Guidelines for early admission to elementary school

An early admission procedure is the first step in adjusting formal educational programming to meet the educational, social, and emotional needs of intellectually advanced children. In view of the benefits to the child and potential benefits to society of meeting the intellectually advanced child's needs, it is important that school systems establish early admission policies. This article presents 12 guidelines for processing an early admission applicant.     

Assessment of mentally retarded children with the Matrix Analogies Test-Short Form,Draw A Person: A quantitative scoring system,and the Kaufman Test of Educational Achievement

This study examined the utility of the MAT-SF and the DAP: A Quantitative Scoring System as screening instruments for mental retardation. In this study, 46 normals and 39 developmentally handicapped (DH) 4th- and 5th-grade students were group administered both screening tests and individually administered an achievement test, the KTEA. The results found the MAT-SF to correlate significantly with all areas of achievement for both groups, whereas the DAP did not correlate significantly with any areas of achievement for the normal group but correlated significantly with math, but not reading, for the developmentally handicapped students. The results support the use of the MAT-SF as a screening instrument for mental retardation, whereas the usefulness of the DAP is not as clear.     

Coordination of perspective by sixth graders and teacher trainees

Sixth grade students were compared by sex for their performance on two perspective coordination tasks. Responses were compared with understanding of the principle that still water remains invariantly horizontal. Forty-eight randomly selected sixth grade students (24 girls and 24 boys) and 12 college women were individually shown a standardized three-dimensional scene. While seated in a single position, subjects completed two tasks: (1) selecting from a set of 12 pictures (displayed together) the one which could be seen from each of eight positions marked on the displayed scene and (2) choosing the positions from which could be seen eight of the 12 pictures (shown one at a time). Four of the 12 pictures were mirror images which were impossible views. Males outperformed females on both of the coordination-of-perspective tasks. For both males and females, choosing the place was more difficult than choosing the picture. Strong relationships were found between understanding of horizontality and performance on the perspective tasks. Selection of mirror images (impossible views) indicated more understanding of perspective than other, less systematic errors. Finally, female teacher trainees performed only marginally better than sixth grade students, suggesting possible remediation needs.     

Estimating fat-free mass in elite-level male rowers: a four-compartment model validation of laboratory and field methods

The purpose of this study was to investigate the accuracy of fat-free mass (FFM) estimates from two-compartment (2C) models including air displacement plethysmography (ADP), ultrasound (US), near-infrared interactance (NIR), and the Jackson and Pollock skinfold equation (SKF) against a criterion four-compartment (4C) model in elite male rowers. METHODS: Twenty-three elite-level male rowers (mean± SD; age 24.6 ± 2.2 years; stature: 191.4 ± 7.2 cm; mass: 87.2 ± 11.2 kg) participated in this investigation. All body composition assessments were performed on the same day in random order, except for hydrostatic weighing (HW), which was measured last. FFM was evaluated using a 4C model, which included total body water from bioimpedance spectroscopy, body volume from HW, and total body bone mineral via dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry. The major findings of the study were that the 2C models evaluated overestimated FFM and should be considered with caution for the assessment of FFM in elite male rowers. Future studies should use multiple-compartment models, with measurement of TBW and bone mineral content, for the estimation of FFM.     

Are gait characteristics and ground reaction forces related to energy cost of running in elite Kenyan runners?

The aim of this study was to determine whether gait cycle characteristics are associated with running economy in elite Kenyan runners. Fifteen elite Kenyan male runners completed two constant-speed running sets on a treadmill (12 km ·h^?1 and 20 km ·h^?1). VO₂ and respiratory exchange ratio values were measured to calculate steady-state oxygen and energy cost of running. Gait cycle characteristics and ground contact forces were measured at each speed. Oxygen cost of running at different velocities was 192.2 ± 14.7 ml· kg^?1· km^?1 at 12 km· h^?1 and 184.8 ± 9.9 ml· kg^?1· km^?1 at 20 km· h^?1, which corresponded to a caloric cost of running of 0.94 ± 0.07 kcal ·kg^?1·km^?1 and 0.93 ± 0.07 kcal· kg^?1· km^?1. We found no significant correlations between oxygen and energy cost of running and biomechanical variables and ground reaction forces at either 12 or 20 km· h^?1. However, ground contact times were ~10.0% shorter (very large effect) than in previously published literature in elite runners at similar speeds, alongside an 8.9% lower oxygen cost (very large effect). These results provide evidence to hypothesise that the short ground contact times may contribute to the exceptional running economy of Kenyan runners.     

Lost and Found: Making Sense of Foreign Spaces and the Self with Public Transport

How does public transport both enable and restrict one’s negotiation and interaction with cultural, social and material landscapes? The understanding of social space and self is guided by one’s journey through those spaces, by witnessing events and public conduct. This article presents autoethnographic accounts of two communication studies researchers placed in Cape Town, South Africa, and Helsinki, Finland, for more than three months. In both situations, researchers relied on public transport with which they were unfamiliar. This study considers how those experiences were perceived, and how the researchers encountered and experienced the new social environments, local population and themselves.