The Effect of Employment Interview Format on Principals' Evaluations of Teachers

This study compared the effectiveness of structured and branched-format employment interviews in differentiating strong and weak teachers. In addition, the study examined the correlations between principals' ratings and teachers' self-ratings on measures of efficacy, commitment, job satisfaction, and morale. To simulate structured and branched interviews, eight experienced elementary teachers were employed to construct eight videotaped interviews. Four of these teachers were identified as strong, and four were identified as weak teachers based on formal district evaluations. Sixteen elementary principals each viewed two tapes, one representing a branched interview format and the other representing a structured format. Tapes of strong and weak teachers were randomly assigned to principals within each interview format. The principals then rated the teacher on the five scales: overall teaching ability, efficacy, commitment, satisfaction, and morale. Teachers completed a par allel questionnaire before videotaping the interviews. Analysis of the data indicated both interview methods were effective in differentiating between strong and weak teachers on ability, efficacy, commitment, job satisfaction, and morale measures. With certain cautions, this finding supports the common practice of placing great emphasis on verbal interviews to select teachers. There was not, however, a significant difference between the two interview formats; either format seems acceptable. Correlations between the principals' rating and the self-rating of the teachers were significant on the efficacy, job satisfaction, and morale measures; the correlations were not significant on the commitment measure. This finding implies that collection of specific types of survey data before the interview might increase the predictive validity of the interview process; alternatively, it might allow the process to be shortened with little loss of information.     

National Libraries as Institutes of International Understanding Among Member States of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS)

This paper provides an overview of the practice of librarianship at the sub-regional level in West Africa. Functions of national libraries that are widely known are examined. The case is made for the implementation of the proposed Federation of West African Library Association (FWALA). A proposal is also made for the establishment of a sub-regional library and a network of the national libraries of the member countries of ECOWAS at a secondary level. The roles that various arms of the proposed structure can play to promote free flow of information in the sub-region are then discussed.     

How teachers address cases of bullying in schools: a comparison of five reactive approaches

According to student surveys conducted cross-nationally, a substantial proportion of students continue to be bullied at school after they have sought help from teachers. This article examines a range of strategies that teachers employ in dealing with bully/victim cases. The most commonly used strategy is Direct Sanctions: the imposition of disciplinary sanctions on the person or persons identified as responsible for the bullying. Some other strategies seek to engage students more actively in resolving the problem. These include Restorative Practice, Mediation (including peer mediation), the Support Group Method and the Method of Shared Concern. This article describes and discusses the application of each of the strategies and the extent to which students may become creatively engaged in producing a solution. Available evidence suggests that the use of Direct Sanctions is no more successful than alternative strategies in addressing cases of school bullying and may result in less sustainable outcomes.     

Teaching history in schools: A Canadian debate

This paper examines the debate over the teaching of Canadian history that has been in progress in Canada since the early 1990s. It considers four criticisms: schools do not teach enough Canadian history and students, therefore, do not know it; the history that is taught is no longer sufficiently national; social history has destroyed the old nation-building narrative and dwells on the negative rather than the positive aspects of Canada's past; and child-centred teaching and other pedagogical fashions have led teachers to devalue factual knowledge. Finally, it examines the proposals that have been advanced for the reform of history teaching in Canada.     

Considering Harm Reduction as the Future of Doping Control Policy in International Sport

Since the 1960s, major international sporting organizations enforced a prohibition on performance-enhancing drugs. The scope of this enforcement expanded to the current system regulated by the World Anti-Doping Agency. Although the sophistication of the detective sciences and the comprehensive enforcement of these prohibitions have improved over time, supporters of the ban on drug use in sport still struggle with 3 issues: Doping is still quite common; the ability to detect established drugs have driven users to newer, more experimental substances; and the prohibition policy lacks sufficient moral justifications. This article suggests that the debate over doping has bifurcated between those who continue to support antidoping measures with insufficient ethical grounds and those who would potentially permit the unregulated use of performance-enhancement technologies in sport because of insufficient justifications for prohibition. A third way, posed herein, suggests the most ethically defensible policy is a harm-reduction approach.     

Can student teachers acquire core skills for teaching from part‐time employment?

Part‐time employment among university students has become commonplace internationally. Research has largely focused on the impact of part‐time employment on academic performance. This research takes an original approach in that it poses the question whether students can acquire core skills relevant to teaching from their part‐time employment. The research was conducted in a university college of education. A case study approach was adopted using an opportunistic sample of 285 students drawn from two BEd programmes. The project is based on an interpretive paradigm, focusing on students’ perceptions of their part‐time employment. The research methodology included a questionnaire containing both closed and open questions, a follow‐up focus group discussion and two case histories. The results showed that the majority of students believed that they had acquired core skills from their part‐time employment. The findings of this research raise important issues about how university courses can effectively build on such learning experiences.     

Identifying High-Quality Preschool Programs: New Evidence on the Validity of the Early Childhood Environment Rating Scale–Revised (ECERS-R) in Relation to School Readiness Goals

Research Findings: The Early Childhood Environment Rating Scale–Revised (ECERS-R) is widely used, often to evaluate whether preschool programs are of sufficient quality to improve children’s school readiness. We examined the validity of the measure for this purpose. Item response theory (IRT) analyses revealed that many items did not fit together to measure single dimensions, particularly when rated by consultants as indicating aspects of quality relevant for multiple domains of child development. IRT results also conflicted with the scale developers’ expectations in terms of whether markers that they attached to higher response categories represented higher quality empirically. When reanalyzed based on experts’ ratings, IRT results also showed that relatively few indicators captured the moderate to high range of quality. Practice or Policy: Our results suggest that policymakers should carefully consider whether measures designed for specific purposes are appropriate for other high-stakes uses. We encourage continued refinement of existing quality measures, development of new measures, and the accumulation of evidence for their various uses.     

The Effect of Service Learning on Community College Students

This study discusses the implementation of a service learning component in community college communication 101 level courses. Through the execution of a service learning component in communication classes at a community college, students’ communicative competency and attitude toward community service is assessed. Using two different delivery approaches, a quantitative study assessed the pretest and posttest of the standardized tool Communicative Adaptability Scale (CAS). Eight sections of communication 101 courses were distributed into two groups: (a) an experimental group and (b) a control group. The experimental group (n = 69) was required to finish a service learning project consisting of 15 hours by the end of the semester. The control group (n = 64) students did not participate in a community service project. Quantitative research methods were applied through data collection of the CAS taken by participants preimplementation and postimplementation of the service learning component, which was a community service project. The CAS results support that the implementation of service learning significantly increases students’ communication adaptability and competence.