The effects of matching locus of control and presentation mode in parent training

This study examined the effects of a behavioral parent training program presented in a manner either congruent or incongruent with participant's locus of control orientation. Statistically significant interactions between locus of control orientation and presentation mode were formed for the management skills and child behavior measures. Greater positive attitudinal changes were realized by parents participating in the shared-control training group.     

School Leaders as Political Strategists: William Boyd's Contributions to our Understanding of the Politics of Leadership

William Boyd's contributions to the education field's understanding of the political nature of school leadership are formidable. In this article, I describe the growth and development, over a roughly 30-year time span, of his key insight that successful school leaders should have the capabilities of a political strategist and that the actualization of this capacity is related to school leaders’ political and policy context. The perennial question of “who governs education” was central to Boyd's work and his various answers are important touchstones for today's educational leaders.     

Influence of cold-water immersion on indices of muscle damage following prolonged intermittent shuttle running

The aim of this study was to assess the effects of cold-water immersion (cryotherapy) on indices of muscle damage following a bout of prolonged intermittent exercise. Twenty males (mean age 22.3 years, s = 3.3; height 1.80 m, s = 0.05; body mass 83.7 kg, s = 11.9) completed a 90-min intermittent shuttle run previously shown to result in marked muscle damage and soreness. After exercise, participants were randomly assigned to either 10 min cold-water immersion (mean 10 degrees C, s = 0.5) or a non-immersion control group. Ratings of perceived soreness, changes in muscular function and efflux of intracellular proteins were monitored before exercise, during treatment, and at regular intervals up to 7 days post-exercise. Exercise resulted in severe muscle soreness, temporary muscular dysfunction, and elevated serum markers of muscle damage, all peaking within 48 h after exercise. Cryotherapy administered immediately after exercise reduced muscle soreness at 1, 24, and 48 h (P < 0.05). Decrements in isometric maximal voluntary contraction of the knee flexors were reduced after cryotherapy treatment at 24 (mean 12%, s(x) = 4) and 48 h (mean 3%, s(x) = 3) compared with the control group (mean 21%, s(x) = 5 and mean 14%, s(x) = 5 respectively; P < 0.05). Exercise-induced increases in serum myoglobin concentration and creatine kinase activity peaked at 1 and 24 h, respectively (P < 0.05). Cryotherapy had no effect on the creatine kinase response, but reduced myoglobin 1 h after exercise (P < 0.05). The results suggest that cold-water immersion immediately after prolonged intermittent shuttle running reduces some indices of exercise-induced muscle damage.     

An Analysis of Voucher Advocacy: Taking a Closer Look at the Uses and Limitations of “Gold Standard” Research

Voucher proponents have increasingly pursued empirical evidence on the effectiveness of vouchers as a form of education improvement, in addition to advocating for vouchers on moral or ethical grounds. Voucher proponents contend that randomized assignment studies of students in voucher programs have consistently confirmed the effectiveness of vouchers. We examine such advocacy claims about these “gold standard” studies from a leading voucher proponent, the Friedman Foundation for Educational Choice, to consider how such advocacy is presented. Although voucher advocates indicate that the research is conclusive, consistent, and thus generalizable, and essentially beyond reproach, closer examination of the studies put forth by advocates suggests little consensus or consistency across the reported findings. When there are positive effects, they do not translate across different contexts, populations, programs, grade levels, or subjects. Moreover, we highlight some limitations of these studies, which the advocates do not acknowledge, and show that, because findings on vouchers are less compelling or promising than proponents claim, the misrepresentation of empirical findings by advocates appears to be a key element of their advocacy agenda.     

The power of statistical tests in science teachnig research

A calculation of the probability of rejecting H₀ when it should be rejected (power) was completed on each of the 66 applicable articles in Volumes 6 and 7 (1969, 1970) of the Journal of Research in Science Teaching. These power calculations utilized the effect size definitions and tables developed by Cohen (1969). The mean power of each article to detect small, medium, and large effect sizes was determined from its major statistical tests. These mean powers were then compiled and analyzed. The powers calculated for the different effect sizes were disturbingly low (small, 0.22; medium, 0.71; large, 0.87) but not generally as low as Cohen (1962) found in an analysis of another behavioral journal. Recommendations for improving confidence in research in science teaching is provided and centers on significant increases in sample sizes and an understanding of power and its relation to a, effect size and sample size.     

People for Education: a critical policy history

In this paper, we demonstrate how history informs how policy meanings are constructed and the rhetorical strategies used to convince others to accept these meanings. We have two goals: (a) to show how a group of non-governmental actors, People for Education, became part of Ontario, Canada’s policy discursive network; and (b) to demonstrate the utility of constructing cultural and microhistories in critical policy analysis. This article is important because it describes resistance from a critical perspective and offers a methodology for producing histories of struggles over meaning-making in educational politics.     

Accelerated Burnout: How Teach For America's Academic Impact Model and Theoretical Culture of Accountability Can Foster Disillusionment Among its Corps Members

This article seeks to characterize Teach For America's (TFA) theoretical framework as engendering disillusionment among its corps members. Given that the corps members have little to no pedagogical or methods training prior to taking on teaching positions through TFA, the lessons learned during the summer training set the stage for the foundational beliefs corps members have about teaching and learning. Specifically, TFA employs a framework known as the Academic Impact Model that posits that good teachers can overcome the ailments of socioeconomic disparities if they subscribe to notions of hyper-teacher-accountability. It is this false sense of reality that creates the opportunity for disillusionment and burnout among TFA's corps members.     

Does Homeschooling “Work”? A Critique of the Empirical Claims and Agenda of Advocacy Organizations

The phenomenal growth of homeschooling in recent years demonstrates not only the appeal of this educational approach but also the notable policy acumen of the homeschooling movement's leading advocates. This analysis examines and critiques the empirical claims made by homeschooling proponents to justify further expansion and deregulation of the movement, and sheds light on the homeschool advocacy agenda explicit in those claims. Advocates often strongly suggest a causal connection between homeschooling and academic success, postsecondary attainment, and even enjoyment of life. Seemingly, these benefits are experienced all at a reduced cost per student. It is through such claims that homeschooling advocates have expanded the practice of homeschooling and have pressed for fewer state regulations and less oversight. This article outlines and challenges those claims, showing the tenuous basis for such conclusions. Instead, in an era when policymakers demand evidence of effective educational practices, we note the remarkable lack of empirical evidence on the effectiveness of this popular approach and suggest that continued efforts to claim such evidence exists indicates the desire of advocates to further advance what is largely an ideological agenda of deregulation as an end in itself.     

Teaching Students to Infer Meaning Through Material Culture

Social studies students can learn to glean historical information from the study of material culture through active engagement as curators. Teachers can guide students through a pre-survey of helpful reading materials and then through selecting items of personal significance to them: creating labels that objectively describe the chosen items as to origin, composition, background, and provenance; exchanging the created sets of file cards; examining the cards received in the exchange; inferring factual information about the owner of the selected items; and sharing deductions with the class. From this exercise, students will have a chance to learn how historians, anthropologists, and other social scientists use critical thinking in their work, how much can be learned from material culture, and how missteps can result from overtheorizing.