Speech and language therapy and the Knowles Edge Standards Fund Project: an evaluation of the service provided to a cluster of primary schools

In 2000, 25 speech and language therapy projects were established in schools in England, funded through the Standards Fund. An evaluation commissioned by the Government reported positive results and gave an overview of all the projects at a point approximately six months after their inception. Although there were common themes, it was quite clear that the projects differed widely in their structure and interpretation of the original brief.
In this article, Sue Roulstone, Professor of Speech and Language Therapy at the University of the West of England, and Rosalind Owen and Lucy French, both specialist speech and language therapists working for the United Bristol Healthcare NHS Trust, provide an in-depth report of one of the projects and its evaluation after 18 months.
The project, based on a systems analysis approach, targeted its interventions at the individual child, the parents, the teachers and therapists, the classrooms and schools, and more strategic levels in the health and education services. The article gives details of the 'interventions' for each component. An independent evaluation gathered qualitative and quantitative data that suggest that the new service had a positive impact on all aspects of the system. Children made gains in their speech and language; parents were informed and involved; therapists and teachers were more satisfied about their knowledge base; and systems changed within the schools to reflect and support the collaboration. The outcomes of the project led to a rolling out of the model to two more cluster groups of schools. A number of organisational structures were identified which support the ongoing collaboration. Details given in this article will enable others to identify whether or not this model might suit their local circumstances and be replicable in their context.     

Readiness: Should we make them ready or let them bloom?

The current emphasis on achievement of minimum competencies, basic education, and the pressure for early maturity has surfaced in early childhood as pressure for teachers to get their students ready for the next level. As teachers and caregivers, it is important for each of us to evaluate our view of the concept of readiness. We need to reconsider our definitions of readiness and how we apply these definitions to practice.Rosalind Charlesworth is Associate Professor at the College of Education, Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge.     

Assessing the Impact of Formula Funding on Schools

Abstract

Local management of schools was implemented in England and Wales from 1990/91. A crucial aspect of this implementation was the introduction of a new method of funding schools by formula. The impact of formula funding was investigated by means of statistical analysis of hypothesised determinants of the resulting budget changes experienced by all schools in one large local education authority over the financial years 1989/90 to 1991/92. While the largest determinant of budget changes was the change in pupil numbers, schools with high unit costs due to having excess capacity or being relatively small tended to lose budget. Above average staff costs contributed to budget losses in the primary sector but not in the secondary. Thus the formula promoted cost efficiency by reducing the number of schools which had large positive discrepancies between their unit costs and the average for their sector. Schools with higher proportions of socially disadvantaged pupils did not lose budget while schools with poor examination results did. The formula is shown to be a sensitive instrument by which LEAs can transmit policies such as those with respect to special needs and support for small schools.     

Small-group discussion in physics: Peer interaction modes in pairs and fours

The importance of group discussion in facilitating learning in science is widely acknowledged. At the same time, it is recognized that in the social context of small groups, peers' discussion processes and their subsequent learning are influenced by factors other than students' conceptual understanding. Focusing on the social processes of knowledge construction in group settings, this article investigates the ways Greek secondary school students interacted in pairs and fours while discussing and attempting to explain simple physical phenomena. The study showed that students progressed significantly more in their physics reasoning after participation in fours than pairs. Moreover, the analysis of discourse in the different groupings suggested that the differences in progress were related to the more constrained modes of interaction of pairs. © 1996 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Kohlbergian Contributions to Educational Programs for the Moral Development of Professionals

This paper discusses the contributions of Lawrence Kohlberg to the teaching of professional ethics. While rejecting Kohlberg's view that the most advanced stages of moral development must embrace utilitarian or Kantian principles, it agrees with Rest and others that postconventional reasoning is essential for professional ethics. However, it raises questions about how differentiations between conventional and postconventional reasoning can reliably be made. Finally, it suggests areas of psychological research other than moral reasoning that would contribute to the teaching of professional ethics.