Communication: One key to mainstreaming success

Mainstreaming the exceptional child necessitates that regular and special teachers work much more closely today than in the past. The most important element for successful mainstreaming is effective communication (Schubert & Glick, 1981). This article describes the collaborative consultation model as one approach to attaining good, effective communication.     

Psychopharmacological intervention. II: Teacher perceptions of psychotropic medication for students with learning disabilities

The perceptions, knowledge, and opinions of 104 teachers of students with learning disabilities regarding medication used with their students were investigated. The students' doctors were perceived as the professionals primarily responsible for making the decision to have the student either placed on or taken off medication. The teachers indicated that global impressions and direct behavioral observations were used to assess the effects of medication but that they would prefer to use behavioral observations and rating scales. Hyperactivity and delusions/hallucinations were perceived as the problems most likely to lead to medication. Less than 15% of the teachers indicated that their professional preservice training had provided them with sufficient information on the use of medication for children with behavior problems, and less than 20% had a similar opinion regarding their inservice training on the same topic.     

Students’ characteristics,self-regulated learning,technology self-efficacy,and course outcomes in online learning

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship among students’ characteristics, self-regulated learning, technology self-efficacy, and course outcomes in online learning settings. Two hundred and fifty-six students participated in this study. All participants completed an online survey that included demographic information, the modified motivation strategies learning questionnaire, the online technology self-efficacy scale, the course satisfaction questionnaire, and the final grades. The researchers used structural equation modeling to examine relationships among student characteristics, self-regulated learning, technology self-efficacy, and course outcomes. Based on the results from the final model, students with previous online learning experiences tended to have more effective learning strategies when taking online courses, and hence, had higher levels of motivation in their online courses. In addition, when students had higher levels of motivation in their online courses, their levels of technology self-efficacy and course satisfaction increased. Finally, students with higher levels of technology self-efficacy and course satisfaction also earned better final grades. Based on the findings, we recommend that instructors design courses in a way that can promote students’ self-regulated learning behaviors in online learning settings and that students in online classes, as in traditional classes, set aside a regular time to concentrate on the course. Also, institutions should provide user-friendly online learning platforms and workshops for instructors and students to facilitate the teaching and learning experiences.     

Aspiring Teachers and Urban Education Programs

The Urban Review - Research stresses a need for more contextually nuanced urban teacher preparation programs that explore racially oppressive structures in society. This article presents a case...     

Empirical testing of a cognitive model to account for neuropsychological functioning underlying arithmetic problem solving

The efficacy of a cognitive-based arithmetic problem-solving model (Dinnel, Glover, & Halpain, in press; Dinnel, Glover, & Ronning, 1984) was tested using 989 students with learning disabilities. Comprehensive neuropsychological test battery information was used to predict composite arithmetic test performance as a means of examining the utility of this model. Results of this study offer support for Dinnel et al.'s (Dinnel, Glover, & Halpain, in press; Dinnel, Glover, & Ronning, 1984) model in accounting for arithmetic performance under continuous visual stimulus conditions. However, these data indicate a more complex neuropsychological underpinning to arithmetic performance in both visual and aural stimulus conditions. The neuropsychological aspects of arithmetic problem solving were discussed in relationship to this cognitive-based model.     

Psychometric Properties of a Parental Questionnaire for Assessing Correlates of Toddlers’ Physical Activity and Sedentary Behavior

This study examined the psychometric properties of a questionnaire developed with the guidance of the socialization model of child behaviour to understand modifiable correlates of toddlers’ physical activity and sedentary behaviour. Findings are based on 118 parents (33.7 ± 4.9 years; 86% female) of toddlers (19.3 ± 2.7 months; 48% female) from Edmonton, Canada in The Parents’ Role in Establishing healthy Physical activity and Sedentary behaviour habits study (PREPS). The PREPS questionnaire encompassed 21 variables across the constructs of the socialization model of child behaviour. Of the nine variables assessed for internal consistency reliability, eight had good (α ≥ 0.70) reliability. Of the 15 continuous variables assessed for 1-week test–retest reliability, 10 had moderate (intra-class correlation = 0.50–0.74) and 5 had good (intra-class correlation ≥ 0.75) reliability. Of the six categorical variables assessed for 1-week test–retest reliability, two had fair (К = 0.21–0.40), one had moderate (К = 0.41–0.60), one had substantial (К = 0.61–0.80), and two had almost perfect (К = 0.81–1.00) reliability. Of the 12 sedentary behaviour variables assessed for convergent validity, 7 were significantly correlated with children’s screen time, of which three were small (r ≤ 0.29), two were medium (r = 0.30–0.49), and two were large (r ≥ 0.50) effect sizes.     

‘The life of crime does not pay; stop and think!’: the process of co-constructing a prototype pedagogical model of sport for working with youth from socially vulnerable backgrounds

Purpose: This study discusses the process of co-constructing a prototype pedagogical model for working with youth from socially vulnerable backgrounds.

Participants and settings: This six-month activist research project was conducted in a soccer program in a socially vulnerable area of Brazil in 2013. The study included 17 youths, 4 coaches, a pedagogic coordinator and a social worker. An expert in student-centered pedagogy and inquiry-based activism assisted as a debriefer helping in the progressive data analysis and the planning of the work sessions.

Data collection/analysis: Multiple sources of data were collected, including 38 field journal/observation and audio records of: 18 youth work sessions, 16 coaches’ work sessions, 3 combined coaches and youth work sessions, and 37 meetings between the researcher and the expert.

Findings: The process of co-construction of this prototype pedagogical model was divided into three phases. The first phase involved the youth and coaches identifying barriers to sport opportunities in their community. In the second phase, the youth, coaches and researchers imagined alternative possibilities to the barriers identified. In the final phase, we worked collaboratively to create realistic opportunities for the youth to begin to negotiate some of the barriers they identified. In this phase, the coaches and youth designed an action plan to implement (involving a Leadership Program) aimed at addressing the youths’ needs in the sport program. Five critical elements of a prototype pedagogical model were co-created through the first two processes and four learning aspirations emerged in the last phase of the project.

Implications: We suggest an activist approach of co-creating a pedagogical model of sport for working with youth from socially vulnerable backgrounds is beneficial. That is, creating opportunities for youth to learn to name, critique and negotiate barriers to their engagement in sport in order to create empowering possibilities.