Electronic mail in a children's distance course: trial and Evaluation

Children's correspondence schooling has long been practised in Australia. Its very history could make it prone to traditional practice. However, its continuing growth constantly opens avenues for experimentation. This paper describes and evaluates a project involving children from nine isolated families connected with the School. Staff and students used videotex, facsimile, 1200/75 baud modems, IBM personal computers with colour monitors, and the telephone. Though accompanied with the usual unpredictable problems, it was rated a great success.     

Editorial introduction

Editorial introduction     

Preschoolers Reduce Inequality While Favoring Individuals With More

Inequalities are everywhere, yet little is known about how children respond to people affected by inequalities. This article explores two responses—minimizing inequalities and favoring those who are advantaged by them. In Studies 1a (N = 37) and 1b (N = 38), 4‐ and 5‐year‐olds allocated a resource to a disadvantaged recipient, but judged advantaged recipients more positively. In Studies 4 (N = 38) and 5 (N = 74), a delay occurred between seeing the inequality and allocating resources, or stating a preference, during which time participants forgot who was initially more advantaged. Children then favored advantaged recipients on the preference and resource allocation measures, suggesting an implicit “affective tagging” mechanism drives the tendency to favor the advantaged. In contrast, reducing inequalities through resource allocation appears to require explicit reasoning.     

Children's self-perceived bodily competencies and associations with motor skills,body mass index,teachers' evaluations,and parents' concerns

Abstract

The associations between physical competence, self-perceived bodily competence, parental concern for their children's motor skill development, and teachers' evaluation of their bodily competence were assessed in 646 six- to seven-year-olds. Physical competence was assessed by the German motor ability test “Körperkoordinationstest für Kinder”, while the children's, their parents', and their teachers' evaluations were obtained through questionnaires. Parental concern, teacher evaluation, and a high body mass index were the strongest predictors of low physical competence (motor skill quotient <85). Teachers' evaluation of bodily competence was associated with low self-perceived bodily competence in the children even after adjustment for motor skill quotient, with an odds ratio of 2.3 (P < 0.05) between the lowest and highest of the three levels after correction for motor skill competence. Results indicate that teachers' evaluation of children's motor skills should be considered a key factor when tracking and assessing physical competencies among youth.     

The Rochford review,pre-key stage standards and the engagement model – what does it all mean to schools for children with SLD and PMLD?

The Rochford Review heralded new arrangements for statutory assessment for children with SLD and PMLD working below the national curriculum standard. New assessment arrangements, the pre-key stage standards and the engagement model, relate to two groups of pupils: pupils ‘not yet engaged’ and pupils ‘engaged’ in subject-specific study. This article looks at what these terms mean and examines what is involved in the new assessment arrangements.