La leadership educativo-gestionale del dirigente scolastico: una riflessione critica sul ruolo alla luce della valutazione

The school leader of the Italian school is now called upon to implement acareful synthesis between instances from national/supranational level andfrom local level in which the school is inserted. The criteria for the evaluationof the school leader are really characterized by such a specificity of itsrole. Additionally, the position takes on more and more characteristics ofboth educational and management leadership in the European context. Theequilibrium point between the different instances is given by an adequateevaluation cycle: Self-Assessment Report-Three-Year Education TrainingPlan-Improvement Plan. The reflective quality of the school leader, the focuson shared responsibility with the other school actors, the comparisonwith effective models, the accountability and the ability to analyse data fromthe evaluation cycle, represent the key points on which the new role iscalled a confrontation to grow.Il Dirigente scolastico nella scuola italiana è chiamato oggi ad effettuare unasintesi attenta tra istanze provenienti a livello nazionale/sovranazionale elocale in cui la scuola è inserita. I criteri della valutazione del Dirigente scolasticosono caratterizzati proprio da tale specificità di ruolo. Inoltre, la figuraassume, sempre più nel contesto europeo, caratteristiche sia di leadershipeducativa sia di leadership gestionale. Il punto di equilibro fra le duedifferenti istanze è fornito da un adeguato ciclo della valutazione: Rapportodi autovalutazione-Piano dell’Offerta formativa triennale-Piano di Miglioramento.La qualità riflessiva dell’azione del dirigente, l’attenzione alla responsabilitàcondivisa con gli altri attori scolastici, la comparazione conmodelli efficaci, la rendicontazione sociale e la capacità di analizzare i datiprovenienti dal ciclo della valutazione, risultano gli elementi cardine su cuiil nuovo ruolo è chiamato a confrontarsi per crescere

COGNITIVE PSYCHOPATHOLOGY IN SCHIZOPHRENIA: COMPARING MEMORY PERFORMANCES WITH OBSESSIVE-COMPULSIVE DISORDER PATIENTS AND NORMAL SUBJECTS ON THE WECHSLER MEMORY SCALE-IV

Background: Memory system turns out to be one of the cognitive domains most severely impaired in schizophrenia. Within the theoretical framework of cognitive psychopathology, we compared the performance of schizophrenia patients on the Wechsler Memory Scale-IV with that in matched patients with Obsessive-compulsive disorder and that in healthy control subjects to establish the specific nature of memory deficits in schizophrenia. Subjects and methods: 30 schizophrenia patients, 30 obsessive-compulsive disorder patients and 40 healthy controls completed the Wechsler Memory Scale-IV. Schizophrenia symptom severity was assessed by the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS). Performances on memory battery including Indexes and subtests scores were compared by a One-Way ANOVA (Scheffé post-hoc test). Spearman Rank correlations were performed between scores on PANSS subscales and symptoms and WMS-IV Indexes and subtests, respectively. Results: Schizophrenia patients showed a memory profile characterized by mild difficulties in auditory memory and visual working memory and poor functioning of visual, immediate and delayed memory. As expected, schizophrenia patients scored lower than healthy controls on all WMS-IV measures. With regard to the WMS-IV Indexes, schizophrenia patients performed worse on Auditory Memory, Visual Memory, Immediate and Delayed Memory than Obsessive-compulsive disorder patients but not on Visual Working Memory. Such a pattern was made even clearer for specific tasks such as immediate and delayed recall and spatial recall and memory for visual details, as revealed by the lowest scores on Logical Memory (immediate and delayed conditions) and Designs (immediate condition) subtests, respectively. Significant negative correlations between Logical Memory I and II were found with PANSS Excitement symptom as well as between DE I and PANSS Tension symptom. Significant positive correlations between LM II and PANSS Blunted affect and Poor rapport symptoms as well as DE I and PANSS Blunted affect and Mannerism and Posturing symptoms, were found too. Conclusions: Memory damage observed in schizophrenia patients was more severe and wider than that of patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder, except for visual working memory. Memory dysfunction, mainly related to episodic memory damage and reduced efficiency of central executive, is intimately connected to the specific psychopathological processes characterizing schizophrenia. Implications for therapeutics and cognitive remediation techniques are discussed

La didattica della matematica nei Laboratori del Corso di specializzazione al sostegno per gli insegnanti della secondaria

The quality of education depends on teacher’s choices in order to ameliorateteaching-learning process. Whit regard to it, laboratory didactics is theprimary methodology able to direct knowledge cores addressed throughpractical and realistic tasks by concrete illustrations and vivid images. Theexperience of Maths didactics in the post-graduate Course for supportteachers of secondary school provided participants the awareness of labpotential, as a critical ability upon their planning, action, evaluation andmonitoring, by giving effect the ability to project and the culture of trainingduring work.La qualità dell’istruzione dipende dalle scelte che il docente pone in essere,allo scopo di migliorare il processo di insegnamento-apprendimentorispetto a cui la didattica laboratoriale si colloca come metodologia elettivain grado di convogliare, attraverso illustrazioni concrete ed immagini vividee suggestive, i nuclei dei saperi, che vengono affrontati mediante compitipratici orientati al reale. L’esperienza della didattica della matematica, alCorso di specializzazione per il sostegno agli alunni con disabilità della secondaria,ha prodotto la consapevolezza nei partecipanti delle potenzialitàespresse dal laboratorio come capacità critica sul proprio processo di pianificazione,azione, valutazione e monitoraggio messo in atto, rendendo efficacila capacità progettuale e la cultura della formazione in servizio

Parkinson's Disease-Mild Cognitive Impairment (PD-MCI): A Useful Summary of Update Knowledge

Mild cognitive impairment (MCI) is a common feature in Parkinson's Disease (PD), even at the time of diagnosis. Some levels of heterogeneity in nature and severity of cognitive impairment and risk of conversion to Parkinson's Disease Dementia (PDD) exist. This brief overview summarized the current understanding of MCI in PD, by considering the following major points: historical development of the clinical entity, evaluation, epidemiology, predictors and outcomes, neuroimaging findings, pathophysiology, treatment, and pharmacological and non-pharmacological intervention. MCI in PD represents a concept in evolution and plays a pivotal role in advancing our understanding of the disease mechanisms, with the ultimate goal of building effective strategies to prevent conversion into PDD. Challenges for future research are also discussed

CONSCIOUS ATTENTION DEFECT AND INHIBITORY CONTROL DEFICIT IN PARKINSON’S DISEASE-MILD COGNITIVE IMPAIRMENT: A COMPARISON STUDY WITH AMNESTIC MILD COGNITIVE IMPAIRMENT MULTIPLE DOMAIN

Background: Frontal/executive dysfunction commonly occurs in Parkinson\u27s disease - Mild Cognitive Impairment (PD-MCI patients). However, to date, the number of studies comparing PD-MCI and MCI patients of other etiologies are too small. The present study aims at clarifying the attention/working memory and executive dysfunction of PD-MCI patients in comparison to amnestic MCI multiple domain patients with first extended then abbreviated structural brain changes suggesting preclinical Alzheimer’s Disease. Subjects and methods: 40 PD-MCI patients and 40 amnestic MCI multiple domain (aMCI+) patients were diagnosed according to the International guidelines. 22 healthy subjects were also recruited as control group. The groups were assessed by a wide neuropsychological battery, including measures of attention/working memory (Digit Span and Stroop Test), executive functions (Tower of London-Drexel Version -TOLDX- and Brixton Test), language (Boston Naming Test and Category Fluency), memory (Prose Recall and Pairs Associates Learning), and visuospatial function (Street\u27s Completion Test and Constructive Apraxia Test). Performances were compared by non parametric tests. Spearman correlations were performed to explore association between neuropsychological measures of attention/working memory and executive functions in PD-MCI group. Results: The PD-MCI patients performed worse on Digit Span and Stroop Interference/Error than aMCI+ and controls. AMCI+ patients, in turn, showed a greater deficit on TOLDX Initiation Time and on Violation Time than PD-MCI and controls. Both PDMCI and aMCI+ patients reported lower scores on Stroop Interference/Time than controls. Moreover, aMCI+ patients performed worse then controls on Brixton Test. Positive correlations between Digit Span and Stroop Interference/Error, Stroop Interference/Error and TOLDX Execution Time, Total Time and Violation Time, Stroop Interference Time and TOLDX Move Score and Total Time were found in PD-MCI group. Conclusion: PD-MCI patients mainly present a conscious attention defect and an inhibitory control deficit than aMCI+. PDMCI patients with deficits in attention/working memory domain should undergo specific cognitive trainings in order to improve cognitive abilities and prevent Parkinson\u27s Disease Dementia onset

Effects of Mediterranean diet and weight loss on blood-lipid profile in overweight adults with hypercholesterolemia

Blood cholesterol has been positively associated with increased cardiovascular risk as a modifiable risk factors together with the lifestyle and diet. Furthermore, an improvement of the blood-lipid profile seems to be able to produce a decrease in cardiovascular events. Cholesterol plasma levels are related to the body mass index (BMI) and are affected by diet. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of a Mediterranean diet (MD) weight-loss programme to improve blood cholesterol profiles in overweight adults subjected to real-world outpatient diet. Forty-nine hypercholesteraemic, overweight adults of both sexes were subjected to a dietary weight-loss intervention. Patients were prescribed a slightly hypocaloric MD for 16 weeks, followed by an 8-week follow-up period with a normocaloric diet. Data showed significant weight loss and cholesterol blood profile improvement both under the hypocaloric diet and during the follow-up period. In particular, the decrease in both Total and LDL-cholesterol was greater than their critical differences indicating the clinical relevance of blood lipid improvement induced by MD

What Does the Brain Have to Keep Working at Its Best? Resilience Mechanisms Such as Antioxidants and Brain/Cognitive Reserve for Counteracting Alzheimer's Disease Degeneration

here we performed a narrative review highlighting the effect of brain/cognitive reserve and natural/synthetic antioxidants in exerting a neuroprotective effect against cognitive deterioration during physiological and pathological aging. Particularly, we discussed pathogenesis of Alzheimer’s disease, brain and cognitive reserve as means of resilience towards deterioration, and evidence from the literature about antioxidants’ role in sustaining cognitive functioning in the preclinical phase of dementia. During aging, the effects of disease-related brain changes upon cognition are reduced in individuals with higher cognitive reserve, which might lose its potential with emerging cognitive symptoms in the transitional phase over the continuum normal aging-dementia (i.e., Mild Cognitive Impairment). Starting from this assumption, MCI should represent a potential target of intervention in which antioxidants effects may contribute—in part—to counteract a more severe brain deterioration (alongside to cognitive stimulation) causing a rightward shift in the trajectory of cognitive decline, leading patients to cross the threshold for clinical dementia later

Clinical Psychology of Aging: the Italian Manifesto

In the context of Italian aging population, clinical psychology can play a crucial role in enabling older adults to cope with the multiple challenges associated with the aging process and disease-related issues. This manifesto was  written by the 'Clinical Psychology of Aging' working group, which is part of the Italian Association of Psychology (AIP) consisting of academic experts in this field  who collaborated to elaborate the contents highlighting the most relevant dimensions of the clinical psychology of aging. Specifically, the aging process was addressed from multiple points of view (i.e., theoretical perspectives, multidimensional assessment, interventions), and the role of the clinical psychologists in the National Health System along with training issues were discussed in the attempt to specify  the unique contribution  of the clinical psychology in aging