Daily report cards as a school‐based intervention for children with attention‐deficit/hyperactivity disorder

This paper describes daily report cards and the evidence relating to their use in schools for children with attention‐deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). This intervention typically involves teachers evaluating a student's behaviour at school against pre‐determined targets and parents subsequently providing reinforcement at home for positive reports. Research suggests that the daily report card has been effective in treating a range of ADHD symptoms and improving school outcomes, including academic achievement in some cases. The daily report card also encourages collaboration between teachers and parents, and evidence suggests that the intervention benefits from the inclusion of reinforcement at home. Daily report cards are easy to implement and research finds that teachers consider them an acceptable intervention for ADHD. This paper also considers challenges in using daily report cards, including barriers to their use over the long‐term and the risk of stigma for children with a report card. Ideas to address these issues are suggested.     

Comparison of oil and egg tempera paint systems using time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry

Time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry (ToF-SIMS) is quickly becoming a critical tool in the field of art conservation. This technique provides high-resolution spatial maps of both inorganic and organic components located within cross-sectional samples collected from works of art. With recent advances in surface analysis, ToF-SIMS can now be used to identify specific amino acids present in protein-containing materials as well as fatty acids in drying oils. For example, the detection of the ion fragment associated with the amino acid hydroxyproline can be used to confirm the use of animal glue in a paint sample. As an analytical technique, ToF-SIMS avoids the need for derivatization/silylation reagents, with no interference by the presence of pigments. Furthermore, the layered systems that are often encountered in historical paint samples remain intact throughout the analytical procedure. This allows for the co-localization of organic and inorganic species in specific layers (e.g. egg yolk paint atop a glue ground). Because of this ability to localize the analytical signal to approximately 6?µm or less, the mass spectral information can be used to produce mass-resolved and spatially-resolve images which can be correlated to previous studies of the same samples. In this study, ToF-SIMS was used to analyze a paint cross section obtained from a painting attributed to Raphael, and another from a painting by the Sienese artist Matteo di Giovanni.     

Accelerometer data requirements for reliable estimation of habitual physical activity and sedentary time of children during the early years - a worked example following a stepped approach

This study presents a worked example of a stepped process to reliably estimate the habitual physical activity and sedentary time of a sample of young children. A total of 299 children (2.9 ± 0.6 years) were recruited. Outcome variables were daily minutes of total physical activity, sedentary time, moderate to vigorous physical activity and proportional values of each variable. In total, 282 (94%) provided 3 h of accelerometer data on ≥1 day and were included in a 6-step process: Step-1: determine minimum wear-time; Step-2: process 7-day-data; Step-3: determine the inclusion of a weekend day; Step-4: examine day-to-day variability; Step-5: calculate single day intraclass correlation (ICC) (2,1); Step-6: calculate number of days required to reach reliability. Following the process the results were, Step-1: 6 h was estimated as minimum wear-time of a standard day. Step-2: 98 (32%) children had ≥6 h wear on 7 days. Step-3: no differences were found between weekdays and weekend days (P ≥ 0.05). Step-4: no differences were found between day-to-day variability (P ≥ 0.05). Step-5: single day ICC’s (2,1) ranged from 0.48 (total physical activity and sedentary time) to 0.53 (proportion of moderate to vigorous physical activity). Step-6: to reach reliability (ICC = 0.7), 3 days were required for all outcomes. In conclusion following a 7 day wear protocol, ≥6 h on any 3 days was found to have acceptable reliability. The stepped-process offers researchers a method to derive sample-specific wear-time criterion.     

Disrupting White Privilege: Diving beneath Shame and Guilt

Abstract

The persistence of white privilege and escalating racism in the United States challenges religious educators to analyze the roots and destructive potential of both. This article draws on historical and contemporary analyses in dialogue with personal reflection and the oral histories of two leaders who seek to recognize and live beyond their own privilege. The purpose of the study is to describe the landscape of white privilege and analyze the intersections of public and personal dynamics. The analysis reveals the educational potential of personal narratives and structural analysis in understanding and transforming white privilege into humble work for justice.     

Optical engineering for children – a structured approach

The present paper focuses on the application of a structured template, maximum impact flow (MIF), in order to encourage young students in the area of optics and optical engineering. MIF introduces a template in terms of individual steps and linked functionality and is shown to fuse separate learning tools together into a cohesive unit. Prioritization and teaching structures are also discussed with the promotion of technology identified as a key factor.     

Visually Framing Press Freedom and Responsibility of a Massacre: Photographic and Graphic Images in Charlie Hebdo's Newspaper Front Pages Around the World

This research examines 441 front-page images published in 367 newspapers on the day following the shooting in Paris of 12 people at or near the Charlie Hebdo office. The aim of this study is to understand how mainstream media visually framed responsibility for the Charlie Hebdo massacre and how these visual frames coalesced to represent collective narratives about press freedom. Through a collaborative visual analysis, this study attempts to understand how the selected visual frames worked to communicate the causes, effects, and responses to the massacre and also to press freedom—an ideological construct that news media had a vested interest in advancing.     

Pupil Speech during Morning News: the effects of reducing teacher questions and increasing pauses and praise

Classroom discourse patterns were examined in the morning news sessions of a primary school classroom. The effects of reducing teacher questions and increasing rates of teacher pauses, praise and directives were investigated. Child words spoken and child expansions were recorded, as well as class call‐outs and teacher control statements. Frequencies of child words spoken showed no significant changes across the phases of the study. However, reducing teacher questions and increasing teacher pauses significantly decreased child expansions, while reducing teacher questions and increasing teacher praise significantly increased child expansions. Replacing teacher questions with directives had no significant effect upon child expansions. Class call‐outs and teacher control statements showed no significant changes across the intervention phases. The results of this study suggest that, for this teacher and class, teacher questions may be decreased without adversely affecting either child utterances or class behaviour, and that replacing questions with praise may increase children's contributions — particularly in the form of verbal expansions — to morning news talks.     

The effects of isolation and handling on reactivity to footshock and tactile dorsal stimulation

The effects of isolation and handling on the reactivity of rats to two tactile stimuli were assessed in two experiments. In the first experiment, reactivity to more intense footshock was increased in rats raised in isolation but was not affected by handling by an experimenter. In the second experiment, increased reactivity to airpuff stimuli presented to the dorsal surface of isolation-reared rats was reduced by handling. The data suggest that the effects of handling on shock-motivated behaviors are not due to altered reactivity to shock and that the effect of housing or handling must be considered in behavioral tests in which reactivity to tactile stimulation might play a role as dependent or independent variables.