Item analyses of the concept assessment kit-conservation for educable mentally retarded children

A series of item analyses of the CAK-C was conducted for a sample of 155 educable mentally retarded children. The probability of a correct response was found to differ from task to task, and there was evidence that the order of difficulty of the tasks for this sample resembled that for nonretarded children. The probabilities of the two incorrect responses were generally not equal, and the choice of one or the other incorrect response showed some relation to CA, MA, and IQ, particularly the last two variables.     

Interpreting the differences: A reply to Kaufman

Kaufman's critique of our article was based on a misunderstanding of our purpose and procedures. This reply clarifies those points and suggests further areas of concern regarding the McCarthy Screening Test.     

Correlates of the concept assessment kit-conservation for educable mentally retarded children

The relations of the CAK-C to the Stanford-Binet and the WRAT were explored for a sample of 155 educable mentally retarded children. Correlational analyses indicated that: (a) The CAK-C is more closely related to MA than to either CA or IQ. (b) Both Reading and Arithmetic are more closely related to MA than to the CAK-C. The results support the position that Piagetian intelligence is somewhat distinct from psychometric intelligence, but suggest that the latter is the better predictor of academic achievement.     

Enhancing self-efficacy in minority youth: A group technique

This article presents a two-phase group process that can be utilized to develop self-efficacy in minority youth. The process involves helping minority students to develop realistic educational and precareer goals through group supported analysis of individual strengths, weaknesses, resources, and roadblocks to success. Modeling, role playing, and outside activities are the major components of the group process.     

Accounting for quality: arts evaluation,public value and the case of “Culture counts”

Arts policy has a longstanding relationship with the concept of “quality” and the ways in which organisations measure, evaluate and account for it. Culture Counts, an evaluation system and digital platform, compiles data from standardised evaluation surveys of different stakeholder groups – organisations, audiences, critics, funders and peers – and provides the means to compare and triangulate data in an accessible format. As a result, it claims to provide a more effective, democratic tool for quality measurement of art, which demonstrates the public value of funding [Department of Culture and the Arts, & Knell, J. (2014). Public value measurement framework: Measuring the quality of the arts. Perth: Department of Culture and the Arts.]. Through qualitative research with two consortia of organisations involved in Culture Counts pilot projects in Manchester, England and Victoria, Australia, we explore these claims, comparing the reception and promotion of the system in both countries and considering its potential incorporation into policy assessment frameworks and adoption within arts organisations’ existing evaluation capacities.     

A grounded theory of positive youth development through sport based on results from a qualitative meta-study

The overall purpose of this study was to create a model of positive youth development (PYD) through sport grounded in the extant qualitative literature. More specifically, the first objective was to review and evaluate qualitative studies of PYD in sport. The second objective was to analyze and synthesize findings from these studies. Following record identification and screening, 63 articles were retained for analysis. Meta-method analysis revealed strengths of studies were the use of multiple data collection and validity techniques, which produced high-quality data. Weaknesses were limited use of ‘named’ methodologies and inadequate reporting of sampling procedures. Philosophical perspectives were rarely reported, and theory was used sparingly. Results of an inductive meta-data analysis produced three categories: PYD climate (adult relationships, peer relationships, and parental involvement), life skills program focus (life skill building activities and transfer activities), and PYD outcomes (in personal, social, and physical domains). A model that distinguishes between implicit and explicit processes to PYD is presented.     

Mapping cultural assets and evaluating significance: theory,methodology and practice

Over the last decade in the UK, there has been a notable shift in the popularity and use of cultural mapping as a methodology for policy making at a regional and local level. This follows increased demand for an informed framework for planning arts and cultural facilities from local and regional government and from within the cultural sector (Evans, 2008: p. 65). The article begins with an exploration of cultural mapping within cultural policy, which explores the context for the growth in this area of activity, and why this kind of activity appeals to policy makers and organisations. It then goes on to examine four cultural mapping exercises which have been undertaken in recent years in the UK. These studies have been chosen because although they all focus the mapping of cultural assets within a specific geographic area, they differ to one degree or another in purpose, context, definition, geographic scale and methodology. They illustrate the narrow range of approaches deployed in the cultural mapping field in the UK, and as such provide a useful means of critically reviewing their limits as well as highlighting the issues and challenges faced by cultural cartography in practice. The article concludes by considering the type of mapping research that is “allowed” within the discursive confines of consultancy based cultural policy research.     

Rate of conceptual development among deaf preschool and primary children as compared to a matched group of nonhearing impaired children

Seventeen deaf children and a matched group of 17 nonhearing impaired children were assessed to compare rate of basic concept development. The results indicate that deaf children scored approximately two standard deviations below their matched nonhearing impaired peers. Additionally, the deaf children exhibited a relatively flat subtest proffle, suggesting that basic concepts that have not been specifically taught remain uniformly delayed for deaf children.     

Prediction of academic achievement with the McCarthy screening test and metropolitan readiness test

There is a need for accurate, efficient assessment of children's readiness, to provide information concerning strengths and weaknesses of children and to identify those children who may be at risk for school failure. This necessitates determining the relative usefulness of instruments in predicting later school achievement. This study examined the efficacy of the McCarthy Screening Test (MST) and Metropolitan Readiness Test (MRT) to predict academic readiness at the end of kindergarten and achievement at the end of first grade. Eighty-eight children were screened upon entering kindergarten, using the MST. As a measurement of academic readiness, the MRT was administered at the end of kindergarten, and the Scott and Foresman Achievement Test (SFAT) was administered at the end of first grade as a measure of achievement. Regression analyses indicated that the MST significantly predicted children's scores on the MRT and SFAT. Additionally, the MRT was a significant predictor of the SFAT.