Language and reading impairments are associated with increased prevalence of non-right-handedness

Handedness has been studied for association with language-related disorders because of its link with language hemispheric dominance. No clear pattern has emerged, possibly because of small samples, publication bias, and heterogeneous criteria across studies. Non-right-handedness (NRH) frequency was assessed in N = 2503 cases with reading and/or language impairment and N = 4316 sex-matched controls identified from 10 distinct cohorts (age range 6–19 years old; European ethnicity) using a priori set criteria. A meta-analysis (N_cases = 1994) showed elevated NRH % in individuals with language/reading impairment compared with controls (OR = 1.21, CI = 1.06–1.39, p = .01). The association between reading/language impairments and NRH could result from shared pathways underlying brain lateralization, handedness, and cognitive functions.     

The influence of child,family, home factors and pre‐school education on the identification of special educational needs at age 10

The early identification of young children's special educational needs (SEN), as well as the development of specific strategies to support those children identified with special needs, are increasingly recognised as crucial to facilitating good adjustment to school and to ensuring that such children are helped to reach their full potential in education. Using a large national sample of young children in England whose developmental progress was followed up from pre‐school, this study investigates which child, family, home and pre‐school factors can be viewed as risk or protective factors for later SEN‐status at age 10. The experience of high‐quality pre‐school education is shown to reduce the likelihood of a child being identified as experiencing SEN in the long run. Teachers’ assessments of SEN are found to be strongly related to children's reading and mathematics attainment, but other factors also predict SEN, including a child's age within a year group.     

Surgeons as medical school educators: an untapped resource

Despite extensive experience teaching residents, surgeons are an untapped resource for educating medical students. We hypothesized that by involving surgeons as teachers earlier in the medical school curriculum, medical students' interest in surgery will increase and their opinions of surgeons will improve. Five programs designed to involve surgeons as educators in the medical school curriculum were implemented. The first program, started in 2008, introduced surgical faculty into the first-year medical student anatomy dissection laboratories. Other programs initiated in 2008 included: Surgical Clinical Correlates in Anatomy, which involved faculty teaching through cadaver surgery; Clinical Pathologic Conferences in Anatomy, a surgeon-led conference based on clinical cases; and a women's faculty-student mentorship program. Table Rounds, a surgeon-led anatomy review that used clinical scenarios to quiz students was begun in 2009. All five programs were successfully integrated into the medical school curriculum. While student opinion of surgeons as educators improved, there were no significant changes in student interest in surgery as a career nor change in performance on written examinations over the Anatomy content covered by the surgeons. Surgical faculty and trainees can be integrated into the medical school curriculum. Involving surgeons as educators earlier in the medical school curriculum may have longer term effects than could be observed in this study. At a minimum, the experience improved student opinion of surgeons as educators.     

'I never thought they would enjoy the fun of science just like ordinary children do'– Exploring science experiences with early years teacher training students and children with severe and profound learning difficulties

Alison Bishop and Phyllis Jones both work in the School of Education at Northumbria University where they teach on undergraduate and postgraduate programmes. Phyllis Jones specialises in disability issues and Alison Bishop focuses on early years education. For the project described in this paper, they combined their areas of expertise, devising a small–scale research project to explore the experiences of a group of early years science specialist student teachers as they took part in workshops with a group of early years children with severe and profound learning difficulties. The research explores the changing attitudes and perceptions of the students with regard to the learning and teaching of science with young children. It becomes clear that there is a realization for many students that science can make a significant contribution to the education of children with severe and profound learning difficulties in the early years. The authors also discuss the need for training to equip the students to meet the challenges and rewards of working with children with severe and profound learning difficulties in their future teaching careers.     

Bibliographic control of medical illustrations--a case study in the development of a library subsystem: II. Project implementation

This second part of a two-part paper describes how the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) Library implemented a bibliographic control system for a medical illustrations collection. Discussed are the staffing of the project, the design of formats and computer programs, further design changes, the input process, quality evaluation of the illustrations, and production and distribution of the control products (printed indexes and microfiche replicas). The report ends with a note on the applicability of the UCSF system to other libraries, and some benefits of the project.     

The effect of warm up on single and intermittent-sprint performance

Lack of benefit of warm up on prolonged intermittent-sprint performance has been proposed to be due to use of a pacing strategy by participants. To investigate this, twelve participants performed four cycle trials that consisted of either prolonged intermittent-sprint performance (80 min) or single-sprint performance (4 s), with or without a warm up. The first-sprint of intermittent-sprint performance was also assessed. No interaction effects (P > 0.05) were found between trials for intermittent-sprint performance for total work (J · kg(-1)), or percentage work and power decrement. Work done during the first-sprint of intermittent-sprint performance (no warm up) was less (P < 0.001) than the first-sprint of intermittent-sprint performance (warm up; effect size (ES) = 0.59) and both single-sprint trials (warm up and no warm up; ES = 0.91, 0.75, respectively). Peak power (W · kg(-1)) for single-sprint (warm up) was greater (P < 0.05) than single-sprint (no warm up), and the first-sprint of intermittent-sprint performance (warm up and no warm up). Warm up improved single-sprint performance and the first sprint of intermittent-sprint performance. Use of a pacing strategy probably resulted in similar intermittent-sprint performance between trials. These results suggest that team-sport players should perform a warm up at the start of a game or before substitution during a game.     

Measuring Pupil Progress at Key Stage 1: Using baseline assessment to investigate value added

This paper presents results from an LEA-commissioned value-added project conducted with 107 primary schools in Surrey. The project was designed to explore the use of baseline assessment at entry to reception classes to measure pupil progress across Key Stage 1 (KS1). Pupil performance in KS1 assessments of the core curriculum areas English (reading and writing), mathematics and science were analysed. The results of multi-level analyses, the impact of pupil background factors, the feedback of results to schools and the way Surrey Education Service and schools are using the information in school improvement activities are described.     

The role of materialism on social,emotional and behavioural difficulties for British adolescents

The relationship between materialism and social-emotional behavioural difficulties (SEBDs) was assessed by comparing a sample of adolescents receiving in-school behavioural support with adolescents not receiving any support. All participants completed the Youth Materialism Scale and the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire. Binary logistic regression indicated that adolescents who reported higher levels of materialism were more likely to be classified into a group considered ‘at-risk’ for developing conduct and peer problems. Hierarchical logistic regression assessed the moderation of behavioural support and indicated that adolescents in receipt of behavioural support who reported higher levels of materialism were at a greater risk of hyperactivity in comparison to those who receive support but reported lower levels of materialism. For adolescents not receiving behavioural support, less materialistic attitudes placed them at a greater risk of hyperactivity. These findings highlight the importance of distinguishing between different SEBD typologies and the potential effects of materialism during adolescence.