Secondary school pupils' satisfaction with their ability grouping placements

There has been little research exploring pupils' satisfaction with their ability group placement. This article explores the extent to which pupils are happy with their placement, and the reasons they give for wanting to move to another class or set. The sample comprised over 5000 Year 9 pupils (aged 13–14 years) in 45 mixed secondary comprehensive schools in England. The schools represented three levels of ability grouping in the lower school (Years 7 to 9). Pupils responded to a questionnaire which explored their current set placement, their satisfaction with it, and their reasons for wanting to change. A substantial proportion of pupils expressed a wish to change set, most, but not all, in an upward direction, mainly because the level of work was inappropriate. The implications for ability grouping practices in schools are discussed.     

The benefits and challenges of the integrated programme for children with disabilities in mainstream kindergarten-cum-child care centres in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region: implications for social change

Initially developed from policies implemented under British rule, the integrated programme for children with disabilities has not been widely publicised in the context of early childhood education in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR). Local communities have responded differently to the integrated programme implemented in mainstream kindergarten-cum-child care centres (Kg-cum-CCCs), which serve children from 2 to 6 years old. This study focuses on the perceived benefits and challenges of the integrated programme implemented in mainstream Kg-cum-CCCs. Thirty stakeholders (18 school personnel and 12 parents of children with and without disabilities) from six integrated Kg-cum-CCCs took part in a series of semi-structured in-depth interviews, providing a comprehensive database for this study. The data were analysed with reference to previous studies on the integrated programme for children with disabilities in the context of the current educational experience in the HKSAR. The findings indicate that the stakeholders believe that the integrated programme can benefit children with and without disabilities, but that it can also cause challenges for these children. Implications for policy and practice are discussed.     

Building reading resilience: re-thinking reading for the literary studies classroom

This paper introduces the concept of ‘reading resilience’: students’ ability to read and interpret complex and demanding literary texts by drawing on advanced, engaged, critical reading skills. Reading resilience is a means for rethinking the place and pedagogies of close reading in the contemporary literary studies classroom. Our research was across four Australian universities and the first study of its kind in the Australian context. We trialled three working strategies to support students to become consistent and skilled readers, and to equip teachers with methods for coaching reading: ‘setting the scene’ for reading, surveying students on their reading experiences and habits, and rewarding reading within assessment. We argue that the nature and pedagogy of close reading has not been interrogated as much as it should be and that the building of reading resilience is less about modelling or outlining best practice for close reading (as has traditionally been thought) and more about deploying contextual, student-centred teaching and learning strategies around reading. The goal is to encourage students to develop a broad suite of skills and knowledge around reading that will equip them long term (for the university and beyond). We measured the effectiveness of our strategies through seeking formal and informal student feedback, and through students’ demonstration of skills and knowledge within assessment.     

Academic Evaluation: Universal Instrument? Tool for Development?

Research agendas and academic evaluation are inevitably linked. By means of economic incentives, promotion, research funding, and reputation academic evaluation is a powerful influence on the production of knowledge; moreover, it is often conceived as a universal instrument without consideration of the context in which it is applied. Evaluation systems are social constructions in dispute, being the current focus of international debates regarding criteria, indicators, and their associated methods. A universalist type of productivity indicators is gaining centrality in academic evaluation with profound effects on the content of research that is conducted everywhere. Specifically, evaluation systems based on this type of indicators are sending negative signals to scientists willing to conduct research on contextualized agendas, particularly those negotiated with non scientists. On the basis of theoretical and empirical studies documented on the specialized literature and extensive personal engagement with university research policy in Uruguay, we argue that the consolidation of evaluation practices of alleged universal validity deteriorates and discourages a type of research which is undeniably important in developing contexts.     

Providing medical evaluations for possible child maltreatment to children with special health care needs

OBJECTIVE: Children with special health care needs are known to be at increased risk of all forms of child maltreatment when compared to children without such needs. We describe a health care team's experience providing medical evaluations for suspected child maltreatment to children with special health care needs. METHOD: Consecutive cases seen as outpatients in the Abuse Referral Clinic for Children with Disabilities were abstracted and analyzed. Mail and telephone follow-up contact was attempted after the medical evaluation to determine adherence with treatment recommendations. A subsample of cases for which complete financial information was available was reviewed to determine a reimbursement rate. RESULTS: During the study, 49 children received complete outpatient evaluations. Ages ranged from 3 to 16 years old, and 54% were males. Special needs spanned a wide range of physical, developmental/cognitive and behavioral conditions. The largest number of referrals came from child protective services (42%) followed by referrals from physicians (27%). After the team's comprehensive evaluation, 18% of the children were found to have a history or physical examination that was diagnostic for child maltreatment, 13% were thought to be at high risk, 25% were thought to be at low risk and 44% were thought to have non-abusive etiologies. The collection rate was 14% for an average reimbursement of $38 per case. Only 29 caregivers could be found at follow-up and 22 remembered the recommendations made by the team. Of the 25 cases that were referred for outpatient mental health counseling, 12 (48%) complied. CONCLUSION: Children with a wide range of special health care needs were evaluated in an outpatient special health care needs clinic that offered comprehensive medical evaluations for possible child maltreatment. Medical evaluation services for this group of children were poorly reimbursed. Mental health services were frequently recommended but often not accessed. Child maltreatment teams seeking to serve children with special health care needs will need to plan for service delivery to a potentially diverse group of children and families who may experience difficulty in carrying through on the team's treatment recommendations.     

Do not disturb: the importance of privacy in labor

In nature, when a laboring animal feels threatened or disturbed, the stress hormone catecholamine shuts down labor. Similarly, when a laboring woman does not feel safe or protected or when the progress of her normal labor is altered, catecholamine levels rise and labor slows down or stops. This column discusses the importance of providing labor support that respects the woman's privacy, protects her from unnecessary interventions, insures her safety, and allows her to trust her inherent ability to give birth normally.     

Psychological and demographic predictors of undergraduate non-attendance at university lectures and seminars

Absenteeism from university teaching sessions is increasingly becoming a common phenomenon and remains a major concern to universities. Poor attendance has significant and detrimental effects on students themselves, their peers and teaching staff. There is, however, a lack of previous research investigating demographic and psychological predictors of non-attendance alongside salient reasons students offer for their absence; it is this ‘gap’ that the present study attempts to fill. We approached 618 undergraduate university students from a single UK university studying various courses to complete a bespoke questionnaire assessing their estimated percentage attendance at lectures and seminars over the academic year. Students answered demographic questions, completed psychometric tests of perceived confidence (Perceived Confidence for Learning) and university belongingness (Psychological Sense of School Membership), and rated the degree to which possible reasons for non-attendance applied to themselves. Multiple regression analyses were carried out separately for estimated attendance at lectures and seminars. Results demonstrated that significant predictors of poorer attendance for both scenarios were experiencing a lower sense of belongingness to university; working more hours in paid employment; having more social life commitments; facing coursework deadlines; and experiencing mental health issues. Improving a sense of belonging to university and targeting interventions at students working in paid employment may be effective means of increasing attendance. Providing support for students with mental health issues, structuring courses around coursework deadlines and helping students to organise their attendance around social activities could also be advantageous.     

How student teaching in an urban setting affects teacher candidates' career motivations

This is a qualitative study to determine changes in the motivation of senior student teachers to teach (at the elementary, early childhood, and secondary levels) in an urban setting during the student teaching internship in an urban public school. Emerging themes include roles of classroom teachers, discouragement from tenured teachers, school bureaucracy, views of students, relationships with cooperating teachers, candidates' views about subject matter, and their views about themselves. The findings indicate that motivation to teach changed during student teaching. This cohorts' experiences strengthened their confidence and commitment to teach in culturally diverse urban public schools rather than discouraging them. This research supports a contextual approach to understanding motivation and challenges educators to reflect on several issues of preservice training as well as collaboration with teacher practitioners. With a knowledge of what attracts teachers to the occupation and an understanding of how that attraction is influenced by field experiences in urban schools, programs which prepare teachers may be better able to educate teachers who want to teach in urban schools and can perform successfully in that setting.     

Landscapes of Consciousness: Reading Theory of Mind in <Emphasis Type="Italic">Dear Juno</Emphasis> and <Emphasis Type="Italic">Chato and the Party Animals</Emphasis>

Picturebooks aid children’s developing social understanding because they are dialogic, relational contexts where child readers have opportunities to engage vicariously with a wide range of imagined others. We use research by literacy and literature scholars, including our own past work, to showcase a series of visual and linguistic elements in picturebooks that invite readers to co-create characters’ consciousness via social imagination, the equivalent to a Theory of Mind in the world of story. We ground these relational and dialogical invitations by presenting an analysis of these elements in the picturebooks (in: Pak, Dear Juno, Puffin Books, New York, 1999; in: Soto, Chato and the Party Animals, Puffin Books, New York, 2004).