Fifty-one children between the ages of 6 and 12, receiving school counseling through a school-based mental health clinic, were administered a questionnaire designed to assess their beliefs about confidentiality in the therapeutic relationship. Each child's parent was also administered a parallel version of the questionnaire. Children's beliefs were then compared to parent's beliefs regarding the issue of confidentiality in school-based counseling. The questionnaires were developed based on the American Psychological Association's Ethical Principles and Code of Conduct (2002) and included items from the subarea of Principle 4, Privacy and Confidentiality. A significant main effect (p < .05) for child respondent group versus parent respondent group was demonstrated with the parent group scoring significantly higher in ethical beliefs regarding confidentiality in counseling in a school-based mental health clinic. Additional statistical analyses comparing confidentiality beliefs by ethnicity (Hispanic families versus Caucasian families) and child's gender found no significant main effects (p > .05). The initial hypothesis that children did not differ from their parents in their respective beliefs concerning confidentiality in school-based counseling was rejected. The results suggested that parents demonstrated more of an understanding of confidentiality that was consistent with professional ethical guidelines than did their respective children. The results are discussed in terms of confidentiality in a therapeutic relationship and children's perception of the maintenance of such confidentiality and trust in school-based counseling. Future directions for research and the limitations of the current study are also discussed.

In the sport of springboard and platform diving, subjective scoring is used. Based on a ten point scale, judges give immediate scores which reflect the diver's performance. Each diver performs a proscribed number of dives and the total of all dives is tallied to decide final placement. While final placement in a competition is determined by physical skill, a diver's mental state often determines how successful the athlete will in the competition. While there is a plethora of literature that has examined attributions of physical education classes and other sports, there is a dearth of studies addressing the attributional style of elite NCAA male and female divers. Diving requires extreme athleticism, fearlessness and a heightened kinesthetic awareness in becoming both skill-proficient and competitive. This in turn requires intrinsic motivation to meet those challenges as well as being able to make causal attributions from one competition to the next. The purpose of this study is to determine the attributional style of elite NCAA male and female divers as well as to determine if there is a difference in attributional style between male and female divers. Further, this study will determine if the attributive style is related to performance and whether there is a difference between elite NCAA male and female divers. The study will take place at the 2005 NCAA Men's and Women's Diving Championships. At each event and at the completion of his/her final diving event, each athlete will be asked to complete a self-report questionnaire - the Attributional Style Questionnaire. An objective rating of each diver's performance will be paired with his or her attibutional style, as measured by the questionnaire. These data will be analyzed statistically to determine if gender has an effect on the attributional style of elite NCAA male and female divers.

Reform is a way of professional life for principals and teachers in our school systems. The magnitude of the changes brought about by No Child Left Behind in 2001 has resulted in a significant paradigm shift in the educational system. The nationwide call to increase student achievement is a challenge for principals leading their school to adapt to these fundamental changes. Principals must be equipped with strong leadership behaviors to provide the supports necessary to staff and students to effectuate change. Principal leadership adds value to the impact teachers have on student achievement, and it provides a covenant that fundamental and sustained change can happen. The challenge for principals responsible for facilitating, supporting and changing their school system to adapt to these changes is to establish the infrastructures necessary to support these fundamental transformations. High-quality teachers as well as strong principal leadership are essential to achieve educational reform. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between teachers’ perceptions of the principal’s leadership behaviors and teachers’ instructional choices of reading interventions for at-risk students. The principal leadership behaviors included (1) provides vision, (2) models appropriate behavior, (3) fosters commitment to goals, (4) provides individualized support, (5) provides intellectual stimulation, and (6) holds high expectations. Instructional interventions were defined as instructional choices by teachers for at-risk students in reading that included one-to-one instruction, small group instruction, adapted core reading curriculum materials, and instructional technology. Students defined as at risk did not meet a specified reading benchmark score, the lowest score that predicts reading success as determined on the Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills (DIBELS, Institute for the Development of Educational Achievement [Institute], 2002) assessment. The Principal Leadership Questionnaire (PLQ, Valentine & Lucas, 2000) was administered to kindergarten through second grade teachers in six elementary schools who had students identified as at risk for learning to read. Focus groups were conducted with teachers in four of the six elementary schools to add breadth and depth to some responses from the leadership questionnaire. The data revealed themes of effective principal leadership in schools undergoing reform. These themes include (1 teachers who had a higher level of education had higher expectations of themselves and their students, and principals had a higher expectation of the teachers; (2 ongoing professional development opportunities for teachers are critical for schools undergoing reform. Therefore, teachers who were supported by their principal through professional development opportunities and adequate resources in their classrooms revealed strong support for their principal’s vision for the school; (3 principals who were strong in one principal leadership behavior were also strong in the other principal leadership behaviors; and finally, (4 teachers who perceived their principals as strong in principal leadership behaviors were able to articulate the school vision, worked toward group goals, and promoted school-wide efforts to raise student achievement.

The purpose of this study was to examine differences in parent-child interactions when children were 3 and again at 4 years of age, the time period when gender identity is developing. Thirty-three children (17 boys and 16 girls) with their fathers and mothers were observed during these two time periods across two play contexts: a story-enactment pretend play session and a rough-and-tumble play session. The parent-child dyads were observed for frequency of dyadic parent-child physical and verbal exchange to capture overt parent-child exchanges of closeness (i.e., physical touch and verbal engagement). Results revealed that at age 3, mother-son dyads engaged in more dyadic physical and verbal exchange interaction than father-son dyads. By 4 years of age, father-son dyads engaged in more dyadic physical exchange than mother-son dyads. The reverse was observed for girls. At 3 years of age, father-daughter dyads engaged in more dyadic physical exchange than mother-daughter dyads, but by 4 years of age, mother-daughter dyads engaged in more dyadic physical exchange than father-daughter dyads. The findings are consistent with a psychoanalytic model of gender identity development. / Le but de cette présente étude est d'examiner les changements encourus par les parents lors de leurs interactions avec leurs enfants de 3 et 4 ans, pendant la période de la découverte de leur identité. Trente-trois enfants (17 garçons et 16 filles) ainsi que leurs pères et mères furent observés pendant deux activités: une était une histoire de jeu de comportement ou de fairesemblant , et l'autre, unjeu de tohu-bohu. Les résultats ont révélés qu'à l'âge de 3 ans, les garçons et leurs mères s'impliquent plus dans des échanges physiques et verbaux que les garçons avec leurs pères. Dès l'âge de 4 ans, les garcons et leurs pères s'engagent plus que les garçons avec leurs mères. À l'âge de 3 ans, les filles avec leurs pères s'impliquent plus au niveau physique que les filles avec leurs mères, et vers 4 ans, les filles et leurs mères s'engagent plus que les filles avec leurs pères. Ces conclusions supportent le modèle psychoanalitique du développement de l'identité de sexe de la personne. fr

The primary objective ofthe present study was to examine the effectiveness of problem-solving consultation and videotape therapy in reducing externalizing behavior problems in children with developmental delays. Multiple measures were used to determine intervention efficacy (e.g., observations ofparent-child interactions, recorded frequency of childrens' behavior, and ratings from responses on standardized parent questionnaires). A second objective was to explore the relationship between parent and child behavior, The researcher evaluated the quality of parent-child interactions, in terms of childrens' behavior problems (e.g., compliance) and parents' skills (e.g., praise), prior to and following participation in the intervention program. The relationships between parent adjustment variables (e.g., parent stress and depressive symptoms), externalizing behavior problems in children, and the quality of parent-child interactions were assessed. Parent adjustment was measured by self-report with standardized questionnaires that evaluated parent stress and depression. The twelve-week intervention program was provided to 22 children, parents, and teachers. A multiple-baseline research design was used and standardized measures were completed by parents at pre-and postintervention.[...] / Le premier objectif de la présente étude était d'examiner l'efficacité de la consultation utilisant un système de résolution des problèmes avec la thérapie base sur des vidéos pour la réduction des problèmes de comportement chez les enfants avec un retard développemental. Des mesures multiples ont été utilisées pour déterminer l'efficacité d'intervention (par exemple, observations des interactions de parent-enfant, la fréquence enregistrée du comportement des enfants et les estimations des réponses de parent sur les questionnaires normalisés). L'investigateur a évalue la qualité des interactions de parent enfant, spécifiquement en termes de problèmes du comportement des enfants (par exemple : conformité) et les compétences de parents' (par exemple, éloge), avant et âpres la participation au programme d'intervention. Le rapport entre les variables d'ajustement émotionnel de parent (par exemple, effort de parent et symptômes dépressifs), les problèmes de comportement chez les enfants et la qualité des interactions de parent-enfant ont été évalues. L'ajustement émotionnel de parent a été mesure par rapport individuel avec des questionnaires normalises qui a permis d'évaluer la dépression et l'angoisse de parent. Le programme d'intervention de douze semaines a été fourni a22 enfants, parents, et professeurs. Un protocole expérimental de multiple ligne de base a été employé et des questionnaires normalises ont été utilises avant et après l'intervention, les questionnaires ont été remplis par les parents.[...]

<p>After seventeen years since the apartheid education system was abolished in Namibia, the education system remains stagnant. The governmenthas been spending big budgets on Education. The Ministry of Education introduced various educational ploicies and innovations aimed to change the Education system. Yet, the quality of education remains poor. Although there are seemingly various reasons why the quality of education system is poor, education policies are not implemented effectively to bring about the desired quality of education and the desired quality of educationand continuous improvement of schools. There is a lack of commitment and culture of learning, which are said to be the preconditions for educational change. And practitioners seem to lack the urgency required to implement policies. Notwithstanding this, there seem to be another reason why policies are not iplementedeffectively in schools. This research study argues thatprofessional preparation of principals to implement educational policies is done intensively and rigorously. Hence, such professional preparedness of the school leaders is noot impacting effectively on their leaadership and management in schools.</p>

Quality assurance is not something new to higher education, but recent years have seen an increase in the interest in the quality of education, mainly due to demands for accountability. This study was conducted to investigate the phenomenon of quality assurance in higher education with special reference to accreditation as quality assurance measure in undergraduate medical education, and to develop a guide for accreditation reviews. Quality assurance as it manifests in a number of higher education systems in different countries was studied. It was found that social and economic demands, an increase in and a changed student population have contributed to a renewed emphasis on quality, that is, effectiveness and efficiency, in higher education. Medical education could not escape the demands for quality assurance. Recent publications on medical education stress the necessity for change and innovation in medical education, and a concomitant need for measures to ensure that the education and training students receive are of a high standard. In many higher education systems accreditation is used as a quality assurance mechanism. Accreditation is defined as a process of external quality review used to scrutinise institutions and their programmes to ensure quality in the offerings and to encourage quality improvement. The process of accreditation usually entails a selfassessment by the institution (internal evaluation), followed by an external review conducted by a panel of peers with a view to verifying the findings of the internal assessment. Accreditation usually also has a dual goal, namely to ensure quality and to promote quality. In South Africa the Health Professions Council through the Sub-committee for Undergraduate Education and Training (UET) of the Medical and Dental Professions Board is the professional body responsible for quality assurance in medical education and this is brought into effect through a process of accreditation of medical education programmes. The first accreditation reviews took place in 2001, and by the end of 2004 all medical faculties/schools had been subjected to at least one accreditation review visit. The process was based on sound studies and apparently served its purpose well. As different panels comprise different members, however, there is no comparability in the accreditation reviews. Each member, it is perceived, approaches the process from his/her own frame of reference, as no fixed set of standards exists to ground the evaluations. Although panel members are experienced and experts in their disciplines, they are not necessarily experts in the field of modern medical education, and may hold disparate views on what quality in education entails. Therefore, specific standards in terms of which a quality appraisal can be done are required in an accreditation process. Involvement of the researcher in the accreditation process of the UET led to the research problem being identified, namely a lack of a review guide that might be used in the appraisal of medical education programmes and the institutions that offer them. In this study it was assumed that a guide for accreditation reviews, containing standards with rubrics and criteria to use as a measurement tool, would serve well to render the accreditation process more objective and structured, thereby contributing to ensuring quality in medical education in South Africa. Such a guide, it was presumed, would also be useful in the planning processes of medical schools/faculties, especially with a view to quality improvement as well as in the internal self-evaluation, and would contribute to better preparation for the external accreditation review. As background to the study an extensive literature review was conducted to investigate the phenomenon of quality assurance. Quality assurance in higher education per se and in medical education specifically was studied; accreditation as quality assurance mechanism and the role standards have to play in quality assurance mechanisms were attended to, and tools used in quality assurance processes were put to scrutiny. The standards that apply in various quality assurance systems in higher and medical education received special attention during this phase of the study, as these were used as point of departure when the draft guide for accreditation reviews was compiled. The accreditation process of the MDPB of the HPCSA, as implemented by the UET was studied in detail to gain a complete picture of the process as it manifests in South Africa. A qualitative research design was employed and a phenomenological descriptive and exploratory approach was followed. The methods employed for data collection included participant observation, individual interviews and a focus group interview, while a literature study provided the required grounding and background. As the researcher has been involved in the quality assurance process since its inception, participant observation and emanating field notes played an important part in the study. This was amplified with information collected from literature. A draft guide for accreditation reviews in undergraduate medical education in South Africa was compiled based on the information collected. In this guide it is proposed that medical schools/faculties in South Africa should compile a portfolio to serve as evidence of the quality of their teaching and training. The portfolio, it is recommended, should be a (mainly) computer-based document with links to appropriate sites, and should comprise two parts: (i) an overview of and background information on the school/faculty, and (ii) an indication of the extent to which the school/faculty satisfies the standards in the Standards for accreditation part of the guide, supplemented by a list of materials (links) to substantiate the response. The proposed use of the guide by medical schools/faculties and the accreditation review panels is described, and the remainder of the document consists of a set of standards for undergraduate medical education with rubrics and rating scales for use by the medical school/faculty and the accreditation panel. The rubrics are set out in three levels, namely a minimum level, higher level and highest level, requiring the evaluator to indicate for each standard the level at which the school/faculty is in compliance with the standard. It is recommended that each school/faculty in the self-evaluation rates itself in terms of the rubrics. This rating together with the completed portfolio and evidence cited is then submitted to the accreditation review panel, and each panel member rates the school/faculty/ programme individually. The individual ratings and that of the institution are used to structure the subsequent on-site visit. During the visit the panel then verifies the self-evaluation response, and brings out a joint rating of compliance with the standards, together with a report containing recommendations and comments. The draft Guide for accreditation reviews was used as research instrument in the empirical study. Individual interviews were conducted with six deans/heads of medical schools or their representatives and four former members of accreditation review panels to gauge their views and opinions on the draft guide and to gain their perspectives of the phenomenon under study. Following the individual interviews a focus group interview was conducted with seven members of the UET to collect their opinions and perspectives. The interviews were conducted in a positive spirit and the interviewees were enthusiastic about the possibility of using the proposed guide for accreditation reviews. The data collected during the interviews were analysed in terms of a data analysis spiral for use in qualitative studies. The data provided the researcher with a clear view of the respondentsâ perspective of the phenomenon and their opinions on the draft guide. Based on the findings, the draft guide was adapted to incorporate recommendations made by the respondents. The findings were compared to the findings of the literature review in a literature control. In the final analysis it was found that the participants regarded the current accreditation process as unstructured and rather subjective, and supported the idea of the use of the proposed guide for accreditation reviews, as well as for planning and quality enhancement purposes in medical schools/faculties. The assumption thus could be accepted on the basis of the opinions of the participants in the study, namely that a guide for accreditation reviews would address the research problem, that is, a lack of a tool or mechanism to use in accreditation review evaluations. The use of this guide, it was found, has the potential to render accreditation reviews more structured and more objective, as panel members would no longer conduct evaluations based on their individual frames of reference or background, but on a common set of standards and criteria as set out in the rubrics. This will bring comparability to the accreditation process. The guide will also satisfy the second goal of accreditation, namely improvement of quality, as schools/faculties will be encouraged to strive for higher levels in the evaluations. It is hoped that this proposed Guide for accreditation reviews will receive attention from medical educators, planners and the accreditation body, that the information and perspectives on quality assurance and accreditation presented in the study will contribute to a better understanding of the phenomenon of quality assurance in education, and that the information and newly constructed knowledge in the study will be applied to the benefit of quality assurance in medical education in South Africa. As final outcome of the study a Guide for accreditation reviews is presented, with the recommendation that it be brought to the attention of the accreditation body for South African undergraduate medical education and training, with a view to implementation as part of the accreditation process. It is also recommended that it be considered for use as planning guideline for medical education programmes, as it has the potential to enhance innovation and improvement in medical education and to be used as benchmarking instrument.

This study compared the findings from the literature review in the area of schools as professional learning communities, using specifically Toole and Louis’ (2002) definition of a professional learning community, with the perceptions of twelve Manitoba school principals of the normative imperative to develop their schools as professional learning communities and their perceptions of the reality of administrative practice. Toole and Louis propose that a professional learning community is a concept composed of three interdependent domains, namely a school culture that emphasizes professionalism is client centered and knowledge based, additionally it emphasizes learning by placing a high value on teacher inquiry and reflection, and finally it is communitarian insofar as it emphasizes personal connections. Furthermore, this definition is built on the notion that there are preconditions, structural supports and human and social resources, necessary for professional learning communities. Grounded theory served as both the theoretical structure and research design to gain an understanding of principals’ thinking (Strauss & Corbin, 1998). principals participated in this study in two focus groups (six principals in each focus group), and twelve interviews. Each focus group and interview was transcribed, and content analysis was employed to identify commonalities and differences in the data (Gall, Gall & Borg, 2003). Using open, axial, and selective coding eight themes were identified based on the responses to the research questions (Johnson & Christensen, 2004; Strauss & Corbin, 1990). This study revealed some consistency between the information cited in the literature, with specific focus on Toole and Louis’ (2002) definition, and principals’ perceptions of their schools as professional learning communities. The participants perceived of a professional learning community as being comprised of three interdependent domains, which are professional, learning and community, and as requiring necessary structural supports and human and social resources as preconditions. They identified time, teacher empowerment, interconnected teacher roles, school plans and institutional identity as structural supports. They also viewed trust and respect, and supportive principal leadership as human and social resource preconditions for schools striving to become professional learning communities. The study revealed conflict between the beliefs of the principals and conceptions of professional learning communities as theoretically constructed in the literature. The participants perceived that while a professional learning community is multidimensional, its effectiveness is not necessarily tied to measures of student achievement. There appeared to be few differences between the participants’ perceptions when separated by gender, school type (public or private) and school size (small, medium or large). The participants appeared to have limited notions of professional learning communities and as a result it is hard to make a case that professional learning communities exist in these schools. Additionally, they saw the duty to evaluate teachers as fostering the development of a professional learning community. Finally, while professional learning communities may hold the best promise for sustaining school improvement efforts (Hord, 2004), the efforts associated with nurturing one will lack results if principals do not possess the clarity of what is required for a school to become a professional learning community.

No description available.

<p> The percentage of students entering postsecondary education has steadily increased and college participation rates are currently reported at nearly 42% for persons age 18-24. However, the demand for a college-educated workforce continues to increase and various programs have been introduced to increase student success in college. One of those programs is termed "Dual Enrollment." The purpose of this study was to determine if a dual enrollment program implemented between the Anderson Union High School district and Shasta College increased students' perceptions of their own college readiness for reading, writing, and class participation. The results of the student assessment are compared with that of their peers who did not participate in the dual enrollment program. The participants were requested to complete a 20-question survey developed by the researcher. In the survey, participants were asked to assess their preparation in reading, writing, and class participation as well as provide responses to open-ended prompts. Participants were also asked to rate their overall preparation for college level work and to provide information related to outside factors that may affect college success. Finally, students' high school achievement data were used to provide background information related to student success. With a response rate of 31%, 92 of 301 students, the survey revealed that students who participated in dual enrollment assessed themselves as more prepared but in specific areas. Dual enrolled students felt more prepared in writing and an even greater difference for assessing themselves was revealed in their preparation for class participation.</p>