The effects of educational reform on the content and status of the social subjects in England and wales and the USA: A case study

Over the past decade educational reform has been taking place in the USA and in England and Wales. This paper traces the political pressures to change the social subjects curriculum on both sides of the Atlantic. In England and Wales the new National Curriculum aims to raise educational standards and to increase accountability through a national assessment system. In the USA the Federal Government has set to work on establishing national goals. There is evidence in both countries that the new curricula are emerging from a political process which imposes content and structures upon teachers with little consultation. The paper concentrates on how the social studies curriculum has been affected in this process. It explores the politics of curricular reform by comparing events in the USA and England and Wales and outlines the ways, particularly in the British context, in which the teaching profession has explored the limits of its power and has fought back against central control to make its voice heard.

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Zusammenfassung In den letzten zehn Jahren gab es eine Bildungsreform in den USA, sowie in England und Wales. Dieser Bericht studiert den politischen Druck, der zu einer Änderung des Curriculums in den Sozialfächern auf beiden Seiten des Atlantiks geführt hat. In England und Wales soll das neue nationale Curriculum den Bildungsstandard anheben und die Verantwortlichkeit durch ein nationales Bewertungssystem steigern. In den USA begann die Bundesregierung mit der Festsetzung nationaler Ziele, die den Lehrern Inhalte und Strukturen mit wenig Mitbestimmungsrecht auferlegt. Der Artikel konzentriert sich auf die Auswirkungen dieses Prozesses auf das Curriculum der Sozialstudien. Er untersucht die Politik der Curriculums-Reform, in dem Ereignisse in den USA, England und Wales verglichen werden. Insbesondere im britischen Kontext werden Wege aufgezeigt, auf denen der Lehrberuf die Grenzen seiner Macht erforscht und sich gegen eine zentrale Kontrolle gewehrt hat, um Aufmerksamkeit auf sich zu ziehen.

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Resumen Durante la última década se ha realizado una reforma de la educación en los EEUU, Inglaterra y Gales. Este trabajo esboza las presiones políticas de cambiar los planes de estudio de los sujetos sociales a ambos lados de Atlántico. En Inglaterra y Gales, elNew National Curriculum aspira a crear estándares de la educación y a incrementar la responsabilidad a través de un sistema nacional de valoración. En los EEUU, el Gobierno Federal ha comenzado a trabajar en la fijación de objetivos nacionales. Es evidente que en ambos países los nuevos planes de estudios están emergiendo de un proceso político que impone contenidos y estructuras a los maestros, consultándolos poco o nada. El trabajo se concentra en el impacto que ha sufrido el curriculo de estudios sociales en este proceso. Explora la política de la reforma curricular comparando acontecimientos de los EE UU y de Inglaterra y Gales y proporciona una idea general de los modos, particularmente en el contexto británico, en los que la profesión de enseñanza ha explorado los límites du su poder y se ha defendido contra el control central para hacerse escuchar.

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Résumé Au cours de la dernière décennie, une réforme éducative a été engagée aux Etats-Unis, en Angleterre et au pays de Galles. Cet article retrace les pressions politigues qui ont été exercées pour remanier les thèmes sociaux dans les programmes des deux côtés de l'Atlantique. En Angleterre et au pays de Galles, le nouveau curriculum national a pour but d'élever les niveaux de l'enseignement et d'augmenter la responsabilité par un système national d'évaluation. Aux Etats-Unis, le gouvernement fédéral a entrepris d'établir des objectifs nationaux. Il est évident que dans les deux pays, les nouveaux programmes sont nés d'un processus politique qui a imposé aux enseignants des contenus et des structures en les consultant à peine. L'article se concentre sur les retombées de ce processus sur les programmes d'études sociales. Il étudie la politique de la réforme curriculaire en comparant les événements intervenus aux Etats-Unis et en Angleterre-pays de Galles et souligne, en particulier dans le contexte britannique, la façon dont le corps enseignant a épuisé les limites de son pouvoir et a résisté au contrôle central pour se faire entendre.

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Wandel in der Fremdsprachenpolitik der DDR

Ohne Zusammenfassung     

Perianal findings in prepubertal children selected for nonabuse: a descriptive study

The results of the perianal portion of a project designed to collect normative data of the anogenital anatomy from a representative sample of prepubertal children is presented. A total of 318 children were examined by three physicians from a child sexual abuse evaluation program. After screening for the onset of puberty and the possibility of undetected abuse, 267 subjects remained. The sample included 161 girls and 106 boys ranging in age from 2 months to 11 years. The perianal findings that were encountered with the greatest frequency included erythema (41%), increased pigmentation (30%), and venous engorgement (52%) after two minutes in the knee-chest position. Wedge-shaped smooth areas in the midline, with or without depressions, were found both anterior and posterior to the anus in 26% of the children. Anal skin tags/folds were discovered anterior to the anus in 11%. In 49% of the children there was some dilatation of the anus which opened and closed intermittently in 62%. Flattening of the anal verge and rugae occurred during dilatation by the midpoint of the examination in 44% and 34%, respectively. Perianal findings that were found infrequently in all subgroups included skin tags/folds (0%) and scars (1%) outside the midline, anal dilatation greater than 20 mm without the presence of stool in the rectal ampulla (1.2%), irregularity of the anal orifice after complete dilatation (3%), and prominence of the anal verge (3%). No abrasions, hematomas, fissures, or hemorrhoids were encountered. Less commonly detected findings within specific subgroups included perianal erythema in girls (32%) as compared to boys (57%), pigmentation in the lighter skinned white children (22%) when compared to black (53%) and Hispanic (58%) children, and venous congestion at the beginning of the examination (7%) when compared to the same findings after four minutes in the knee-chest position (73%). There were no perianal skin tags/folds found in the boys. The relatively high incidence of perianal soft tissue changes that were found in this study, when compared to the frequency of similar observations in children suspected of having been sexually abused, reemphasizes the caution medical examiners must exercise in rendering an opinion as to the significance of medical findings.     

The elusive nature of whole system improvement in education

Whole system improvement—where the vast majority of schools improve—is difficult to achieve. Some jurisdictions use what turns out to be ‘wrong’ policy drivers like testing and evaluation. Rather, success turns out to depend on changing the culture of schools and their relationship to the infrastructure of policies and regulation. I examined the six cases studies in the light of whole system change criteria. Two of the case studies, South Africa and India, represent limited but useful examples in that they focus on basic skills like literacy. A second set of two studies, Escuela Nueva and LCP in Mexico, represent strong examples of how bottom up strategies can spread to significant levels. The final two, Long Beach in the US and Ontario, are strong examples of how deep change can be accomplished by focusing on a few core priorities and then building a culture over a number of years to support and sustain the changes. The paper then draws conclusions about the conditions that will be required for large scale change to occur.     

一种用于宽动态范围上的高精度散射测量的标准方法

The co-effect of transmitted power fluctuation and system nonlinearity produce deviations in scatterometer measurement results . An internal calibration method to deal with this problem is proposed. The method can result in more precise scatterometric measurements in a wide range. The basic principle of the method is combining real-transmitted-power detection with the calibration of system nonlinearity. A practical scheme to implement the method is also presented, which is developed based on a special designed mechanism of a microwave radiometer-scatterometer combined system.     

The rewarding effects of number and surface area of food in rats

Visual cues have an important role in food preference for both rats and humans. Here, we aim to isolate the effects of numerosity, density, and surface area on food preference and running speed in rats, by using a forced-choice maze paradigm. In Experiment 1, rats preferred and ran faster for a group of multiple smaller pellets rather than a single large pellet, corroborating previous research (Capaldi, Miller, & Alptekin Journal of Experimental Psychology: Animal Behavior Processes, 15(1), 75–80, 1989). Further experiments tested the prevailing hypothesis that multiple food pieces are more reinforcing because they occupy a larger surface area. Experiment 2 controlled for numerosity by utilizing a continuous food: mashed potatoes flattened to cover a larger surface area or rounded into a ball. The rats preferred and ran faster for the flattened potatoes, suggesting surface area plays a role in quantity estimations. Finally, in Experiment 3, rats displayed no preference or difference in running speed between a group of scattered and clustered pellets when number of pellets were kept constant. Taken together, these results suggest that density has an important role in food perception—that is, the rewarding effect of higher numerosity or larger surface area is removed when the food does not fill out the entire space. Alternative explanations and implications for human diet are discussed.     

Using Variables in School Mathematics: Do School Mathematics Curricula Provide Support for Teachers?

This study employed content analysis to examine 3 popular middle-grades mathematics curricula in the USA on the support they provide for teachers to implement concepts associated with variables in school mathematics. The results indicate that each of the 3 curricula provides some type of support for teachers, but in a varied amount and quality. More specifically, whereas the University of Chicago School Mathematics Project (UCSMP) curriculum provides support for teachers on several aspects of using variables in school mathematics, the support found in the Connected Mathematics 2 and the Math Connects curricula focused mainly on one conception of variables—namely, the use of variables as quantity that varies in the Connected Mathematics 2 curriculum and the use of variables as specific unknowns in the Math Connects curriculum. Overall, the UCSMP curriculum provides the most support for teachers, followed by the Connected Mathematics 2 curriculum, with the Math Connects curriculum recording the least support for teachers to enact variable concepts. It is worth pointing out that, although the 3 curricula collectively provide guidance for teachers to implement variable ideas within meaningful real-world contexts, the supports identified in the respective curriculum were not sufficient in addressing all of the areas that are essential for teaching the many concepts associated with variables in school mathematics effectively. Recommendations for curriculum developers and for international researchers with interest in the roles of variables in school mathematics are provided.     

Lecturers on teaching within the ‘supercomplexity’ of Higher Education

While a vast literature exists on students and their learning, work on lecturers and their teaching continues to lag some way behind. This paper explores the notion that the complexity of Higher Education (HE) today significantly impacts upon what goes on in the classroom through a two-tiered study. Semi-structured interviews were conducted to explore lecturers’ perceptions and experiences of teaching a specific module. Interviewees raised issues pertaining to the wider departmental, institutional and socio-political context. Consequently, focus groups were run with key people in the University to explore their perceptions of teaching and learning within the current HE climate. The findings suggest that lecturers perceive numerous external factors to impinge upon their teaching and attempt to militate against these in various ways in order to achieve ongoing enhancement of learning for students.