Child pornography: perpetuating the sexual victimization of children

Children have been sexually exploited throughout recorded history. The invention of the camera and subsequent related technological advances (slides, movies, instant picture cameras and videotape) have provided new avenues for the exploitation of children by facilitating the distribution of pictorial representations of these children on a world-wide basis. A major use of commercial child pornography is to convince a potential child victim that the sexual acts desired by the adult offender are fun, exciting, can satisfy the child's curiosity and are a societally acceptable means of expressing affection. Commercial child pornography publications contain numerous pictures of children viewing child pornography, in some cases replicating the pose(s) depicted in the viewed material. Although many jurisdictions have now prohibited child pornography, the need for a world-wide ban continues, as the remaining producers distribute their material throughout the world.     

Do High-Quality Kindergarten and First-Grade Classrooms Mitigate Preschool Fadeout?

Prior research shows that short-term effects from preschool may disappear, but little research has considered which environmental conditions might sustain academic advantages from preschool into elementary school. Using secondary data from two preschool experiments, we investigate whether features of elementary schools, particularly advanced content and high-quality instruction in kindergarten and first grade, as well as professional supports to coordinate curricular instruction, reduce fadeout. Across both studies, our measures of instruction did not moderate fadeout. However, results indicated that targeted teacher professional supports substantially mitigated fadeout between kindergarten and first grade but that this was not mediated through classroom quality. Future research should investigate the specific mechanisms through which aligned preschool-elementary school curricular approaches can sustain the benefits of preschool programs for low-income children.     

Corruption and Abuse of Power in Educational Administration

Corruption and abuse of power in educational administration in K–12 and higher education institutions are important, though neglected, research topics. As such, they might rightfully be termed our profession's dirty little secrets. This article begins to uncover the range, if not the depth, of such corruption and abuse of power. It represents an initial ethnology of the topic. Examples are taken from several countries, most notably Mexico, China, and the United States, and discussion revolves around the relation between corruption and hierarchical, pyramidal bureaucracies.     

Work‐related learning for students with significant learning difficulties: relevance and reality

The 14–19 proposals brought work‐related learning to the forefront of educational policy. We look at how the tenets, which underpin them, can be interpreted and applied for students with significant learning difficulties. We examine the nature of vocational or work‐related learning for students with severe and or profound and multiple learning difficulties as currently reported by schools in England. Its relevance for this group of learners is discussed in the light of the proposals and we consider the reality of current practice in relation to the slippery concept of vocational learning. Finally, we reflect on important recent policy commitments relevant to our research, but published after its completion, outlined in the White Paper 14–19 education and skills. We note and welcome its explicit consideration of the needs of students with significant learning difficulties. At the same time we remain concerned and perturbed about its affirmation of educational aims that are narrowly conceived in relation to an economic imperative.     

“Really Just Lip Service”: Talking About Diversity in Suburban Schools

Suburban school districts are in the midst of rapid racial/ethnic and socioeconomic diversification, although the teaching force remains much more homogenous. This article examines how educators in increasingly more diverse suburban schools conceptualize diversity. Qualitative data comes from interviews of 40 teachers, 23 principals and assistant principals, and 16 other school staff in six suburban school districts across the country. Using critical discourse analysis (van Dijk, 1993), I identify three primary discourses: an aspirational commitment to preparing students for a diverse society; color-muteness and insistence on individuality; and a deficit perspective on students from diverse racial/ethnic, linguistic, and socioeconomic backgrounds. In particular, educators perceived cultural deficits in students’ families and communities (Valencia, 2010). Finally, a small number of participants recognized structural forces that impeded the achievement of students of color. The discussion analyzes how such discourses threaten to reproduce educational inequality as suburban districts continue to diversify and concludes with recommendations for districts and schools.     

NAEB research seminar for educational television and radio

To review the status of research in educational broadcasting, assess its adequacy in the light of contemporary requirements and propose a program of urgently needed research, 23 research specialists from organizations and institutions engaged in educational broadcasting participated in a five-day Seminar on Research in Educational Broadcasting. The Seminar was sponsored by the National Association of Educational Broadcasters with funds provided by the W. K. Kellogg Foundation. Management responsibility was handled by The Ohio State University, which also generously contributed the services of many members of its staff. The Seminar was held December 9–13, 1957, on The Ohio State University campus in Columbus. For the past few years, Dr. Tyler has been director of the annual Institute for Education by Radio and Television.     

Making learning fun: Quest Atlantis, a game without guns

This article describes the Quest Atlantis (QA) project, a learning and teaching project that employs a multiuser, virtual environment to immerse children, ages 9–12, in educational tasks. QA combines strategies used in commercial gaming environments with lessons from educational research on learning and motivation. It allows users at participating elementary schools and after-school centers to travel through virtual spaces to perform educational activities, talk with other users and mentors, and build virtual personae. Our work has involved an agenda and process that may be called socially-responsive design, which involves building sociotechnical structures that engage with and potentially transform individuals and their contexts of participation. This work sits at the intersection of education, entertainment, and social commitment and suggests an expansive focus for instructional designers. The focus is on engaging classroom culture and relevant aspects of student life to inspire participation consistent with social commitments and educational goals interpreted locally. This research was supported in part by a CAREER Grant from the National Science Foundation, REC-9980081 and by the National Science Foundation Grant #0092831.     

IMPROVING CLASSROOM ENGAGEMENT AMONG HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS WITH DISRUPTIVE BEHAVIOR: EVALUATION OF THE CLASS PASS INTERVENTION

Off‐task and disruptive classroom behaviors have a negative impact on the learning environment and present a unique challenge for teachers to address. The aim of this study was to evaluate the Class Pass Intervention (CPI) as a behavior management strategy for secondary students with disruptive classroom behavior. The CPI consists of providing students with passes that they can either (1) use to appropriately request a break to engage in a preferred activity for a preset amount of time or (2) keep and later exchange for a preferred item or activity. Using an ABAB withdrawal design with replication through a concurrent multiple baseline across participants design, the CPI was shown to increase academic engagement, which is incompatible with disruptive behavior, in 4 students who engaged in high levels of disruptive behavior throughout the baseline condition. Results also demonstrated partial support for the durability of intervention effects over time and indicated that both teachers and students perceived the intervention to be socially feasible. Implications of the results and directions for future research are discussed.     

Deliberative speech in a forensic context: Andrew Hamilton at the Peter Zenger trial

Through an analysis of the defense at the trial of John Peter Zenger, the author attempts to define a relationship between forensic success and ability to adopt deliberative frames of reference in forensic contexts.