Concurrent and predictive validity of the WISC-R,McCarthy Scales,Woodcock-Johnson,and academic achievement

Twenty-six normal first-grade children (M = 7.0 years) were administered the WISC-R, the McCarthy Scales, and the Woodcock-Johnson Scales of Cognitive Ability. Two years later, their levels of academic achievement were determined by way of the WRAT and global teacher ratings of classroom performance. Pearson intercorrelations among the summary indices of the three intellectual measures were significant and uniformly high (rang. 77-.95). Correlations between first-grade ability scores and third-grade achievement measures also were significant (range .64-.90), suggesting strong predictive validity for each of the cognitive instruments. Though not significantly so, the correlations between the Woodcock-Johnson and achievement tended to be the highest. The results indicate that all three intellectual measures are appropriate for predicting later academic achievement in young school-aged children.     

The relationship between behavioural integrity,competence, goodwill,trustworthiness, and motivating language of a principal

Utilising the oral language of a principal leading an inner-city at-risk elementary school in a large urban school district in the southwestern USA, the researchers tested behavioural integrity and the dimensions of source credibility (competence, goodwill, and trustworthiness) as antecedents to Motivating Language Theory and the ML Model. Teacher perception data at the Title I elementary school was used for this quantitative study. Over 95% of the teachers responded to a survey each year for a three-year period. Each year, there were statistically significant correlations between each of the antecedents and motivating language. The antecedents accounted for 66–75% of the total variance for motivating language depending on the year based on regression analysis. The results of this study extend the field of Motivating Language Theory and the ML Model, and further explain how the work of principals is accomplished.     

Determination of peak cardiorespiratory fitness parameters in children: which averaging method should we use?

The purpose of this study was to identify which averaging methods most accurately measures peak cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) parameters [peak O₂ uptake (VO₂), peak O₂pulse and peak respiratory exchange ratio (RER)] in a sample of healthy children and adolescents. In this cross-sectional multicenter study, we recruited 278 healthy children aged 12–17 years. We compared the mean peak value of three CRF parameters using the recommended averaging methods (30-second block average) with alternative averaging methods such as moving averages or shorter smoothing periods. We also assessed averaging methods for accuracy by individually reviewing breath-by-breath scatter plots. The 30-second block average method resulted in a lower mean peak VO₂ and in an increased proportion of underestimated peak values. Using a 30-second moving average significantly increased mean peak values which increased accuracy. Similar results were found for peak RER and peak O₂pulse. In conclusion, the currently recommended averaging method (30-second block average) increased the risk of misinterpretation of peak CRF values in children. Using a moving average approach decreased misinterpretation and increased accuracy.     

Scientific Phenomenology in Design Pedagogy: The Legacy of Walter Gropius and Gestalt Psychology

This article examines the contribution of scientific phenomenology in design pedagogy through the theoretical relationships between the German art school Staatliches Bauhaus and the most important scientific phenomenological theories of the first half of the twentieth century. After showing the relationships between the Gestalt Theory and the principal teachers of the Bauhaus (Johannes Itten, Paul Klee, Wassily Kandinsky, László Moholy‐Nagy, Josef Albers), the pedagogical epistemology of Walter Gropius is critically presented. The epoché, the intersubjective criterion and the anti‐psychologism are examined. In conclusion, it is evidenced that Gropius was strongly influenced by Gestalt psychology. This undeclared influence was a necessary consequence of the fact that phenomenological attitude is a crucial operating modality for the concrete practice of design.     

A love towards a thing eternal: Spinoza and the classroom

There is a growing concern about the struggles of early career teachers and an understandable questioning of the preparation being offered by teacher education courses. Are our preservice teachers being given workable strategies and techniques to allow them to survive the early years? Is it strategies and techniques that are primarily at issue here? Could it be that there is something more fundamental, to do with an underlying philosophical understanding about human nature, the desire to learn and the need to relate? I want to suggest that instruction about strategies and techniques is too often built on an insecure and incompatible foundation of assumptions about the nature of the world of sentient beings and their relationships. Ontology matters. Philosopher Spinoza divided the world of thought into ideas that were adequate – contributing to our well-being, potency and happiness – and those that were inadequate – leading us to feel weak, at the mercy of outside forces, and sad. I want to argue, with Spinoza, that inadequate ontologies lead to a sense of impotence and frustration, and that adequate ideas – a stronger ontology – can underpin and sustain a more durable pedagogy. I explore this idea by looking at some classroom events through a Spinozean lens.     

Assessing Outcomes: Practical Methods and Evidence

University counseling center clients’ (N = 52) perceptions of precounseling functioning were highly correlated with their actual well‐being scores at intake. The magnitude of change based on perceptions of precounseling functioning to current well‐being was approximately double of what is found from the difference of actual precounseling well‐being to current well‐being scores. Retrospective methods for assessing precounseling functioning are best suited for comparison among clients or counseling processes.