The contribution of extracurricular coaching on high school teachers’ job satisfaction

The purpose of the present study was to explore the contribution of extracurricular coaching on high school teachers’ job satisfaction. Specifically, the study looked at how perceptions of the coaching environment (athlete relationships, colleague relationships and opportunities through coaching) influenced teachers’ perceptions of stressors (athlete-related and workload-related) and coaching efficacy, and how this in-turn influenced teachers’ job satisfaction. The sample examined 2949 teachers from across Canada who volunteered as high school sport coaches, above and beyond their regular teaching load. The results supported that the data fit the model well (SBχ²₍₂₆₄₎ = 973.36, p < .001, SRMR = .08, CFI = .91, TLI = .90, RMSEA = .055 CI₉₅ [.052, .059]) and that teachers who reported a positive coaching environment had increased coaching efficacy and decreased perceptions of athlete-related and workload-related stressors. Increased coaching efficacy predicted higher job satisfaction, while increased perceptions of stressors predicted lower job satisfaction.     

Randomized Trial of Web-Based Stress Management Interventions for Community College Students

Community college students may experience more severe psychological concerns than traditional university students and have fewer institutional mental health resources available. This replication study examined the efficacy of three versions of a brief, structured web-based stress management program with community college students. The program focuses on improving perceptions of control over stressors, based on research suggesting that focusing on what you can control in the present (i.e., present control) is associated with less distress and better adjustment. Participants (N = 213 community college students) were randomly assigned to one of three conditions: present control intervention (PCI), PCI with enhanced stress logs (E-PCI) or PCI with mindfulness training (PCI + MF). They completed web-based, self-report measures at pre-intervention, post-intervention, and 3-week follow-up. Participants in all three intervention conditions demonstrated reductions in perceived stress and distress symptoms from pre-intervention to post-intervention and 3-week follow-up. In the PC+ MF group, the mean-within group effect size was d = ?0.46, which was slightly larger than the PCI group (d = ?0.36) and E-PCI group (d = ?0.41). This study replicated that present control interventions are effective in a community college sample. Community college students may benefit from web-based interventions designed to increase present control.     

Increasing the Involvement of People with an Intellectual Disability in Choice Making Situations: A Practical Approach

This paper describes a participant observation approach to exploring choice making by people with an intellectual disability in three different home settings‐‐a private family home, a community group home and an independent living situation. It identifies some of the factors which affect choice making, including experience at making choices, routines, the role of support people, and communication. The paper illustrates these factors with examples from the different settings. Finally, it provides practical suggestions for service providers to increase the involvement of people with an intellectual disability in choice making situations.     

Effective Professional Development in Science and Mathematics Education: Teachers' and Facilitators' Views

This study compares the views of teachers and professional development facilitators about effective professional development (PD). We analyzed interviews with 72 teacher participants and 23 PD facilitators involved in nine science and mathematics PD projects. The teachers' themes for characterizing effective PD included classroom application, teacher as learner, and teacher networking. Similarly, the PD facilitators discussed effective PD as having classroom application and experiences for teachers as learners. In addition, PD facilitators shared the need to develop collegial relationships with teachers and improve teacher knowledge. These views correspond to some of the standards and recommendations described in policy and research documents on effective PD. Criteria of effective PD in these documents that the participants did not mention included: (1) challenging teachers' content and pedagogical content knowledge with transformative learning experiences, (2) encouraging teacher leadership for sustained support, and (3) focusing on student learning by instructing teachers on how to use student data to inform their teaching practice. Our findings have implications for designing PD that reflects the criteria of standards-based reform.     

Collaborative action research for middle grades improvement

Technology’s rapid evolution applies constant pressure to educational organizations, suggesting a need to continually re-envision schools for the digital age. Yet educators often struggle to understand the growing chasm between students’ out-of-school and in-school technology lives. This gap is particularly noticeable during the middle grades years, when home technology use increases dramatically. The purpose of this research was to examine the experiences of teachers and students engaged in collaborative action research for middle school improvement in technology-rich settings. We begin by outlining our theoretical framework, emphasizing Fletcher’s Ladder of Student Involvement. We then describe our case-study design and methods. Findings are organized by action research components and a discussion of key themes follows. Finally, we consider the implications of this study for action research as a means of student involvement and teacher learning.     

Mass Communications

“Popular Culture in America” edited by David Manning White with help from Ray Browne, Marshall Fishwick, and Russel B. Nye

Marshall Fishwick, is author of his latest, a collection of his own essays entitled Parameters of Popular Culture (Bowling Green, Ohio: Bowling Green University Popular Press, 1974—cost not known, but available in cloth and paper)

J. Meredith Neil to assemble Popular Architecture (Bowling Green, Ohio: Bowling Green Popular Press, n.d., but , 1974—price not given, paper)

James Philip Danky's UndergroundS; A Union List of Alternative Periodicals in Libraries of the United States and Canada (Madison: State Historical Society of'Wisconsin, 1974—$12.95, paper)

George D. Brightbill and Wayne C. Maxon's Citation Manual for United States Government Publications (Philadelphia: Temple University's Center for the Study of Federalism, 1974—75¢, paper)     

Recent Changes in the Requirement and Content of Required Health and Physical Education for Men in Land Grant Colleges and Universities

Abstract

In this study, tabulations were made of the number and types of specialized recreation education courses offered by institutions in the- State of California. Thirty-six institutions are offering specialized recreation courses; 17 provide a major in recreation, eight, a minor, and 13 offer specialized courses in recreation but have no major or minor field of study. A detailed chart contains the names and frequency range of the courses. Courses offered by California institutions were compared with and were found to agree with certain characteristics described from data assembled in a nation-wide study of 30 institutions.     

School Choice and Stratification in a Regional Context: Examining the Role of Inter-District Choice

Despite the growing popularity of interdistrict choice plans over the past decade, the policy assumptions underlying their adoption have been subjected to very little empirical research. This study situates school choice within one metropolitan region, Denver, and examines the ways in which choice patterns relate to existing patterns of stratification between school districts. This regional focus offers insight into the patterns of interdistrict choice and the influence these patterns have on equity within a metropolitan region. Findings from this study indicate that relatively higher income students were more likely to take advantage of interdistrict choice, and that choice was more often used by students to exit from a less advantaged context (as measured by socioeconomic status) to a relatively more advantaged one. The article concludes with recommendations for policymakers in designing more equity-minded choice policies.     

The cultural gap hypothesis as an explanation for the achievement patterns of Mexican-American students

This study investigated the hypothesis that the academic achievement of Mexican-American students could be explained in part by a conflict in the values of Mexican-American and Anglo-American cultures. Mexican-American and Anglo-American students, their parents, and teachers reported their adherence to traditional school values and their view of the importance of field independent behaviors to success in school. Differences in perceptions and values were observed between cultures and between high-achieving and low-achieving students. The greatest attitudinal differences were observed when high-achieving students were compared with parents and teachers. High-achieving students were less traditional in their attitudes toward school and more field independent than were parents, teachers, and low-achieving students.     

Cultural Beliefs about Autism in Indonesia

Cultural beliefs about parenting have an important influence on parenting behaviours, including considerations about appropriate ways to parent children with autism. Although Indonesia has one of the largest and most ethnically diverse populations in the world, little is known about cultural beliefs regarding children with autism within Indonesian cultures. The goal of the present study was to investigate how Indonesian mothers from a range of backgrounds and without a child with autism understood autism and the most appropriate ways to parent such a child. The study was a qualitative investigation using semi-structured interviews with nine Indonesian mothers. Five aspects were investigated: understanding about autism, beliefs about causes of autism, possible reactions to having a child with autism, perceptions of parenting a child with autism, and perceptions of parent-child relationships. The interviews revealed five related themes about autism, including traditional cultural beliefs about appropriate behaviour during pregnancy, karma, and God’s plan, that are not usually reported in the literature from western countries.