CHANGING VISIONS OF EXCELLENCE IN ONTARIO SCHOOL POLICY: THE CASES OF LIVING AND LEARNING AND FOR THE LOVE OF LEARNING

In this essay, Rosa Bruno‐Jofré and George Hills examine two major Ontario policy documents: 1968's Living and Learning and 1994's For the Love of Learning. The purpose is, first, to gain insight into the uses of the term “excellence” in the context of discourse about educational aims and evaluation, and, second, to explore how these uses may have changed over time. Bruno‐Jofré and Hills employ the conceptual framework developed by Madhu Prakash and Leonard Waks to elucidate the varied notions of excellence contained in the two reports. Bruno‐Jofré and Hills argue that Living and Learning is an eclectic report that creates continuity by aligning itself with the pedagogically progressive tradition in Ontario; that propounds a holistic conception of excellence centered on the all‐around development of the self; and that seeks simultaneously to secure a sense of being Canadian while dealing with rapidly emerging social fragmentation. For the Love of Learning, in contrast, attempts to combine a technical view of excellence in education (stressing various literacies and skills as measurable indicators) with the principles of caring and the goals of social responsibility. Each report can be seen as an attempt to respond to the expectations of a population that had become increasingly diverse in the interval between the two reports. What is cause for concern in terms of policymaking, Bruno‐Jofré and Hills conclude, is the turn away from broader, more comprehensive and coherent views of excellence in education toward narrower and more fragmented accounts that are preoccupied with various types of literacy or loosely related vocational and other skills. The effect of this shift is to leave educational policy and practice in the schools essentially rudderless.     

Kindergarten children's growth trajectories in reading and mathematics: who falls increasingly behind?

The authors used a large sample of children (N ≈ 7,400) participating in the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study--Kindergarten Cohort (ECLS-K) to estimate kindergarten children's academic achievement growth trajectories in reading and mathematics. The authors were particularly interested in whether the growth trajectories of children with learning disabilities (LD) or speech language impairments (SLI)--as well as those of other groups of children--were consistent with a cumulative or compensatory developmental cycle. Both LD and SLI children displayed significantly lower levels of kindergarten reading achievement than nondisabled children. However, and over the subsequent 5 years of elementary school, only children with SLI lagged increasingly behind nondisabled peers in their reading skills growth. The authors observed a different pattern for mathematics achievement. Children with LD, but not SLI, lagged increasingly behind nondisabled children in their mathematics skills growth. The authors also observed some consistency in "poor-get-poorer" effects across reading and mathematic achievement for additional population subgroups. Those kindergarten children who were from lower socioeconomic status families, who were African American, and who more frequently displayed learning-related behavior problems initially had lower levels of reading and mathematics achievement and also lagged increasingly behind in their acquisition of these skills over time. Some groups of children, including those with SLI, experience a cumulative rather than a compensatory cycle of achievement growth.     

Study of resonance-cone propagation in truncated hyperbolic metamaterial grids using transmission-line matrix simulations

In this paper, we utilize transmission-line matrix simulations to study the electromagnetic properties of hyperbolic metamaterial grids, which are synthesized by arranging unloaded transmission lines over electrical ground planes, such that the unit cells are rectangular in shape. The hyperbolic grids support Bragg and Hyperbolic resonant modes that have rectangular and hyperbolic dispersion surfaces, respectively. We demonstrate the formation of these resonant modes in the hyperbolic grids and their refraction, and spatial scanning properties via circuit simulations. The simulation results are compared with experimental results of a two-layer anisotropic hyperbolic metamaterial.     

Muscle metabolism and performance improvement after two training programmes of sprint running differing in rest interval duration

Repeated-sprint training often involves short sprints separated by inadequate recovery intervals. The effects of interval duration on metabolic and performance parameters are unclear. We compared the effects of two training programmes, differing in rest interval duration, on muscle (vastus lateralis) metabolism and sprint performance. Sixteen men trained three times a week for 8 weeks, each training session comprising 2-3 sets of two 80-m sprints. Sprints were separated by 10 s (n = 8) or 1 min (n = 8). Both training programmes improved performance in the 100-, 200-, and 300-m sprints, but the improvement was greater in the 10-s group during the final 100 m of the 200- and 300-m runs. Independent of interval duration, training mitigated the drop of muscle ATP after two 80-m sprints. The drop in phosphocreatine and the increases in glucose-6-phosphate and fructose-6-phosphate after two 80-m sprints were greater in the 10-s group. In conclusion, training with a limited number of repeated short sprints (≤10 s) may be more effective in improving speed maintenance in 200- and 300-m runs when performed with a 1:1 rather than a 1:6 exercise-to-rest ratio. This may be due to a greater activation of glycolysis caused, in part, by the limited resynthesis of phosphocreatine during the very short rest interval.     

Glenohumeral joint rotation range of motion in competitive swimmers

Much research has examined shoulder range of motion adaptations in overhead-unilateral athletes. Based on the void examining overhead-bilateral athletes, especially competitive swimmers, we examined shoulder external rotation, isolated internal rotation, composite internal rotation, and total arc of motion range of motion of competitive swimmers. The range of motion of registered competitive swimmers (n = 144, age = 12-61 years) was compared by limb (dominant, non-dominant), sex, and age group (youth, high school, college, masters). Significantly (P < 0.05) greater dominant external rotation was observed for both men and women high school and college swimmers, youth women swimmers, and men masters swimmers compared with the non-dominant limb. The isolated internal rotation (glenohumeral rotation), composite internal rotation (glenohumeral rotation plus scapulothoracic protraction), and total arc of motion (external rotation plus composite internal rotation) of the non-dominant limb was significantly greater than that of the dominant limb by sex and age group. Youth and high school swimmers demonstrated significantly greater composite internal rotation than college and masters swimmers. Youth swimmers displayed significantly greater total arc of motion than all other age groups. These data will aid in the interpretation of shoulder range of motion values in competitive swimmers during preseason screenings, injury evaluations and post-rehabilitation programmes, with the results suggesting that differences exist in bilateral external rotation, isolated internal rotation, composite internal rotation, and total arc of motion range of motion.     

360° Feedback: Ready,Fire, Aim—Issues With Improper Implementation

This article looks at 360° feedback, as well as mistakes and misuses that are often made in its implementation and use. Too often individuals look for tools to give them facts to support predetermined opinions rather than gathering facts to support individuals in their growth and development process. By identifying these issues and addressing them up front, larger issues that can negatively affect the overall culture of an organization can be avoided.     

传世经典

……当春天从玫瑰红的云彩中露出她的碧眼,当阳光在我的书桌上闪烁时,我渴望的发疯般地闻一闻那百花绽放的大地的芳香,看一看那山坡上落叶松的葱郁,听一听高地上云雀的歌唱。曾几何时,似乎比童年还要遥远的那个时刻,我满腔热情地拿起了笔。如果那时我的手在颤抖,那也只是因为希