Extended schools in England : emerging rationales

Schools in many countries are beginning to take on extended roles, working with families and communities as well as with students. However, the rationales underpinning such developments are often unclear. This paper reports on case studies of 20 schools developing new roles as part of the national extended services initiative in England. It reports in detail on two of these schools, exploring the rationales for their extended roles elicited in the course of a theory of change- based evaluation. It finds that schools saw no contradiction between their traditional and extended roles because they saw students’ academic attainments as shaped by a wide range of personal, family and community factors. It argues that the schools’ rationales were coherent, but by no means fully articulated and concludes that dialogue between practitioners, policy makers and researchers is necessary to develop these rationales further

The Effects of Cooperative Learning on Self-Perceived, Classroom Group Acceptance by Students in a Juvenile Correctional Facility

A group of 53 juveniles in a correctional facility were studied to find the effects of cooperative learning on self-percieved classroom group acceptance. A quasi­-experimental, test, re-test design was utilized. students were asked to fill out a survey, before and after treatment reflecting upon the ease with which the students shared opinions with other members of the class. The students in the experimental group, where cooperative learning was implemented for four weeks, rated their comfort levels significantly higher than those students in the control condition. The findings show that cooperative learning, when used with incarcerated youth, does have a positive effect. These students, according to the surveys , are more comfortable with classroom communication. This high degree of comfort might result in students participating in a wider spectrum of classroom activities, allowing teachers to be more creative when making plans for the classroom

Predicting breastfeeding in women living in areas of economic hardship : explanatory role of the theory of planned behaviour

This study employed the theory of planned behaviour (TPB) and additional variables (descriptive norm, moral norm, self-identity) to investigate the factors underlying breastfeeding intention and subsequent breastfeeding at four time points (during hospital stay, at hospital discharge, 10 days postpartum and 6 weeks postpartum) in a sample of women selected from defined areas of economic hardship (N = 248). A model containing the TPB, additional variables and demographic factors provided a good prediction of both intention (R-2 = 0.72; attitude, perceived behavioural control, moral norm and self-identity significant predictors) and behaviour - breastfeeding at birth (88.6% correctly classified; household deprivation, intention, attitude significant), at discharge from hospital (87.3% correctly classified; intention, attitude significant), 10 days after discharge (83.1% correctly classified; education, intention, attitude, descriptive norm significant) and 6 weeks after discharge (78.0% correctly classified; age, household deprivation, ethnicity, moral norm significant). Implications for interventions are discussed, such as the potential usefulness of targeting descriptive norms, moral norms and perceived behavioural control (PBC) when attempting to increase breastfeeding uptake

Interventions for promoting the initiation of breastfeeding

BACKGROUND: Despite the widely documented health advantages of breastfeeding over formula feeding, initiation rates remain relatively low in many high-income countries, particularly among women in lower income groups. OBJECTIVE : To evaluate the effectiveness of interventions which aim to encourage women to breastfeed in terms of changes in the number of women who start to breastfeed. METHODS : Search methods: We searched the Cochrane Pregnancy and Childbirth Group's Trials Register (July 2007), handsearched the Journal of Human Lactation, Health Promotion International and Health Education Quarterly from inception to 15 August 2007, and scanned reference lists of all articles obtained. Selection criteria: Randomized controlled trials, with or without blinding, of any breastfeeding promotion intervention in any population group except women and infants with a specific health problem. Data collection and analysis: One review author independently extracted data and assessed trial quality, checked by a second author. We contacted investigators to obtain missing information. MAIN RESULTS: Main results: Eleven trials were included. Statistical analyses were conducted on data from eight trials (1553 women). Five studies (582 women) on low incomes in the USA with typically low breastfeeding rates showed breastfeeding education had a significant effect on increasing initiation rates compared to standard care (risk ratio (RR) 1.57, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.15 to 2.15, P = 0.005). Subgroup analyses showed that one-to-one, needs-based, informal repeat education sessions and generic, formal antenatal education sessions are effective in terms of an increase in breastfeeding rates among women on low incomes regardless of ethnicity and feeding intention. Needs-based, informal peer support in the antenatal and postnatal periods was also shown to be effective in one study conducted among Latina women who were considering breastfeeding in the USA (RR 4.02, 95% CI 2.63 to 6.14, P < 0.00001). AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS: This review showed that health education and peer support interventions can result in some improvements in the number of women beginning to breastfeed. Findings from these studies suggest that larger increases are likely to result from needs-based, informal repeat education sessions than more generic, formal antenatal sessions. These findings are based only on studies conducted in the USA, among women on low incomes with varied ethnicity and feeding intention, and this raises some questions regarding generalisability to other settings

DIFFERENCES IN LEAD AND REAR HAND PUNCHING FORCES, DELIVERED AT MAXIMAL SPEED RELATIVE TO MAXIMAL FORCE, BY AMATEUR BOXERS

Six male competitive amateur boxers (mean ± SD age: 24.6 ± 3.3 years; height 1.82 ± 0.05 m; mass: 73.3 ± 19.0 kg) participated. Straight lead and rear hand punches at maximal speed or force were thrown in tum to the head and body of a calibrated boxing dynamometer designed with the sport-specific requirements in mind (Smith et al. 2000). Punches were thrown either singularly or in two/three punch combinations in a prescribed sequence from an audio cue. Punching force for the maximal speed punches with the lead hand to the head and body were significantly lower (p < 0.001) compared to the rear hand (Head: lead 2082 ± 62 N vs rear 2623 ± 100 N; Body: lead 1869± 42 N vs rear 2359 ± 67 N). Rear and lead hand punches delivered for maximum force were greater

MUSCULAR RECRUITMENT DURING REAR HAND PUNCHES DELIVERED AT MAXIMAL FORCE AND SPEED BY AMATEUR BOXERS.

Six male competitive amateur boxers (mean ± SD age: 24.6 ± 3.3 years; height 1.82 ± 0.05m; mass: 73.3 ± 19.0 kg) participated in electromyography during delivery of boxing punches to a dynamometer. A linear model of recruitment of the muscles under investigation applied best in the case of maximum force punches delivered to the body. The importance of the rectus femoris gastrocnemius and biceps femoris muscles in the initiation of punch delivery was evident. Punch forces delivered for maximal force were greater than those delivered for maximum speed. The force was 38% greater when a maximum force punch to the head was delivered relative to that delivered for maximum speed. This was associated with increased activity of 27% in the large rectus femoris muscle involved in rear leg extension