Differential Item Functioning Analysis for Accommodated Versus Nonaccommodated Students

The No Child Left Behind act resulted in an increased reliance on large-scale standardized tests to assess the progress of individual students as well as schools. In addition, emphasis was placed on including all students in the testing programs as well as those with disabilities. As a result, the role of testing accommodations has become more central in discussions about test fairness and accessibility as well as evidence of validity. This study seeks to examine whether there exists differential item functioning for math and language items between special education examinees receiving accommodations and those not receiving accommodations.     

Unexpectedly Poor Spelling and Phonological-Processing Skill

This study investigated the phonological skills of university students who were unexpectedly poor spellers relative to their word reading accuracy. Compared with good spellers, unexpectedly poor spellers showed no deficits in phonological memory, selection of appropriate graphemes for phonemes in word misspellings and nonword spellings, and phoneme awareness. In contrast, poor readers–poor spellers performed worse than the other groups at all but the last of these tasks. Although unexpectedly poor spellers misread nonwords more often than good spellers and took longer to begin pronouncing long, difficult-to-spell words, they took no longer to begin pronouncing shorter words and the names of corresponding pictures. The difficulty with reading nonwords and long words was thus interpreted as arising at the stage of identifying and parsing the orthographic input rather than phonological retrieval. The findings indicate that unexpectedly poor spellers of the type studied here do not have a mild phonological deficit.     

Theory and practice in sport psychology and motor behaviour needs to be constrained by integrative modelling of brain and behaviour

Because of advances in technology, the non-invasive study of the human brain has enhanced the knowledge base within the neurosciences, resulting in an increased impact on the psychological study of human behaviour. We argue that application of this knowledge base should be considered in theoretical modelling within sport psychology and motor behaviour alongside existing ideas. We propose that interventions founded on current theoretical and empirical understanding in both psychology and the neurosciences may ultimately lead to greater benefits for athletes during practice and performance. As vehicles for exploring the arguments of a greater integration of psychology and neurosciences research, imagery and perception–action within the sport psychology and motor behaviour domains will serve as exemplars. Current neuroscience evidence will be discussed in relation to theoretical developments; the implications for sport scientists will be considered.     

Electroencephalographic functional equivalence during observation of action

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine the variability in cortical activation during physical air-rifle shooting and three different observation conditions. Elite air-rifle shooters performed a 40 shot individual match. Electroencephalograms were recorded from 11 active sites across the cortex during the final 6 s (3 × 2 s epochs) before shot release. Data collection was repeated while shooters watched a large-screen video of their worst shot performance from an internal-visual perspective when seated, standing and standing holding their rifle. The hypothesized differences between the three observation conditions and the physical shooting profile were not shown except at the left anterior temporal site, T5. This finding suggests that observation of performance cannot be differentiated clearly by posture or modified through kinetic and haptic afference, and that visual percepts predominate in observational functional equivalence. However, more functionally equivalent observation reduced the observation/execution variability over the temporal areas. Performer debriefs also identified different perceptions of physiological, psychological and behavioural functional equivalence associated with the different observation conditions. We conclude that elite performers' brains are accessed equally effectively during different observation conditions irrespective of some of the physical factors ascribed to the conditions. However, they may require more functionally matched conditions to attain greater equivalence in temporal areas.     

The complex task of leading educational change in schools

The leadership of educational change in schools is a complex task, particularly at a time when schools are being granted greater autonomy but are also under greater scrutiny through the publication of high stakes test results. This paper examines the complexity of the task of changing a school culture and the challenges faced by leaders engaged in this task. It is informed by case studies of two principals involved in a project designed to bring long-term change. The study provides insight into the qualities which make change leaders effective, and the different ways that leaders manage the task. The paper concludes with implications for the management and sustainability of change in schools.