The Arts and Open‐Mindedness

Open‐mindedness is typically considered an intellectual virtue that brings humans into (closer) contact with reality and its complexities. In this essay, Susan Verducci expands the ways we typically think of cultivating open‐mindedness in classrooms to include the practice of engagement with the visual and performing arts. Working with the arts allows students and teachers to perceive and embody realities they would not normally experience. Specifically, the arts enable the drawing forth and exploration of multiple and subjective interpretations; the arts can therefore be uniquely productive in opening minds by helping one negotiate human perceptual constraints, by providing opportunities to enter standpoints other than one's own, and by encouraging the practice of living with uncertainty and ambiguity.     

Validating the Emotion-Focused Interactions Scale for teacher–student interactions

Learning Environments Research - Teacher–student interactions contribute to the quality of the classroom environment. Although numerous measures of these interactions exist, few target the...     

Nutrition for the young athlete

Athletics is a popular sport among young people. To maintain health and optimize growth and athletic performance, young athletes need to consume an appropriate diet. Unfortunately, the dietary intake of many young athletes follows population trends rather than public health or sports nutrition recommendations. To optimize performance in some disciplines, young athletes may strive to achieve a lower body weight or body fat content and this may increase their risk for delayed growth and maturation, amenorrhoea, reduced bone density, and eating disorders. Although many of the sports nutrition principles identified for adults are similar to those for young athletes, there are some important differences. These include a higher metabolic cost of locomotion and preferential fat oxidation in young athletes during exercise. Young athletes, particularity children, are at a thermoregulatory disadvantage due to a higher surface area to weight ratio, a slower acclimatization, and lower sweating rate. An appropriate dietary intake rather than use of supplements (except when clinically indicated) is recommended to ensure young athletes participate fully and safely in athletics.     

Tracking club sport participation from childhood to early adulthood

This study examined the strength of tracking sport participation from childhood to early adulthood among the Dunedin Multidisciplinary Health and Development Study cohort. Participation in sport, dance, or gymnastics as part of a club or group (outside of school) was assessed at ages 7, 9, 15, 18, and 21 years. In addition to the traditionally used correlation coefficients, summary statistics (intraclass correlations; ICC) from random effect models and stability coefficients from generalized estimating equations (GEE) were calculated using all the longitudinal data and controlling for the influence of covariates on tracking strength. Correlation coefficients revealed statistically significant tracking of club sport participation (7-21 years) at low levels (r = .07-0.28). The ICC summary statistic (0.23) was consistent with this, while the GEE suggested moderate tracking (0.59). The results of this study suggest that encouraging sport participation during childhood and adolescence may result in a modest increase in the likelihood of participation later in life. However, the substantial movement into and out of sport participation observed here and in other studies cautions against relying solely on sport promotion among youth as a strategy to promote lifelong participation.     

Interjudge agreement in classifying students as learning disabled

Eighteen judges with backgrounds in assessment, decision making, and learning disabilities were asked to use an array of information to differentiate learning disabled and nonlearning disabled students. Each judge was provided with forms containing information on 42 test or subtest scores of 50 school-identified LD students and 49 non-LD students. Judges were extremely inaccurate in their classifications and in little agreement with each other. Also, it appeared that different judges emphasized different factors when making their decisions. The results suggest that, given current definitions of the condition called “learning disabilities,” there is considerable doubt that school personnel can accurately and reliably identify such students.     

A review of the literature on Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder children: Peer interactions and collaborative learning

ADHD children may have social skill deficits in at least three main areas: social communication, poor emotional regulation, and social-cognitive biases. They also have cognitive difficulties which have implications for their learning. Based on a review of the literature, it is argued that maladaptive classroom peer interactions for ADHD children may disadvantage their learning on collaborative tasks. Although the literature is sparse in the area of peer interactions and collaborative learning for ADHD children, some suggestions for practice and future research are suggested. © 1996 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Expanding roles or evolving identity? Doctoral school psychologists in school vs. nonschool practice settings

The purpose of this study was to investigate variables related to the professional identity and career path of school-based vs. non-school-based doctoral-level school psychologists. Two hundred seventy-three psychologists trained as school psychologists completed a questionnaire developed to investigate their training, experience, and perceptions. Respondents differed little by employment setting (school-based vs. non-school-based) in reports of their training or experiences. However, significant differences were found among groups in two areas: ratings of relative importance of characteristics of employment setting, and perceived identity as a school psychologist.