Starting small: Building preschool teacher knowledge that supports early literacy development

A growing body of research is emerging that investigates the teacher knowledge base essential for supporting reading and writing development at the elementary school level. However, even though increasing recognition is given to the pivotal role that preschool teachers play in cultivating children’s early literacy development, considerably fewer studies have examined the knowledge base of these early childhood educators. This paper will discuss the existing research literature and then examine a recent study that investigated the knowledge constructs of 20 preschool teachers. Findings indicate that preschool teachers lack the disciplinary knowledge required to promote early literacy and, in fact, tend to overestimate what they know, creating a potential obstacle for seeking additional knowledge. Recommendations for strengthening professional development programs and developing more robust measures of preschool teacher knowledge are proposed.     

Higher Education Rankings: Evolution,Acceptance, and Dialogue

Departing from the usual ‘From the Editors' piece, Jamie Merisotis, President of the Institute for Higher Education Policy, and Jan Sadlak, Director of UNESCO‐CEPES, reflect on the content of this issue of the review. At the same time, they outline the essential developments affecting ranking systems and methodologies in higher education. These developments made up the main topic of the meeting jointly organized by the Institute for Higher Education Policy and UNESCO‐CEPES for the project “Higher Education Ranking Systems and Methodologies: How They Work, What They Do”, and held in Washington D.C., USA on 10–11 December 2004. Most of the articles presented in this issue relate to the context of the above‐mentioned meeting.     

Instructional Rounds as a professional learning model for systemic implementation of Assessment for Learning

The purpose of this research was to examine the implementation of a professional learning project aimed at building educators’ knowledge and skills in assessment for learning (AfL) within two school districts in Ontario, Canada. Specifically, the research examined the value of a two-tier Instructional Rounds (IR) professional learning model. This professional learning model was unique because it engaged both teachers and principals in collaboratively learning and implementing AfL strategies in order to develop systemic capacity in assessment. In total, 12 principals, 48 teachers, two superintendents and two school district assessment consultants participated in the study. Data were collected through observations of IR sessions, classroom observations, interviews, IR session reflections and a post-project survey. Findings from this study report on positive changes in teachers’ and principals’ conceptions and implementation of AfL as well as on the value and challenges of IR as a professional learning model. The paper concludes with a discussion on developing systemic capacity in AfL through an IR model of professional learning.     

The Doctoral Portfolio: Centerpiece of a Comprehensive System of Evaluation

The authors describe the process used to revise a traditional doctoral student evaluation system from one that consisted of written comprehensive and final oral examinations to one that features portfolio development. Student competence, expected student outcomes in each competency area, procedures for portfolio development, and documents and procedures for faculty review of the portfolios are described. Recommendations for implementing such a system and implications for counselor education programs are discussed.     

Trust and Discipline: Adolescents’ Institutional and Teacher Trust Predict Classroom Behavioral Engagement following Teacher Discipline

This daily diary study examined how adolescents’ institutional and teacher-specific trust predicted classroom behavioral engagement the day after being disciplined by that teacher. Within mathematics classrooms, adolescents (N = 190; M_age = 14 years) reported institutional and teacher-specific trust and then completed a 15-day diary assessing teacher discipline and behavioral engagement. The results indicated that, among adolescents with low teacher trust, discipline was unrelated to next-day behavior. Contrastingly, adolescents with high teacher but low institutional trust became less engaged following discipline, whereas those with high teacher and institutional trust became more engaged. These findings suggest that adolescents interpret discipline within the social context of trust, and adolescents’ trust in the institution and teacher are important for discipline to improve behavior.     

Full-text federated search of text-based digital libraries in peer-to-peer networks

Peer-to-peer (P2P) networks integrate autonomous computing resources without requiring a central coordinating authority, which makes them a potentially robust and scalable model for providing federated search capability to large-scale networks of text-based digital libraries. However, peer-to-peer networks have so far provided very limited support for full-text federated search with relevance-based document ranking. This paper provides solutions to full-text federated search of text-based digital libraries in hierarchical peer-to-peer networks. Existing approaches to full-text search are adapted and new methods are developed for the problems of resource representation, resource selection, and result merging according to the unique characteristics of hierarchical peer-to-peer networks. Experimental results demonstrate that the proposed approaches offer a better combination of accuracy and efficiency than more common alternatives for federated search of text-based digital libraries in peer-to-peer networks.     

Neuromuscular, biochemical and perceptual post-match fatigue in professional rugby league forwards and backs

In this study, we investigated changes in creatine kinase, perceptual and neuromuscular fatigue of professional rugby league players after match-play. Twenty-three male rugby league players (10 backs, 13 forwards) had their creatine kinase, perceptual ratings of fatigue, attitude to training, muscle soreness, and flight time in a countermovement jump measured before and 1 and 2 days after (day 1 and day 2 respectively) league matches. Total playing time, offensive and defensive contacts were also recorded for each player. Creatine kinase was higher both 1 and 2 days after than before matches (P < 0.05) in forwards and backs. Similarly, perceived fatigue and muscle soreness were higher than pre-match on both days 1 and 2 (P < 0.05), but did not differ between groups (P > 0.05). Jump performance was lower on day 1 but not day 2 for both groups (P < 0.05). While total playing time was longer in backs (P < 0.05), relative frequencies for all contacts were greater in forwards (P < 0.05). Contacts for forwards were correlated with all markers of fatigue (P < 0.05), but only flight time was correlated with offensive contacts in backs (P < 0.05). Despite the mechanisms of fatigue being different between forwards and backs, our results highlight the multidimensional nature of fatigue after a rugby league match and that these markers do not differ between positions.     

The respiratory time and flow profile at volitional exercise termination

In this study, we examine the effect of exercise on the time and flow characteristics of the respiratory cycle profile at the point of volitional exercise termination. Eight males (mean age 29 years, s = 10; body mass 74 kg, s = 7; height 1.75 m, s = 0.04) undertook a cycle test to volitional exhaustion on a cycle ergometer, which allowed peak oxygen uptake (VO(2peak)) to be measured (mean 51 ml x kg(-1) x min(-1), s = 7). At a later date, two sub-maximal tests to volitional exhaustion were completed in a random order at 76% (s = 6) and 86% VO(2peak) (s = 7). As expected, the magnitude of the respiratory flow and time characteristics varied with the three exercise intensities, as did the point of exercise termination and terminal ventilation rates, which varied from 7 to 27 min and 112 to 132 litres x min(-1) respectively. More importantly, however, at exercise termination some of the characteristics were similar, particularly the breathing frequency (at termination 49 breaths x min(-1)), the ratio between inspiration and total breath time (0.5), and the later occurrence of peak inspiratory flow (0.24-0.48 s). The coincident unity of these time and flow profile characteristics at exercise termination illustrates how the integration of timing and flow during breathing influence exercise capacity in non-elite athletes.     

Stressors,coping, and coping effectiveness: Gender,type of sport,and skill differences

Abstract

The aim of this study was to examine stressors, coping, and coping effectiveness as a function of gender, type of sport, and skill. The sample consisted of 749 undergraduate athletes (455 males, 294 females) aged 18 – 38 years (mean = 19.8 years). Skill was classified as international/national, county, university, and club standard. Participants completed a stressor and coping concept map (Novak & Gowin, 1984 Novak, J. D. and Gowin, D. B. 1984. Learning how to learn, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. [Crossref] , [Google Scholar]). The results revealed gender, type of sport, and skill differences in relation to stressor frequencies, coping strategy deployment, and coping effectiveness. In contrast to previous research, females used a variety of problem-focused (e.g. planning, communication, technique-orientated coping) strategies more frequently than males. Team sport athletes reported a variety of sport-specific stressors relating to the demands of playing in a team environment. The group of national/international athletes reported using more planning, blocking, and visualization, and also reported that their coping was more effective than that of less-skilled athletes.