Differential Item Functioning Resulting From The Use of Different Solution Strategies

The present study investigates the degree to which item "bias" techniques can lead to interpretable results when groups are defined in terms of specified differences in the cognitive processes involved in students' problem-solving strategies. A large group of junior high school students who took a test on subtraction of fractions was divided into two subgroups judged by the rule-space model to be using different problem-solving strategies. It was confirmed by use of Mantel-Haenszel (MH) statistics that these subgroups showed different performances on items with different underlying cognitive tasks. We note that, in our case, we are far from faulting items that show differential item functioning (D1F) between two groups defined in terms of different solution strategies. Indeed, they are "desirable" items, as explained in the discussion section     

Working and Playing Together: Prediction of Preschool Social-Emotional Competence from Mother-Child Interaction

The impact of mother-child interaction on preschoolers' social-emotional competence was evaluated. Twenty-five girls and 23 boys (mean age = 44 mos) and their mothers were videotaped performing four play/teaching tasks. Preschool teachers completed the Baumrind Preschool Behavior Q-Sort and the Behar Problem Behavior Questionnaire. Mother-child interaction aggregates represented task orientation, positive emotion, and allowance of autonomy/reliance on mother. Results indicated that specific maternal interaction aggregates coherently predicted the children's Positive Social Behavior, Assertiveness, and Sadness in the preschool setting. Child aggregates were less effective predictors of teachers' ratings. Several gender differences in the prediction of social-emotional competence were found (e.g., maternal allowance of autonomy predicted girls' sadness, but boys' sadness was predicted by their own negative emotion). These findings' contributions to the parent-child literature are discussed.     

Mumford on aesthetic–moral interaction in sport

Stephen Mumford argues that aesthetic and moral values in sport are interdependent, focusing on cases where immorality taints beautiful performance. This interdependence thesis is insightful but, I argue, in need of refinement, as its normative implications are unclear and perhaps implausible (e.g. the Nazi aesthetics problem). I also challenge Mumford’s perspective on the infamous Dynamo Kiev death match. Whereas Mumford claims that the match’s morally oppressive circumstances detract from it so that ‘it was not something knowingly we should have admired aesthetically’, I argue that, on the contrary, and in light of what Mumford says about other cases, such circumstances actually enhance the game’s aesthetics such that it would be wrong not to appreciate it aesthetically.     

A grounded theory of positive youth development through sport based on results from a qualitative meta-study

The overall purpose of this study was to create a model of positive youth development (PYD) through sport grounded in the extant qualitative literature. More specifically, the first objective was to review and evaluate qualitative studies of PYD in sport. The second objective was to analyze and synthesize findings from these studies. Following record identification and screening, 63 articles were retained for analysis. Meta-method analysis revealed strengths of studies were the use of multiple data collection and validity techniques, which produced high-quality data. Weaknesses were limited use of ‘named’ methodologies and inadequate reporting of sampling procedures. Philosophical perspectives were rarely reported, and theory was used sparingly. Results of an inductive meta-data analysis produced three categories: PYD climate (adult relationships, peer relationships, and parental involvement), life skills program focus (life skill building activities and transfer activities), and PYD outcomes (in personal, social, and physical domains). A model that distinguishes between implicit and explicit processes to PYD is presented.     

Les probabilités à l'école élémentaire

Sans résumé     

Supervision and evaluation: The Wyoming perspective

The intent of this study was to assess the perceptions and actions of Wyoming principals concerning their role in supervising and evaluating teachers. A survey was sent to all 286 principals in the state of Wyoming, of which, 143 returned surveys, a response rate of 50%. Findings suggested that principals utilized supervisory behaviors more often than evaluative behaviors. Elementary principals perceived their evaluative practices as significantly more prevalent than secondary principals. Furthermore, principals indicated that their greatest frustrations in supervising teachers were time, the evaluation instrument, and teachers’ unwillingness to change. Additionally, findings suggested that Wyoming principals utilized classroom walkthroughs because they provided a snapshot of teaching and provided a medium for providing feedback. In regards to developmental supervision, principals indicated that novice teachers received much more supervision than veteran teachers. However, their reported use of differentiated supervision only applied to teacher autonomy concerning professional development goals. Principals reported that teachers had little input concerning the methods by which they were supervised. Finally, a majority of the Wyoming principals felt that improvement plans were effective at changing mediocre teaching behaviors, but 40% were speculative that such plans truly remediated poor teachers.