The validity of reading comprehension rate: Reading speed,comprehension, and comprehension rates

This article describes a secondary analysis of a brief reading comprehension rate measure, percent comprehension questions correct per minute spent reading (%C/M). This measure includes reading speed (seconds to read) in the denominator and percentage of comprehension questions answered correctly in the numerator. Participants were 22 4th‐, 29 5th‐, and 37 10th‐grade students. Results showed that reading speed accounted for much of the variance in Broad Reading Cluster scores and subtest scores of the Woodcock–Johnson III Tests of Achievement across all grade levels. Converting reading speed to the rate measure %C/M increased Broad Reading Cluster variance accounted for in the 4th‐ and 5th‐grade sample, but decreased the Broad Reading Cluster variance accounted for in the 10th‐grade sample. Discussion focuses on the importance of reading speed and the failure to enhance validity of a brief rate measure in more skilled readers by incorporating a direct measure of comprehension. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Sport mega-events and security: the 2018 World Cup as an extraordinarily securitized event

Following 9/11, the security at sport mega-events (SMEs) has become increasingly central. Yet, this is an area where numerous scholars have called for further academic attention. The FIFA World Cups are commonly seen as the largest SME in the world, and will in 2018, be held in Russia. However, the existing trends of spectator violence and terrorism, in addition to the political situation in Russia, and concerns over a violent, racist, football culture in the host-country, makes the securitization of the 2018 World Cup extraordinary. Here, an analysis of the most prominent security threats ahead of Russia 2018 is provided. Further, it is argued that the extent of these threats – not the mere existence – makes Russia a unique case. Following calls for further academic attention dedicated security and SMEs – Russia should be utilized ‘for all it is worth’ – to gather spectators’ perceptions of SME security.     

Formation des Enseignants et Petites Communautes Europeennes: finalités culturelles spécifiques?

A parity of prestige is fundamental to tomorrow's multi‐cultural, multilingual Europe. It is an obligation for all educational systems, whether large or small, sovereign or second‐tier, autonomous or struggling for independence.

This mini‐tour of Europe's small communities is dedicated to the promotion of this parity, and it takes teacher education as its entry‐point. A real first’ for the European Journal of Teacher Education, this introduction is dedicated to the examination of teacher‐education policies in those communities which history has marginalised in territory, in population or in legal status. Do they have specific characteristics? Are there ways in which they are interdependent?

This survey presents five case studies, most of them located in the centre of Europe (Luxembourg, Liechtenstein, Andorra, Ticino, the Orisons). But Europe offers many instances: Malta, Cyprus, Friesland, the German communities in Belgium and Denmark, Monaco, San Marino, Scotland, Ireland, the Basque countries, Catalonia, the south Tirol, the Swiss Jura, the Welsh, Bretons, Alsatians, Corsicans, etc.

Multi‐cultural Europe is theirs too, and this study invokes others which may contribute to the evolution of our simple, closed, national technosystems into European ecosystems which will be both complex and open.     

From study to work: methodological challenges of a graduate destination survey in the Western Cape,South Africa

Current literature proposes several strategies for improving response rates to student evaluation surveys. Graduate destination surveys pose the difficulty of tracing graduates years later when their contact details may have changed. This article discusses the methodology of one such a survey to maximise response rates. Compiling a sample frame with reliable contact details was most important, but may require using additional sources of information other than university records. In hindsight, graduates should have been contacted prior to the survey to introduce it and stress its importance, while email and postal reminders appeared to have a limited effect on non-respondents. Due to varying response rates between participating universities, online responses were augmented with a call centre administering the survey telephonically to non-respondents. Although overall differences between online and telephonic responses appeared to be small, certain question items may need to be treated with caution when conducting telephonic surveys.     

The stepping stones of learning and evaluation

Based on the teachers’ lectures and evaluations we elaborate on a model of the aspects of learning. Inside the framework of this model three ways for solving a given problem relating to the previous teaching are presented.

We describe and analyse a method which is useful in selecting an evaluation task adapted to intended objectives, helps in the interpretation of the students’ performances and acts as a guide to the possible inferences about what the students acquire.     

The Relationships Between Perceived Teaching Behaviors and Motivation in Physical Education: A One-Year Longitudinal Study

This study aimed to examine the direction of relationships between specific dimensions of perceived teaching behaviors and motivation in physical education over time among 330 secondary school students. Cross-lagged path-analytic models revealed that autonomous motivation was reciprocally related over time with perceived decision-making style, and positive feedback and that prior situation consideration, social support, and teaching behavior were related to a higher level of subsequent autonomous motivation and a lower level of controlled motivation; however, prior autonomous motivation was related to a higher level of subsequent positive nonverbal feedback. Results suggest that differences in the direction of relationships between various dimensions of perceived teaching behaviors and students' motivation in physical education are due to differences in the nature of the teacher-student interaction behind each teaching behavior.     

Primary and secondary school teachers in France: changes in identities and professionalization

Teacher professionalization is a recent field of study in France that has developed in connection with the creation of the Instituts Universitaires de Formation des Maîtres (IUFMs) and other changes that have brought primary and secondary teachers into closer relation. In order to help the reader understand the traditional divisions between these two groups and recent trends towards unification, we first present historical differences in their development as separate corps, their training and their modes of unionization. We then proceed to analyse the political turning point of 1989, date of the creation of the IUFMs which introduced a similar curriculum for teachers of each degree on the basis of officially specified fundamental skills, as well as leading to the reconstitution of teachers' unions. Finally, we examine the effects of recent moves toward professionalization on the rationalization of teachers' knowledge and skills, the relationship between training and professional activity and teachers' socialization.     

A One-year Case Study: Understanding the Rich Potential of Project-based Learning in a Virtual Reality Class for High School Students

This paper presents a qualitative case analysis of a new and unique, high school, student-directed, project-based learning (PBL), virtual reality (VR) class. In order to create projects, students learned, on an independent basis, how to program an industrial-level VR machine. A constraint was that students were required to produce at least one educational application of VR. This study incorporated in-depth classroom observations, interviews with students, analyses of student projects, and surveys of parents and teachers to examine the social and learning processes in the class, and the nature of content learning represented in student projects. The results demonstrated that PBL can be effective even with minimal teacher guidance. The findings substantiate an educational approach rich with promise, for at least some students, that deserves considerable additional study to maximize its powerful potentials for independent and peer-mentored learning.