Exploring the future of lifelong learning: advocacy, research and footprinting

This reflective think-tank contribution begins by comparing advocacy and research as distinct modalities of professional and social action. In practice they frequently elide and merge into one another. While alliance and complementarity between the two modalities is constructive for shaping policy and practice, it poses risks when governments and state apparatus play their own advocates, co-opting research into the endeavour. Established classification and distribution policy logics are ill-attuned to transversal and holistic agendas such as lifelong learning; this leads to competition between interest groups defined by educational sector and level, and it occludes life-course perspectives on learning that have the capacity to resituate understandings of shared interests. Transversal and holistic agendas demand forms and styles of evidence that can encompass these qualities; indicators and benchmarks as currently employed in educational policymaking are under-developed with respect to lifelong learning. The successful example of eco-footprinting could suggest a way forward that is not only evidentially more appropriate, but could also achieve greater impact for the development of lifelong learning policy and practice.     

Predicting parents' satisfaction with the education of their child with Down's syndrome

This study investigated parents' satisfaction with the schooling of their children with Down's syndrome and its relationship to parent identity. Responses to a postal questionnaire from 131 parents of children with Down's syndrome aged from 4 to 19 years were recorded for analysis. Using identity process theory to provide a theoretical framework, it was predicted that parent satisfaction with education would be a function of the extent to which the identity principles described by this theory are threatened by perceived educational circumstances. Composite measures of identity, perceived school climate and parents' satisfaction with school were obtained, and correlations among these variables calculated. Regression analysis confirmed the prediction that parents' satisfaction is closely related to self-efficacy, perceived involvement with their children's education and perceived school climate.     

Coming to a Classroom Near You: Movie Reviews for Your Content-Area Lesson Plans

Despite a continuing record of interest over the years, few studies have documented the demographics of grade retention or the relationship between it and academic achievement across multiple grades and groups of students. In this research, we were interested in the characteristics and consequences of retaining students in elementary (K–5) and middle (6–8) schools. We documented rates of retention that were lower than those reported in the literature and different for gender, ethnic background, limited English proficiency, exceptional student classification, and grade. Our findings support the increasing interest in stopping the use of grade retention as a method of academic intervention and speak to the need to identify and use research-based education interventions to provide remedial instruction for struggling.     

Finding Our Paths

These English are the most interesting study in the world. Just when you'd like to hang them for their stupidity, you become aware of such noble stuff in them that you thank God that they were your ancestors… . My admiration for their racial qualities deepens while my impatience with their ways is heightened. I could write a book in worship of them and another book damning them—both true, both concrete, both definitely proving my thesis.     

Minor Illnesses,Temperament, and Toddler Social Functioning

Research Findings: Minor illnesses, such as upper respiratory infections, stomachaches, and fevers, have been associated with children's decreased activity and increased irritability. This multi-method investigation of 110 day care–attending children examined whether experience with recurrent, minor illnesses and negative emotionality worked together to predict young children's social functioning. Minor illness experience was assessed via weekly health screenings conducted by nurses. Toddlers' negative emotionality and social behavior were assessed using mothers' and fathers' reports. The two dimensions of negative emotionality and minor illness experience operated in different ways to predict children's functioning. Toddlers rated as more temperamentally angry displayed less social competence, especially when they also experienced high proportions of minor illness. Temperamentally fearful children exhibited more externalizing problems when they experienced a higher frequency of illness, whereas fearfulness was not associated with externalizing problems for children who were not frequently ill. Practice or Policy: Children's frequent experience with minor illnesses combined with negative emotionality appears to place toddlers at a heightened risk for exhibiting behavior problems. These findings have implications for child and family well-being as well as interactions with child care providers and peers within child care settings. Interventions could be developed to target “at risk” children.     

Results from a First-Year Evaluation of Academic Impacts of an After-School Program for At-Risk Students

This article presents the research findings of an evaluation of the academic impacts of 21st Century Learning Centers (CCLC) in Louisiana. Using quasi-experimental design, the article operationalizes academic achievement as core and subject test performance on nationally standardized pre- and posttests (Iowa Test of Basic Skills; ITBS). Based on previous research and evaluation requirements, the article (a) employs outcomes of interest to policymakers (standardized test scores); (b) uses program attendance as a key independent variable; (c) uses efficient methods to control for extraneous impact on the dependent variable; and (d) focuses the evaluation on a specific group of student—at-risk children in Louisiana. Findings indicate that the 21st CCLC program is having a positive academic impact on participants who attend the program for 30 days or more. Further, impacts are shared across specific grantee programs, specific subjects, and subgroupings of students. Finally, the study finds that intensity of attendance is positively related to academic impact.     

Providing Quality Early Care and Education to Young Children Who Experience Maltreatment: A Review of the Literature

The current paper highlights the few studies that examine the role of early care and education on the developmental and early academic outcomes of children who experience maltreatment. First, we argue that children who experience maltreatment are at significant risk for poor developmental outcomes as a result of the chronic exposure to stress that is typical of this population. Recent evidence emphasizing the effects of stress on brain development is discussed. Next, the role of quality early care and education (ECE) experiences for children receiving services from child protective agencies are explored, underscoring three particular studies that examine the early educational experiences of children who receive child protective services as a result of maltreatment or exposure to violence. Finally, we focus on current approaches to improve the outcomes of children who experience maltreatment, within the context of ECE, and the implications for future research. Overall, this review serves as a call for international research efforts to explore the role of ECE on the developmental and early educational outcomes of this vulnerable population of children.     

Examination of the Validity of the Social Support Survey Using Confirmatory Factor Analysis

Abstract

The Social Support Survey (SSS), validated by Richman, Rosenfeld, and Hardy (1993), is a multidimensional self-report measure of social support tested with student athletes. The SSS contains eight dimensions of support. For each dimension of support the same four questions are posed. The SSS could, therefore, be scored in two ways: (a) to derive a score for the support dimensions; (b) to derive a score for the questions posed across all eight support dimensions. Confirmatory factor analyses of the SSS on 416 university athletes revealed poor fits to models for both the eight support dimensions and the four questions across all eight dimensions. This problem was clarified by using a multitrait-multimethod model, which led to improved model fit but revealed that most of the SSS items were two-dimensional. Caution should, therefore, be exercised in using the SSS as a measure of multidimensional social support.     

Comparison of Three Methods of Estimating Energy Expenditure: Caltrac,Heart Rate,and Video Analysis

Abstract

This study examined the accuracy of a new device (Caltrac) in estimating energy expenditure via acceleration measurements. Energy expenditure of 20 high school students during basketball class activity (average length = 37 min) was estimated using the Caltrac, heart rate recording, and video analysis. Heart rate recording and video analysis estimates of energy expenditure were determined from heart rate, caloric expenditure curves, and an activity rating scale, respectively. The following estimates of caloric expenditure (M ± SD) were found: heart rate recording = 196 ±73 > Caltrac = 163 ±49 > film analysis = 123 ± 30 kcal (p < .05). Laboratory simulations of the basketball activity revealed that the Caltrac energy expenditure was not significantly different from the actual energy expenditure (p > .05). The heart rate recording and video analysis estimates of energy expenditure were significantly (p < .05) higher and lower, respectively, than the actual energy expenditure. The Caltrac is a lightweight, low-cost device that provides a relatively accurate estimate of energy expenditure in free-ranging activities, such as basketball.     

Guide for Contributors to Research Quarterly for Exercise and Sport

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to determine differences in cognition between acute bouts of resistance exercise, aerobic exercise, and a nonexercise control in an untrained youth sample. Method: Ninety-four participants performed 30 min of aerobic exercise, resistance exercise, or nonexercise separated by 7 days each in a randomized crossover design. After each exercise intervention, participants were assessed using 2 cognitive tests. The Dot, Word, and Color elements of the Stroop Test (Victoria version) and Parts A and B of the Trail-Making Test were used to measure cognition. Results: Acute resistance and aerobic exercise resulted in similar improvements over nonexercise in all forms of the Stroop Test. Acute aerobic exercise led to improved performance over nonexercise and resistance exercise in Part B of the Trail-Making Test. Neither exercise intervention showed significant changes in time to complete Part A of the Trail-Making Test. Boys outperformed girls on the Stroop Dot and Color Test following acute aerobic exercise, in the Stroop Dot, Word, and Color Test following acute resistance exercise, and in the Stroop Color Test and Trail-Making Test Part B following nonexercise. Conclusions: Both acute resistance and aerobic exercise increased measures of cognition over a nonexercise control in untrained high school youth. These findings suggest the merits of acute resistance exercise as an alternative or complement to aerobic activity for educators aiming to increase youth physical activity and cognitive function concurrently.