Visual stress theory and its application to reading and reading tests

This paper presents a theory of visual stress. The theory is applied to the assessment of symptoms of visual stress and its treatment with coloured filters. The theory has implications for standard reading assessments that relate both to the visual skills and the age of the children taking the tests. These implications are reviewed, with the conclusion that insufficient attention is paid to visual factors in reading, particularly in the design of reading tests.     

Testing a motivational model of achievement: How students’ mathematical beliefs and interests are related to their achievement

Blackwell et al. (Child Development 78(1):246–263, 2007) tested a motivational model of achievement in which an incremental theory of intelligence leads to learning goals and positive effort beliefs, which leads to fewer ability-based, helpless attributions, and more positive strategies, which leads to improved grades. In the present study, we tested this model by using a different population, using domain-specific items, comparing the results across gender, including “interest” as another variable in the model, and assessing the impact of achievement as an antecedent and outcome variable in the model. Participants included 163, mostly White, ninth-grade Algebra students from a suburban school in southwest Virginia, USA. We established that the model had a relatively good fit to the data and all paths were statistically significant when achievement was used as both an antecedent and outcome variable. The standardized path coefficients were consistent with those reported by Blackwell et al. and the model was invariant across genders. Furthermore, we documented that interest could be included as another mediating variable in the model. The results of this study provide evidence to support the validity of the relationships between the constructs in the Blackwell et al. model for the population examined.     

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An early review of stroboscopic visual training: insights,challenges and accomplishments to guide future studies

ABSTRACT

Stroboscopic visual training (SVT) is a form of training in which an individual practices a task under intermittent visual conditions with the intention of enhancing subsequent performance under normal visual conditions. Training with stroboscopic devices is theorized to improve important visual, perceptual, and cognitive skills, which in turn transfers to enhanced sporting performance. Indeed, while there is an abundance of anecdotal evidence suggesting benefits of strobe training, empirical evidence is rarer and less conclusive. This lack of clarity is due, in part, to the challenging methodological issues faced when conducting experimental vision training studies in applied contexts. The present paper is an early review of the research to date with a focus on the key methodological decisions, such as the training and testing protocols employed, participant samples and control groups used, and practical considerations that enable such training in applied settings. Whilst still at an early stage, the existing studies point to SVT enhancing some aspects of foveal visual sensitivity and visual motor control, with notable benefits for some athletic tasks. Such improvements could have implications not just in sport, but in domains such as rehabilitation, education, and motor vehicle safety.     

How many colours are necessary to increase the reading speed of children with visual stress? A comparison of two systems

We measured the increase in reading speed afforded by two currently available systems of coloured overlays: the Intuitive Overlays, which provide a choice of 30 colours, and the Eye Level Reading Rulers, which provide a choice of 5. Forty‐eight pupils from a local authority primary school who reported experiencing symptoms of visual stress were individually tested with both systems in a random order, balanced across pupils. There were no differences between the systems as regards the children's preference or the reduction in symptoms of visual stress. However, there was a significant increase in reading speed with the Intuitive Overlays and no increase, on average, with the Reading Rulers. Pupils showing an increase in reading speed of more than 5% with either overlay were tested again, on this occasion with Intuitive Overlays of the conventional size and those cut to the (much smaller) size of the Reading Rulers. There was no difference in reading speed between the large and small overlays. Participants whose reading speed increased with the Reading Rulers by as much as with the Intuitive Overlays tended to be those who chose a similar colour for both overlays. The general pattern of results suggests that the Reading Rulers failed to increase reading speed because they do not offer sufficient colours and hence the benefits of the Reading Rulers in increasing reading speed are likely to be less than obtained with the Intuitive Overlays.     

Rescaling the local: multi-academy trusts,private monopoly and statecraft in England

For the past six years successive UK governments in England have introduced reforms intended to usher in less aggregated, top-down, bureaucratically overloaded models of service delivery. Yet the ‘hollowing out’ of local government has not resulted in less bureaucracy on the ground or less regulation from above, nor has it diminished hierarchy as an organising principle of education governance. Monopolies and monopolistic practices dominated by powerful bureaucracies and professional groups persist, albeit realised through the involvement of new actors and organisations from business and philanthropy. In this paper I adopt a governmentality perspective to explore the political significance of large multi-academy trusts (MATs) – private sponsors contracted by central government to run publicly funded schools – to the generation of new scalar hierarchies and accountability infrastructures that assist in bringing the gaze of government to bear upon the actions of schools that are otherwise less visible under local government management.     

Pedagogy,empowerment and discipline: comparative perspectives of novice teachers in England and Turkey reflecting on ‘the other’

This article discusses the views of Turkish and British novice teachers on pedagogy and pedagogical relationships with school students when confronted with the pedagogical practices of the ‘Other’ in particular policy contexts. Experiences of those practices were gained by novice teachers during an exchange visit for British and Turkish university students in the period 2008–2009. Data was collected through questionnaires and focus group interviews. Findings suggest that Turkish and British novice teachers initially constructed the ‘Other’ as very different from themselves. The views of members of both groups were heavily influenced by the cultural contexts in which they trained and worked. British novice teachers tended to take as axiomatic constructivist and inclusive approaches to pedagogy and the relevance to successful pedagogy of listening to students’ voices. Turkish novice teachers questioned both, many seeing control and dissemination of knowledge as central to pedagogy and student teacher relationships.