Evaluation of Self by Young People with Down Syndrome

There have been relatively few studies of self-esteem with young people with moderate and severe intellectual disability. One reason for this is likely to be measurement difficulties. The purpose of the present study was to assess the usefulness of three measures of self-esteem in 72 young people with Down syndrome aged from 17 to 24 years. Forty-five young people, mean VMA 5 years 10 months, were assessed on the Pictorial Scale of Perceived Competence and Social Acceptance for Young Children and the Joseph PreSchool and Primary Self-Concept Screening Test. Nineteen young people, mean VMA 8 years 9 months, completed the Self-Perception Profile for Learning Disabled Students. Validity was assessed by reading scores and by interviews with the young people and their parents. Eight young people with the most severe intellectual disability could not do any test; the remainder were able to respond to the format of the appropriate tests. On all measures they rated themselves positively. Internal consistency estimates were high, but validity was only demonstrated for the Self-Perception Profile for Learning Disabled Students, supporting its use with the young people who had VMAs of around 7 years. Evaluation of self also showed a standard developmental trend.     

Phoneme awareness in language-delayed children: comparative studies and intervention

Our initial study compared 15 normally- developing and 13 language- delayed four- and- five- year- olds on a range of phoneme awareness tasks differing in the degree of explicit linguistic analysis required. The language- delayed group performed more poorly than the normally- developing children, and there were significant group differences on several tasks. A significant interaction effect reflected the particular difficulty the language- delayed group had with the more explicit tasks. Follow- up testing suggests that group differences are maintained over time and that the language- delayed children perform more poorly than the normally- developing children on tests of decoding and spelling at the end of first grade. An intervention study, training phoneme awareness skills in language-delayed kindergarten children, was undertaken with a new group of subjects. Fourteen language- delayed children participated in 16 training sessions over eight weeks. Fourteen normal and 14 language- delayed children served as controls. Only the language- delayed training group made significant gains from pre- to posttraining measures. Following training, the language-delayed training group performed similarly to normal controls and significantly better than language- delayed controls whom they had matched before intervention. One year later, the language-delayed children who received training maintained their gains on phoneme analysis tasks and performed significantly better than the language-delayed controls on reading measures. Educational implications are discussed.     

Educational Media and ‘Agit Prop’: II. The Vertov Process repatriated

In the preceding article, a 75‐year old educational media process involving interactive multimedia, formative evaluation, and a sophisticated distance education system, was described. Although these techniques are mainstays of modem educational technology, their origins in the work of 1920s' film director Dziga Vertov have not previously been recognised. The previous article registered the techniques' roots on the Leninist ‘agit prop’ film train, and their development by Vertov for social intervention purposes. It described their essence, a feedback process whereby media footage is viewed and discussed by its producers and the people it portrays, and used as a catalyst for mass education and change. The Vertov Process culminated during the 1930s in the work of Alexander Medvedkin before being suppressed by Stalin. The article charted the subsequent influence of Vertov's educational techniques on the European schools of film documentary led in Britain by John Grierson, and in France by the avant‐garde movement and by the anthropologist film‐maker Jean Rouch. In 1996, Vertov's centennial year, the two articles indicate the film‐maker's role as an unsung founding father of the modern educational media, and political and cultural reasons for the lack of recognition which his visionary educational impact has received.

Part II of the series examines the adoption of Vertov's techniques by French‐Canadian film‐makers, notably Michel Brault and Fernand Dansereau, in the early 1960s, and the manner in which their origins were further eclipsed by cultural and political discord within Canada's National Film Board. The implications of the process for educational media practitioners in the 1990s are discussed, and its 1995 repatriation on the railroads of the former Soviet Union by a team of educational media specialists from Britain, Canada, and Ukraine are described. The Vertov Process is seen as having unique modern potential, both as a catalyst for social change and as a means to maximise the effectiveness of the media's current and future content.     

‘Bunking off’: The impact of truancy on pupils and teachers

There is widespread interest in the impact of unauthorised absence on pupil attainment, links with disaffection, exclusion from school and criminality. However, little is heard about what those who take unauthorised absence from school think that the effect has been on them; nor do we hear the voices of other pupils and their teachers. This article presents evidence from a one‐year study of absence in seven local authorities in England funded by the Department for Education and Skills. It defines ‘truancy’, explores some issues from existing literature on pupil non‐attendance, and presents evidence to show the impact that absence from school has on truants, other pupils and teachers. Finally, it suggests that although the greatest impact is on the academic and socio‐psychological development of persistent absentees, the attitudes and learning of other pupils and the workload and morale of teachers are also affected.     

The culture of the classroom: Socialization in an urban bilingual classroom

This article reports on an ethnographic study of a fourth-grade bilingual classroom. The focus of the article is on the culture that is created in this classroom and how children are socialized to it. Three themes are explored: socialization around being engaged learners, socialization to participate in a community of learners, and socialization to be second-language learners. I argue that the culture of the classroom for students who typically do poorly in school and who have negative experiences in school, such as the poor, urban Latino students in this study, must be one that has different roles, values, beliefs, and expectations than what exists in the cultures outside the classroom. In this way, the children experience school in positive ways which can lead to school success.     

Educational Media and ‘Agit Prop’: I. The legacy of Vertov

A 75 year‐old educational media process, involving interactive multimedia, formative evaluation, and a sophisticated distance education system, is described. Although these techniques are mainstays of modem educational technology, their origins in the work of 1920s' film director Dziga Vertov have not previously been recognised. This article (the first of a 2‐part paper) registers the techniques' roots on the Leninist ‘agit prop’ film train, and their development by Vertov for social intervention purposes. It describes their essence, a feedback process whereby media footage is viewed and discussed by its producers and the people it portrays, and used as a catalyst for mass education and change. The Vertov Process culminated during the 1930s in the work of Alexander Medvedkin before being suppressed by Stalin. The article charts the subsequent influence of Vertov's educational techniques on the European schools of film documentary led in Britain by John Grierson, and in France by the avant‐garde movement and by the anthropologist film‐maker Jean Rouch. In 1996, Vertov's centennial year, the two articles indicate the film‐maker's role as an unsung founding father of the modern educational media, and political and cultural reasons for the lack of recognition which his visionary educational impact has received.     

The relationship between musical ability and literacy skills

Research has shown that a relationship exists between phonological awareness and literary skills. It has been suggested that a structured programme of musical activities can be used to help children develop a multi-sensory awareness and response to sounds. The relationship between musical ability and literacy skills was examined in a study that showed an association between rhythmic ability and reading. A further pilot intervention study showed that training in musical skills is a valuable additional strategy for assisting children with reading difficulties.     

Nature,Nurture, and Perceptions of the Classroom Environment as They Relate to Teacher‐Assessed Academic Achievement: A twin study of nine‐year‐olds

Although prior research has examined children’s perceptions of the classroom environment as related to academic achievement, genetically sensitive designs have not been employed. In the first study of its kind for the primary school classroom environment, data were collected for 3,020 pairs of nine‐year‐old identical and fraternal twin pairs in same and different classrooms on their perceptions in six domains: social integration, opportunity, adventure, general satisfaction, negative affect, and teachers. Data were also collected for teacher‐assessed academic achievement (ACH). Modest genetic influence was found for children’s perceptions of the classroom environment: an average of .33, .06, .25, .27, .19, and .20 of the variance, respectively. Non‐shared environment played a more influential role, accounting for an average of .58, .78, .64, .60, .69, and .65 of the variance, respectively. Negative affect, adventure, social integration, and opportunity were significantly, albeit modestly, associated with ACH. Results suggest that perceptions of the classroom environment are driven primarily by child‐specific experiences, and that such perceptions, although experientially important, are less important for ACH.     

“Science-trained professionals”—A new breed for the new century

If students of science are to have more career options in the future, the people who hire and work with them are going to have to know more science and more about what scientists do. That's one of the conclusions of a recent study of the perceptions and realities that young and mid-career physical scientists are having to cope with in a post-cold war environment. It's also the conclusion of a survey of CEO's from 500 of the Fortune 1000 companies in the U.S, undertaken in September and October 1995 by the Johnson School of Management at Cornell. Corporations are becoming more and more concerned about science and technological illiteracy on the part of their managers.Sheila Tobias is not a scientist or a mathematician, but the author of seven books on science and mathematics education. Her most recent, in collaboration with policy analyst Daryl Chubin and physicist Kevin Aylesworth, is Rethinking Science as a Career: Perceptions and Realities in the Physical Sciences, available from Research Corporation, 101 N. Wilmot Road, Tucson, Arizona for $2.50 per copy. In 1995–1996, she is spending three months at the University of Amsterdam as a visiting consultant in physics and science and society.     

Transitions in the representation and implementation of a language-learning project within a multicultural context

European Journal of Psychology of Education - The paper explores the involvement of teachers, children, and parents in a project based on learning a second language (L2) within a multicultural...