Perry,Fred L & Nichols,Joe D (2015) Understanding research in education Routledge (New York & London) isbn 978‐1‐138‐77642‐5 243 pp £34.99 http://www.routledge.com/books/details/9781138776425/

Ostensibly, this textbook was written for those who want and need to be consumers of educational research. It serves that readership extremely well. Equally, however, I would warmly recommend it to those preparing their first educational submissions for publication; they'll find splendid advice here about what to do—and what not to do. If this book is very likely to be relevant to your work, I strongly suggest that you buy a copy. John Cowan     

Use of the Teacher Version of the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire with German and American Preschoolers

Research Findings: The present study evaluated the utility of the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) as a teacher-report measure of internalizing and externalizing problems in preschool-age children. Participants included preschoolers drawn from Germany and the United States, with the American sample composed of both English-speaking and Spanish-speaking children. In some respects the SDQ demonstrated adequate reliability and validity across these 3 culturally and linguistically divergent samples, but some problems were noted with the internal consistency of the subscales and the clinical cutoff scores. Practice or Policy: The findings generally support the potential usefulness of the SDQ as a psychopathology screening instrument within culturally and linguistically diverse preschool settings. However, normative studies need to be conducted with preschool samples so that the SDQ cutoff scores used to identify clinically significant emotional and behavioral problems can be appropriately adjusted for age, gender, and culture.     

BOOK REVIEW

The application of total quality management (TQM) to the college classroom has been hotly debated. Those critical of its use argue that it is too confining and would stifle academic creativity. Such assessments are self‐defeating and encourage educators to turn their backs on a useful tool before even attempting to use it. Properly used according to the methods described herein, TQM can be effective in the classroom and prove to be a valuable augmentation to traditional academic planning methods     

STUDENTS WHO DROP OUT BEFORE THEY BEGIN: A STUDY OF POTENTIAL COMMUNITY COLLEGE STUDENTS WHO INITIATE THE REGISTRATION PROCESS BUT FAIL TO ENROLL

A follow‐up was conducted on groups of students who initiated steps in the admission process at a community college, but never enrolled. These students were telephone surveyed and compared to similar groups of students who actually enrolled. The stated reasons for non‐enrollment were job issues, financial aid, and personal reasons. Yet when the pre‐admission basic skills tests were compared, the non‐enrolling students had significantly lower scores, leading the authors to conclude that poor academic preparation was a very important reason for non‐enrollment.     

“We’re Not Just Interested in the Work”: Social and Emotional Aspects of Early Educator Mentoring Relationships

The purpose of this study was to explore how often 159 practicing teachers enrolled in a university Master's degree principal preparation program observed their mentor principals model the four mandated Texas standards‐based instructional leadership competencies for the principalship. The competencies focus on leadership through curriculum and planning, nurturing and sustaining the instructional program, implementing a staff evaluation plan and applying decision‐making skills. Findings on the four competencies ranged from a high of 59.1% to a low of only 44.7% of the participants who indicated that they observed their mentor principals modeling these four competencies at least ‘usually.’     

Directed Time,a Year on: staff perspectives

This study is a follow up to a previously published article in this Journal (Vol. 8(3), 1988), which sought to examine the allocation and management of directed time from a headteacher's perspective. The purpose here is to consider the ramifications of imposed time budgeting for teaching staff and to examine the impact of directed time, a year after its imposition, on school systems.     

JUDAIC STUDIES: AN INTERDISCIPLINARY MODEL

An interdisciplinary approach to any body of knowledge necessarily involves a confluence of diverse scholarly interests and distinct areas of expertise. The study of Judaism lends itself precisely to such interdisciplinarity, and is especially appropriate for an undergraduate liberal arts curriculum.