Curriculum-Based Measurement progress data: Effects of graph pattern on ease of interpretation

Curriculum-Based Measurement (CBM) is a system for monitoring the progress of and evaluating instructional program effectiveness for students with learning difficulties. Although a large amount of research has been conducted on CBM, little has focused on the interpretation and use of the data for instructional decision-making, despite the fact that it is data use that leads to performance gains. In this study, we examine factors affecting the interpretation of CBM data. Specifically, we examine the effect of CBM graph patterns on ease of graph interpretation. Thirty college/university students completed a two-part study in which they viewed various slope-to-goal and slope-to-slope patterns of CBM-graphed data and answered decision-making questions. Response times and accuracy were measured. Results revealed that graph patterns differed in terms of ease of interpretation. Differences depended on the type of question. Implications for interpretation and use of CBM data for decision-making are discussed.     

Psychological Capital,Well-being,and Distress of International Students

International Journal for the Advancement of Counselling - International students continue to experience myriad of challenges, some of which further transpired disproportionately during the...     

Supporting Students with Invisible Disabilities: A Scoping Review of Postsecondary Education for Students with Mental Illness or an Acquired Brain Injury

Students with invisible disabilities such as mental illness or acquired brain injury (ABI) experience multiple barriers that reduce their likelihood of postsecondary course completion. The present study conducted a systematic search of research reporting interventions for students experiencing mental illness or ABI to participate in postsecondary education. Nine databases were searched and a framework for categorising interventions and outcomes was developed. Forty-two studies revealed that most interventions were focused at the individual student level aiming to support students to build skills, grow confidence, or compensate for challenges through educational adjustments. There was wide diversity in research approaches used and a dearth of rigorous research designs. This review offers a more consistent way to define interventions and outcomes to guide future research and facilitate more meaningful comparisons between studies. The impacts of specific interventions on students’ attainment of qualifications and subsequent workforce participation need further investigation.     

Navigating the complexity of disability support in tertiary education: perspectives of students and disability service staff

Access to education is a right for all students. This right is typically realised through the provision of disability support and reasonable adjustments to enable tertiary students with disabilities to participate on an equal footing with their peers. This paper presents perspectives of disability service staff and students about implementing and using reasonable adjustments. Data were collected at 2 tertiary institutions in Australia through interviews with 25 students with disabilities and 7 disability service staff. Data were thematically analysed. The complexity of and variability in the processes of negotiating and implementing disability support were identified as an overarching theme in the data. These processes involved engaging multiple parties. The task of negotiating reasonable adjustments is used to illustrate some of the complexities inherent in supporting students with disabilities. These findings challenge existing assumptions that support is easily accessible and simply provided. They highlight the complexity of using reasonable adjustments, and the tendency for this to be seen as a student responsibility. Finally, the findings imply that disability services need to reorient from a focus on care and concern towards a rights orientation and foster students’ skills in self-advocacy to better enable them to negotiate without disadvantage.     

Old issues, new context: Privacy, information collection, and homeland security

In response to the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, there have been several statutory and regulatory changes that enhance the collection and use of personal information for intelligence and law enforcement purposes. This article first examines how particular sectors, including financial, educational, libraries, and transportation, have been affected by these changes, with particular attention to the requirements of the USA PATRIOT Act. Next, five common themes and trends, including the lowering of standards for individualized suspicion and the weakening of judicial safeguards, are identified and their effects on privacy and due process are explored. Finally, the article analyzes several political and social implications of the omnibus reduction in privacy protections in the face of terrorism, including the proposal for a national identification system.     

Emergency Response Systems and the Creeping Legibility of People and Places

Over the last 35 years, centralized universal-number (in the United States, 9-1-1) systems have come to be the preferred means of emergency-response dispatching. The creation of these systems has motivated the development of information systems that render the landscape, to those with the right access, increasingly legible. This has been to the benefit of those receiving emergency services, but also to the benefit of police and commercial interests, who have used the improved infrastructure as bases for the creation of geodemographic and other profiling systems. More recently, the creation of wireless telephony has motivated the creation of a further surveillance infrastructure built on and integrated into that landscape. One consequence has been the commercialization of the systems in ways that permit the incorporation of more intimate and detailed data into preexisting systems. Public concern with locational surveillance systems has focused on privacy. However, “privacy” may be an inadequate frame through which to understand these issues and to fashion appropriate responses.     

Online Bullying among High-School Students in India

Six hundred and forty high-school students (Grades 7–12) from a large central government school in South India participated in this exploratory study of online bullying (cyberbullying) in India. Participants responded to the Survey on Social Use of Information and Communications Technology (SSUICT; Bhat and Ragan 2013). Findings indicated that approximately half the participants experienced online bullying in one or more roles described by Bhat et al. Education about Asia, 2(18), 36–39, (2013), with these being: initiating online bully, secondary online bully, bystander, or target of online bullying. Overall, engagement in online bullying tended to increase with grade level, and participation in the role of secondary online bully was the highest of the four roles for Grades 8–12. Male participants reported higher engagement in all four roles than female participants, and this difference was significant for the roles of initiating online bully, secondary online bully, and target of online bullying. Significant correlations were found between the four roles of online bullying. Recommendations for addressing the issue of online bullying in the Indian context are provided, along with limitations of the study and suggestions for future research.     

Teacher–Child Interactions in Free Choice and Teacher-Directed Activity Settings: Prediction to School Readiness

Research Findings: This article examines whether time spent in free choice and teacher-directed activity settings within preschool was associated with indicators of school readiness and the extent to which children’s learning was associated with the quality of teachers’ behavior within these settings. Participants were 325 preschool teachers and 1,407 children from low-income backgrounds. Teacher–child interactions were measured in multiple cycles across 1 day of classroom observation within teacher-organized free choice and teacher-directed activity settings. The overall proportion of class time spent in free choice was positively related to children’s average gains in inhibitory control, whereas class time spent in teacher-directed activities predicted gains in language development and early literacy skills. And more effective teacher–child interactions within the free choice setting were significantly related to children’s average gains in language development and early literacy skills. Practice or Policy: Findings confirm that both free choice and teacher-directed settings in early education classrooms can be assets for children’s learning; however, the value of time in child-managed activities is partially dependent on teachers’ behavior with children.     

Isometric Knee Extension and Plantar Flexion Muscle Fatigue and Fiber Type Composition in Female Distance Runners

Abstract

Plantar flexion and knee extension fatigue patterns elicited by 25 serial isometric contractions were assessed on eight female distance runners. Fiber type composition of the vastus lateralis and gastrocnemius muscles was examined by a needle biopsy technique. Two different isometric exercise regimens were administered: 10-sec contractions separated by 5-sec intertrial rest (10:5) designed to elicit a rapid rate of fatigue, and 10-sec contractions separated by 20-sec intertrial rest (10:20) designed to induce less fatigue. No fatigue pattern was found for the 10:20 regimen which was consistent with previous data on male distance runners but unlike male power athletes who did exhibit significant fatigue. Significant fatigue decrements were found for the 10:5 knee extension (55.7%) and plantar flexion (75.8%) conditions. Fiber type composition and fatigue decrements did not correlate. Knee extension and plantar flexion maximum strength correlated significantly with the amount of fatigue induced with r's of .82 and .83, respectively. For each separate muscle group, maximum isometric strength was a better predictor of fatigability than fiber type composition. Even though differences in maximal strength and muscle mass existed between knee extension and plantar flexion muscle groups, elicited fatigue curves were similar in pattern differing only in absolute level. High versus low strength classification analysis showed similar knee extension but dissimilar plantar flexion fatigue patterns. Results suggest that the role of fiber type composition, muscle mass, and maximum strength level as they influence local muscular fatigue patterns must be elucidated for each muscle group separately.