A mixed‐method efficacy and fidelity study of Check and Connect

The effectiveness of the Check and Connect dropout prevention program was examined, over the course of 2 ½ years, with 54 middle school students from diverse backgrounds experiencing one or more conditions of risk for dropout. Participants were randomly assigned to receive the Check and Connect intervention or business as usual (i.e., control) in sixth grade. Students in the treatment group had significantly better eighth grade attendance than the control. There were no significant differences between the two groups in eighth grade cumulative grade point average or office disciplinary referrals. An in‐depth analysis of the quality and quantity of the intervention delivered to the students in the treatment group identified conditions that were associated with higher treatment integrity and better student outcomes.     

A VSE equation of state for normal liquids—I. n-Heptane

A volume—entropy—energy (VSE) equation of state, unlike a PVT equation of state, can be used to calculate “all conceivable” thermodynamic quantities, including specific heats, without supplemental calorimetric data. A VSE equation for liquids, based on simple theoretical concepts, is proposed and, in this paper, applied specifically to n-heptane. This equation of state requires only ten arbitrary parameters, seven of which may be calculated from data at but three temperatures, e.g., 25°, 50° and the normal boiling point. It yields calculated values of many thermodynamic properties nearly as accurate as the best experimental data, from a few degrees above the melting temperature all the way to the critical temperature. PVT equations of state of comparable accuracy over such broad ranges would require at least as many parameters, as well as supplemental calorimetric data, to calculate many thermodynamic quantities that are obtainable directly from our VSE equation.     

Exploring statistical inference for population means through rubber chickens

Obtaining relevant data and conveying limitations of the results are two integral components to a successful statistical analysis. It is difficult for students to internalize a deep understanding of these components using only curated, textbook‐style examples. Through hands‐on data collection, this activity provides a channel for students to experience all steps, from start to finish, of a data analysis for means with paired data. Students are able to experience the challenges associated with good data collection practices and relate these practices to the underlying methodological assumptions.     

“UNIFIED”: Bridging the Researcher–Practitioner Divide in Mind,Brain, and Education

Mind, Brain, and Education (MBE) science is by definition transdisciplinary. However, the communication and collaboration between constituent disciplines needed for true transdisciplinarity remains relatively rare. Consequently, many of the potential benefits of MBE science remain unrealized for parties on all sides of the discipline. The present commentary first conducts an analysis of the current strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats of transdisciplinary partnerships in MBE. A new, free, and international web platform (“UNIFIED”) is then proposed to broker relationships between researchers and teachers within schools. This website would allow users to form collaborations based on a system of tags indexing their research interests as well as practicalities such as their location. Such a website appears well placed to realize many of the opportunities, and mitigate the threats and weaknesses, of transdisciplinary MBE research. The article concludes with an appeal to interested researchers and schools to contribute to the development of the project.     

Supporting Disability Education through a Combination of Special Schools and Disability-Inclusive Schools in the Pacific Islands

This article reports on a multi-method study of the ways in which special and mainstream schools support the educational needs of children with disabilities in Fiji. The aims of the study were: (1) to identify capacity and functions of special schools to support inclusive mainstream schools for children with disabilities; and (2) to explore the capacity of mainstream disability-inclusive schools in meeting the needs of children with disabilities. Results from the special education survey indicated that type of disability, geographic location and controlling authority were associated with transition to mainstream education. Findings from the action research study suggest that supportive school leadership and positive attitudes towards disability and inclusion contribute to greater mobilisation of supporting resources. However, limitations in facilities and resources currently pose barriers which prevent inclusion for all students with disabilities. Together, these findings indicate that special and inclusive mainstream schools jointly support disability-inclusive education in Fiji.     

Open-Skilled Sport,Sport Intensity,Executive Function,and Academic Achievement in Grade School Children

ABSTRACT

Research Findings: The present study examines connections among participation in open- and closed-skilled sports; the metabolic intensity of each sport; and executive function (EF), literacy, and math achievement in a sample of 3rd-grade children. Utilizing data from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development, we categorized 15 youth sports (e.g., soccer, tennis, swimming, running track) as open or closed skilled and assigned them a metabolic intensity value. Results showed that the connection between sport intensity and EF was curvilinear, with a positive association between EF and sport intensity below 25 metabolic equivalents (METs) and a negative association with METs above 25. For math, results differed for the number of open-skilled sports and the intensity of a sport, with higher intensity associated with lower math scores and playing more open-skilled sports associated with higher math scores. Literacy skills were not significantly related to sport participation. Practice or Policy: The preschool years may offer a promising opportunity to encourage participation in both complex and intense physical activity. These findings highlight domain-specific connections among sports and EF and math achievement and offer insight into connections among sport intensity (METs), the type of sports children play, and cognitive development.     

Lazy multiculturalism: cultural essentialism and the persistence of the Multicultural Day in Australian schools

ABSTRACT

Multicultural Days are a regular event in Australian schools. While they are viewed as a vehicle for cultural inclusion and strengthening community, they have long been critiqued for their avoidance of a more critical engagement with deeper issues around cultural complexity. The intent of this paper is not simply to add to this critique but to understand why such forms of lazy multiculturalism persist in schools. Taking an ethnographic orientation to the field of multicultural education, it examines one school's approach to the Multicultural Day. The paper considers how, despite engaging in professional learning designed to challenge established practice in this area, teachers resisted the intellectual task of doing diversity differently. The ethnographic methods used in the study not only allowed for an examination of the practices this school engaged in, they drew attention to how teachers might modify their practice and develop a deeper understanding of cultural complexity.     

Innocent Victims, Fighter Cells, and White Uncles: A Discourse Analysis of Children’s Books about AIDS

In this article, we examine a set of 26 children’s books on HIV/AIDS published between 1989–1999 to identify the ways in which these texts construct HIV/AIDS and people living with HIV/AIDS. We explore how this marginalized group is depicted in these books, and how well-meaning teachers may in fact be reproducing dominant discourses about HIV/AIDS in their curricula. In this article we focus, in particular, on how the discourses connected to public health, medicine, and secrecy (as a discourse across many institutions) are filtered to children and take part in constructing their beliefs and assumptions about HIV/AIDS. We illustrate our argument with examples from the books and show why teachers need to know how to analyze texts they select for their curricula so as to read books about HIV/AIDS critically in the classroom. Megan Blumenreich is Assistant Professor of Childhood Education at The City College of New York, City University of New York. Her research interests focus on urban schooling, poststructuralist approaches to qualitative research, and teacher education. She is the coauthor of The Power of Questions: A Guide to Teacher and Student Research (Heineman, 2005). Marjorie Siegel is Associate Professor and Chair of the Department of Curriculum and Teaching at Teachers College, Columbia University. Her research interests include transmediation and multimodality in literacy education, content area literacies, and literacies and technologies. She is the coauthor of Reading Counts: Expanding the role of reading in mathematics classrooms (Teachers College, 2000). M. Himley, “Teaching the rhetoric of AIDS: Blurring the boundaries.”     

Validation of the diagnostic tool for assessing Tertiary students’ readiness for online learning

Increasing numbers of educational institutions are adopting an online approach to teaching and learning; however, little regard has been given to the prerequisite personal and technical qualities required for academic achievement and satisfaction within this environment. In recognition of this, researchers have been exploring the design, development and testing of diagnostic tools to assess student readiness for online learning. This study builds on previous work by the authors to further validate their diagnostic tool for assessing Tertiary students’ readiness for online learning (TSROL) which has four subscales: ‘Technical skills’, ‘Computer self‐efficacy’, ‘Learner preferences’ and ‘Attitudes towards computers’. Factor and reliability analyses revealed that Technical skills and Computer self‐efficacy possessed good reliability and validity, and ‘Attitudes towards computers’ fair reliability and validity. However, ‘Learner preferences’ required revision as it possessed poor reliability and validity. Analysing the demographic data revealed that older students had lower Technical Skills and computer self‐efficacy than younger students. The TSROL can be improved by adopting a more multidimensional interpretation of the Learning preferences and Attitudes towards computers subscales.