Handwriting evaluation for developmental dysgraphia: Process versus product

The act of writing presents difficulties for10–30% of elementary school children. Thisstudy's objectives were to compare theabilities of digitizer-based evaluation of thehandwriting process and conventional evaluationof the handwriting product to discriminatebetween children with proficient and dysgraphichandwriting. Copied and dictated writingsamples were collected from 3rd grade students,50 with proficient and 50 with dysgraphichandwriting. Results indicated that bothdigitizer-based and conventional evaluationsdifferentiated between children with proficientand dysgraphic handwriting, and that togetherthey provided an improved understanding ofwriting difficulties. Moreover, copying anddictated writing task results differed significantly.The results demonstrate theadvantages of combining both handwritingprocess and product testing, and utilizing bothcopying and dictation tasks, in order toachieve a more comprehensive understanding andsuperior evaluation of developmentaldysgraphia.     

Prediction of maximal lactate steady state in runners with an incremental test on the field

During a maximal incremental ergocycle test, the power output associated with Respiratory Exchange Ratio equal to 1.00 (RER = 1.00) predicts maximal lactate steady state (MLSS). We hypothesised that these results are transferable for runners on the field. Fourteen runners performed a maximal progressive test, to assess the speed associated with RER = 1.00, and several 30 minutes constant velocity tests to determine the speed at MLSS. We observed that the speeds at RER = 1.00, at the second ventilatory threshold (VT2) and at MLSS did not differ (15.7 ± 1.1 km · h?1, 16.2 ± 1.4 km · h?1, 15.5 ± 1.1 km · h?1 respectively). The speed associated with RER = 1.00 was better correlated with that at MLSS (r = 0.79; p = 0.0008) than that at VT2 (r = 0.73; p = 0.002). Neither the concentration of blood lactate nor the heart rate differed between the speed at RER = 1.00 and that at MLSS from the 10th and the 30th minute of the constant velocity test. Bland and Altman analysis showed a fair agreement between the speed at MLSS and that at RER (0.2 ± 1.4 km · h?1). This study demonstrated that the speed associated with RER = 1.00 determined during maximal progressive track running allows a fair estimation of the speed associated with MLSS, markedly decreasing the burden of numerous invasive tests required to assess it.     

Perilous times: an oral history of teachers’ experience with school inspection in the 1930s

School inspectors and school inspection were integral features of the elementary public school system in Ontario from the 1840s until the practice was abandoned in 1967. From its earliest beginnings and subsequent development, school inspection and school inspectors were established as an important institution of the educational state. By regulation every teacher in the province could expect a twice-annual unannounced visit from a state-appointed male school inspector – more frequently if difficulties arose. This study explores teachers’ experiences of school inspection and inspectors during the 1930s by drawing on the oral history accounts of 17 women and four men who taught elementary school in various regions of the province.     

The Value of Applied Research: Retrieval Practice Improves Classroom Learning and Recommendations from a Teacher, a Principal, and a Scientist

Over the course of a 5-year applied research project with more than 1,400 middle school students, evidence from a number of studies revealed that retrieval practice in authentic classroom settings improves long-term learning (Agarwal et al. 2009; McDaniel et al., Journal of Educational Psychology 103:399–414, 2011; McDaniel et al. 2012; Roediger et al., Journal of Experimental Psychology: Applied 17:382–395, 2011a). Retrieval practice, or the use of quizzes and exams to engage and enhance retrieval processes, has been widely established as an effective strategy for facilitating learning in laboratory settings (e.g., Roediger et al. 2011c). In this article, we review recent findings from applied research that demonstrate that retrieval practice enhances long-term classroom learning, delayed quizzes are particularly potent for retention, quizzes benefit students’ transfer to novel quiz items, and quizzes with feedback improve students’ learning and metacognitive awareness. In addition to generating evidence to support retrieval-based learning, these applied research studies also enhanced the professional development of the teachers, administrators, and scientists involved in the project. In this article, it is our hope that by sharing what we have learned from a variety of perspectives, applied scientific research in K-12 classrooms will continue to be explored and generated at local, state, and national levels, improving student learning and educational decision-making.     

Analysis of the Decline in Interest Towards School Science and Technology from Grades 5 Through 11

Interest in school science and technology (S&T) remains an important issue as it is linked to achievement and the intention to pursue studies or careers in S&T. Around the world, a number of studies have shown that interest in S&T declines with school years. However, some divergences from the general trend have been demonstrated in certain contexts, sub-periods, or for closely related subconstructs. We administered 2,628 questionnaires to students in grades 5 through 11 in the province of Québec, Canada. The questionnaire explored many factors (including out-of-school and school-related preferences, difficulty, importance, frequency), allowing us to track these closely related variables for a seven-year period. Among others, the results show a general degradation in-school S&T factors but an improvement in out-of-school S&T variables and of interest in S&T studies and careers. S&T is perceived as increasingly difficult and valuable compared with all other subject matters taken one-on-one. Some shorter fluctuations are analysed and interpreted in comparison with the evolution of certain teaching practices.     

The Good Working Mother: Managerial Women’s Sensemaking and Feelings About Work–Family Issues

We use a sensemaking lens to explore how women managers experience and articulate work–life concerns upon their return to paid work following maternity leaves. We focus on 11 women who held different types of managerial positions, including vice presidents, circulation managers, and human resources experts. We found that our participants re‐framed the good mother image into a good working mother role that fit their lifestyles and interests. To accomplish this reframing, participants engaged in three thematic processes supportive of the good working mother image: (a) good working mothers arrange quality child care; (b) good working mothers are (un)equal partners; and (c) good working mothers feel pleasure in their working mother role. These themes and image were both ironic and fragile constructions of working motherhood. Because these themes and images enable participants to make sense of and establish the worth of working motherhood to family members, friends, acquaintances, organizational members, and community members, they provide a reason why middle‐ or upper‐class working and stay‐at‐home mothers may be in conflict about work and family choices.