Shall We Overcome? Self-Efficacy,Teacher Licensure Exams,and African American Preservice Teachers

This article reports findings from a 3-year qualitative study exploring the experiences of African American preservice teachers as they prepared for the Praxis “basic skills” teacher-licensure exam, a gatekeeper to many teacher-education programs. Using the construct of self-efficacy, results illustrate how students assess their Praxis capabilities from (a) previous mastery or failure experiences with other standardized tests and classes from college to elementary school and (b) vicarious experiences from African American students, friends, and family members. The article provides recommendations to prepare students for preprofessional examinations such as Praxis that often limit the numbers of African American teachers eligible for certification.     

Marital conflict and conduct problems in Children of Twins

The Children-of-Twins design was used to test whether associations between marital conflict frequency and conduct problems can be replicated within the children of discordant twin pairs. A sample of 2,051 children (age 14-39 years) of 1,045 twins was used to estimate the genetic and environmental influences on marital conflict and determine whether genetic or environmental selection processes underlie the observed association between marital conflict and conduct problems. Results indicate that genetic and nonshared environmental factors influence the risk of marital conflict. Furthermore, genetic influences mediated the association between marital conflict frequency and conduct problems. These results highlight the need for quasiexperimental designs in investigations of intergenerational associations.     

Classification of Emory University Male Freshmen in Physical Education Classes

Abstract

Venous blood pressure measurements were made by direct cannulation of the median antecubital vein. Measurements were taken at rest, during a 5-minute exercise on the bicycle ergometer, and during a 15-minute recovery period. The range of resting pressure was from 73 to 169 mm. water, with a mean pressure of 120 mm. water. The pressure during exercise increased in every case and was maintained throughout the exercise. The average increase was 118 mm. water, representing an increase of 95 percent. Venous pressure during recovery showed a very rapid drop during the first three minutes and then exhibited a progressively slower decline until a constant level was reached.     

Sustainability as a cross-curricular priority in the Australian Curriculum: a Tasmanian investigation

In this paper, we report on an investigation into sustainability education in schools in the Australian state of Tasmania following the implementation of the Australian Curriculum. Sustainability is one of three cross-curriculum priorities in the new national curriculum and is the focus of this research (sustainability cross-curriculum priority (CCP)). Principals and Curriculum Leaders (PCLs) from all schools in Tasmania were invited to complete a survey that asked them about their understanding of various aspects of sustainability and how the sustainability CCP was integrated across learning areas. Sixty-eight PCLs (24%) responded to the survey. They reported generally good understandings of sustainability and education for sustainability, but lesser understandings of the sustainability CCP and the nine organising ideas. Respondents’ understandings of sustainability were dominated by an environmental focus. The PCLs’ responses in relation to sustainability implementation across learning areas gave insights into ways that the sustainability CCP can serve as a pivot for cross-curricular teaching and learning, which is strongly advocated for achieving transformative sustainability education. We conclude this paper with a discussion of how the sustainability CCP is an important asset in the necessary reorientation of the Australian formal education system for a more sustainable future. We note the importance of professional support so that educators may better understand sustainability and its complexity as a cross-curricular priority and envision ways in which the sustainability CCP can be realised within education.     

Opening a Window on Early Twentieth-Century School Sport in Cape Town Society

An attempt was made at recording structured sport in non-White schools in Cape Town, South Africa, prior to 1956. The study was introduced with a historical presentation of sport at mission schools. It was shown how these schools inherited a legacy of deprivation and neglect that impacted upon sport participation. Yet, champion sportspersons at these schools gained some recognition in a racist and hostile society. This was possible due to the efforts of a few Teachers' League of South Africa (TLSA) campaigners who saw sport development as part of their mission of uplifting children in their charge. The TLSA attempted organising athletic meetings from 1916 onwards. Teachers belonging to this organisation were instrumental in establishing the first mass-based school sport organisation in Cape Town in 1928, the Central School Sports Union (CSU). This organisation was the only avenue of meaningful sport participation for most of Cape Town's marginalised children. A study of the CSU enables historians to open a window not only on social and political complexities of school sport but also on the broader early twentieth-century Cape society.     

Timeliness of the contents of certain legal publications

Librarians and lawyers depend on the publishers of legal materials to provide quick access to the court opinions, statutes, and regulations needed for legal research. There has been no systematic study, however, of the comparative speed with which legal publications provide the text of legal documents to users. This article presents a statistical analysis of the performance of certain commonly used legal publications, measured by the time elapsed from the issuance of a legal document to the receipt by a library of a publication containing that document. The article concludes that some of the truisms of legal research (that, for instance, official reporters of court opinions are always slower than commercially published reporters) are questionable, and that more extensive and refined statistical analysis is needed to ascertain the efficiency of the legal publication system.