Educating students with FASD: linking policy,research and practice

Fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD ) is a prevalent neurodevelopmental disability with significant implications for learning and behaviour. International research suggests that the prevalence of FASD in school‐aged children is 2.3–6.3%. In this paper, we address the questions: (1) what is FASD ; (2) what is the prevalence of FASD in schools; (3) what is the impact of FASD ; and (4) why develop special FASD education strategies and programmes? We summarise the 18‐year history of W innipeg S chool D ivision's development of its FASD P rogramme of services, describe the specialised FASD classrooms and then present the results from a consensus‐generating workshop comprised of 36 FASD education professionals, with over 209 years of collective FASD education programme experience, who were asked to identify and reach consensus on best strategies and lessons learned in FASD education programmes. We then suggest that effectively educating children with FASD is critical to get right if positive educational outcomes are to be realised.     

Science and it’s Images – Promise and Threat: From Classic Literature to Contemporary Students’ Images of Science and “The Scientist”

The physical and social image of the scientist among school children, student teachers, and teachers over the last 50 years was investigated. Interest has also been shown in the perception of the personality behind the physical stereotype. Nevertheless, the value judgments of science and scientists and the positive and negative mind–sets attaching to these judgments in our society were less investigated, either in Israel or abroad. In this investigation models given to science and scientists in the classical literature and by some popular science writers were investigated, together with contemporary learners’ views. The populations consist of 125 high school students from Israel. Several tools were used during this investigation to decipher the images of science: Closed questionnaire, writing an essay, and semistructured collective interviews. Classical authors have pessimistic views about science and the scientists. Most models are unfavorable, and criticize the scientists: The mad and monstrous scientist (Frankenstein), the scientist who is alienated from human life (The Physicists), the scientist who is cut off from reality, the “geek” (Gulliver’s Travels), the scientist whose irresponsible research is harmful to the environment (Jurassic Park), the scientist who hungers for knowledge at any cost (Faust). The positive images found especially in the popular science literature: the scientist who cures diseases (Microbe Hunters), the scientist who has professional integrity (Galaxies), the scientist who keeps to the rules of the scientific method to obtain objective results (Wrinkles in Time). We found that some expressions relating to fear of science which have appeared in the classics since the beginning of the 18^th century were found in a similar way with students of the 21^st century, while others expressed that same fear in different ways. There was also an identification with Swift’s “unsociable and unemotional” scientists. Alongside the existence of expressions of fear of science, and mainly ambivalent opinions of students toward science, the dominant picture that stands out in this study is that our contemporary students are pro science, and regard science as a useful area of society.     

GIFTED YOUTHS’ SCHOLASTIC AND OCCUPATIONAL ACHIEVEMENTS

A longitudinal study between 1970 and 1988 of scholastic and occupational achievements of intellectually gifted youths from the Sisak‐Banija region (SR Croatia, Yugoslavia) had four stages: (1) identification (organized during the final classes of the primary school period), (2) first phase of follow up (monitored during the period of secondary school education), (3) second phase of follow up (monitored during the period of higher education), (4) third phase of follow up (monitored during the first few years of employment). Results until now show that the intellectual status of subjects has remained constantly high; all subjects completed secondary school education and 67 percent continued their studies; a high proportion of them were oriented to engineering and science; they attained much higher levels of school achievement than average; many of them were interested in scientific research and different activities in arts and sport; many of them published their works. However, the study has drawn attention to negative consequences of the absence of a social support system for gifted youth in our country.     

“It Planted the Seeds:” A Retrospective Study of Jewish Family Education's Impact on Families

Current Theories of Moral Education

If one were to attempt to compare the relationship between modern Hebrew spoken in Israel today to the so-called classical language of the Bible and modern English to its equivalent historical counterpart, the closest (and still not the most accurate) analogy would have to be: Modern Hebrew: Biblical Hebrew is like Modern English: Shakespearian English. In reality, however, the language of Shakespeare is much further removed from contemporary English speakers than the language of the Bible is from speakers of modern Hebrew.     

Student-designed curricula: The graduate and professional school reaction

Recent changes in undergraduate programs now enable students to design their own curricula. In the process, many students define their post-baccalaureate goals as graduate school or professional school work.This study investigated how a graduate department or professional school would react to an applicant with a self-designed program. Questionnaires were distributed to admissions directors of the 58 graduate departments and professional schools of the State University of New York at Buffalo, a major university center in the state.The results indicate that recognition of differences between student-designed programs and standard (university-designed) ones are only beginning. Thus, (1) special-degree students are initially not differentiated from other applicants, e.g., in the first sift; (2) criteria for effectively evaluating special-program applicants, as distinct from standard ones, are necessary.To date it is the applicant's responsibility to document and communicate his worth and that of his endeavor. Admissions personnel are eager for additional information.     

Identical,Fraternal, or Separated at Birth: A Case Study of Educator Teams Within American-Israeli School Twinning

School-to-school collaboration has emerged as a key paradigm for fostering personal and institutional connections between Israeli and Diaspora youth, educators, and schools. Using the findings of a multi-year case study of a high school level twinning initiative, this article describes the challenges to this form of transnational collaboration and takes the first steps to articulating a theory of intervention of Israeli-Diaspora school twinning at the organizational level. The article suggests two processes, collaborative capacity and cultural competence, critical to development of positive and productive relationships in school partnerships. Institutional twinning is suggested as the goal of these interventions at the organizational level.     

Pupils’ Image of ‘the Scientist’ among Two Communities in Israel: A comparative study

The image of ‘the scientist’ and its effect on the willingness to be a scientist and to follow a career in science were investigated in two different cultural populations of elementary and junior high school pupils in Israel: Hebrew‐speaking (secular) pupils (N = 390) and Arabic‐speaking Bedouin pupils (N = 185). Five different tools were employed in our investigation (naming scientists, pictorial representation of the scientist (‘Draw‐a‐Scientist‐Test’), statements regarding the characteristics of the scientist, reasons for wanting/not wanting or being able/being unable to be scientists, and sources of knowledge regarding the scientist’s image). The image held by Hebrew pupils was similar to those held by western pupils found in previous research, but some details were more elaborate (due to the fact that many different tools were employed here). However, the image held by the Arabic pupils differed from that found in previous research. This image had a strong ethnical trend, with Golden Age Muslim scientists’ names dominating name lists, and drawings of traditional Muslim figures. Another image found in their drawings was of a scientist admired as a teacher, emphasising the Bedouin school’s formal culture. The theory of modernity will be a useful analytical tool to judge the results of the investigation, whether the population is supposed to be (or is close to) a modern population and whether it does not, definitely, fall under this definition (see Methods and Discussion).     

评《世界经典图书馆建筑》

《世界经典图书馆建筑》是世界图书馆建筑系列丛书的第三卷。出版本书的发起者是上海图书馆馆长、国际图联管理委员会委员(2001-2005)吴建中博士。他非常关注世界各地风格迥异的图书馆建筑,并对经典图书馆建筑具有浓厚兴趣,因此负责编辑出版了这本精美的图书。正如他在书的前言     

THE EFFECT OF IDENTIFICATION AND DIFFERENTIAL TREATMENT OF GIFTED ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PUPILS

Within the framework of a comprehensive research project entitled “The effects of identification and specific treatment of gifted pupils”, this paper deals with the problem of the effects of such a procedure on the attitudes of pupils, their parents, and teachers regarding giftedness and gifted individuals. Attention was mainly directed towards the effects of identification on the development of personality characteristics of the gifted pupils, on relations between gifted and other pupils, on the characteristics of teachers necessary for work with the gifted, on the controversy about separation of the gifted into special classes or schools, and on society's obligations to the gifted. The results of this two year follow‐up study are based on a comparison of the data from the initial and the final surveys of an experimental and a control group of subjects.