A rapid evidence‐based service by librarians provided information to answer primary care clinical questions

Background: A librarian consultation service was offered to 88 primary care clinicians during office hours. This included a streamlined evidence‐based process to answer questions in fewer than 20 min. This included a contact centre accessed through a Web‐based platform and using hand‐held devices and computers with Web access. Librarians were given technical training in evidence‐based medicine, including how to summarise evidence. Objectives: To describe the process and lessons learned from developing and operating a rapid response librarian consultation service for primary care clinicians. Methods: Evaluation included librarian interviews and a clinician exit satisfaction survey. Results: Clinicians were positive about its impact on their clinical practice and decision making. The project revealed some important ‘lessons learned’ in the clinical use of hand‐held devices, knowledge translation and training for clinicians and librarians. Conclusions: The Just‐in‐Time Librarian Consultation Service showed that it was possible to provide evidence‐based answers to clinical questions in 15 min or less. The project overcame a number of barriers using innovative solutions. There are many opportunities to build on this experience for future joint projects of librarians and healthcare providers.     

May I be excused? Why teachers leave the profession

Considerable research has been conducted into teacher retention. Less is known of ex-teachers' circumstances: salary, workload, working conditions, “job prestige”. For this study, telephone interviews were used to ask 21 ex-teachers about their journey from teaching, and views on their current working conditions by comparison. This paper focuses on the events surrounding these people's decisions to leave the profession; these ex-teachers are in a privileged position to comment on teaching by comparison with their subsequent work. Few regret their decision to leave the profession. The findings have implications for teacher recruitment, education, provision of working conditions, and for the promotion of teaching.     

Teachers' judgments of students' early literacy skills measured by the Early Literacy Skills Assessment: Comparisons of teachers with and without assessment administration experience

Teacher judgments about students' academic abilities are important for several reasons, including their day‐to‐day instructional decision making. Not surprisingly, previous studies have investigated the accuracy of teachers' judgments about their students' reading abilities. Previous research, however, has not investigated teachers' judgments about students' early literacy skills, nor has previous research systematically examined how teachers' training and use of an objective assessment instrument impact their judgments of students' performance on that instrument. This exploratory study offers the first investigation of teachers' judgment accuracy of pre‐kindergarten students' early literacy skills, and compares the judgment accuracy of teachers with and without opportunities to administer the Early Literacy Skills Assessment (ELSA). Findings suggest that teachers with opportunities to administer the ELSA had a significantly higher percentage of accurate judgments across half of the ELSA subtests, but their judgment accuracy was still no better than 50%–60% on all but one ELSA subtest. Implications for school psychologist practitioners and researchers are presented. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Teaching responsibility through sport education: prospects of a coalition

The purpose of this study was to provide a database analysis of a combined sport model and from this to develop a theory from practice. In particular, the original concern was to examine the extent to which the teaching of personal and social responsibility (TPSR) could form a coalition with the Sport Education model. Forty-five 6th-grade boys, who had a previous history of struggling with the fair play requirements of Sport Education, participated in a 26-lesson season of Xball, an invasion game designed by those students. As a general summary, it was found that some of the features of TPSR strengthened the foundation of Sport Education, but due to the need to introduce new tasks and problems for students, a hybrid model (Empowering Sport) was developed. This hybrid, with a predominately ecological integration perspective, presents a curriculum model that allows for achievement within a powerful triangle of goals--sport skill competence, social responsibility, and personal empowerment.     

The Gendered Nature of Assessment Procedures in Scientific Research Funding: The Dutch Case

This article discusses the results of a study on gender bias in assessment procedures in the two major institutions for scientific grants in The Netherlands: the Dutch Organization for Scientific Research (NOW) and the Royal Dutch Academy for the Sciences (KNAW). The study concentrated on a qualitative sample of one of the prestigious grants. A total of 128 files were analyzed on the basis of a correlation of characteristics of the applicant (sex, age, and scientific productivity), assessments by the external advisors (peer review), and the decision of NOW. The analysis indicated that women applicants were evaluated differently from male applicants. However, women were not discriminated against in all disciplines. On the contrary, in some disciplines they received a bonus. One of the major conclusions is that gender matters, but in different ways within the different disciplines.     

Needs Assessment for INSET for Unqualified Primary Teachers in Namibia: An effective model

The literature endorses the critical role of needs assessment for effective INSET (In-service Education and Training). This view is not however, adequately supported by empirical research. There is also a dearth of literature on the process of needs assessment. The few studies that explore the process focus on the use of questionnaire and interview methods. The latter method was found to be inappropriate for the unqualified primary teachers participating in an INSET programme in Namibia (1995-97). This paper explores the process of needs assessment within this programme and presents an effective model of needs assessment which guided it. The model suggests the use of a multi-pronged qualitative approach to assessing needs.     

Adverse Consequences of School Mobility for Children in Foster Care: A Prospective Longitudinal Study

Few prospective studies have examined school mobility in children in foster care. This study described the school moves of 86 such children and 55 community comparison children (primarily Caucasian), living in a medium‐sized metropolitan area in the Pacific Northwest who were approximately 3 to 6 years old at the study start. Additionally, the effects of moves from kindergarten through Grade 2 on academic and socioemotional competence in Grades 3 through 5 were examined. A greater number of early school moves was associated with poorer later socoemotional competence and partially mediated the effects of maltreatment and out‐of‐home placement on socioemotional competence. This was the case only for children with poorer early learning skills in kindergarten. Implications for preventive intervention are discussed.     

The Impact of Gender,Accommodations, and Disability on the Academic Performance of Canadian University Students with LD and/or ADHD

Academic accommodations for students experiencing disabilities are increasingly available at postsecondary institutions. More studies of the efficacy of accommodations for student success are warranted, however. Given the increased gender gap in university participation, more focus on the unique impact of gender is also needed. Using a sample of students registered with Access and Inclusion Services with learning disabilities (LD), attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and combined LD/ADHD at a Canadian undergraduate university (N = 661), we explored the impact of gender on academic performance and accommodation usage. Next, we examined how gender intersected with the impact of academic accommodations on academic performance. Women, on average, demonstrated better academic performance. Academic strategies and assistive technologies were not associated with higher academic performance. However, testing accommodations (extended time and environmental accommodations) were positively associated with academic performance for men with LD or ADHD, but not for the combined group LD/ADHD. For the former two, the more tests accommodated, the higher the academic performance. Furthermore, this gender association was most prominent for students experiencing ADHD. Interpretations and policy recommendations related to these findings are presented.