“A Constant Transit of Finding”: Fantasy as Realisation in <Emphasis Type="Italic">Pan’s Labyrinth</Emphasis>

This article considers Guillermo Del Toro’s Pan’s Labyrinth as a text which utilises key codes and conventions of children’s literature as a means of encountering the trauma of Fascism. The article begins by placing Pan’s Labyrinth at a contextual crossroads involving fairy tale and a Spanish cinematic tradition and considers the significance of the text as a hybrid creation. It then explores some of the tropes and motifs that are re-imagined within the narrative. There follows an investigation of the film as a testament to the importance of fiction and fantasy when faced with the very real consequences of war, oppression and trauma. Finally, Pan’s Labyrinth is considered alongside a heritage of children’s literature whose motifs, symbols and figures are remarkably available for appropriation, re-invention and renewal.     

From inclusion to access： Paradigm shifts in special education

From the Salamanca Statement in 1994 to the Dakar Framework in 2000, UNESCO （United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization） has spearheaded an international movement for acceptance, equity and access in the education of students with disabilities. Inclusion, mandated in Salamanca, is considered the first step. Today, the focus is upon the identification and implementation of educational models that ensure access. This article discusses paradigm shifts taking place in special education in schools of the United States that respond to the ideals set forth in these statements： cultural competency, universal design for learning and collaborative models of assessment and instruction. Practices discussed here can provide guidance for educators worldwide as they strive toward the goals of Salamanca and Dakar.     

Individualizing Student Instruction Precisely: Effects of Child × Instruction Interactions on First Graders' Literacy Development

Recent findings demonstrate that the most effective reading instruction may vary with children's language and literacy skills. These Child × Instruction interactions imply that individualizing instruction would be a potent strategy for improving students' literacy. A cluster-randomized control field trial, conducted in 10 high-moderate poverty schools, examined effects of individualizing literacy instruction. The instruction each first grader received ( n = 461 in 47 classrooms, mean age = 6.7 years) during fall, winter, and spring was recorded. Comparing intervention-recommended amounts of instruction with observed amounts revealed that intervention teachers individualized instruction more precisely than did comparison teachers. Importantly, the more precisely the children received recommended amounts of instruction, the stronger was their literacy skill growth. Results provide strong evidence of Child × Instruction interaction effects on literacy outcomes.     

Children's adjustment problems in families characterized by men's severe violence toward women: Does other family violence matter?

ObjectiveThis research examined whether additional forms of family violence (partner-child aggression, mother-child aggression, and women's intimate partner violence [IPV]) contribute to children's adjustment problems in families characterized by men's severe violence toward women.MethodsParticipants were 258 children and their mothers recruited from domestic violence shelters. Mothers and children completed measures of men's IPV, women's IPV, partner-child aggression, and mother-child aggression. Mothers provided reports of children's internalizing and externalizing behavior problems; children provided reports of their appraisals of threat in relation to interparent conflict.ResultsAfter controlling for sociodemographics and men's IPV: (1) each of the additional forms of family violence (partner-child aggression, mother-child aggression, and women's IPV) was associated with children's externalizing problems; (2) partner-child aggression was associated with internalizing problems; and (3) partner-child aggression was associated with children's threat appraisals. The relation of mother-child aggression to externalizing problems was stronger for boys than for girls; gender differences were not observed for internalizing problems or threat appraisals.ConclusionsMen's severe IPV seldom occurs in the absence of other forms of family violence, and these other forms appear to contribute to children's adjustment problems. Parent-child aggression, and partner-child aggression in particular, are especially important. Systematic efforts to identify shelter children who are victims of parental violence seem warranted.Practice implicationsMen's severe IPV seldom occurs in the absence of other forms of family violence (partner-child aggression, mother-child aggression, and women's IPV), and these different forms of family violence all contribute to children's adjustment problems. Treatment programs for children who come to domestic violence shelters should address these different forms of family violence, especially parent-child aggression.     

Improving access to the international coverage of reports of controlled trials in electronic databases: a search of the Australasian Medical Index

Introduction: Locating reports of trials from journals not indexed in the major databases presents difficulties to systematic reviewers, and may be a factor in improving the reliability of the reviews. Objectives: To identify and make available reports of controlled trials from the Australasian Medical Index (AMI). To measure the quality of indexing of trials in AMI. Methods: Using a highly sensitive search strategy consisting of methodology indexing and free‐text terms, records from AMI were read for reports of controlled trials. Trials meeting the criteria were submitted for inclusion in The Cochrane Controlled Trials Register (CCTR) and assessed for the quality of their indexing. Results: 3621 records were downloaded, of which 512 were identified as reports of controlled trials (317 RCTs; 195 CCTs) and submitted to CCTR. The precision of methodology indexing terms was 60%, but sensitivity just 18%. The quality of indexing of trials was generally poor with only 50 tagged with the RCT/CCT publication type term. 453 reports (88%) were not previously available in CCTR. Conclusions: The large proportion of trials found to be unique to the AMI database increases the pool of studies available to systematic reviewers, and helps ensure CCTR remains the most comprehensive source of trials.     

Parents' reflections on their children being excluded

Abstract

The human cost of exclusion is not confined to the student. Parents of excluded students feel they are judged as unworthy parents and are mere observers to a decision that has radical implications for their son's/daughter's future education. As partners in the educational enterprise of their child, they are often powerless in the exclusion process and are voiceless in the discourse that surrounds the decision to exclude as well as the decisions regarding future education options. The parents' experience of exclusion is a side of the exclusion story that is not often heard. This article describes how a group of parents experienced their son's/daughter's mainstream schooling and exclusion from a mainstream secondary school. The parents' story is passionate, painful and poignant. It highlights the need for the continued development of inclusive practices in mainstream schools.     

Effective Classroom Instruction: Implications of Child Characteristics by Reading Instruction Interactions on First Graders' Word Reading Achievement

Too many children fail to learn how to read proficiently with serious consequences for their overall well-being and long term success in school. This may be because providing effective instruction is more complex than many of the current models of reading instruction portray; there are child characteristic by instruction (CXI) interactions. Here we present efficacy results for a randomized control field trial of the Individualizing Student Instruction (ISI) intervention, which relies on dynamic system forecasting intervention models to recommend amounts of reading instruction for each student, taking into account CXI interactions that consider his or her vocabulary and reading skills. The study, conducted in seven schools with 25 teachers and 396 first graders, revealed that students in the ISI intervention classrooms demonstrated significantly greater reading skill gains by spring than did students in control classrooms. Plus, they were more likely to receive differentiated reading instruction based on CXI interaction guided recommended amounts than were students in control classrooms. The precision with which students received the recommended amounts of each type of literacy instruction, the distance from recommendation, also predicted reading outcomes.