Caught between a rock and a hard place: disruptive boys’ views on mainstream and special schools in New South Wales,Australia

Students with disruptive behaviour in the Australian state of New South Wales (NSW) are increasingly being educated in separate ‘behaviour’ schools. There is however surprisingly little research on how students view these settings, or indeed the mainstream schools from which they were excluded. To better understand excluded students’ current and past educational experiences, we interviewed 33 boys, aged between 9 and 16 years of age, who were enrolled in separate special schools for students with disruptive behaviour. Analyses reveal that the majority of participants began disliking school in the early years due to difficulties with schoolwork and teacher conflict. Interestingly, while most indicated that they preferred the behaviour school, more than half still wanted to return to their old school. It is therefore clear that separate special educational settings are not a solution to disruptive behaviour in mainstream schools. Whilst these settings do fulfil a function for some students, the preferences of the majority of boys suggest that ‘mainstream’ school reform is of first-order importance.     

What do students want most from written feedback information? Distinguishing necessities from luxuries using a budgeting methodology

Feedback is a key concern for higher education practitioners, yet there is little evidence concerning the aspects of assessment feedback information that higher education students prioritise when their lecturers’ time and resources are stretched. One recent study found that, in such circumstances, students actually perceive feedback information itself as a luxury rather than a necessity. We first re-examined that finding by asking undergraduates to ‘purchase’ characteristics to create the ideal lecturer, using budgets of differing sizes to distinguish necessities from luxuries. Contrary to the earlier research, students in fact considered good feedback information the single biggest necessity for lecturers to demonstrate. In a second study, we used the same method to examine the characteristics of feedback information that students value most. Here, the most important perceived necessity was guidance on improvement of skills. In both studies, students’ priorities were influenced by their individual approaches to learning. These findings permit a more pragmatic approach to building student satisfaction in spite of growing expectations and demands.     

Race,whiteness, "lightness," and relevance: African American and European American interpretations of Jump Start and The Boondocks

African American and European American participants were interviewed about two syndicated comic strips written by and featuring African Americans: Jump Start, a comic strip that portrays African Americans in a normative middle-class family narrative and focuses only occasionally on racial issues, and The Boondocks, a comic strip that focuses frequently on racial issues. The African American groups interpreted the comic strips through the terministic screen of race cognizance, through which racial politics and oppression were highly relevant. Almost all of the European American participants, however, interpreted the comic strips through the terministic screen of Whiteness, through which racial politics and oppression were not relevant.     

Why relationships matter: parent and early childhood teacher perspectives about the provisions afforded by young children's relationships

This study investigated the perspectives of early childhood teachers and parents regarding the importance of provisions afforded by child–teacher and peer relationships in early childhood centres. Participants were 200 parents and 71 teachers of children aged 0–5 years who responded to an online survey containing a series of relationship function statements that were rated according to their perceived importance. Results demonstrate that most functions were rated as more important in the context of child–teacher relationships than peer relationships, although statements reflecting the provision of friendship were regarded as more important in the domain of peer relationships. Ratings for particular provisions of infant relationships were significantly lower than those for older children; a result generated largely by variation in the ratings of teachers in comparison to those of parents. Findings are discussed in relation to differences between parent and teacher perspectives and implications for the development of inclusive, relationship-based pedagogies.     

Content Validation of the Community College Student Success Program Inventory

This study reports on the content validation of the Community College Student Success Program Inventory (CCSSPI), a structured interview protocol for program personnel, designed to serve as a tool for researchers and practitioners alike to account for critical features of various types of student success programs in detailed and comparable ways across multiple sites. In all, 20 subject matter experts (SMEs) rated the relevancy and clarity of each item to ascertain essential program features. Content validity index (CVI) and scale-level index scores (S-CVI) were calculated. Results showed high to moderately high validity for items related to course goals, logistics, skills-focused curricular items, and academic and student services. Other contingent facets—collaborative and contextualized learning, co-curricular and community activities, ancillary instruction, and instructor role—were rated as less valid, depending on program goals. The instrument is recommended for use in multisite qualitative or mixed-methods research and institutional improvement.     

The developmental and professional activities of female international soccer players from five high-performing nations

ABSTRACT

We study the developmental and professional activities engaged in by 86 female adult soccer players from the senior national teams of Australia, Canada, England, Sweden, and the United States of America. Players completed the Participation History Questionnaire (PHQ) to elicit the amount and type of activities engaged in across their developmental and professional years, including milestones, soccer-specific activity and engagement in other sport activity. Greater specialisation than diversification characterised their childhood developmental activities, including all players starting in soccer in childhood and accumulating more hours in soccer activity than other sports during this period. However, interindividual variation further characterised these childhood activities, with a proportion of players diversifying into other sports and/or soccer play to a greater or lesser degree during childhood when compared to the other players. The amount of coach-led soccer practice increased for all players across their development culminating in an average of 15–16 h/wk across a 40-week season in early adulthood. In contrast, the amount of engagement in other sports and soccer peer-led play varied between players but generally decreased across adolescence to negligible amounts in late adolescence. Findings are commensurate with the deliberate practice framework and early engagement.