Equality and Education: Fact and Fiction

This paper reports on a series of statistical analyses carried out on some of the National Curriculum tests in mathematics for 11-year-olds in England. In England all 7-, 11- and 14-year-olds are tested in English, mathematics and science (11- and 14-year-olds only). The tests for 11-year-olds are very high stakes, in that the results are published in a school-by-school basis in newspapers etc. The analyses were prompted by the suggestion (from governmental organisations) that the balance of the curriculum content in the mathematics tests should be changed to accommodate better the require ments of the government-initiated National Numeracy Strategy. The analyses were carried out on two datasets, involving nationally representative samples of 11-year-old pupils. The analyses reveal some interesting patterns of change in the overall outcomes when Handling Data questions were statistically replaced by Number items of various kinds and also some interesting changes at the individual level, which could potentially affect the Level outcomes of a significant number of children nationally. However, the final conclusion reached is that, given an appropriately sized and structured pool of items across the curriculum content areas, tests can be constructed which are of an appropriate level of difficulty and discrimination power and which still allow year-on-year calibration of the national standards in mathematics.     

Intrinsic Motivation and Environmental Factors Affecting Research of Social Work Faculty on Aging

Within the context of Self-determination Theory, this research identifies intrinsic motivation and environmental factors that support social-work-faculty research in aging. Intrinsic factors include faculty's interest in gerontology as a field of practice, the desire to advance knowledge in the field of gerontology, including producing publications that disseminate information about their research, and the desire to make tenure and/or to advance their careers. Environmental factors include institutional supports such as release time to do research, reduced teaching loads, summer research support. Also included are mentoring relationships that complement the faculty's intrinsic motivation and create an environment supportive of research, grant writing, and publishing. Faculty motivation to work in the field of gerontology and institutional support for gerontological research are critical to sustain and expand the capacity of social work faculty to advance science in gerontology research. Such motivation is also needed to create vibrant academic environments that attract students at all levels into the field of gerontology, a field experiencing a rapidly expanding gap between service need and workforce capacity of social-work-faculty research in aging.     

Application and Reliability of the Retrospective Interview Procedure to Trace Physical Activity Patterns in Master Athletes and Nonactive Older Adults

This paper reports the results of two studies. The purpose of the first study was to determine if lifestyle variables and past involvement in physical activity was related to current activity levels in master athletes and sedentary older adults. Retrospective interviews were conducted with 12 master athletes and 12 sedentary older adults. Results demonstrated that education level, spouse participation, smoking, and recent physical activity levels were indicators of current involvement. The second study investigated the reliability of the data collected in the retrospective interviews. Similar to results with younger samples, we confirm that lifestyle variables and physical activity involvement could be accurately recalled for a period of 25 years, making this tool a useful addition for the study of physical activity in older adults.     

Display Rules for Anger, Sadness, and Pain: It Depends on Who Is Watching

This study examined factors that may influence children's decisions to control or express their emotions including type of emotion (anger, sadness, physical pain), type of audience (mother, father, peer, alone), age, and sex. Children's reported use of display rules, reasons for their decisions, and reported method of expression were examined. Subjects were 32 boys and 32 girls in each of the first ( M = 7.25 years old), third ( M = 9.33 years old), and fifth grades ( M = 11.75 years old). Regardless of the type of emotion experienced, children reported controlling their expression of emotion significantly more in the presence of peers than when they were with either their mother or father or when they were alone. Younger children reported expressing sadness and anger significantly more often than did older children, and girls were more likely than boys to report expressing sadness and pain. Children's primary reason for controlling their emotional expressions was the expectation of a negative interpersonal interaction following disclosure.     

The impact of technology enhanced science instruction on pedagogical beliefs and practices

The paper presents a qualitative case study of a Technology Enhanced Instruction (TEI) model called Technology Enhanced Secondary Science Instruction (TESSI). The implementation of TEI in TESSI classrooms resulted in significant changes in the educational beliefs, and the teaching and learning practices of those involved: a) classroom structures were modified to emphasize guided, self-directed learning; b) views of learning were transformed to regard skills such as time management, goal setting, self monitoring, and problem solving to be as significant as science knowledge; and c) teachers' roles were changed from transmitters of knowledge to facilitators of learning. These changes are illustrated through reflections by the teachers, students, administrators and researchers associated with the Project. TESSI resulted in a significant increase in enrollment and achievement as measured by government exams.     

Attachment theory: Implications for school psychology

The effective practice of school psychology requires a strong research and theoretical base, a framework that encompasses developmental processes and outcomes, both adaptive and maladaptive, which facilitates assessment and intervention and offers insight into classroom and family dynamics. Attachment theory provides the school psychologist with just such a framework. In the present article we provide a brief overview of attachment theory and describe risk factors for development of insecure attachment. Behavioral trajectories of children and adolescents according to attachment classification are discussed. Finally, student–teacher interactions within an attachment perspective and implications for interventions are presented. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Psychol Schs 41: 247–259, 2004.     

Development of excitatory backward associations during the establishment of forward associations in a delayed conditional discrimination by pigeons

The development of excitatory backward associations in pigeons was demonstrated in three experiments involving conditional discriminations with differential outcomes. In Phase 1 of all three experiments, correct comparison choices following one sample were followed by food, whereas correct comparison choices following the other sample were followed by presentation of an empty feeder. In Phase 2, the food and no-food events that served as outcomes in Phase 1 replaced the samples. When the associations tested in Phase 2 were consistent with the comparison-outcome associations developed in Phase 1, transfer performance was significantly better than when the Phase 2 associations were inconsistent with the Phase 1 associations. In Experiment 1, an identity matching-to-sample task was used with red and green samples and red and green comparisons. In Experiment 2, a symbolic matching task was used with shape samples and hue comparisons, and it was shown that the backward associations formed were between the trial outcome (food or no food) and the correct comparison. In Experiment 3, it was determined that the transfer effects observed in these experiments did not depend on either the similarity of behavior directed toward the samples in the training and test phases, or the similarity of food and no-foodexpectancies generated by the samples in Phase 1 to food and no-foodevents presented as samples in Phase 2.     

Choice without markets: homeschooling in the context of private education

Homeschooling is enjoying new‐found acceptance in North America. Drawing on a variety of secondary sources and our own data from Ontario, Canada, we find that homeschooling is growing steadily, and is becoming an increasingly legitimated form of education. To understand these changes, we review prevailing sociological explanations that focus on the rise of neo‐liberal ideology, and pressures of class reproduction and human capital requirements. We document the contributions of these theories and note their limits for understanding the rising popularity of homeschooling. We then situate homeschooling within a broader context of private education, distinguishing segments that encourage market‐consumer, class reproduction, human capital and ‘expressive’ logics. The combination of large investments of time and effort with highly uncertain outcomes makes homeschooling the most expressive form of private education, which we trace to the burgeoning culture of ‘intensive parenting.’