Implementation Effects of a Program for the Training of Coaching Skills with School Principals∗

In this study, the implementation effects of a program for the training of coaching skills to Dutch primary school principals are described. Coaching is a form of in‐class support intended to provide teachers with feedback on their own functioning, and thereby to stimulate self‐reflection and self‐analysis in order to improve instructional effectiveness. To assist school principals in their attempts to coach teachers, a training program was designed and evaluated. Based on the pre‐ and post‐training ratings of coaching conferences, a significant treatment effect was found for the coaching skills concerned with the development of autonomy (empowerment), feedback, and agreement on classroom observational goals. The pre‐ and post‐training ratings from the coached teachers themselves showed a significant treatment effect for the coaching skills concerned with the development of improvement plans. Although the training provided for the school principals was directed at the coaching functions of consulting and confronting, the majority of the school principals conducted coaching conferences that emphasized predominantly the function of consulting.

     

Finding Out How They Find It Out: An empirical analysis of inquiry learners’ need for support

Inquiry learning environments increasingly incorporate modelling facilities for students to articulate their research hypotheses and (acquired) domain knowledge. This study compared performance success and scientific reasoning of university students with high prior knowledge (n = 11), students from senior high‐school (n = 10), and junior high‐school (n = 10) with intermediate and low prior knowledge, respectively, in order to reveal domain novices’ need for support in such environments. Results indicated that the scientific reasoning of both groups of high‐school students was comparable to that of the experts. As high‐school students achieved significantly lower performance success scores, their expert‐like behaviour was rather ineffective; qualitative analyses substantiated this conclusion. Based on these findings, implications for supporting domain novices in inquiry learning environments are advanced.     

Intra-abdominal pressures during activity in women using an intra-vaginal pressure transducer

Abstract

Strenuous physical activity has been linked to pelvic floor disorders in women. Using a novel wireless intra-vaginal pressure transducer, intra-abdominal pressure was measured during diverse activities in a laboratory. Fifty-seven women performed a prescribed protocol using the intra-vaginal pressure transducer. We calculated maximal, area under the curve and first moment of the area intra-abdominal pressure for each activity. Planned comparisons of pressure were made between levels of walking and cycling and between activities with reported high pressure in the literature. Findings indicate variability in intra-abdominal pressure amongst individuals doing the same activity, especially in activities that required regulation of effort. There were statistically significant differences in maximal pressure between levels of walking, cycling and high pressure activities. Results for area under the curve and first moment of the area were not always consistent with maximal pressure. Coughing had the highest maximal pressure, but had lower area under the curve and first moment of the area compared to most activities. Our data reflect novel findings of maximal, area under the curve and first moment of the area measures of intra-abdominal pressure, which may have clinical relevance for how physical activity relates to pelvic floor dysfunction.     

How Do Children Socially Learn from Narrative Fiction: Getting the Lesson,Simulating Social Worlds,or Dialogic Inquiry?

Educational Psychology Review - Educators read narrative fiction with children not only to promote their literacy skills, but also to support their sociomoral development. However, different...     

Correction to: How Do Children Socially Learn from Narrative Fiction: Getting the Lesson,Simulating Social Worlds,or Dialogic Inquiry?

Educational Psychology Review -     

Design of mixed H2-dissipative observers with stochastic resilience for discrete-time nonlinear systems

A linear matrix inequality based mixed H₂-dissipative type state observer design approach is presented for smooth discrete time nonlinear systems with finite energy disturbances. This observer is designed to maintain H₂ type estimation error performance together with either H_∞ or a passivity type disturbance reduction performance in case of randomly varying perturbations in its gain. A linear matrix inequality is used at each time instant to find the time-varying gain of the observer. Simulation studies are included to explore the performance in comparison to the extended Kalman filter and a previously proposed constant gain observer counterpart.     

Parent involvement in early intervention: what role does setting play?

This study compared levels of parent involvement in early intervention services for children under three which were delivered in community settings (children’s homes and child care programs) and specialized settings (early intervention centers and provider offices) in the USA. Respondents reported the highest levels of parental involvement in the home. However, level of involvement in the home was not significantly higher than the provider’s office for parent attendance, quality and content of parent-provider communication, and effective instruction; level of provider communication and instruction to parents was not significantly higher in the home than in the early intervention center. Early intervention services in the child care setting were associated with the lowest levels of parent involvement. With the exception of child care, these results suggest that specialized and natural settings are associated with similar levels of parent involvement.     

An Analysis of High School Students' Performance on Five Integrated Science Process Skills

This study determined Jamaican high school students' level of performance on five integrated science process skills and if there were statistically significant differences in their performance linked to their gender, grade level, school location, school type, student type and socio-economic background (SEB). The 305 subjects comprised 133 males, 172 females, 146 ninth graders, 159 10th graders, 150 traditional and 155 comprehensive high school students, 164 students from the Reform of Secondary Education (ROSE) project and 141 non-ROSE students, 166 urban and 139 rural students and 110 students from a high SEB and 195 from a low SEB. Data were collected with the authors' constructed integrated science process skills test the results indicated that the subjects' mean score was low and unsatisfactory; their performance in decreasing order was: interpreting data, recording data, generalising, formulating hypotheses and identifying variables; there were statistically significant differences in their performance based on their grade level, school type, student type, and SEB in favour of the 10th graders, traditional high school students, ROSE students and students from a high SEB. There was a positive, statistically significant and fairly strong relationship between their performance and school type, but weak relationships among their student type, grade level and SEB and performance.     

Using Human Givens therapy to support the well‐being of adolescents: a case example

This article outlines the use of Human Givens (HG) therapy with adolescents reporting poor subjective well‐being. HG therapy is based on the assumption that human beings have innate needs, which, if unmet, lead to emotional distress and mental health problems. Hitherto, there has been no independently published empirical research into the efficacy of HG as a therapeutic intervention with young people. The article examines the theory and background to HG therapy; the emotional well‐being of children; and young people and counselling and therapeutic interventions in schools, before describing an exploratory case study into the effectiveness of the HG approach. This involves assessing the efficacy of an individual HG intervention for three young people reporting high anxiety or depression and/or low self concept. The HG process and therapy structure are detailed through an illustrative case study regarding a 16‐year‐old girl with moderate levels of anxiety and low self‐concept. Positive outcomes are observed for all three young people, providing tentative evidence that HG therapy might be useful to practitioners delivering therapeutic interventions in schools, although limitations of the small‐scale research design are highlighted. Issues relating to the provision of individual therapeutic interventions in school are discussed more widely, as are other possible applications of the HG approach in schools.