Inquiring in the classroom

This paper considers the part played by teaching assistants in the implementation of the National Literacy and National Numeracy Strategies, two widespread UK government reforms. Evidence from two sources of evaluation (the Ontario Institute in Canada and OfSTED, the school inspectorate for England) indicates that assistants are providing ‘remedial’ support for up to 25% of children in English primary schools. However, although the evaluators note this, they fail to truly acknowledge the important contribution of assistants to the functioning of the Strategies. The paper argues that the lack of acknowledgement arises from the evaluators’ view of teaching assistants as ‘peripheral’ and teachers as ‘core’. This does assistants a great disservice, but also masks the shortcomings of the Strategies, particularly with regard to the way in which a required pedagogy, linked to targets and tests, has created an exclusionary pressure leading to the separation of teaching by teachers and assistants, respectively.     

Improving the Root Mean Square Error of Approximation for Nonnormal Conditions in Structural Equation Modeling

In this study, the authors investigated incorporating adjusted model fit information into the root mean square error of approximation (RMSEA) fit index. Through Monte Carlo simulation, the usefulness of this adjusted index was evaluated for assessing model adequacy in structural equation modeling when the multivariate normality assumption underlying maximum likelihood estimation is violated. Adjustment to the RMSEA was considered in 2 forms: a rescaling adjustment via the Satorra-Bentler rescaled goodness-of-fit statistic and a bootstrap adjustment via the Bollen and Stine adjusted model p value. Both properly specified and misspecifed models were examined. The adjusted RMSEA was evaluated in terms of the average index value across study conditions and with respect to model rejection rates under tests of exact fit, close fit, and not-close fit.     

Examining the educative aims and practices of decision-makers in sport for development and peace organizations

Sport for Development and Peace (SDP) policy-makers and practitioners continue to offer ambitious claims regarding the potential role of sport-based programs for promoting social change. Yet, it is important to put sport under a critical lens in order to develop a more balanced and realistic understanding of the role of sport in society. Whether SDP programs result in positive or negative outcomes depends on the structures and processes of the implementing organizations. Hence, SDP researchers are paying more attention to the organizational approaches of these agencies. Scholars also argue the outcomes of SDP programs depend on the relationship of these organizations with broader community education and health promotion efforts. Despite the claims of many SDP programs, little remains known about the educational goals of these programs and their relationship with broader educational efforts. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to critically examine the role of education among a randomly selected sample of nonprofit SDP organizations in urban settings across the USA. Findings from in-depth interviews with 17 executive directors indicate a broad range of educative aims, but also innovative organizational practices, highlighting a salient relationship between education and SDP in the USA. Prominent themes emerged related to program models and organizational approaches, academic enrichment programming, partnerships with educational institutions and education-focused nonprofits, and educational outcomes. These findings are examined and implications for future SDP research are also discussed. Although important work is emerging in SDP literature on how educational values are delivered in these programs [Spaaij, R., & Jeanes, R. [2013]. Education for social change? A Freirean critique of sport for development and peace. Physical Education and Sport Pedagogy, 18, 442–457], findings from this study also help stimulate a critical dialogue on the educative aims and practices of decision-makers in SDP organizations.     

Factors associated with caregiver stability in permanent placements: a classification tree approach

Objective

Identify individual and environmental variables associated with caregiver stability and instability for children in diverse permanent placement types (i.e., reunification, adoption, and long-term foster care/guardianship with relatives or non-relatives), following 5 or more months in out-of-home care prior to age 4 due to substantiated maltreatment.

Methods

Participants were 285 children from the Southwestern site of Longitudinal Studies of Child Abuse and Neglect (LONGSCAN). Caregiver instability was defined as a change in primary caregiver between ages 6 and 8 years. Classification and regression tree (CART) analysis was used to identify the strongest predictors of instability from multiple variables assessed at age 6 with caregiver and child reports within the domains of neighborhood/community characteristics, caregiving environment, caregiver characteristics, and child characteristics.

Results

One out of 7, or 14% of the 285 children experienced caregiver instability in their permanent placement between ages 6 and 8. The strongest predictor of stability was whether the child had been placed in adoptive care. However, for children who were not adopted, a number of contextual factors (e.g., father involvement, expressiveness within the family) and child characteristics (e.g., intellectual functioning, externalizing problem behaviors) predicted stability and instability of permanent placements.

Conclusions

Current findings suggest that a number of factors should be considered, in addition to placement type, if we are to understand what predicts caregiver stability and find stable permanent placements for children who have entered foster care. These factors include involvement of a father figure, family functioning, and child functioning.

Practice implications

Adoption was supported as a desired permanent placement in terms of stability, but results suggest that other placement types can also lead to stability. In fact, with attention to providing biological parents, relative, and non-relative caregivers with support and resources (e.g., emotional, financial, and optimizing father involvement or providing a stable adult figure) the likelihood that a child will have a stable caregiver may be increased.     

Component structure,reliability, and stability of Lawrence’s Self‐Esteem Questionnaire (LAWSEQ)

Lawrence’s Self‐Esteem Questionnaire (LAWSEQ) was administered to 120 Year 1 pupils in six schools in Belfast, Northern Ireland. A principal components analysis indicated that the scale items were unidimensional and that the reliability of the scores, as estimated by Cronbach’s alpha, was satisfactory (α = .73). There were no differences between boys and girls on either total scores or the individual items comprising the LAWSEQ. A follow‐up study, involving 71 of the children in Year 3, confirmed these findings but the stability of the scores between the two occasions (as indicated by Pearson’s r) was extremely low.     

The invisible obstacle to educational equality: gender bias in textbooks

Gender bias in textbooks (GBIT) is a low-profile education issue, given the 72,000,000 children who still have no access to schooling, but this article argues that GBIT is: (1) an important, (2) near-universal, (3) remarkably uniform, (4) quite persistent but (5) virtually invisible obstacle on the road to gender equality in education—an obstacle camouflaged by taken-for-granted stereotypes about gender roles. Specifically, GBIT: (1) is important because (a) textbooks occupy ~80% of classroom time, and (b) it may contribute to lowering girls’ achievements, especially in weak schools in poor countries; (2) has been found worldwide to varying degrees (except, perhaps, Sweden in recent years); (3) involves nearly identical patterns of under-representation of females, plus stereotypes of both genders’ occupational and household roles that overwhelmingly underplay women’s rising worldly importance; (4) is decreasing very slowly, according to “second generation” re-studies; and (5) remains obscured by the “hidden-in-plain-sight” system of gender stratification and roles. Case studies from Syria, India, Romania, China and the US document these points. Other case studies from Sweden and Latin America describe government initiatives to reduce GBIT, with differing levels of success. Totally revising textbooks (and curricula) to eliminate this bias is quite unlikely, partly because it is very costly. The article concludes by presenting inexpensive alternate methods that can combat GBIT.