An Appeal for Transparency

In weighing free speech versus harassment, university administrators and lawyers tend to exert controls more suitable for commercial institutions, where the pursuit of truth is not preeminent. Harvey Silverglate cites examples of egregious restrictions that went “poof” in the bright light of exposure to the public. The papers that constitute this symposium are adapted from remarks delivered on 18 November 2006 in Cambridge, Massachusetts, as part of NAS’s 12th general conference. The overall theme of the conference was “What Works in Higher Education Reform: A Report from the Front.” The panelists in this symposium presented strategies for effecting reform of higher education through legal mechanism and by airings before the general populace.     

Psychiatric treatment of abusing mothers — Two case studies

Cases of two mothers who abused their preschool children are presented. The patients are discussed with a focus on psychological and social phenomena which created the stress situations. The importance of a combined treatment approach, with family involvement, as contrasted to traditional psychotherapeutic methods is underscored. Long term supportive involvement with the family is also illustrated. Resolution of the mothers' conflicts came about in psychotherapy when they re-experienced their forgetten painful affects from childhood. The authors suggest that the prevention of unwanted and unplanned pregnancies should decrease the high incidence of child abuse.     

Time to participate: Lessons from the literature for learning and teaching project evaluation in higher education

Evaluation plays an increasingly important role in the quality-driven context of higher education. Projects that focus on learning and teaching often have evaluation expected of them, however, there is little evidence on the effectiveness of approaches nor the extent to which the praxis of evaluation is achieved. To illustrate this phenomenon, project funding and evaluation expectations are reviewed and the resulting analysis of the literature identifies eight emergent themes. Two overarching factors that unite these themes are time (or lack of it) and participation, leading to six issues for evaluation practice. Alignment of evaluation theory with practice requires focused attention if the maximum benefits of evaluation for the project processes are to be achieved.     

Leadership giftedness: An idea whose time has not yet come

Programs for leadership gifted should not be included in schools until educators can define leadership, denote its characteristics, and establish predictive criteria.     

The role of persistence at preschool age in academic skills at kindergarten

The current study examined the role of preschoolers’ motivation, operationalized as persistence, in the formation of language and math skills at kindergarten. The participants were 263 children from diverse ethnic and socio-economic backgrounds. Demographic information, child persistence, and early cognitive-linguistic skills were assessed at age 3; children’s academic skills were assessed at kindergarten. Results indicated that preschooler’s persistence was related to their academic skills two years later over and above demographic factors and early cognitive-linguistic skills. The findings are discussed in terms of the importance of early childhood motivation for later school achievement.     

A short-form version of the WISC-R for the learning disabled

This study investigated the best short form version of the WISC-R for learning disabled (LD) students. The WISC-R was administered to 234 LD and 290 children who were referred for psychological evaluation but were found not eligible (NE) for special education services from 45 school districts in Michigan. Stepwise multiple regressions were calculated to ascertain the best tetrads of Full Scale IQ (FS IQ) for the two groups. For the NE sample, Vocabulary, Picture Arrangement, Picture Completion, and Information were the best four indicators of FS IQ, accounting for about 80% of the variance in Full Scale scores. For the LD sample, the best four predictors of FS IQ were Similarities, Block Design, Picture Completion, and Vocabulary, accounting for about 80% of criterion variance. Using the WISC-R standardization data, Sattler identified the Information, Vocabulary, Comprehension, and Block Design subtests as one of the best short form versions for predicting FS IQ. For the LD sample of the present study, Sattler's composite yielded a multiple R of .873 with FS IQ, whereas our best four predictors yielded a multiple R of .896. It appears that Sattler's tetrad is about as good a predictor of FS IQ for LD students as that found in the present data.