The Role of Extended Time and Item Content on a High‐Stakes Mathematics Test

The premise of a great deal of current research guiding policy development has been that accommodations are the catalyst for student performance differences. Rather than accepting this premise, two studies were conducted to investigate the influence of extended time and content knowledge on the performance of ninth‐grade students who took a statewide mathematics test with and without accommodations. Each study involved 1,250 accommodated students (extended time only) with learning disabilities and 1,250 nonaccommodated students demonstrating no disabilities. In Study One, a standard differential item functioning (DIF) analysis illustrated that the usual approach to studying the effects of accommodations contributes little to our understanding of the reason for performance differences across students. Next, a mixture item response theory DIF model was used to explore the most likely cause(s) for performance differences across the population. The results from both studies suggest that students for whom items were functioning differently were not accurately characterized by their accommodation status but rather by their content knowledge. That is, knowing students' accommodation status (i.e., accommodated or nonaccommodated) contributed little to understanding why accommodated and nonaccommodated students differed in their test performance. Rather, the data would suggest that a more likely explanation is that mathematics competency differentiated the groups of student learners regardless of their accommodation and/or reading levels.     

Decision making in sport: the effect of stimulus-response probability on the performance of a coincidence-anticipation task

The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the quality of a motor response for different levels of expectancy and time constraint, in a two-choice coincidence-anticipation task. The probability of each of the two events likely to be presented were varied across different levels as well as the speed of the stimulus to be intercepted. The results indicated that neither the choice reaction time (CRT) and movement time, nor the performance of coincidence-anticipation were affected by the probability of the stimulus for the low and moderate stimulus speeds. However, when the stimulus traveled at a high speed a trade-off took place. The CRT decreased as the probability of the event increased, whilst the proportion of response initiation errors increased for the low probability events. This trade-off resulted in a better coincidence-anticipation as the probability of the event increased. The results obtained in the present experiment are clearly different from those obtained in a classic CRT-deadline paradigm, in that the trade-off observed between CRT and response initiation errors was far less pronounced in the coincidence-anticipation task. This difference was attributed to the higher negative consequences associated with a response initiation error in a coincidence-anticipation task. It is thus concluded that the tasks used to study the nature of the decision processes taking place in sports and sports-like situations must have some ecological validity to be of some help for the practitioner.     

Teachers' conceptualization of pupil control in elementary school physical education

Management of conduct has been considered the most important problem facing schools in America during 16 of the last 20 years (Gallup, 1988). Yet little is known about specific techniques teachers use to achieve pupil control in physical education. One purpose of this work is to describe the development of a conceptual framework for pupil control techniques. The framework was derived from 64 live observations and audiotapes of elementary school physical education lessons. A second purpose is to describe how teachers may potentially foster pupil self-control. Data were reduced through analytic induction, constant comparison, and topological analysis. The investigator placed 23 categories into three classifications as perceived by teachers: anticipatory, tutorial, and punitive. Teachers confirmed frequency of using techniques during interviews and on surveys. Intraobserver agreement tests yielded 88% for distinguishing among categories. Interobserver scores ranged from 83 to 86% agreement. Categories may serve to increase teachers' repertoire of control techniques in accordance with their ideological beliefs. For teachers in this study, facilitating self-control involves (a) selecting tutorial control techniques, (b) using indirect forms of techniques, and (c) conveying reasons for using techniques.     

Exercise and mental health: it's just not psychology!

Exercise has been suggested as an effective adjunctive treatment for a range of mental health conditions. In this study, we explored the perceptions of exercise held by course directors of doctoral training programmes in clinical psychology in England. Given the exploratory nature of the study, we used a qualitative design incorporating semi-structured interviews. Although most participants held favourable attitudes regarding exercise, this was related more to exercise being seen as a positive lifestyle activity that is worth encouraging, rather than exercise being recommended as an adjunctive treatment for mental health problems. Inductive analysis identified four themes that underpinned such a response: inconsistent positions on the evidential criteria used to evaluate the role of exercise, which masked themes regarding the perceived 'simplicity' of exercise interventions, a practical adherence to a mind-body dichotomy, and the incompatibility of exercise with traditional models of understanding and treating clinical conditions. The barriers we have highlighted will continue to hinder the consideration of exercise as a common therapeutic adjunct at present. Although further research is required to examine the relationship between exercise and mental health, consideration must also be given to how such research should be disseminated to mental health professionals.