Special education in France

ABSTRACT

The French special education system has been formed around two educational groups, according to the perception of the possibilities of schooling for disabled children and adolescents. One has been organized around learning difficulties, and concerns children and adolescents whose abnormality is produced by the school institution. The other was developed around re‐education, and the re‐education of disabled children refused admission by the schools. The 1970s witnessed the appearance of an indisputable official policy in favour of integration into schools, implemented through diverse and numerous private and public initiatives. This policy and these initiatives are being translated more and more clearly, in many respects, into reality, yet they come up against the prevailing ways of thinking on institutionalization of care and education of children said to be disabled. In particular, the persisting dichotomy between an educational approach which is focused on the management of learning difficulties in schools, and the education of children with disabilities rooted within a medical orientation, stressing ‘re‐education’ (the teaching of social skills to children) or ‘re‐adaptation’ (training of various sorts with the intention of improving employment prospects) continues to exert a strong influence on possible reforms.     

Setting Passing Scores on Passage-Based Tests: A Comparison of Traditional and Single-Passage Bookmark Methods

In this study, a variation of the bookmark standard setting procedure for passage-based tests is proposed in which separate ordered item booklets are created for the items associated with each passage. This variation is compared to the traditional bookmark procedure for a fifth-grade reading test. The results showed that the single-passage bookmark method produced greater consistency among the participants' cutscores, and most participants' bookmark placements did not change after the first round. In addition, participants reported greater understanding of the bookmarking task and greater confidence in their recommended cutscores. Both procedures required approximately the same amount of time to complete, but it is likely that the single-passage bookmark method could be carried out in two, or possibly even one, round of bookmarking rather than the three rounds used in traditional bookmarking. On the other hand, there are several concerns about the single-passage bookmark method that warrant further research. These include floor and ceiling effects, training issues, optimal booklet length, and multiple standards.     

Workload and injury incidence in elite football academy players

ABSTRACT

The aim of this study was to prospectively analyse the relationship between workloads and injury in elite football academy players. Elite football academy players (n = 122) from under-19 (U19) and under-21 (U21) of a professional football team competing in UEFA European Cups were followed during 5 seasons. Injuries were collected and absolute workload and workload ratios (4-weeks, 3-weeks, 2-weeks and week-to-week) calculated using a rolling days method with the help of the session Rate of Perceived Exertion. There was no association between absolute workload or workload ratio with the injury incidence in the U19. In the U21, the level of cumulative absolute workloads during 3-weeks (RR = 1.39, p = 0.026) and during 4-weeks (RR = 1.40, p = 0.019) were associated with an increase in injury. There was no association between workload ratio and injury in U21. The significant link between high cumulated 3-weeks and 4 weeks workloads and injury in U21 confirmed the requirement to monitor the internal subjective workload in U21 in order to prevent injury. Further studies exploring the relationships between workload and injury are required in football academy.     

Récupération de l’Information Sémantique en Mémoire: Recouvrement des Connaissances

European Journal of Psychology of Education - Dans cet article, nous avons tenté de montrer toute l’importance des activités de récupération de la représentation...     

Journal Peer Review and Editorial Evaluation: Cautious Innovator or Sleepy Giant?

Minerva - Peer review of journal submissions has become one of the most important pillars of quality management in academic publishing. Because of growing concerns with the quality and...     

How communication context impacts judgments of a potential peer mentor

Disclosure is a critical element of interpersonal relationships and individuals are often evaluated on what they share with others, whether in personal, professional, or learning contexts. Technology now allows for many different outlets for communicating with other people. We used experimental methods to explore the impact of communication medium (i.e. print diary, online diary, blog, or email) on psychosocial perceptions of a potential peer mentor. Female participants gave more positive mentor ratings on likeability, likeliness to disclose to the mentor, and perceived closeness than did males, but not on judgments of the mentor’s privacy. Participants judged the mentor to be more private when they viewed the print diary than in the online conditions and when reading the online diary than the blog (the least private condition). We also found that women were more likely to reciprocate disclosure when they viewed disclosures in the print condition than in the blog.     

Engineering graduates’ skill sets in the MENA region: a gap analysis of industry expectations and satisfaction

This study explored gaps between industry expectations and perceptions of engineering graduates’ skill sets in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. This study measured the importance that managers of engineers placed on 36 skills relevant to engineers. Also measured was managers’ satisfaction with engineering graduates’ skill sets. Importance and satisfaction were used to calculate skill gaps for each skill. A principal components analysis was then performed, consolidating the 36 skills into 8 categories. The means of importance, satisfaction, and skill gaps were ranked to determine the areas in which graduates needed improvement. Results showed significant gaps between managers’ expectations of and satisfaction with all 36 skills. The areas in which managers felt that graduates needed most improvement were communication, time management, and continuous learning. Managers reported that recent engineering graduates exhibited low overall preparedness for employment. These findings may help to inform curricular reform in engineering education.     

Measuring Determinants of Student Return VS. Dropout/Stopout VS. Transfer: A First-to-Second Year Analysis of New Freshmen

To reflect academic challenges and enrollment patterns of today’s freshmen, this study measures the impact of high school preparation, first-year academic performance, multi-institution enrollment, and financial aid support on second-year persistence. Using multi-year cohorts at a public research university, results confirm the importance of including first-year math experience, math intensity of the declared major, simultaneous enrollment at another college/university, and second-year financial aid offers when measuring freshmen retention. The positive impact of a large-scale, state-funded scholarship program in widening access to college must be balanced against findings that show academic performance and readiness to take on and pass first-year math to be more important than aid in explaining freshmen dropout and transfer-out during both first and second semesters. Middle-income students with greater levels of unmet need face an elevated departure risk, while academically well-prepared freshmen with unmet need are more likely to transfer to other institutions.