Quantification of training load during one-, two- and three-game week schedules in professional soccer players from the English Premier League: implications for carbohydrate periodisation

Muscle glycogen is the predominant energy source for soccer match play, though its importance for soccer training (where lower loads are observed) is not well known. In an attempt to better inform carbohydrate (CHO) guidelines, we quantified training load in English Premier League soccer players (n = 12) during a one-, two- and three-game week schedule (weekly training frequency was four, four and two, respectively). In a one-game week, training load was progressively reduced (P < 0.05) in 3 days prior to match day (total distance = 5223 ± 406, 3097 ± 149 and 2912 ± 192 m for day 1, 2 and 3, respectively). Whilst daily training load and periodisation was similar in the one- and two-game weeks, total accumulative distance (inclusive of both match and training load) was higher in a two-game week (32.5 ± 4.1 km) versus one-game week (25.9 ± 2 km). In contrast, daily training total distance was lower in the three-game week (2422 ± 251 m) versus the one- and two-game weeks, though accumulative weekly distance was highest in this week (35.5 ± 2.4 km) and more time (P < 0.05) was spent in speed zones >14.4 km · h^?1 (14%, 18% and 23% in the one-, two- and three-game weeks, respectively). Considering that high CHO availability improves physical match performance but high CHO availability attenuates molecular pathways regulating training adaptation (especially considering the low daily customary loads reported here, e.g., 3–5 km per day), we suggest daily CHO intake should be periodised according to weekly training and match schedules.     

Conversations around the Large Table: Building Community in a Portuguese Public Kindergarten

This article analyzes how one teacher, Ana, builds community in the daily life of her classroom in Figueirinha, a Portuguese public kindergarten. It begins by briefly critiquing the dominant research discourse in early childhood education and arguing that community should be central both to life in early childhood classrooms and to research in those classrooms. Figueirinha, Ana, and the Large Table that is the center of Ana's classroom are introduced. Ana's understanding of community is explored by focusing on six themes: membership, awareness, negotiation, responsibility, ritual, and group memory. Ana's practice is illustrated and analyzed through the use of vignettes. The article concludes with a discussion of Ana's practice and her commitment to the community of the classroom.     

Toward optimal allocation of instructional resources: Dividing computer-assisted instruction time among students

This paper deals with the question of how to best allocate a finite instructional resource among different students — specifically how to divide time on a computer-assisted instruction (CAI) system among a number of eligible students.First several possible objectives for a time allocation strategy are considered. Examples include maximizing the students' mean grade placement without increasing the variance and maximizing the number of students who make a particular gain. Then using operations research techniques, time-allocation strategies are described to optimize the chance of reaching each objective. Finally the outcomes of various allocation strategies are predicted by computer simulations that use learning curves estimated from observed data.The simulation models indicated that for the students and curriculum used, different time allocation strategies make very little difference in overall results when reasonable assumptions are made concerning the ways time can be allocated during a normal school day. A much more important variable is the total amount of CAI time used by students. For example, the school grade-placement average can be increased as much by increasing total CAI time by ten percent as by any allocation strategy tested.Also at Institute for Mathematical Studies in the Social Sciences, Stanford University. Please address reprint requests to Elizabeth Macken Raugh, Computer Curriculum Corporation, 700 Hansen Way, Palo Alto, CA 94304. The authors thank Mario Zanotti for helpful suggestions about the appendix of this article.     

The short‐term and the long‐term effect of primary schools and classes on mathematics and language achievement scores

A considerable body of previous research has demonstrated that differences between schools and classes have an impact on students' learning and acquisition of skills. It is not yet clear, however, whether the effects persist in the longer term. The present study examines the effect of primary schools and classes on language and mathematics achievement over a period of two years after leaving primary education. Considerable short‐term effects of the primary school and class on achievement levels at the end of primary education were found. Multilevel models with a cross‐classified structure were constructed to estimate the long‐term effects. Differences between secondary schools and classes turned out to be much more important for achievement in secondary education than the long‐term effects of primary schools and classes, which were small and died out fast.     

Is Effective Teaching Stable?

The authors examined the ecological validity of using observation-based scores to evaluate individual teachers’ effectiveness, mirroring their use by school administrators. Using the Classroom Assessment Scoring System, the authors asked (a) how similar are teachers’ emotional support, classroom organization, and instructional support scores from each other; and (b) to what extent are these scores stable from day-to-day? Using a time-series, single-case methodology, the authors examined patterns of eight Kindergarten teachers’ performance in all lessons within a 4–5 week, thematically coherent science unit. Thus, the opportunity for identifying within-teacher stability was maximized. Teachers' instructional quality was significantly less effective than their emotional supportiveness and classroom organization. Furthermore, teachers’ effectiveness ratings varied markedly from one lesson to the next, for all three dimensions.     

Ko wai Au? Who am I? Examining the multiple identities of Māori youth

In this paper, we present preliminary findings from a unique collaborative research project involving six Deaf Māori rangatahi (youth) in Tāmaki Makaurau (Auckland), Aotearoa New Zealand. This study utilized kaupapa whānau (research family) protocols, established in consultation with two cultural advisory groups within New Zealand and the young people themselves, combined with elements of photovoice methodology, to explore the identities of these youth. Emerging findings highlight the complex nature of these youth’s cultural identity as well as specific issues related to access to and participation within te ao Māori (the Māori world). Specific and critical reflections on the research process are also included.     

Collaborative processes in species identification using an internet-based taxonomic resource

Visual databases are increasingly important resources through which individuals and groups can undertake species identification. This paper reports research on the collaborative processes undertaken by pre-service teacher students when working in small groups to identify birds using an Internet-based taxonomic resource. The student groups are conceptualised as ‘knowledge-building communities’ working in a ‘joint problem space’ comprising the collective knowledge of the participants interacting with the taxonomic database. Collaborative group work and associated dialogue were recorded with digital video. The recordings were analysed for the categories of dialogue and the categories of knowledge used by the students as they interacted with the taxonomic database and how they drew on their previous experiences of identifying birds. The outcomes are discussed in the context of the interplay of individual and social processes and the interplay between abstraction and lived experience in the joint problem space.     

A Critical Analysis of the Sources of Reading Recovery: An Empiricist Perspective

This discussion of the sources of Reading Recovery presents the results of an investigation into whether or not this relatively costly, tutoring remedial reading program, designed for primary-grade students, is based on relevant experimental evidence as to how these students best learn to read. The general finding of the study was that Reading Recovery principles and practices are not based firmly on the experimental evidence that supports the so-called bottom-up model of children's reading development. To the contrary of Reading Recovery, Marie Clay, favors so-called top-down principles and models of reading instruction. Reading Recovery uses several empirically unverified procedures to decide which students are admitted to its tutoring sessions, to determine the progress in reading rehabilitation these tutees make, and to judge when students should be discontinued from Reading Recovery tutelage. The details on the shortcomings of Reading Recovery are judged to be prima facie evidence that it may not be a cost-effective educational innovation. Further authentication in that regard, it is pointed out, are recent studies by disinterested researchers who report that: (a) the initial successes of Reading Recovery in helping disabled readers overcome their handicap are only temporary in nature, and (b) the majority of the precepts and procedures prescribed for Reading Recovery by Marie Clay reflect a top-down orientation to reading development, as does the Whole Language (WL) philosophy of reading attainment. Educators and school boards should take this orientation of Reading Recovery under advisement when considering its purchase, it is urged.