Part 1. If We Frame It,They Will Respond: Undergraduate Student Responses to the Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education

There remains significant confusion surrounding the purpose, audience, and proposed application of the Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education. This exploratory study addresses the question of whether undergraduate students can understand the language and concepts in this document. By presenting student responses to pretest questions recorded at the beginning of a semester-long research methods course, this article shows that students can, even on first impression, begin to make sense of the complexity and richness found in the Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education.     

Assessment in special schools: national early assessment procedures and pupils attending special schools in England

An implicit assumption that fostering inclusion means having shared systems encompassing the needs of all children is evident in many aspects of policy development over the past decade. Reflecting this, the implementation of ‘baseline assessment’ schemes (i.e. testing at around age 5 years) is a statutory requirement on all state-maintained special and mainstream schools in England since 1998. Our argument is that the enthusiasm for commonality has obscured the need to question the value and validity of baseline assessment schemes for children with special educational needs (and possibly some others such as children having English as an additional language). We illustrate this position with reference to data from our recent study on baseline assessment in England. The study encompassed survey data from a national sample of 982 schools, of which 107 were special schools. Between them, these special schools used 42 different baseline assessment schemes. Comparisons between our mainstream and special school respondents indicated that there were similarities in the nature and perceived value of the schemes used. However, special schools were less satisfied with their schemes. We suggest that a reappraisal of the nature and purpose of baseline assessment for pupils with special educational needs warrants greater critical debate. Without this, there is a danger that a stress on commonality, veiling an inclusion orthodoxy, will ultimately be counterproductive.     

Breaking up is hard to do: the resilience of the rock group as an organizational form for creating music

Though there is a long tradition of band members quitting the group or taking a hiatus, the rock group as an organization to produce music continues to be both popular and economically viable. The research question addressed in this paper is whether or not it is a good idea to quit or take a hiatus from the group. We begin with a discussion of the framework for understanding why groups are formed and why they may be difficult to keep together. We then discuss differences between groups in the decade of the 1960s versus today. We argue that there is something unique about the output of the group even with the changes in the structure of contracts, compensation, and consumer focus on the artist that explain the resilience of the rock band as an organizational form within which to create music. We compare the charting success of bands that have members leave the group with the charting success of the members who left the group. We identified the groups in five representative years: 1965, 1975, 1985, 1995, and 2005. We then analyzed the entire Billboard Hot 100 charting careers of those groups and the artists who quit those groups. Our main finding is that when charting success is divided equally among members, going solo pays off—there is a clear economic rationale because solo acts have greater average charting success than the original bands they started in. The other ensuing side projects: duos, collaborations, and other groups are not as lucrative as the original bands. These findings are valid for members of charting groups from each of the 5 years examined. Despite the difficulties in keeping a rock band together, there are fewer band breakups today and remaining with the group generally results in a longer and more productive charting career. Thus, the rock group remains an important organization for producing contemporary music. However, there remains a compelling incentive to go solo. Superstars may benefit from solo projects, but for the average, non-superstar group member, in many circumstances it is better for the band to stay together if the income is divided equally.     

Eating disorder prevention initiatives for athletes: A review

A substantial amount of evidence suggests that collegiate and elite athletes involved in weight-sensitive sports are at greater risk of developing eating disorders (EDs) than the general population. With the limited effectiveness of treatment for EDs, prevention of EDs has been broadly considered in the literature. The present paper reviewed the existing literature on ED prevention programmes for athletes in order to determine the current status of prevention programmes and recommend future directions. The available literature suggests that selective, primary interventions with multiple targets and an interactive multimodal approach appear most effective. Current challenges in the field, including lack of longitudinal research, hesitation by the sport community to be involved in ED research and poor cross-field communication and collaboration, are also explored. The lack of dissemination of evidence-based prevention programmes and the simultaneous promotion of prevention programmes that have not yet been empirically examined are also discussed. Based on these observations future directions are recommended.     

Curricular Differences and Unidimensionality of Achievement Test Data: An Exploratory Analysis

The purpose of this study was to investigate whether a linear factor analytic method commonly used to investigate violation of the item response theory (IRT) unidimensionality assumption is sensitive to measurable curricular differences within a school district and to examine the possibility of differential item performance for groups of students receiving different instruction. For grades 3 and 6 in reading and mathematics, personnel from two midwestern school systems that regularly administer standardized achievement tests identified the formal textbook series used and provided ratings of test-instructional match for each school building (classroom). For both districts, the factor analysis results suggested no differences in percentages of variance for large first factors and relatively small second factors across ratings or series groups. The IRT analyses indicated little, if any, differential item performance for curricular subgroups. Thus, the impact of factors that might be related to curricular differences was judged to be minor.     

Online Learning Readiness

ABSTRACT

This paper examines the relationship between student characteristics of online learning readiness and student outcomes in online courses at two higher educational institution. Data were collected from student surveys (student characteristics of readiness and outcomes) and merged with institutional student information systems data (e.g., demographics and course grades). Multiple regression analyses revealed that several student characteristics of online learning readiness significantly influenced student outcomes. MANOVA analyses were conducted to examine between group differences of each student characteristics among underrepresented student groups. Significant findings are reported for minorities and for students with disabilities.     

Do all roads really lead to Rome? The case of spelling acquisition

The French orthographic code is complex, and its acquisition is laborious (Catach, 2008; Fayol & Jaffré, 2008). Three hypotheses attempt to explain orthographic knowledge acquisition (OKA). For some, exposure to the code leads to OKA through a self-learning process (Share, 2004). For others, OKA benefits from graphophonological processes (Coltheart, Rastle, Perry, Langdon, & Ziegler, 2001). Finally, some authors suggest that OKA is possible thanks to visual specific processes (Ans, Carbonnel, & Valdois, 1998). The main goal of this study was to test these hypotheses in a classroom context with comparable samples. In total, 143 2nd-grade children participated in this quasi-experimental study with a pretest, immediate posttest, and delayed posttest design. We assigned participants to one of four conditions. For three conditions, we created three teaching procedures based on each of the hypotheses: frequency of contacts with target words; explicit teaching of graphophonological properties of words; explicit teaching of visual properties of words. The fourth served as a control group. ANOVA analyses indicated that all three experimental conditions favored OKA, showing that the different teaching procedures led to spelling development. However, the visual condition was the most favorable. Three main conclusions can be drawn from this study: (a) models of OKA should account for the different paths that can lead to spelling acquisition; (b) visual properties of words and their acquisition need additional research, and (c) applied research in real classroom contexts is not only relevant for informing teaching practices but also for better understanding how learning takes place.

     

Relations of Children's Effortful Control and Teacher-Child Relationship Quality to School Attitudes in a Low-Income Sample

RESEARCH FINDINGS: The purpose of this study was to examine the relations of children's effortful control and quality of relationships with teachers to school attitudes longitudinally in an ethnically diverse and economically disadvantaged sample. Data were collected as part of a larger intervention project during mid-fall, winter, and late spring (ns = 823, 722, and 758, respectively) for 2 cohorts of 3- to 5-year-olds (collected during 2 different school years). Children's effortful control was assessed in the fall with parents' and teachers' reports and 2 behavioral measures. Teacher-child relationship quality was assessed mid-year with teachers' reports of closeness and conflict. Attitudes toward school were assessed in late spring using teachers' and students' reports of school avoidance and liking. Effortful control, in general, was positively correlated with teacher-child closeness and school liking and negatively correlated with conflict and school avoidance. Using structural equation modeling and controlling for sex and ethnicity, we found that effortful control was positively related to teacher-child relationship quality, which in turn was positively related to school attitudes. Furthermore, the relation of effortful control to school attitudes was mediated by teacher-child relationship quality. PRACTICE OR POLICY: Results provide evidence for the importance of relational processes that take place within the classroom context and have implications for teachers and clinicians working to increase school success in ethnic minority and low-income children.