Discussion Paper—Working Towards Inclusion: "I am another other"

It is argued that the most basic discrimination is between same and different. It is one of the earliest concepts that humans learn. It is socially transmitted from carer to infant - me and not-me. Variations between people present a mixed blessing. Whether people get on peaceably or war with one another is highly related to the differences they perceive between them. Dominant and powerful humans often choose to include or exclude weaker individuals on the basis of similarities or differences. Thus, two of the the main sources of divisions in our society, racism and sexism, can be said to be caused by the emotional impact human discriminations have upon ordinary life. This paper reasons that, to address discrimination and move towards more fully promoting the inclusion agenda, we have to provide regular meaningful dialogues between pupils and teachers, and we have to individually examine and adjust our own less-social perceptions, values and actions. All of us need to experience and hear each other's points of view, and the differences between us have to be acknowledged and explored, rather than ignored and denied.     

Interpreting change in educational equity

The effect of changes in state revenue, property wealth, and enrollment from 1969–1970 to 1976–1977 on the equality of total educational revenue was investigated for nineteen states with available data. An exploratory two-stage methodology allowed a simulation of the effects of holding each of these factors at their 1969–1970 values and comparing the result with 1976–1977 predicted values. It was found that changes in state revenue were most equalizing, while changes in property wealth and enrollment were disequalizing. In addition, it was found that the change in the behavioral relationship between state revenue, property wealth, and enrollment, and local revenues from 1969–1970 to 1976–1977 was equalizing in twelve of the states and was larger than the change in the value of the most important of these factors (state revenue) in seven of the states.     

‘This nation under God’: The broadcast and film commission of the national council of churches and the new medium of television

Throughout American history that form of Protestantism that designates itself and is publicly conceived as “old‐time religion” has regularly been the innovator in the area of media. In stark contrast, its more staid establishment counterpart has tended to be antagonistic to these new media, dismissing them with harsh theological and aesthetic judgments. In this process, the self‐proclaimed theological conservatives actually behaved in remarkably adaptive and imaginative ways, while the self‐proclaimed liberal establishment often acted as the cultural conservator, pressing for the preservation of the status quo. This article seeks to understand why those Protestants who define themselves as “modernist” and “adaptive” have been far less successful in using the media than their conservative “anti‐modernist” counterparts. The focus is upon a case study—the reception of television by the Broadcast and Film Commission of the National Council of Churches. The conclusion is ironic: those Protestants who depended upon “modern,” “social scientific” criterion to guide their television policies fundamentally misunderstood the power of television and its impact upon society.     

Patterns of reported child abuse and neglect

Confirmed reports of abuse and neglect logged in a large state registry file from 1977 to 1984 are analyzed. Boys tend to sustain more frequent and more serious injuries. Victims of male perpetrators tend to sustain more serious injuries. A modest same-sex perpetrator/victim pattern is revealed for physical abuse; males are more likely to physically abuse boys while females are more likely to physically abuse girls. Among younger victims (aged 12 and younger) boys outnumber girls in all reporting categories except sexual abuse. Among adolescent victims, female victims greatly outnumber male victims in all reporting categories. Similarities between adolescent physical abuse and spouse abuse are noted; males are are the predominant perpetrators and females the predominant victims. As expected, victim age emerged as a strong predictor of severity of physical abuse injury. Several other factors including social isolation, mental health problems, lower income, and unemployment of the father are identified as modest predictors of severity.     

Social issues in high school biology textbooks: 1963– 1983

Twenty-two high school biology textbooks published between 1963 and 1983 were analyzed for their treatment of social issues. Textbooks were selected from among those used most frequently by teachers and/or having the highest sales. The textbooks were read in random order and the amount of space, to the nearest tenth of a page, devoted to each social issue was expressed as a percentage of total length of text. The results showed that attention to social issues decreased between 1963 and 1983 in the textbooks studied. The implications of these results for biology education in the 1980s are discussed.     

Anonymous versus public student feedback systems: metacognition and achievement with graduate learners

Educational technology research and development - The aim of this repeated measures study was to examine an anonymous student feedback system (delivered using clickers) versus a public student...     

Comparison of interrater reliability on the torrance tests of creative thinking for gifted and nongifted students

Despite their widespread use in identifying and evaluating programs for gifted and talented students, the Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking were standardized on samples that excluded gifted children. The interrater reliability of measures like the TTCT has been questioned repeatedly, yet studies with average students have demonstrated high interrater reliability. This study compares the interrater reliability of the TTCT for groups of gifted and nongifted elementary-school-aged students. Results indicated most interrater reliability coefficients exceeding .90 for both gifted and nongifted groups. However, multivariate analysis of variance indicated significant mean differences across the three self-trained raters for both gifted and nongifted groups. Consequently, use of a single scorer to evaluate TTCT protocols is recommended, especially where specific cutoff scores are used to select students.