Do we need norms of fitness for children with autistic spectrum condition?

The increasingly sedentary habits of children, and rising obesity levels, are prompting concern for children's future health. Children with autistic spectrum condition (ASC) show a clear trend in this regard. Within school, an understanding of how an individual's fitness compares to age norms is important in order to design appropriate exercise programmes. This study, by Maurice Place, Kathleen Dickinson and Joanna Reynolds, all based at Northumbria University, assessed 100 children with ASC and learning difficulty, and found a wide variation in fitness levels as measured by the Eurofit tests. In addition the measure of cardio‐pulmonary fitness (VO_{2 max}) was generally poor. In boys, body mass index (BMI) showed only a modest correlation with this measure of cardio‐pulmonary fitness, with the results for the girls not being significant. Using a variant of the established BMI calculation did not improve the correlation. To our knowledge this article offers the first set of published Eurofit test results for children with ASC and highlights the generally poor level of cardio‐pulmonary fitness in this group of children.     

Randomized impact evaluation of education interventions: experiences and lessons from a reading to learn intervention in East Africa

This paper presents the experiences and lessons learnt during the design and implementation of the randomized impact evaluation (IE) of a reading to learn (RtL) intervention in early primary grades. The study was to assess the impact of RtL on literacy and numeracy among pupils in low-performing districts in East Africa. The intervention was designed in a way that in each country one district implemented an intervention package that included teacher training, and teaching and learning materials; while the other district implemented this same package with an additional parental involvement component. Baseline data were collected in mid-2009 in Grades 1 and 2, and in 2010 for the incoming Grade 1. The endline data were collected in mid-2011. A total of 119 treatments and 110 control schools participated in the study. The randomized design provided an opportunity to attribute causality and also qualitatively establish pathways through which the intervention impacted on learning. The paper provides lessons learnt and demonstrates how the challenges faced during the evaluation were addressed. Additionally, the paper shows how IE was utilized to provide robust evidence of what works thus enabling policy-makers to make decisions on sustainability and scale-up of education interventions.     

CLASSROOM CLIMATE IN AN ORTHODOX DAY SCHOOL: The Contribution of Emotional Intelligence,Demographics, and Classroom Context

I had completed a long list of wonderful ideas for the Synagogue School of the 21st Century, and was about to sit down and write my paper, when my eye glanced upon the Spring-Summer 1990 issue of Jewish Education. When I noticed the articles of Alvin Schiff and Rela Geffen Monson, I read through them before beginning to write: Lo and behold, everything I had written down and was already there — in Jewish Education under the title, “Toward the Year 2000.”     

2. Journalism and Political Communication

Telecommunications Policy, High Definition Television, And U.S.Compeiitiveness by Robert B. Cohen and Kenneth Donow (Economic Policy Institute, 1730 Rhode Island Ave NW, Suite 812, Washington, DC 20036~$8.00, paper, ISBN 0-944826-10-5)

The New Electronic Media: Innovations in Video Technologies by Hoyt R. Hilsman (Stoneham, MA: Focal Press, 1989~$14.95, paper, ISBN 0-240-51731-8)

Cable TV Advertising: In Search of the Right Formula edited by Rajeev Batra and Rashi Glazer (Westport, CT: Quorum Books/Greenwood, 1989-S39.95, ISBN 0-89930-406-0)

Broadcast Technology Report: A Survey of Station Technology Applications by Maurice Fitzmaurice, 1989, $30.00 but $15.00 to NAB/BEA members, paper, ISBN 0-89324-060-5)

The Future in Home Video for Niche Programming by DavidBollier (33 pp.)

Adapting New Electronic Technologies to Serve the Frail Elderly Living at Home by Lauren Katzowitz (17 pp.)

1989 Review Conference on New Electronic Technologies for The Elderly edited by David Bollier (33 pp.)

Electronic-Print Competition: Determinants of the Potential for Major Change by Martin L. Ernst (Program on Information Resources Policy, 200 Aiken, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138~price not given, paper, no ISBN given)     

Modalities of Infant–Mother Interaction in Japanese,Japanese American Immigrant,and European American Dyads

Cultural variation in relations and moment‐to‐moment contingencies of infant–mother person‐oriented and object‐oriented interactions were compared in 118 Japanese, Japanese American immigrant, and European American dyads with 5.5‐month‐olds. Infant and mother person‐oriented behaviors were related in all cultural groups, but infant and mother object‐oriented behaviors were related only among European Americans. Infant and mother behaviors within each modality were mutually contingent in all groups. Culture moderated lead–lag relations: Japanese infants were more likely than their mothers to respond in object‐oriented interactions; European American mothers were more likely than their infants to respond in person‐oriented interactions. Japanese American dyads behaved like European American dyads. Interactions, infant effects, and parent socialization findings are set in cultural and accultural models of infant–mother transactions.