Why did you do that? Teachers explain the use of legal aggression in the classroom

Teachers (n = 233) who employ aggressive classroom management strategies were asked to theorise about their use. Levels of support for three theoretical explanations for aggressive behaviour were assessed via a 26 item scale. The items loaded to three factors: Attribution Theory; Efficacy Theory and Attachment Theory. Results indicated most teachers, 42%, supported Attribution, 34% supported Efficacy, and 33% supported Attachment as an explanation for aggressive behaviour. Moreover, 14% of teachers support all theories simultaneously, whilst 27% of teachers rejected all theories. The implications of these findings are that many teachers may be theoretically blind when it comes to classroom management: hence re- rather than pro-active. The importance of this finding for professional development providers and future qualitative research design is discussed.     

The relative effectiveness of private and public schools: evidence from Kenya

ABSTRACT

This paper estimates the relative effectiveness of private and public primary schools in Kenya using data from 4,433 Grade 6 schoolchildren. Using ordinary least squares as a baseline model, we use the proportion of private schools in a district as an instrument in a Heckman two-stage correction framework, as well as propensity score matching models to correct for selection bias. There is a positive private school effect across all models. In the corrected models, we find that private school pupils outperform their public school counterparts by between .24 and .52 standard deviations.     

Envy and scorn as primary markers of the pervasive antipathy in college football’s rivalry games: the University of Michigan as a representative microcosm

Rivalry games – or derbies – are special. They involve emotions and identities that reach way beyond the playing field. This article submits that the emotional content and normative expression of college football rivalries in the United States are less defined by the respective teams’ actual athletic results in the competition but rather by their institutions’ perceived prestige as well as their social and cultural capital encapsulated by their academic ranking. Fans of the institution that is lower ranked in its academic status display envy towards their opponents representing an institution with higher academic ranking, whereas the latter express scorn for the former. They both hate each other but the nature of their respective hatred differs: envy up, scorn down. The paper analyses a bevy of college rivalries before focusing on two featuring the University of Michigan.     

EFFECTS OF A UNIVERSAL POSITIVE CLASSROOM BEHAVIOR PROGRAM ON STUDENT LEARNING

The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of a universal program to promote positive classroom behavior on students’ approaches to learning and early academic skills. Second grade classrooms (N = 39) were randomly assigned to treatment and business‐as‐usual control conditions. Teachers in intervention classrooms implemented the Social Skills Improvement System Classwide Intervention Program (SSIS‐CIP) over a 12‐week period. Participating students’ (N = 494) engagement, motivation, and academic skills were assessed before and after treatment implementation. Results indicated that students with lower levels of engagement and motivation at pretest experienced significant improvement in these areas after exposure to the SSIS‐CIP. Although no significant differences were observed in reading, students receiving supplemental instructional services demonstrated greater gains in mathematics than did their peers in the control condition.     

Children With Gifts and Talents: Looking Beyond Traditional Labels

This article explored the effects of the labeling that has become commonplace in schools. Theories such as labeling theory, control theory, the Pygmalion effect, and stigma theory provide evidence of the power labeling has to negatively and positively affect children's beliefs about themselves as well as the perceptions others have of them. Renzulli (1977 Renzulli, J. S. 1977. The triad model: A guide for developing defensible programs for the gifted and talented, Mansfield Center, CT: Creative Learning Press.  [Google Scholar]) suggested changing the way we label gifted students, but this has yet to be implemented effectively in the field of gifted education. Here a renewed call for change is advocated, based on similar changes made in special education. Practical strategies are suggested to help children deal with the label of giftedness and to mitigate potential negative effects labeling may have.