Strategies to improve impact efficiency in football kicking

In football, kicking with high ball velocity can increase scoring opportunities and reduce the likelihood of interception. Efficient energy transfer from foot to ball during impact is important to attain a high ball velocity. It is considered impact efficiency can be increased by reducing the change in ankle plantarflexion during foot–ball impact. However, conflicting evidence exists, questioning its effectiveness as a coaching cue. The aim of the present study was to systematically analyse joint stiffness, foot velocity and impact location with a mechanical kicking machine to determine if change in ankle plantarflexion during foot–ball impact and ball velocity are influenced. Sagittal plane data of the shank, foot and ball were measured using high-speed video (4,000 Hz). Increasing joint stiffness reduced change in ankle plantarflexion and increased ball velocity from a greater effective mass. Increasing foot velocity increased change in ankle plantarflexion and increased ball velocity. Distal impact locations increased change in ankle plantarflexion and reduced ball velocity as coefficient of restitution decreased. These results identify that change in ankle plantarflexion is a dependent variable during foot–ball impact and does not directly influence ball velocity. Coaches can assess ankle motion during impact to provide feedback to athletes on their impact efficiency.     

Phonological,visual and temporal processing in adults with and without reading disability

The primary goal of this study was to comparethree theoretical accounts of readingdisability (RD) by simultaneously studyingphonological, visual, and temporal processingskills. Adults with and without RD werecompared on measures of phonological processingwith the Auditory Analysis Test (AAT) and theWoodcock Reading Mastery Test (WRMT-R) WordAttack subtest. Visual processing was assessedwith the Useful Field of View test (UFOV®)and the Frequency Doubling Technology Perimeter(FDT). The Repetition Test was used toevaluate temporal processing skills. Adultswith RD evidenced poorer phonological andtemporal processing skills than did adultswithout RD, but no significant differencesbetween the groups were found in visualprocessing. Future research is needed toclarify the relations among phonological,visual, and temporal skills and the roles theyplay in RD. The trajectory and co-existence ofdeficits throughout development, as well as howspecifically such impairments affect reading,warrant further investigation.     

An exploratory study of Special Educational Needs Co‐ordinators' knowledge and experience of working with children who have sustained a brain injury

This research aimed to measure Special Educational Needs Co‐ordinators' knowledge of the educational implications of acquired brain injury in children and young people and whether experience of working with pupils with a brain injury or additional training impacts upon this knowledge. Data was collected within one local authority in England using an online survey. The results indicated that the respondents had high levels of uncertainty regarding the impact of a brain injury although they were more confident in those areas which related most closely to their practice. The responses suggested that experience of working with a pupil with a brain injury promoted greater knowledge than receiving training; the results, however, showed that only a minority of SENCos had received any training and those who had tended to have undertaken this independently. This suggests that there is a need for SENCos to be provided with specialist training in order to increase their understanding of the impact of acquired brain injury in children and young people.     

Kindergarten teachers develop phoneme awareness in low-income,inner-city classrooms

Recent evidence suggests that training in phoneme awareness has a positive impact on beginning reading and spelling. The objective of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of instruction in phonological awareness provided in low-income, inner-city kindergarten classrooms by kindergarten teachers and their teaching assistants. Prior to the intervention, the 84 treatment children and 75 control children, who attended inner-city schools in an urban district in upstate New York, did not differ on age, sex, race, SES, PPVT-R score, phoneme segmentation, letter name knowledge, letter sound knowledge, or reading. After the 11 week intervention, the treatment children significantly outperformed the control children on measures of phoneme segmentation, letter name and letter sound knowledge, two of three reading measures, and a measure of invented spelling. Implications for improving beginning reading instruction are discussed.     

Reading Disability Secondary to Attention Deficit Disorder: A Neglected Syndrome

Schemes for classifying reading disabilities have focused too narrowly on deficiencies in reception, analysis and storage of sensory information. An expanded view of the cognitive deficits that may produce reading disabilities is proposed. A case is made for recognising the possible role of primary deficiencies in attention in the production of reading disabilities, particularly in young children in the initial stages of learning to read. A simple taxonomy of reading disabilities based on the underlying cognitive deficits causing the disorder is proposed. Diagnostic criteria are presented for differentiating reading disabilities due to sensory information processing deficits from disabilities due to attentional deficits, including: standardised tests, qualitative analyses of performance on reading and non-reading tasks, behaviour observations, and response to remediation.     

A review of models of vertical,leg, and knee stiffness in adults for running,jumping or hopping tasks

Abstract

The ‘stiffness’ concept originates from Hooke's law which states that the force required to deform an object is related to a spring constant and the distance that object is deformed. Research into stiffness in the human body is undergoing unprecedented popularity; possibly because stiffness has been associated with sporting performance and some lower limb injuries. However, some inconsistencies surrounding stiffness measurement exists bringing into question the integrity of some research related to stiffness. The aim of this study was to review literature which describes how vertical, leg and knee stiffness has been measured in adult populations while running, jumping or hopping. A search of the entire MEDLINE, PubMed and SPORTDiscus databases and an iterative reference check was performed. Sixty-seven articles were retrieved; 21 measured vertical stiffness, 51 measured leg stiffness, and 22 measured knee stiffness. Thus, some studies measured several ‘types’ of stiffness. Vertical stiffness was typically the quotient of ground reaction force and centre of mass displacement. For leg stiffness it was and change in leg length, and for the knee it was the quotient of knee joint moments and change in joint angle. Sample size issues and measurement techniques were identified as limitations to current research.     

How can educational psychologists support the reintegration of children with an acquired brain injury upon their return to school?

This study explores the process of reintegration into school for children with an acquired brain injury (ABI) and considers the role of the educational psychologist (EP) in supporting these children. Interviews were conducted with a range of professionals in two specialist settings: a specialist rehabilitation centre and a children’s hospital with a specialism in paediatric neurology. The findings highlight a number of potential areas where EPs could contribute to the support of children with ABI including facilitating communication between professionals and providing training for school staff. The training implications for EPs are also considered.     

What ever happened to …? ‘Personalised learning’ as a case of policy dissipation

While a great deal of attention has been given to evaluating how well policies are implemented, that is, how well they are realised in practice, less attention has been paid to understanding and documenting the ways in which schools actually deal with the multiple, and sometimes opaque and contradictory demands of different ‘types’ of policy. This paper addresses the question of how it is that some education policies ‘fail’ to translate into a continuing and effective set of practices in schools, and instead, are subjected to processes of dissipation and mutation. In this paper, we take as our case personalised learning (PL) launched in England in 2004. In understanding complex processes of enactment, the challenge is to understand how policies differ and analyse why some policies ‘work’ in ways that are unexpected – not as failures of implementation but as mutations. As a ‘case’ of policy dissipation, PL highlights the changing relationships between national and institutional imperatives, and the creative mutations to which some policies are subject within schools. It is not that they have no effects, but rather their effects are marginal or nuanced rather than immediate and obvious.