Product differentiation and film-programming choice: do first-run movie theatres show the same films?

We present an empirical analysis of product differentiation using a new panel data set on film-programming choice in a major U.S. metropolitan motion-pictures exhibition market. Using these data, we compute two measures of product similarity, which allow us to investigate the determinants of strategic product differentiation in a multi-characteristics space. Our evidence is consistent with the idea that the degree of product differentiation between theatre pairs reflects a balance between strategic concerns and contractual constraints. Similarity in one dimension is offset by differentiation in others. Our results further suggest that the degree of product differentiation is negatively related to market size. Finally, we find that ownership matters: theatres under common ownership make more similar programming choices than theatres with different owners.     

Student Teachers in Primary Schools: the views of mentors and headteachers

Four year initial teacher education courses have recently undergone radical reform, in particular in relation to the time that students spend in schools. Through the introduction of mentorship programmes, teachers have become very much more involved in training the students whilst they are in school. How do teachers view the changes that have been introduced? Do they agree with the principles and models that guided the developments? Headteachers and class teachers who acted as mentors for students from the University of Reading have supplied some answers. They are very committed to the model of student learning upon which the mentorship programme is built, the belief that schools and the university must work in partnership to implement and further develop the mentorship programme and the view that schools need to adopt a whole school approach to their involvement in initial teacher education. These findings indicate that the teachers agree with the underlying principles that guided the development of the mentorship programme in which they are involved and they are supportive of the resulting changes to school experience.     

Making a Difference for the Under Fives? The early implementation of Te Whaariki,the New Zealand National Early Childhood Curriculum

The New Zealand Ministry of Education is producing the final draft of Te Whaariki the national early childhood curriculum (Ministry of Education 1993). Once formalised all early childhood services will be required to demonstrate that their programmes are operating according to the Principles, Aims and Goals outlined in Te Whaariki (a Maori name meaning a mat for all to stand on). Three years ago a paper at the first Warwick International Early Years Conference outlined the rationale, framework and processes involved in the development ofTe Whaariki (Carr & May 1993c). We had been contracted by the Ministry of Education to coordinate the development of a national early childhood curriculum that firstly, would embrace a diverse range of early childhood services and cultural perspectives, secondly, would articulate a philosophy of quality early childhood practice, and thirdly would make connections with the new national curriculum for schools. Te Whaariki was released to early childhood centres on a trial basis in late 1993. Since that time there has been an official process of trialing and evaluation which has indicated a very high level of support within the early childhood community for the document. In 1994 the Government contracted a number of professional development projects to support early childhood practitioners with the document. Training programmes began reviewing the structure and rationale of the courses they provide. Margaret Carr is now undertaking a research project looking at some possibilities for the assessment for young children that relate to the Principles, Aims and Goals outlined in Te Whaariki. There are, however, many issues for centres regarding the implementation of Te Whaariki. For example, current regulatory requirements and funding levels make it difficult for centres to meet the high expectations of quality outlined in Te Whaariki, although the 1995 budget pronouncements promised some small funding increase.

This paper provides an overview of the implementation of Te Whaariki. We are mindful that other countries, have been undertaking similar kinds of development. While we see Te Whaariki as a document that is uniquely New Zealand, we have also sought, throughout the process of development and implementation, to encourage international critique and appraisal ofTe Whaariki as part of on going debates regarding the nature of early childhood curriculum in the 1990s. This paper was first presented at the second Early Years Conference at Warwick in 1996.     

Character Motivations in the Representation of Mental Health Professionals in Popular Film

A narrative approach to studying media that focuses on character motivations represented in film is presented. A content analysis identified the motivations of 58 mental health professional characters represented in popular films (1990–1999). These characters were most commonly motivated by money, power, or a concern for others. Characters motivated by love/lust or self-healing were less common. Young female characters were more strongly motivated by love than other characters. Those characters motivated by a concern for others also tended to be motivated by a need for self-healing but not by a need for power. The distortions and insights of cinematic depictions of mental health professionals' motivations are considered. The implications of a narrative approach for future audience response media research are also discussed.     

Teaching Multiplication with Regrouping to Students with Learning Disabilities

The Common Core Standards require demonstration of conceptual knowledge of numbers, operations, and relations between mathematical concepts. Supplemental instruction should explicitly guide students with specific learning disabilities (SLD) in these skills. In this article, we illustrate implementation of the concrete‐representational‐abstract (CRA) sequence and the Strategic Instruction Model (SIM) for teaching multiplication with regrouping to students with SLD. CRA combined with SIM has been shown to be effective in teaching computation for students with SLD, specifically for developing conceptual understanding. Four elementary students with SLD participated in this study. The researchers used a multiple‐probe design to show a functional relation. Students demonstrated increases in computational fluency; skills were maintained and generalized.