding attitudes and feelings towards race, or they have sought to measure racial self-concept excluding attitudes toward the personal self. Failure to integrate the two approaches has proven to be a critical hindrance to the development of a theoretical framework for systematic analysis of the self-concept of African-Americans, which can account for attitudes towards the personal self and the racial self. Offered is a framework for the analysis individual/collective self-concept of African-Americans. The individual/collective self concept is comprised of two inseparable but distinguishable components: the experience of the unique individual (the I) and the accumulated experiences of the racial group (the We). It is characterized by the personal affirmation of, and the identification with one's own personal experiences and the collective experiences of one's racial group. Any imposed disassociation of the components by individuals or theoretical approaches is viewed as problematic.