Mass Communications

Ted Perry (ed.) Performing Arts Resources: 1974 (New York: Drama Books Specialists/Theater Library Association, 1974—price not known)

George N. Gordon's Communications and Media: Constructing a Cross-Discipline (New York: Hastings House, 1975—$12.50/6.95)

Francisco J. Lewels Jr.'s The Uses of the Media by the Chicano Movement: A Study in Minority Access (New York: Praeger Special Studies, 1974— $15.00)

Lester Asheim and Sara I. Fenwick's Differentiating the Media (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1975—$5.95)

C.A. Schicke's Revolution in Sound: A Biography of the Recording Industry (Boston: Little, Brown, 1974—$6.95)

T. Jan Wiseman and Molly J. Wiseman's Creative Communicati Teaching Mass Media (Minneapolis: National Scholastic Press Association at the University of Minnesota, 1974—price not given, paper)     

Understanding the Formation, Functions, and Challenges of Grassroots Leadership Teams

This study examined the nature, characteristics, and challenges of grassroots leadership teams and the role of these factors in promoting cognitive complexity in order to provide insight into collective forms of bottom-up change. The study is framed by the literature on leadership teams. Using interviews from a case study conducted at five higher education campuses, we explored two types of leadership teams (sense-making and problem-solving) across different initiatives. The results from this study extend the literature on bottom-up change, leadership, and grassroots teams.     

A Model for Computer-based Assessment: The catherine wheel principle

The success of computer-based assessment systems is based on a structured approach to design and implementation together with a model that generates efficient and effective standards and procedures. This paper proposes a model that utilises a step-wise approach to assessment design and implementation within which the management and assessment of operational, technical, pedagogic and financial risks are made explicit. It is the strategies for risk elimination that form the basis for the standards and procedures adopted.     

A new look at the professional training of secondary school mathematics teachers

Typical patterns followed in American colleges and universities in the preparation of mathematics teachers are inadequate for at least four reasons: some mathematics courses are perceived by students as irrelevant, the preparation is often not in step with societal changes, little attention is given to developing a solid understanding of mathematics content which is particularly important for secondary teachers, and insufficient emphasis is placed on the big ideas and unifying themes which pervade all of mathematics. This article discusses the reasons for these shortcomings and suggests a possible remedy involving the design of a program based on the intersection of certain needs of a secondary teacher and certain mathematics courses studied by prospective teachers.     

Negative instances and the acquisition of the mathematical concepts of commutativity and associativity

The effects of negative instances in the acquisition of the mathematical concepts of commutativity and associativity were examined. Two treatment levels for commutativity (positive instances or positive and negative instances) and the same treatment levels for associativity were crossed to form a 2 × 2 factorial design with 21 subjects per cell. Subjects were undergraduate elementary education majors. Criterion variables were number of correct responses, stimulus intervals, and postfeedback intervals. Results supported the contention that negative instances enhance concept acquisition but also appear to require more time during treatments. No evidence for a transfer effect for negative instances from one concept to another was found.     

Learning disabilities in minority adolescents

Summary Seventy “predelinquent” disadvantaged seventh-grade students and 30 controls were compared on fifteen variables. It was found that the experimental group was significantly behind the controls in reading, grade-point-average, IQ test scores (verbal and nonverbal), as well as on measures of visual-motor and auditory perceptual functioning. It appears that the experimental youngsters display a syndrome usually considered to evidence specific learning disabilities. However, in this type of population it is difficult to separate the effects of environmentally determined deficits from inherent deficits. Therefore, it was not possible to estimate the incidence of true specific learning disabilities. On the other hand, it was suggested that regardless of the etiology of the deficits, these children could profit from the same types of educational opportunities as have been found well-suited to aid children with learning disabilities.     

A group randomized controlled trial evaluating parent involvement in whole-school actions to reduce bullying

Parents can significantly affect children's peer relationships, including their involvement in bullying. The authors developed and evaluated ways to enhance parents’ knowledge, self-efficacy, attitudes, and skills related to parent–child communication about bullying. The 3-year Friendly Schools Friendly Families whole-school intervention included a family component, which provided training and resources to support school teams to engage families in awareness-raising and skill-building activities. Over 3,200 parents of the Grade 2, 4, and 6 cohorts were recruited. For the Grade 2 and 4 cohorts at both 10 and 22 months postintervention, the family component increased parents’ self-efficacy to talk about bullying with their children and their frequency of doing so. Grade 4 parents reported more provictim attitudes at 22 months. No differences were found for the Grade 6 cohort. These data suggest a whole-school capacity-building intervention in early and middle childhood can improve the likelihood and frequency of positive parent–child communication about bullying.     

Young people and alternative provision: Perspectives from participatory–collaborative evaluations in three UK local authorities

This article reports the findings of four separately commissioned evaluations of alternative provision (AP) undertaken in three local authorities in the UK. The evaluations were specifically predicated on the principles of children's rights and used a combination of qualitative research methods and documentary analysis to elicit the experiences of young people in conjunction with the viewpoints of key stakeholders. Data from each evaluation was gathered over a total period of 6 years. The sites and time scales for each evaluation varied from 6-month authority-wide strategic reviews to a 3-year evaluation of an AP free school and an evaluation of pupil referrals in a large school partnership. The evaluations involved 200 participant children and young people, 30 managers and stakeholders, 8 parents of non-attending pupils and local authority officers and school governors. The evaluations report the complexity of needs amongst children and young people; the continuing problem of unsuccessful transitions between key phases/stages of education and the profound consequences of this for young people; assumptions around mainstream reintegration and managed moves; and the curriculum challenges of vocationalism and academic emphasis. While the research data confirms the positive value of multi-agency approaches in AP, it also shows a more recent troubling increase in the number of young people now being referred to AP as a consequence of their exposure to performative school cultures.