Race and School Vouchers: Legal,Historical, and Political Contexts

This article investigates legal and political issues as they relate to school vouchers serving students of color. Specifically, we draw on the empirical, historical, and legal research to examine whether school vouchers will create a more equitable system of education for poor students of color. First, we present a history of vouchers, including how they were used to support segregation. We then discuss how vouchers as a broad opportunity for educational equity for poor children (of color) might present particular challenges in light of, first, the race-neutral approach in contemporary case law and state statutes and, second, the relatively small percentage of U.S. children taking advantage of such programs. Finally, we present empirical results regarding African American families’ support and use of vouchers and a discussion of the racial politics of school vouchers. We argue that unless voucher programs and proponents address race directly, operate on a larger scale, and attend to the broader social justice issues facing urban communities, it will be difficult for such policies to support the greater good for African American children or society as a whole.     

Enhancement and reduction of associative retroactive cue interference by training in multiple contexts

Retroactive cue interference refers to situations in which a target cue X is paired with an outcome in phase 1 and a nontarget cue Z is paired with the same outcome in phase 2, with less subsequent responding to X being seen as a result of the phase 2 training. Two conditioned suppression experiments with rats were conducted to determine whether retroactive cue interference is similarly modulated by a manipulation that influences retroactive outcome interference (e.g., extinction). Both experiments used an ABC renewal-like design in which phase 1 training, phase 2 training, and testing each occurred in different contexts. Experiment 1 found that training the target association in multiple contexts without altering the number of training trials during phase 1 decreased retroactive cue interference (i.e., increased responding consistent with the target association). Experiment 2 found that training the interfering association in multiple contexts without altering the number of interference trials during phase 2 increased retroactive cue interference (i.e., decreased responding consistent with the target association). The possibility of similar mechanisms underlying cue interference and outcome interference is discussed.     

Interrupting commemoration: thinking with art,thinking through the strictures of Argentina's Espacio para la memoria

Recently, a few buildings within the Espacio para la memoria in Buenos Aires have been designated as a UNESCO Centre where, amongst other educational activities, evidentiary materials of the past repression are to be stored and displayed. Another building in the complex houses a Community Centre operated by the Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo, where the mandate is to learn about and continue the revolutionary ideals of those disappeared during the repression. Amid these commemorative projects, designating a space for exhibiting art presents a significant opportunity for posing difficult questions, which go beyond the terms of information and idealization. Through a close reading of Diana Dowek's art exhibit, ‘A Long March’, the paper invites us to consider how art can draw out a particular haunting temporality that holds the present open to provocative questions that are difficult to pose and sustain amid the strictures of this commemorative site.     

Repeated sprint ability in young basketball players: one vs. two changes of direction (Part 2)

The aim of this study was to compare the training effects based on repeated sprint ability (RSA) (with one change of direction) with an intensive repeated sprint ability (IRSA) (with two changes of direction) on jump performance and aerobic fitness. Eighteen male basketball players were assigned to repeated sprint ability and intensive repeated sprint ability training groups (RSAG and IRSAG). RSA, IRSA, squat jump (SJ), countermovement jump (CMJ) and Yo-Yo intermittent recovery level 1 test were assessed before and after four training weeks. The RSA and IRSA trainings consisted of three sets of six sprints (first two weeks) and eight sprints (second two weeks) with 4-min sets recovery and 20-s of sprints recovery. Four weeks of training led to an overall improvement in most of the measures of RSA, but little evidence of any differences between the two training modes. Jump performance was enhanced: CMJ of 7.5% (P < 0.0001) and 3.1% (P = 0.016) in IRSAG and RSAG respectively. While SJ improved of 5.3% (P = 0.003) for IRSAG and 3.4% (P = 0.095) for RSAG. Conversely the Yo-Yo distance increased 21% (P = 0.301) and 34% (P = 0.017) in IRSAG and RSAG respectively. Therefore, short-term repeated sprint training with one/two changes of direction promotes improvements in both RSA and IRSA respectively but the better increase on jump performance shown a few changes on sprint and endurance performances.     

TRANSITION OF THE POLITICAL SYSTEM AND POLITICAL ATTITUDES IN PORTUGAL

The period of Portuguese authoritarian government, followingupon the heels of economic and social decline which the countrylived through after the installation of the republic in 1910,was bolstered politically, culturally, and economically by theexperience of the country during these 64 years. Economic andcultural changes after 1945, including development of the media,worker migrations, tourism, and the decolonialization movements,gave rise to attitudes and behavior of increasingly wide groupswho rejected authoritarianism and the monolithic political system.Various factors paved the way for the downfall of this regime,among them Oliveira Salazar's physical incapacity and his replacementby the more liberal but less prestigious Marcelo Caetano, theunease in public opinion caused by the sending of troops tothe colonies in Africa, and international and political andcultural pressures. Public opinion was in favor of the new politicalsystem, and, gradually consolidated its hold with the supportof the Western international community, and, in particular,the countries of the EEC. The political parties contributedto the development of the political attitudes of the Portuguesepopulation and ensured that the regime maintained itself withina liberal democratic framework.     

Conflict,education and the global south: New critical directions

This paper seeks to provide a starting point for a broader discussion on the development of a critical research agenda in the field of ‘Education and Conflict Studies’. We begin the paper with a brief overview of the field of Education and Conflict drawing on a series of recent ‘overviews’ of the field and locate this within the context of the changing geo-political situation that emerged in the wake of the collapse of the Soviet Union in the 1990s. This is followed by explaining what we understand by a critical research agenda and why we think it necessary. Thirdly, we explore a series of potentially interesting areas of inquiry that are currently absent or undeveloped within the field and which relate particularly to its ‘global’ dimension. Finally, we conclude by making some more reflective comments on our approach, its potential for making a positive contribution to both theory and practice within the field of Education and Conflict, and the need for more critically informed, but policy relevant research in this emerging area of inquiry.     

Injury prediction in veteran football players using the Functional Movement Screen™

ABSTRACT

The Functional Movement Screen? (FMS?) is aimed at assessing fundamental movements and is often used to identify players’ injury risk. The purpose of this study was to determine whether the FMS? can be used to predict injuries in veteran footballers (aged > 32 years). Eighteen veteran football teams (n = 238) were recruited and prospectively followed for 9 months. The players (44 ± 7 years; 178 ± 7 cm, 84 ± 11 kg) performed the FMS? at the start of the study period. Players’ exposure hours and injuries were recorded. The difference of FMS? overall score between injured and uninjured players was not significant (11.7 ± 2.9 vs 12.2 ± 2.8 points; Mann-Whitney U-test P = 0.17). Players scoring <10 (score < 1 standard deviation [SD]) below the mean) had a significantly higher injury incidence (z-statistics P < 0.05) compared to an intermediate reference group (mean ± 1 SD; scores of 10–14). No lower injury incidence for players with scores of >14 (score > 1 SD above the mean) was found. Further analyses of potential risk factors suggest higher age, lower body mass and a longer football career to be risk factors for injuries. The findings of this study suggest that the suitability of the FMS? for injury prediction in veteran footballers is limited.