Family portrait: a profile of educational developers around the world

Educational development (also called academic or faculty development) has been described as fragmented, disconnected, and a ‘family of strangers,’ due mostly to the different academic backgrounds of its members. In this paper, the authors report on a survey of over 1000 educational developers from 38 countries on six continents. To help the field gain a clearer picture of itself at the international level, the authors provide a profile of developers’ demography, institutional locations, academic backgrounds, and current roles, and discuss the implications for educational development as a field and developers as a community.     

Exploring the Associations Between Delayed School Entry and Achievement in Primary and Secondary School

This research investigated whether delayed school entry was associated with higher achievement in national tests of reading and numeracy in Grades 3, 5, 7, and 9 (n = 2,823). Delayed entry was related to advantages in reading (0.14 SD) and numeracy (0.08 SD) at Grade 3, although little variance was explained (1%–2%). This slight advantage persisted for both domains in Grades 5 and 7, albeit with smaller effects. In Grade 9 there was no association between delayed entry and either reading or numeracy. Exploratory analyses with subsamples in each grade (n = 424–667) revealed no associations between delayed entry and achievement after controlling for inattention and hyperactivity, and negative associations between inattention and achievement in all grades in both domains (−0.33, −0.49 SD).     

Economic globalisation,youth expectations and social class: The case of Sri Lanka

Whether economic globalisation is associated with a narrowing or a widening of the social class gap between the education and occupation expectations of Sri Lankan youth is examined through a test of four hypotheses. Methodologically, the study employs the estimated parameters from a system of seemingly unrelated equations for testing hypotheses. Youth expectations for education and occupation are higher than those of their parents when young. Social class effects vary among youth and fathers and mothers when young. The occupation expectations of youth show a widening gap between the middle and low social classes. In all other comparisons, the gaps are positive, indicating a widening, but none attains statistical significance. Causal explanations are explored and the implications for future investigations are identified.     

干细胞肉类新“尝试”

<正>荷兰马斯特里赫特大学的生物工程学家马克·波斯特博士正带领着他的团队奋战在实验室里,他们的目标是今年10月造出史上第一块"人造肉"。你或许从未想到这样怪异的情景:一块厚厚的生牛排躺在超大号的培养皿里,扑通扑通地颤动。荷兰马斯特里赫特大学(Maastricht University)的生物工程学家马克·波斯特(Mark Post)博士正带领着他的团队奋战在实验室里,他们的目标是今年10月造出史上第一块"人造肉"。此言一出,科学界与伦理界议论纷纷。     

Steering Higher Education Towards the Workplace

This article examines the changing relationship between higher education and the state in the United Kingdom during a period of rapid higher education expansion and diversification. The roles, respectively, of the academic community, the labour market, and government in the steering of this relationship are considered. The paper concludes that, although external initiatives may have an important role to play in stimulating change in higher education, it is the academic community itself which determines the pace and direction of change.     

The Efficacy of Written Teacher Advice (Tip Sheets) for Managing Classroom Behaviour Problems

This study evaluated the efficacy of a set of tip sheets developed to provide written advice to teachers about the management of common classroom behaviour problems. Twenty teachers were involved in the trial of the tip sheets. Teachers selected a child in their grade who demonstrated one of the behaviour problems, and after a baseline period, implemented the written advice for a period of 4 weeks. Outcome measures included teacher collected data, Goal Achievement Scale scores, Sutter-Eyberg Student Behavior Inventory, Teacher Report Form and consumer satisfaction. Measures of treatment integrity were also collected. Results indicated that 13 of the children showed substantial or moderate improvement. Of the seven who did not improve, four had high levels of general behaviour problems prior to intervention, and three had teachers who were not following the written advice completely. However, high levels of general behaviour problems did not prevent some other children still demonstrating improvements in behaviour (n = 5). The written advice in the tip sheets was found to be highly acceptable to the teachers.     

Career and Commitment in the Context of Comprehensive School Reform

The present article takes up a paradox: that teachers' involvement in ambitious innovation or large-scale reform may supply rich opportunities for professional growth while also introducing the seeds of longer-term career disappointment. Case study investigations of reforming high schools in the US from 1991 to 2001 illuminate the relationship of teachers' participation in secondary school reform to their teaching commitment and career trajectories. Two of the three successive studies produced a dominant pattern of initial enthusiasm followed by growing disappointment. We draw on the combined data to examine teachers' propensity to remain engaged with innovation or reform, and the ways in which sustained involvement strengthens or weakens teachers' career commitment and satisfaction.     

Constructions of teacher leadership in three periods of policy and reform activism

It is primarily within the last two decades that ‘teacher leadership’ has emerged as a prominent element of reform strategy and policy rhetoric. Three bodies of data spanning 14 years show how the meanings of teacher leadership vary, paralleling shifts in policy goals and strategies. Over time, designated teacher leadership roles have become heavily weighted toward institutional agendas over which teachers have little direct control and over which teachers themselves are divided. Much formally defined teacher leadership accomplishes a division of labour without entailing much initiative on matters of purpose and practice. Yet in each of the reform periods—from progressive and relatively decentralised to conservative and strongly centralised—some instances of teacher leadership constitute genuine initiative in teaching, learning and schooling. Such cases present existence proofs that illuminate both possibilities and dilemmas. From them we have begun to learn how teacher leaders might mobilise resources for teacher learning and educational reform.     

Men in academic school psychology: A national survey

There is a paucity of research examining the experiences and perceptions of men employed as school psychology academicians. The purpose of this investigation was to ascertain male school psychology academicians' perceptions of their respective academic climates, levels of support, incidences of harassment, and levels of stress, and to compare these results with a previous survey conducted with women in similar positions. A total of 146 male school psychology academicians (41% response rate) completed the 48‐item survey entitled, “Men in School Psychology: Academia Questionnaire.'' The findings suggested that men were more likely than women to indicate that climate and opportunities within their department were equal, whereas women indicated that the climate and opportunities tend to favor men. When men indicated that inequalities exist, they reported believing that women were favored. Results are discussed in terms of implications for faculty in school psychology. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.