Can professional development make the vision of the standards a reality? The impact of the national science foundation's local systemic change through teacher enhancement initiative

Professional development is seen as one of the major levers for aligning science instruction in the USA with the vision put forth by national standards documents. Although there is a growing consensus regarding what constitutes effective professional development, there is little empirical evidence to support this consensus. This study examines the impact of professional development that is content‐based, situated in classroom practice, and sustained over time on teacher attitudes, perceptions of preparedness, and classroom practices. It utilizes longitudinal data from the National Science Foundation's Local Systemic Change through Teacher Enhancement Initiative (LSC), collected from 42 projects over a span of 7 years. The professional development model used in the LSCs differed from previous initiatives in that it targeted all teachers in a jurisdiction and emphasized preparing teachers to implement project‐designated instructional materials. Analyses of the data provide evidence that this model for professional development has an impact on teachers and their classroom practices. In addition, the analyses found that teachers' perception of principal support for Standards‐based science instruction is an important predictor of these outcomes. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 44: 375–395, 2007     

Doing curious research to cultivate tentacular becomings

Abstract

Referring to Haraway’s concept of tentacularity, this article embarks on a curious research practice-inspired speculative journey to think with material tentacular becomings in an Australian kindergarten. Some of the questions that guided our curious research practice asked: How does curious practice as a postqualitative methodology enable us, as researchers, to cultivate a presence that creates the conditions for these research encounters and events to be perceived? What becomes possible for generative relational diverse learning with matter-energies if we accept that there is no rational explanation at hand? What worlds come into being if we speculate instead of rationalize? How do children animate, and are animated relationally, in particular worlds and not in others? How do we, as researchers, become entangled within children’s ways of perceiving and naming encounters? We experimented with Haraway’s notion of tentacularity as our navigational tool to map four entangled territories in this article.     

Supporting multidisciplinary networks through relationality and a critical sense of belonging: three ‘gardening tools’ and the Relational Agency Framework

This article focuses on the Relational Agency Framework (RAF), an analytical tool developed for an Australian review and evaluation study of an early years’ policy initiative. We explore Anne Edward’s concepts of relational expertise, building common knowledge and relational agency to explore how Edwards’ concepts, which she refers to as ‘gardening tools’, and the RAF work together to support early years multidisciplinary networks. We argue that early childhood professionals who come together in a multidisciplinary network develop their collective capabilities through relationality and a focus on belonging. The RAF embeds Edwards’ relational concepts and enables the exploration and articulation of how network participants’ individual, discipline-specific knowledge and expertise augments to support collectively transformative practice within their network, their place and wider community. We conclude that a sense of belonging is foundational to the emergence of such relational agency in networks. Tools such as the ‘gardening tools’ and the RAF offer possibilities for addressing the challenges of how to support collaboration between government, early years professionals and communities to work holistically in the best interest of all children and their families.     

Environmental projects of Jewish and Arab youth in Israel: the adult leaders’ views

Socio‐environmental projects involving Arab and Jewish youth in Israel are uncommon. In this study, we interviewed 16 adult leaders of two projects that were carried out in the Galilee in northern Israel, to better understand the views of the leaders and their motives. The two projects focused on mutual environmental issues and dealt with social, cultural, and political aspects with respect to the environmental context. The participants were teachers and principals of the students who participated in the projects and facilitators of two environmental organizations. We found diverse views with respect to environmental education, local environmental issues, and possible solutions. The Arab adults expressed stronger attachment to the local environment than the Jewish ones. The major projects’ goals according to the leaders included: (improving) knowledge, awareness, and environmental behavior of the students and their communities; an opportunity for taking part in community collaboration and action; an opportunity for multicultural interaction; and meaningful long‐term learning in the outdoors. Our findings highlight the importance of identifying the views of educators of diverse cultures in order to carry out future successful multicultural environmental projects. Our findings also suggest adopting critical pedagogy of place while designing and implementing such projects in sensitive regions such as Israel.     

Participatory planning for project sustainability of environmental education projects: a case study of the Secondary Teacher Training Environmental Education Project (St2eep) in Zimbabwe

Within the first year of the Secondary Teacher Training Environmental Education Project (St²eep) in Zimbabwe, project stakeholders, including lecturers, college administrators, local project coordinators, and donor representatives, expressed concern about the non‐sustainability of the project due to its over‐reliance on its international donor. In response to this challenge, a process of critical self‐reflection through self‐assessment workshops was started to give an opportunity for key project stakeholders to explore the challenge of project sustainability. Applying the principles of expansive learning theory to St²eep’s reflection processes, this paper shows how the contradictions that emerge from the interaction between different project stakeholders can be powerful sources for learning. This has resulted in new forms of activity to address the challenge of project sustainability in St²eep. The insights of this paper may be useful for other donor‐funded environmental education projects that are confronted with the challenge of project sustainability.     

Preschoolers’ private speech during spelling in Hebrew: the role of word structure and letter position

Reading and Writing - The study’s aims were to (a) evaluate preschoolers’ use of private speech (overt talk to themselves) during spelling; and (b) study how it is affected by the...     

Sex differences in injury rates in team-sport athletes: A systematic review and meta-regression analysis

Background:Team-sport players have a particularly high injury risk.Although female sex is considered a risk factor,it is still unknown whether female and male team-sport players,in fact,differ in their injury rates.We aimed to compare injury rates between female and male players by systematically reviewing and meta-analyzing injury surveillance studies of both sexes in order to evaluate sex-specific differences in team-sport injuries.Methods:Studies that prospectively collected injury data for high-level female and male players(age≥16 years)in basketball,field hockey,football(soccer),handball,rugby(union and sevens),and volleyball were included.Two reviewers(AZ and ALR)independently assessed study quality and extracted data for overall,match,training,and severe injuries(>28 days’time loss)as well as data regarding injury locations and types.Incidence rate ratios(IRRs)were pooled in a meta-analysis,and meta-regression analysis was performed when 10 or more studies were available.Results:Of 20 studies,9 studies reported injury data from football,3 studies from rugby,3 studies from handball,1 study from basketball,1 study from field hockey,2 studies from volleyball,and 1 study from basketball and field hockey.For overall injuries,the pooled IRR=0.86(95%confidence interval(95%CI):0.76-0.98)indicated significantly more injuries in male than in female players.For injury location,the pooled IRR showed higher injury rates in male athletes than in female athletes for upper extremity,hip/groin,thigh,ande foot injuries.Female players had a significantly higher rate of anterior cruciate ligament injuries(IRR=2.15,95%CI:1.27-3.62)than male players.No significant sex-specific differences in IRR were found for match,training,severe injuries,concussions,or ankle sprains.Conclusion:Our meta-analysis provides evidence for sex-specific differences in the injury rates in team sports.Further epidemiological studies including both sexes in sports other than football are needed in order to strengthen the evidence.     

Responses of low and high compression during recovery after repeated sprint training in well-trained handball players

The aim of the study was to investigate the effects of wearing various levels of compression following repeated and exhausting sprint exercise on variables related to recovery. Twelve well-trained handball players performed three sessions of repeated and exhausting sprint exercise (30?×?30m). Directly after each session the participants wore tights extending from below the hip to the foot with either 0, 10, or 25?mm?Hg of compression onto the thigh and calf muscles. 48?h after the training session all participants performed 5?×?30m sprints and counter movement jumps. Before, directly after, 24?h, and 48?h after the training session venous blood samples were drawn for the determination of creatine kinase (CK), urea, C-reactive protein (CRP). At the same time points, subjective ratings of the Acute Recovery and Stress Scale (ARSS) questionnaires were obtained. The results for plasma concentrations of CK and urea showed ‘likely’ to ‘very, very likely’ beneficial effects for compression garments exerting 10?mm?Hg of compression (p?=?0.06–1.0). With regard to sprint and jump performance no differences were evident between 0, 10, and 25?mm?Hg (p?=?0.07–1.0). In addition, subjective scores from the ARSS did not differ between conditions over time (p?>?0.05). We conclude that the application of 10?mm?Hg leg compression compared to 0 and 25?mm?Hg of compression during 48?h of recovery from repeated and exhausting sprints lowered the plasma concentrations of CK and urea with no improvements in recovery for performance.     

Development of two short measures for recovery and stress in sport

The Acute Recovery and Stress Scale (ARSS) and the Short Recovery and Stress Scale were first established in German for the purposes of monitoring athletes’ current recovery-stress states in an economical and multidimensional manner. The aim of this paper is to document the development and initial validation of the English versions of these two psychometric monitoring tools. A total of 267 English-speaking athletes from a variety of team and individual sports participated in the study. The English versions demonstrated satisfactory internal consistency for both instruments (Cronbach α of .74–.89). Furthermore, good model fit was found for the eight scales of the ARSS, matching the structure and results of the German counterparts. Correlations among and between the scales reciprocate the theoretical constructs of stress and recovery, supporting the construct validity of the scales. Correlation coefficients within stress and recovery ranged between r_s?=?.29 and .68. The correlations between stress and recovery varied between r_s?=??.29 and ?.64. These constructs were further supported by correlations with the scores of the Recovery-Stress Questionnaire for Athletes, thereby showing convergent validity. The findings demonstrate initial validity and reliability of the two measures and reflect the results of the German versions. However, further research is needed before applying these scales in practical settings.