Statistical Assessment of Estimated Transformations in Observed‐Score Equating

Equating methods make use of an appropriate transformation function to map the scores of one test form into the scale of another so that scores are comparable and can be used interchangeably. The equating literature shows that the ways of judging the success of an equating (i.e., the score transformation) might differ depending on the adopted framework. Rather than targeting different parts of the equating process and aiming to evaluate the process from different aspects, this article views the equating transformation as a standard statistical estimator and discusses how this estimator should be assessed in an equating framework. For the kernel equating framework, a numerical illustration shows the potentials of viewing the equating transformation as a statistical estimator as opposed to assessing it using equating‐specific criteria. A discussion on how this approach can be used to compare other equating estimators from different frameworks is also included.     

Relational aggression among boys: blind spots and hidden dramas

Although boys too are involved in relational aggression, their experiences are overshadowed by the focus on relational aggression among girls. This paradox mirrors the empirical puzzle that forms the starting point for this article: while teachers saw relational aggression as a ‘girl problem’, we found a vast undercurrent of relational aggression among boys. Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork and interviews with staff and students in Norwegian schools, we ask how boys’ relational aggression can be left unnoticed by school staff. We demonstrate that there is a gap between the experiences boys have of being victims of relational aggression and their expression of this, in terms of both their inability to talk about it and its undramatic form. We argue that this represents a blind spot for school staff and for the boys themselves, and suggest that gendered knowledge production contributes to reproducing the invisibility of relational aggression among boys.     

Body movements of boys with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) during computer video game play

The type and severity of body movements exhibited by 79 (unmedicated) boys clinically diagnosed with ADHD (30 Predominantly Inattentive Type and 49 Combined Type), and 67 non-ADHD boys were recorded while playing Crash Bandicoot I, a Sony Playstation platform computer video game. In Crash Bandicoot, participants control the movements of a small animated figure (CB) through a hazardous jungle environment. Two tasks totaling 12 trials were administered, each of which incorporated with and without Distractor conditions. For those trials with the Distractor, a segment of the television show "The Simpsons" was simultaneously played on a television screen adjacent to the computer game monitor and at an equal volume. Contrary to theory and expectations an analysis of the data did not reveal any statistically significant differences in the frequency, type and severity of body movements between the ADHD and non-ADHD boys, or between the ADHD subtypes during computer video game play. These findings have important implications for assessment and teaching processes in both classroom and therapeutic contexts.     

Using the DYSA Programme to Reduce Stress and Anxiety in First-year University Students

With recent increases in the number of students attending universities without a proportional increase in resources, it is likely that there has been a decrease in the quality of life students experience and an increase in the stress they feel. This is of course added to by tuition fees and the need to take out student loans. The writers review research into student stress and highlight the fact that many researchers have noted the need for stress-reduction courses, though this has been a recommendation that has not generally been taken up. A specific stress-reduction programme for school pupils and university students is described. This programme was tested with first-year undergraduates. The students involved all felt that the programme had been valuable. Apart from its clear relevance to the support of university students, this paper raises issues which are of importance to those working with sixth-form students.     

Spatial learning by rats across visually disconnected environments

Experiments were designed in which some properties of spatial representations in rats could be examined. Adult subjects were trained to escape through a hole at a fixed position in a large circular arena (see Schenk, 1989). The experiments were conducted in the dark, with a limited number of controlled visual light cues, in order to assess the minimal cue requirement for place learning. Three light cues identical in shape, height, and distance from the table were used. Depending on the condition, they were either permanently on or alternatively on or off, contingent on the position of the rat in the field. Two questions were asked: (1) How many identical visual cues were necessary for spatial discrimination in the dark, and (2) could rats integrate the relative positions of separate cues, under conditions in which the rat was never allowed to perceive all three cues simultaneously. The results suggest that rats are able to achieve a place discrimination task even if the three cues necessary for efficient orientation can never be seen simultaneously. A dissociation between the discrimination of the spatial position of the goal and the capacity to reach it by a direct path suggests that, with a reduced number of cues, prolonged locomotion might be required for accurate orientation in the environment.     

The Times,They Need A Changing: Infusing Social Justice Into Kinesiology Requires Collaboration

We live in challenging times. The divisions among people related to race, gender, gender identity, religion, and socioeconomic class are becoming more apparent. Past efforts toward social justice and the dismantling of these divisions seem to be losing their momentum and are even negated. As kinesiologists, we each need to commit to standing for social justice with every opportunity we are presented with and most importantly, in our classes. After a review of terms and clarification of ideas related to diversity and social justice, this lecture will present the position that collaboration will provide an effective approach to develop the knowledge, skills, and confidence essential to appropriately address diversity in our professional lives and advocate for social justice. This collaboration should be across disciplines and move us beyond our own research agendas to working with those whose research agendas or areas of expertise are diversity and social justice. Our collective commitment and collaborations will hopefully change the times we are living in to one where each person is respected for who they are, and social justice becomes part of our American fabric.     

Public policy,physical education and sport in English-speaking Africa

Background: Physicality in human movement characteristic of indigenous sporting forms in Africa is grounded in a multitude of cultures. During the period of colonial Africa, there was the introduction of British sporting forms, policies, and practices in schools and society. It was through schools and missions that the colonists introduced sport activities, with colonial administrators and officers prioritizing athleticism over other activities, evident in after-school sports and games. Thus, schools along with Christian missions served as the instruments of colonial education, culture, and sport, with resources allocated selectively to advance racialized and classist education.

Purpose: This paper explores how colonialism, particularly British forms of sport physicality, impacted African people and deconstructs how curriculum and teaching in physical education (PE) during the post-colonial era is lost to the politics of knowledge in the school–society nexus, revealing how the school curriculum serves as a contested terrain. This contestation discloses how colonial and post-colonial narratives intertwine to influence public policy and school practices in the development and implementation of PE curriculum.

Themes: Examination of the literature produced themes associated with stratification of school subjects and marginalization of PE in particular – the exam-oriented and elitist-oriented education – which characterized British Africa, and made British education part and parcel of policy development and implementation, influencing the nature of education, and PE in particular. The elitist education influenced public policy initiatives, frameworks, and corresponding reforms resulting in stratification of school subjects, the use of public school expenditure, and in the type of teacher training followed. In addition, negative school-wide practices became apparent with public policy, rules, and regulations being loosely coupled with school realities, leading PE to be considered as a ‘toothless subject' in the school curriculum. Besides physicality and learning in PE are not distinguishable from sporting forms and practices, bringing out the emphasis on competitive school sport that has been used to promote nation's prestige, social engineering, and economic development.

Conclusion: A development of way forward for PE in British Africa is considered critical and warranted for adequate development of children and youth and for promotion of the health welfare of society. PE plays a critical part in the nexus between education and development; including meeting individual and social welfare goals of post-colonial British Africa; and as such the needs of all children should be at the forefront of policy development and implementation. What is warranted is a development of a standard-based reform that is grounded in a strong formulated public policy that acknowledges diversity in the centralized system of education; with its implementation showing a balance of PE with after-school sport programs and incorporation of indigenous sporting forms.