Path analysis of self-efficacy and diving performance revisited

The Feltz (1982) path analysis of the relationship between diving efficacy and performance showed that, over trials, past performance was a stronger predictor than self-efficacy of performance. Bandura (1997) criticized the study as statistically "overcontrolling" for past performance by using raw past performance scores along with self-efficacy as predictors of performance. He suggests residualizing past performance by regressing the raw scores on self-efficacy and entering them into the model to remove prior contributions of self-efficacy imbedded in past performance scores. To resolve this controversy, we reanalyzed the Feltz data using three statistical models: raw past performance, residual past performance, and a method that residualizes past performance and self-efficacy. Results revealed that self-efficacy was a stronger predictor of performance in both residualized models than in the raw past performance model. Furthermore, the influence of past performance on future performance was weaker when the residualized methods were conducted.     

Embers to bonfires: an analysis of early childhood teacher training in Zambia

This study examined a five-year project initiated by the Women’s Global Connection (WGC) to train pre-primary teachers in schools serving HIV/AIDS orphans in Zambia. The researchers evaluated the contextual factors of the training initiative to clarify why some teachers possess high self-efficacy, while others do not. The article analyses the self-report survey responses of all training participants and also describes compelling interview narratives obtained from a random sampling of extreme groups. When stories from the groups were compared, factors emerged that had enabled some participants to feel more successful than others. The researchers selected the Success Case Method (SCM) as a research process for its straightforward determination of the impact of organisational initiatives on the organisation’s project goals. The results may guide international teacher training for developing countries.     

Permanent Supports or Temporary Props? Supply Workers in State Schools and the National Health Service

Supply teachers are playing a growing role in many schools across England and Wales as a result of staff shortages and the demands of implementing the 1988 Education Reform Act. However, little research has been conducted into this female dominated section of the teaching force despite governmental concern about the motivation and recruitment of supply teachers, and recent deteriorations in their pay and conditions of service. This paper uses data from a comparative case‐study of cover arrangements in a ‘Shire’ Local Education Authority and District Health Authority to examine three issues relevant to the future of supply workers. First, the motivation and domestic contexts of those becoming supply workers are identified. Second, I examine how these variables shape individuals’ experiences of casual work. Both of these factors play a significant part in determining whether supply workers intend to continue with their work. Finally, I identify local authority support structures as a central factor affecting the retention of supply workers. The comparative approach adopted here helps identify those variables affecting the motivation and continued availability of cover staff which are specific to schools, and those shared by at least one other local sector of the welfare state. The paper concludes by arguing that if local authority support for supply teachers continue to deteriorate, increasing numbers of casual staff are likely to look for alternative forms of employment.     

Helpful Resources for Childbirth Educators and Parents

In this column, reviewers offer perspectives and comments on a variety of current media resources (books, DVDs, booklets, and teaching aids) that address pregnancy and birth.     

Helpful Resources for Childbirth Educators and Parents

In this column, reviewers offer perspectives and comments on a variety of books and DVDs that address topics related to maternity care in the United States, health and childbearing experiences of women in third-world countries, traumatic birth, and pregnancy massage.     

Creating a Progress‐Monitoring System in Reading for Middle‐School Students: Tracking Progress Toward Meeting High‐Stakes Standards

In this study, we examined the reliability and validity of curriculum‐based measures (CBM) in reading for indexing the performance of secondary‐school students. Participants were 236 eighth‐grade students (134 females and 102 males) in the classrooms of 17 English teachers. Students completed 1‐, 2‐, and 3‐minute reading aloud and 2‐, 3‐, and 4‐minute maze selection tasks. The relation between performance on the CBMs and the state reading test were examined. Results revealed that both reading aloud and maze selection were reliable and valid predictors of performance on the state standards tests, with validity coefficients above .70. An exploratory follow‐up study was conducted in which the growth curves produced by the reading‐aloud and maze‐selection measures were compared for a subset of 31 students from the original study. For these 31 students, maze selection reflected change over time whereas reading aloud did not. This pattern of results was found for both lower‐ and higher‐performing students. Results suggest that it is important to consider both performance and progress when examining the technical adequacy of CBMs. Implications for the use of measures with secondary‐level students for progress monitoring are discussed.     

Writing the wave: an argument for the didactic imperative of the British radical socialist literary tradition and its influence in the Australian context

This essay argues for the recognition of the importance of the continuity of the historical British radical socialist literary tradition for the role that this tradition has played in the education of the working class and the evolution of modern western adult education. It is further proposed that that this tradition has been perennially marginalized by the dominance of the liberal tradition and its partnership in the hegemony of capitalism. The suggestion is made that, through the cultural practice of absorption, the liberal tradition has laid claim to many of those advancements in working class education which are more truthfully products of the radical socialist tradition. The influence of the British tradition on the development of the Australian radical socialist literary tradition is discussed. It is argued that it is the radical socialist tradition that carries a message of hope for the great mass of humanity, providing an alternative social perspective to the cynicism of capitalism’s economic Darwinism. The case is made for a re-valuing and continuity of a distinct socialist literary tradition as a means of continuing the provision of an alternative argument against capitalist ideological hegemony.     

Path analysis examining self-efficacy and decision-making performance on a simulated baseball task

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between decision-making self-efficacy and decision-making performance in sport. Undergraduate students (N = 78) performzed 10 trials of a decision-making task in baseball. Self-efficacy was measured before performing each trial. Decision-making performance was assessed by decision speed and decision accuracy. Path analyses examined the relationships between self-efficacy, residualized past performance, and current performance. The results indicated that self-efficacy was a significant and consistent predictor of decision speed (eight of nine trials), but not decision accuracy (four of nine trials). It was also found that experience does not have a meaningful effect on the relationship between self-efficacy and decision-making performance in sport.