Neo-conservatives,Neo-liberals,the New Left and Inclusion: Stirring the pot

Layers of policy often conflict with one another. In this paper, different layers of policy - and more importantly the different intellectual stables from which they emerge are explored in relation to inclusion. There are those of the New Right, with its emphasis on individualism, the free market, tradition and the family; and there are those of the new centre-left, which stresses the importance of community and 'stakeholder welfare'. We argue that there are attempts in much recent policy to fuse both kinds of thinking and that expressions about the need for a plural, tolerant, inclusive education system sometimes sit uneasily with policy which foregrounds the benefits of choice, selection and the comparison of schools on the basis of their pupils' attainment. While proclamations from politicians about benefits of inclusion are to be welcomed, the effects of exhortation will be counteracted by policy whose effects are to promote competition.     

Speed Versus Accuracy: Implications of Adolescents' Neurocognitive Developments in a Digital Game to Train Executive Functions

Adolescence is a period of rapid cognitive change, including an initial increase in speed of cognitive processing and a more gradual increase in efficiency of cognitive processing. This study examined how neurophysiological changes associated with adolescent development can inform the design of game‐based executive function (EF) training. Two versions of a digital game designed to train the EF subskill of inhibition were given to adolescents (aged 13–17; N = 96): one focusing on speed, the other on accuracy. Consistent with neurocognitive developments, it was hypothesized that younger adolescents would benefit more from the speed version, and older adolescents more from the accuracy version. A significant age by condition interaction was found: Controlling for pretest, younger adolescents had better outcomes in the speed condition, while older adolescents had better outcomes in the accuracy condition. These findings argue for consideration of adolescents' neurocognitive development when designing games for learning and skill improvement.     

Gender Differences in Pupil Attitudes to the National Curriculum Foundation Subjects of English,Mathematics, Science and Technology in Key Stage 3 in South Wales

The attitudes of pupils in South Wales to mathematics, English, science and technology were tested using a Likert‐type attitude scale. Pupils were selected from National Curriculum Key Stage 3, specifically Year 9 (age 13‐14 years). Schools were selected by their position in the 1992 National League tables produced by the Welsh Office, the schools being placed into one of four bands. The number of schools involved was 34 and the number of pupils 4263. This represents 15.3% of the total population of school children of age 13‐14 years in the region (Welsh Office, 1993). The results show gender differences in attitudes to English, mathematics, science and technology and some between school differences. The results are subjected to a factor analysis and are discussed in relation to groups of statements reflecting key aspects of each subject scale.     

Changes in the relation of self-efficacy beliefs and behaviors across development

Many social science theories that examine the connection between beliefs and behaviors assume that belief constructs will predict behaviors similarly across development. Converging research implies that this assumption may not be tenable across all ages or all belief constructs. Thus, to test this implication, the relation between behavior and beliefs about the self was examined in 2 independent data sets with 2 different constructs: aggression and achievement. The respondents were 6-18 years of age and predominately Caucasian. Results using quasi-simplex structural equation models suggest that self-beliefs become more strongly related to behavior as children grow older independent of the reliability of the measures used. Possible limitations in the use of self-report methodology with young children are discussed.     

Examining the yields of growth feedback from science teachers and students' intrinsic valuing of science: Implications for student- and school-level science achievement

Students' science knowledge and skills are considered critical to growing the intellectual capital on which societies rely to innovate and prosper. However, recent research has documented notable declines in students' intrinsic valuing of science and science achievement in Australia and other western countries. As a result, there have been calls to investigate factors at both the student- and school-level that can improve intrinsic valuing of and achievement in science. Growth feedback from science teachers to students has been identified as one such factor. Growth feedback, which specifically targets individual student growth and improvement, is considered an effective form of teacher feedback. Because recent research has demonstrated the benefits of effective teacher feedback on intrinsic valuing of science and the positive link between intrinsic valuing of science and science achievement, the present investigation examined (at both the student- and school-level) the extent to which growth feedback in science predicts intrinsic valuing of science and the extent to which intrinsic valuing predicts science achievement and mediates the relationship between growth feedback and achievement. This study examined this hypothesized process with the 2015 Australian PISA sample (N = 14,530 students in N = 758 schools) via a multilevel structural equation model. Findings indicated that at both the student- and school-level, growth feedback significantly predicted intrinsic valuing, and intrinsic valuing significantly predicted achievement; growth feedback also had significant indirect effects of achievement via intrinsic valuing. Taken together, our findings indicate that there are personal and whole-school yields for science achievement from the experiences of growth feedback in and intrinsic valuing of science.