Contractual school psychological services: Prevalence and practices

This study investigated the prevalence and practices of contract school psychological services in public schools. A survey was sent to all 121 school districts in a southeastern state, with 111 surveys completed for a response rate of 92%. Results indicated that most school districts did not believe that contracting is cost effective. The primary service provided by contractual service providers was triennial reevaluations. The administrator most often charged with the hiring and supervision of contract providers was not a school psychologist. The credential most often required of a contracting psychologist was a State Board of Psychology license, with only a few requiring documentation of relevant coursework or experience. The results of this study indicated that the most pressing concern for the profession of school psychology regarding contractual services is ensuring that contract services are provided and monitored according to appropriate standards of practice. © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Technique and timing in the women's reverse two and one half somersault tuck (305C) and the men's reverse two and one half somersault pike (305B) 3m springboard dives

The purpose of this study was to compare the reverse two and one half somersault dive in a tuck position (305C) performed by females (n = 24), and the reverse two and one half somersault dive in a pike position (305B) performed by males (n = 21), to determine changes required by females to successfully perform 305B. Key performance variables in reverse dives were also compared to those of forward dives. Video data of the dives performed at the 1999 FINA World Diving Cup were captured and digitised to obtain times and postures of the divers at specific events including hurdle landing, takeoff, and entry. Estimates of hurdle flight height and mass-normalised work done on the springboard were obtained from hurdle and flight times. The males did more work on the springboard to achieve greater height and rotation than females. Females performing 305C had less hip and knee flexion at hurdle landing than males performing 305B and took longer to achieve maximum hip flexion after takeoff from the springboard. To progress from 305C to 305B females need to adjust their techniques to put more energy into the system. Desirable changes include increased height in the hurdle and increased hip and knee flexion prior to hurdle landing. Comparison of results for reverse dives with data previously presented for forward dives indicated that divers are more limited in the number of somersaults and dive position in reverse dives than forward dives despite equivalent or better height in reverse dives than forward dives.     

Professional Issues: Documentation of Emotional and Mental Disabilities: The Role of the Counseling Center

Students with emotional disabilities are attending institutions of higher education in increasing numbers. To assist counseling centers in their role of reviewing documentation for accommodation requests, suggestions are offered about who may be qualified to provide the evaluation and what information the evaluation should contain.     

The Methodology of the 'Views and Visions Project' of Land Use-UK: Practices,issues, decisions and experiences

The Land Use-UK Project was conducted with the support of teachers and students in schools throughout the UK. At the time they acted as surveyors of the landscape and, as well as mapping the land use, students recorded their perceptions of what they had seen together with their views for the future. Referred to now as the 'Views and Visions Project', these collective opinions from mostly whole class groups of students provide a database of 1287 responses. Along with the richness of discovery and meaning which the readings of these narratives of landscape experience provide, there have been many decisions to be made regarding the appropriate style and strategies needed for development of the data and interpretation and analysis of the research. This paper provides a reflection on the methodological decisions taken from the personal perspective of the authors as well as some critical comment on the limitations and possibilities of this essentially qualitative research approach.     

The Effects of Word‐Learning Biases on Children's Concept of Angle

Despite evidence that young children are sensitive to differences in angle measure, older students frequently struggle to grasp this important mathematical concept. When making judgments about the size of angles, children often rely on erroneous dimensions such as the length of the angles' sides. The present study tested the possibility that this misconception stems from the whole‐object word‐learning bias by providing a subset of children with a separate label to refer to the whole angle figure. Thirty preschoolers (M = 4.86 years, SD = .53) were tested with a pretest–training–posttest design. At pretest, children showed evidence of the whole‐object misconception. After training, children who were given a novel‐word label for the whole object improved significantly more than those trained on the meaning of “angle” alone.     

Does e-government reduce the administrative burden of businesses? An assessment of business-to-government systems usage in the Netherlands

The reduction of the administrative burden on businesses is an important governmental policy objective. Electronic government is presented as a promising reduction strategy in many countries. Underlying assumptions and mechanisms are hardly ever made explicit and scientific evidence of successful implementations is scarce. This paper presents an assessment of business-to-government systems in use in the Netherlands. Results show that organizational characteristics are the most influencing factors of perceived burden reduction and implementation effectiveness. Whereas perceived organizational benefits positively relate to the overall confirmation of the former system adoption decision. Surprisingly the quantitative, usage related characteristics do not present any statistical relevance. These findings help us understand existing differences in appreciation between business and governmental representatives on the successfulness of e-government projects in reducing the administrative burden on businesses. Furthermore, research results can help to enhance the effectiveness of e-government policy and measurement instruments.     

Positionierungen zu „Elite“ und „Exzellenz“ in gymnasialen Bildungsregionen – Eine „Gretchenfrage“ für Schulleiter exklusiver Gymnasien?

Looking at two urban higher education regions, in this paper we investigate the question of which positions head teachers of “exclusive” German gymnasiums adopt with regard to concepts such as ‘elite’, ‘excellence’ and thus also to schools’ attempts to distinguish their own profiles in the education system, all the while bearing in mind the context of public discourses about ‘elite’ and ‘excellence’. In doing so, we reconstruct four modes of dealing with the elite concept. All of these modes—even the most positive references—show that for “exclusive” German Gymnasiums the term ‘elite’ is precariously situated, associated as it is with a considerable need for legitimation. By contrast, it is not problematic to refer to a meritocratic elite concept that involves functional academic and leadership elites in the sense of excellence. On the other hand, any association of these upper secondary schools with power, financial and business elites does seem highly problematic and is vehemently rejected. This clear rejection occurs—and this is the central thesis of this article—because otherwise meritocracy itself, as the hegemonic academic form of legitimation, would be threatened to its very core.