Developing Diversity Through Specialisation in Secondary Education: Comparing approaches in New Zealand and England

The paper compares approaches to curriculum specialisation in secondary education in New Zealand and England. In both countries there have been movements towards increased specialisation, though these have been quite different in form and scope. In both countries specialisation cannot be divorced from broader education policies designed to increase devolution and choice and the paper discusses these contexts before analysing the different approaches to specialisation and attempting an explanation. The authors draw on findings from research undertaken in New Zealand schools. The paper identifies three dimensions that have played a part in influencing curriculum specialisation in both countries. These are opportunity, source of impetus and support. It is argued that while local initiative is possible in New Zealand, central planning and guidance is inadequate. In England while central planning is strong and support is available, it is far from clear that real specialisation is encouraged by existing curriculum and assessment frameworks. In these circumstances in both countries it seems likely that vertical, rather than horizontal, diversity will continue to hold sway.     

Using a situative perspective to gain a deeper understanding of how children’s strengths are related to social context

Over the last twenty-five years, there has been an increase in the availability of published checklists and schedules which allow practitioners to identify the strengths of children and young people, including those with special educational needs. While helpful, these assessments are unable to tell us about the nature of contextual factors which support the expression of particular strengths. In this study, we took a situative perspective to explore how specific classroom practices facilitated strengths. A multiple case study design was used to analyse practices nominated by three children/young people with special educational needs. Qualitative analysis revealed how aspects of practice afforded the opportunity for each child to participate in ways which they equated with their strengths. This style of strength-based assessment led to a more sustained examination of supportive practice features than would have been achieved through interview alone.     

Dialed In: Continuous Response Measures in Televised Political Debates and Their Effect on Viewers

As a result of emerging debate formats and technological advancements over the years, the media started using continuous response measures (CRMs) in the form of on-screen trackers, allowing select audiences to rate candidate performances in political debates in 2004. Given the limited amount of scholarly research that has tackled this issue, this study aims to investigate the effect of CRMs on college students’ voting choices and perceptions of political candidates. This experimental study has found that these trackers did influence the participants’ evaluations of the political candidates shown in the debate regardless of previously stated political affiliation.     

Taking Action on Usability Testing Findings: Simmons College Library Case Study

Simmons College Library conducted in-person and remote usability testing to observe how students retrieve full text when using Library Search, its discovery service system powered by EBSCO Discovery Service (EDS). Testing was conducted as a collaborative study with a consultant associated with EBSCO Information Services User Research Group. This testing found that students expect direct access to full text, have an unfavorable impression of Interlibrary Loan (ILL), and are unsure, based on terminology, which links provide direct access to full text. Steps taken by the library in response to the findings include local customization of EDS, improvements to ILL messaging, updates to user education regarding full text formats and terminology, and requests to EBSCO to update terminology to support users’ direct access to full text. Study findings also validated decisions the library made during the initial set up of its discovery service system.     

Evaluation of the peacemakers program: School‐based violence prevention for students in grades four through eight

This study evaluated the violence prevention effects of The Peacemakers Program, a school‐based intervention for students in grades four through eight. The program includes a primary prevention component delivered by teachers and a remedial component implemented by school psychologists and counselors with referred students. The teacher‐delivered component consists of a psychoeducational curriculum and procedures for infusing program content into the school environment. The study included almost 2,000 students in an urban public school system, with pre‐ and post‐program assessment and comparison to a control group. There were significant, positive program effects on six of the seven variables assessed, including knowledge of psychosocial skills, self‐reported aggression, and teacher‐reported aggression, with a 41% decrease in aggression‐related disciplinary incidents and a 67% reduction in suspensions for violent behavior. On some outcome variables, intervention effects were stronger for boys than girls and for middle school compared to upper elementary school students. © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.