A Framework for Choice Remedy Litigation

Although school choice proponents have generally been on the offensive in legislative arenas over the past 2 decades, they have played almost constant defense in the judiciary, seeking to prevent courts from undoing school choice programs. Opponents typically wield state constitutional provisions against school choice programs. Properly construed, such provisions often are intended not to thwart but to secure educational opportunities. School choice supporters should consider taking the offensive, applying such provisions toward their intended ends by challenging defective schools and seeking meaningful remedies for children trapped in them. Choice remedy litigation can provide an effective complement to legislative efforts in the larger campaign to secure for disadvantaged children the precious educational opportunities that are their constitutional right.     

Places,spaces and local customs: honouring the private worlds of out‐of‐school text creation

This paper examines the nature of the out‐of‐school writing practices of three primary‐aged children aged 9–10. In particular, it explores the writing these children chose to undertake at home including ‘for school’ writing, completed at home. The study's findings reveal the ways in which these three, developing young writers engage and interact with writing and how this differs to writing for school, completed at home. To better understand the implications of national surveys that reveal a causal relationship between writing for enjoyment and positive writing attainment this research sought to expose the range and versatility of the children's home and volitional writing practices. The children in this case study were not selected because they were writers but merely that they engaged with writing away from school. The study employs an ecological paradigm (Bronfenbrenner, 1979 ) to explore the participation and interaction of the children with their writing practices within the complex environment of home. The paper makes the case for teachers to be more curious about the private worlds of out‐of‐school text creation to better appreciate the provenance of home writing events and artefacts.     

The Value of Applied Research: Retrieval Practice Improves Classroom Learning and Recommendations from a Teacher, a Principal, and a Scientist

Over the course of a 5-year applied research project with more than 1,400 middle school students, evidence from a number of studies revealed that retrieval practice in authentic classroom settings improves long-term learning (Agarwal et al. 2009; McDaniel et al., Journal of Educational Psychology 103:399–414, 2011; McDaniel et al. 2012; Roediger et al., Journal of Experimental Psychology: Applied 17:382–395, 2011a). Retrieval practice, or the use of quizzes and exams to engage and enhance retrieval processes, has been widely established as an effective strategy for facilitating learning in laboratory settings (e.g., Roediger et al. 2011c). In this article, we review recent findings from applied research that demonstrate that retrieval practice enhances long-term classroom learning, delayed quizzes are particularly potent for retention, quizzes benefit students’ transfer to novel quiz items, and quizzes with feedback improve students’ learning and metacognitive awareness. In addition to generating evidence to support retrieval-based learning, these applied research studies also enhanced the professional development of the teachers, administrators, and scientists involved in the project. In this article, it is our hope that by sharing what we have learned from a variety of perspectives, applied scientific research in K-12 classrooms will continue to be explored and generated at local, state, and national levels, improving student learning and educational decision-making.     

Library Reorganization,Chaos, and Using the Core Competencies as a Guide

Starting in the fall of 2012, the staff at the University of Texas at Arlington (UTA) Library began to plan for a library-wide reorganization of staff and services. Every staff member would be affected by the reorganization process, including the library’s serials and e-resources team. In what could be a most chaotic time, the serials and e-resources team chose to use the North American Serials Interest Group (NASIG) draft version of core competencies for electronic resource librarians as a guide to help in selecting members for the e-resources team that would emerge following the reorganization. The presentation on which this article is based reviews the situation at UTA, the core competencies, and how the serials/e-resources team used the core competencies along with a self-assessment tool to help select the most qualified staff for the team.     

General Communication

THE ART AND SCIENCE OF ENTREPRENEURSHIP edited by Donald Sexton and Raymond Smilor (Cambridge, MA: Ballinger, 1986—$32.00)

MINORITIES AND MEDIA: DIVERSITY AND THE END OF MASS COMMUNICATION by Clint C. Wilson II, and Felix Gutierrez (Beverly Hills, CA: Sage, 1985—price not given, paper)

MEDIA GRATIFICATIONS RESEARCH: CURRENT PERSPECTIVES edited by Karl Erik Rosengren, et al. (Beverly Hills, CA: Sage, 1985—pricenot given, paper)

PROGRESS IN COMMUNICATIONS SCIENCES VII edited by Brenda Dervin and Melvin J. Voigt (Norwood, NJ: Ablex, 1986—$45 to institutions, $29.50 to individuals)

MASS MEDIA VS. ITALIAN AMERICANS by Adolph Caso (Brandon Publishing, 21 Station St., Box 843, Brookline Village MA 02147 $4.95, paper)     

The fear factor: students’ experiences of test anxiety when taking A-level examinations

This paper presents the findings of a pilot study that explored students’ experiences of test anxiety when taking A-level examinations. Four focus groups were convened with a sample of 19 participants in the south of England to explore the triggers of test anxiety and the perceived need for interventions to assist high test-anxious students cope with the examination process. The findings suggested that the participants experienced two types of anxiety: ‘pre-exam anxiety’ (relating to, for example, revision and mock examinations) and ‘exam-day anxiety’ (relating to practical concerns, such as school policy on the arrival of students and the time available to complete the examination). Only three participants reported feeling that their examination performance was significantly impaired by test anxiety; most reported that a degree of anxiety aided their performance. With test anxiety perceived by most participants as motivational and useful, there was little support for any interventions from examination boards, parents or teachers to help reduce or manage test anxiety. However, based on participants’ experiences of the pre-examination period, it is suggested that test anxiety may impede students’ ability to prepare for their examinations, and that interventions during this stage may be useful. The findings also imply that there are some practical steps that could be taken by the educational community to help reduce students’ test anxiety.     

Taking an Attention‐Grabbing “Headlines First!” Approach to Engage Students in a Lecture Setting

Let's face it. Traditional lectures do not consistently capture our students’ attention, especially when they are PowerPoint‐driven and lack student/instructor interaction. Most of us have had the unfortunate feeling that our students were not fully engaged in our lectures, despite hours of preparation on our part. This sense of “wasted” investment of time can be especially frustrating for pretenure faculty, who must balance teaching, research, extension and administrative (as well as personal) responsibilities in order to be successful. How can we engage students in our course content, given limited time and resources to prepare lecture material and demonstrations? Active learning strategies are a possibility, but shifting courses from a lecture format to problem‐based learning or a flipped format requires a significant time and effort investment from the instructor. Why not start by making lecture more fun and engaging for our students? Storytelling is an effective and efficient means of getting and maintaining our students’ attention and interest during lecture to drive home key points. The BSCS (Biological Sciences Curriculum Study) 5E Instructional Model provides a conceptual framework that emphasizes the primacy of student engagement in science education (Bybee). Our goal here is to provide practical examples and external references to show how “Headlines First!” storytelling can be used effectively to engage students in the science classroom.