The Validity of National Testing at Age 11: the teacher's view

National testing at age 11 in mathematics, science and English has been introduced into all primary schools in England from 1995, following voluntary trials in 1994. Data gathered in 32 representative schools as part of the National Assessment in Primary Schools (NAPS) Project is used to report teachers’ views of the validity of the results of these tests, using theoretical notions proposed by Messick in the Interplay of Evidence and Consequences in the Validation of Performance Assessments (1992). Teachers’ major concerns about validity centred around the unfairness of the tests to specific types of pupils, and the poor match with classroom practice. These factors were believed to account for the significant discrepancies between teacher‐assessed levels and test results. While a minority of teachers remained opposed in principle to national tests, most teachers accepted them as fulfilling a moderation role, believing that the results should be combined with teacher assessments rather than being separately reported.     

The Concerns of Mainstream Teachers: Coping with inclusivity in an Australian context

Throughout the past two decades there has been a move away from educating children with disabilities in segregated schools to adopting a more inclusive approach within mainstream schools in all jurisdictions in Australia. This research identifies the concerns of 228 regular class teachers in Western Australia who have all been involved with the inclusion of a child with an intellectual disability in their classrooms. Seven categories of concerns are investigated together with the use and effectiveness of a range of coping strategies. Demographic differences in age, year level being taught, qualifications, teaching experience and previous involvement with inclusion were found regarding concerns about inclusion. The discussion focuses on the relevance of professional development and the need to ensure that it targets the specific concerns of teachers, focusing on the coping strategies recognised as being most useful in order to provide optimal conditions for success.     

The geography of music preferences

Considerable attention has been paid to America’s political and economic divides. These divides revolve around class and location, with more affluent, more educated and denser places leaning more open-minded and liberal and less affluent, less educated and less dense places leaning more conservative. We contend that such divides are also reflected and reinforced by preferences, attitudes and predispositions for culture. More specifically we argue that Americans’ preferences for music will reflect dimensions of these political and economic divides. To test this proposition, our research examines the geographic variation of five key categories of music preferences across 95 of the largest US metropolitan areas. We use factor analysis to identify and map geographic variation of musical preferences, and we use both bivariate correlation analyses and regression analysis to examine the associations between metro-level musical preferences and key economic, demographic, political, and psychological variables. We find that musical preferences generally reflect and reinforce America’s broader economic and political divides.     

Misremembering Past Affect Predicts Adolescents’ Future Affective Experience During Exercise

Purpose: Increasing physical activity among adolescents is a public health priority. Because people are motivated to engage in activities that make them feel good, this study examined predictors of adolescents’ feelings during exercise. Method: During the 1st semester of the school year, we assessed 6th-grade students’ (N = 136) cognitive appraisals of the importance of exercise. Participants also reported their affect during a cardiovascular fitness test and recalled their affect during the fitness test later that semester. During the 2nd semester, the same participants rated their affect during a moderate-intensity exercise task. Results: Affect reported during the moderate-intensity exercise task was predicted by cognitive appraisals of the importance of exercise and by misremembering affect during the fitness test as more positive than it actually was. This memory bias mediated the association between appraising exercise as important and experiencing a positive change in affect during the moderate-intensity exercise task. Conclusion: These findings highlight the roles of both cognitive appraisals and memory as factors that may influence affect during exercise. Future work should explore whether affect during exercise can be modified by targeting appraisals and memories related to exercise experiences.     

Relationships between self-concept and directly observed behaviors in kindergarten children

Twenty kindergarten children who were nominated by teachers as not being socially and academically competent (low-rated) and 36 kindergarten children who were nominated by teachers as competent (high-rated) participated in this study. Self-concept and academic achievement data were gathered on each subject. In addition, all children were observed in class, with particular attention to compliance/non-compliance with adult requests, on-task/off-task behavior, and positive/negative social behaviors with peers. The results indicate that: (a) The factor structure of the self-concept instrument (Primary Self-concept Inventory) was replicated in both groups of children. (b) There were no significant differences in self-concept scores among high- vs. low-rated children. (c) There were profound differences in academic and social behaviors that were found to covary with positive self-evaluations within the two study groups. In general, high-rated children who felt best about themselves were higher achievers and more compliant than were their study group cohorts. Low-rated children who felt best about themselves were, on the contrary, more off-task, more negative in their peer contacts, and inferior academically to their study group cohorts.     

Exploring Pandora's Box; The Impact of Diversity and Conflict on Work Group Performance

ABSTRACT : This paper describes a model that explores the critical roles of three group composition factors (social category diversity, value diversity, and informational diversity) and two moderating variables (task type and task interdependence) on work group performance and morale. The three types of diversity are proposed to exhibit both main effects and interaction effects (interacting both with each other and with task type and task interdependence) on work group performance and morale. Relationship and task conflict are proposed to mediate many of these effects. Empirical evidence for these relationships and their implications for those wishing to manage a diverse workforce are discussed.     

havingproblems@cm.com: new ways to miss the point

The desire to establish international links between two departments of adult education and to experiment with new technologies led us to establish a listserv—a computer based community in cyberspace. This article describes the experience and attempts to articulate some of the problems that emerged. The main problem was the failure in developing a sense of community among the participants. This failure had its origins in some of the assumptions about groups in cyberspace and their similarity to groups in face to face settings.     

Students' Reactions to the Introduction of Videoconferencing for Classroom Instruction

This study examined how students who had no prior experience with videoconferencing would react to the use of videoconferencing as an instructional medium. Students enrolled in seven different courses completed a questionnaire at the beginning of the semester and again at the end of the semester. Students at the origination and remote sites did not differ in their reactions toward videoconferencing but there was a significant difference for gender. Women reacted less favorably to videoconferencing. Compared to the beginning of the semester, students reported significantly less positive attitudes toward taking a course through videoconferencing at the end of the semester. There were no significant differences in students' attitudes toward videoconferencing across courses at the beginning of the semester but there were significant differences across the courses at the end of the semester. The results suggest the need for better preparation for both students and instructors.