The paradox of administrative control in fostering teacher professional development

In this case study, we use a consensus model as a framework for examining the professional development component of a standards-based reform effort initiated by a school district in the United States. We describe the district's actions, analyze the extent of adherence to the model, and identify reasons for what occurred. Although administrators intended to adopt key design principles of effective professional development, specific implementation strategies undermined and contradicted these principles. Their response to increasing bureaucratic controls at the state and national levels translated into increased regulation and control at the district and school levels, which paradoxically restricted the very attributes they sought to enhance.     

Research mentor: a tool to aid in the training of scientific investigators

We describe an intelligent mentor for teaching the ability to think scientifically. The student is given an arbitrary starting place in the matrix of knowledge surrounding an area of biomedical research. He/she then proposes hypotheses and supporting experiments which are checked against the knowledge base for agreement, consistency or contradiction. Agreement or consistency results in the report of successful experiments, thus advancing the student's "state-of-the-art." Contradiction results in failure of the experiment to support the hypothesis. In either case, a new hypothesis can then be proposed and tested, each step being potentially contingent on results of the last.
The knowledge base upon which the system operates is a frame-based implementation of the Biomatrix, augmented with pointers to literature citations. Each object (hypotheses, experiments, cells, animals, etc.) is described in terms of its properties and its relations to other objects. Thus, the matrix is represented as a semantic network. Other objects create the relations among the hypotheses, subhypotheses, experiments and other parts of the knowledge base.
This system provides experiential learning at a rate determined by the student, while saving costly resources.     

Adults'' Responses to Infants Varying in Appearance of Age and Attractiveness

The relations among age appearance, facial attractiveness, and adult expectations of the developmental maturity of infants were examined in 3 studies. In Study 1, a relation was demonstrated between ratings of the attractiveness (77 judges) and age appearance (53 judges) of 6-month-olds: less attractive infants were judged to be older than their attractive age-mates. In Study 2, 75 parents judged the specific developmental abilities of 6-month-old infants and estimated the age of the babies. Parents overestimated both the age and the developmental abilities of the unattractive infants. Furthermore, ability estimates for the unattractive infants were significantly higher than judgments of the typical abilities of 6-month-olds made by another group of 35 parents. Finally, the results of Study 2 were replicated in Study 3 conducted with 348 mothers. It was also demonstrated in Study 3 that, although mothers expected unattractive infants to be capable of more specific developmental skills, they nevertheless rated the general competence of the unattractive infants to be lower than that of attractive infants. Specious contradictions in the attractiveness and age appearance literatures are resolved by these results: age appearance seems to function as an informational cue with respect to specific age-appropriate abilities, whereas attractiveness elicits evaluative attributions of general competence. Both types of information conveyed in faces may have important implications for adult evaluations of infants and older children.     

Current Developments in Scotland in Inservice Courses for Teachers of Pupils with Special Educational Needs

Principles affecting inservice training of teachers are influenced by national technological and demographic developments as well as the economic and political climate. Effects of these different factors are discussed briefly and illustrated by the experience of one College's inservice course for teachers of pupils with special educational needs.     

Promoting, protecting, and supporting normal birth

In this professional paper, published by Lamaze International and reprinted here with permission, Lamaze International identifies six care practices-adapted from the work of the World Health Organization-that promote, protect, and support normal birth. The six care practices are: labor begins on its own; freedom of movement throughout labor; continuous labor support; no routine interventions; non-supine (e.g., upright or side-lying) positions for birth; and no separation of mother and baby with unlimited opportunity for breastfeeding. Evidence to support each care practice is presented. Health-care providers and places of birth are encouraged to adopt these care practices as standards of care. Additionally, women are encouraged to choose health-care providers and places of birth whose care practices promote, protect, and support normal birth.     

Treating abused children: Some clinical and research aspects of work carried out by the national advisory centre of the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children in the United Kingdom

A study of the initial phase of intensive work with families indicated that whilst outreach techniques had dramatically reduced physical injury there was long-term distortion in the child's relationship with mother (parent) less amenable to change. The most recent phase of work has concentrated on direct treatment for the abused child, using a multidisciplinary team that includes a play specialist and child psychotherapist in addition to the social workers involved. Out of a total number of 66 children seen between April 1977 and December 1979 it was alarming to find that almost all were emotionally disturbed; even if the abuse did not reoccur they remained with considerable problems. The study highlights the degree of emotional disturbance suffered by these abused children and how they can be helped by focusing on their particular treatment needs. It is important to assess all children in the family situation and not to miss the quiet, depressed, withdrawn child who might not have been the subject of the initial referral. In some instances the needs of the child may outweigh those of the family and the focus of treatment must be on the child.