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BackgroundIncreasingly, consultations in health care settings are conducted remotely using a range of communication technologies. Email allows for 2-way text-based communication, occurring asynchronously. Studies have explored the content and nature of email consultations to understand the use, structure, and function of email consultations. Most previous content analyses of email consultations in primary care settings have been conducted in North America, and these have shown that concerns and assumptions about how email consultations work have not been realized. There has not been a UK-based content analysis of email consultations. ObjectiveThis study aims to explore and delineate the content of consultations conducted via email in English general practice by conducting a content analysis of email consultations between general practitioners (GPs) and patients. MethodsWe conducted a content analysis of anonymized email consultations between GPs and patients in 2 general practices in the United Kingdom. We examined the descriptive elements of the correspondence to ascertain when the emails were sent, the number of emails in an email consultation, and the nature of the content. We used a normative approach to analyze the content of the email consultations to explore the use and function of email consultation. ResultsWe obtained 100 email consultations from 85 patients, which totaled 262 individual emails. Most email users were older than 40 years, and over half of the users were male. The email consultations were mostly short and completed in a few days. Emails were mostly sent and received during the day. The emails were mostly clinical in content rather than administrative and covered a wide range of clinical presentations. There were 3 key themes to the use and function of the email consultations: the role of the GP and email consultation, the transactional nature of an email consultation, and the operationalization of an email consultation. ConclusionsMost cases where emails are used to have a consultation with a patient in general practice have a shorter consultation, are clinical in nature, and are resolved quickly. GPs approach email consultations using key elements similar to that of the face-to-face consultation; however, using email consultations has the potential to alter the role of the GP, leading them to engage in more administrative tasks than usual. Email consultations were not a replacement for face-to-face consultations.

This article explores the experiences of those who lead undergraduate education-related programmes in further education (FE) colleges in England. Questionnaire and interview fieldwork with 14 further education-based programme leaders were supplemented by a comparison survey of equivalent professionals from higher education institutions (HEIs). Drawing on Hodgson and Spours's four-level lifelong learning ecology and Nardi and O'Day's keystone species concept, our analysis characterises the role of the undergraduate programme leader as distinctive and critical within the further education context. Extremely multifaceted and busy, this role is also poorly defined, often involving individuals relying on craft wisdom accrued within specific contexts. Three overall strands of responsibility emerged in participants' view of their role: the administrative and organisational demands of colleges and the validation/franchising of higher education partners; the provision to learners of appropriate support in their studies; and the recognition of and response to pastoral needs of students. Tensions were identified between these, with one strand tending to preoccupy programme leaders at any time, obscuring their view of other important role objectives. As such, we introduce the concept of sightlines to capture the importance of enabling programme leaders to see through and beyond their institutional context and engage outwards, rather than turn inwards. Practical recommendations include the provision of time and licence to study for advanced qualifications, to undertake research and to help nurture distinctive cultures of higher education learning.

This paper presents an evaluation of "Literacy for Life" (LfL) -- a whole-school literacy programme, implemented in five secondary schools in England. The aims of LfL were to improve literacy attainment and to promote positive attitudes to reading and writing. However, when compared to other schools, there is little or no evidence that being in a LfL school, had any differential benefit for pupils' attainment. In LfL schools, the gap for disadvantaged pupils and those with SEN grew in the early years of the intervention. There is also no evidence from repeated surveys that pupils' attitudes to and enjoyment of reading showed any improvement. As such, LfL did not achieve its intended objectives. This matters because, despite limited evidence in its favour, schools continue to use it and programmes similar to it. We argue that programmes such as LfL, which are implemented on a whole-school level, need to be based upon evidence-informed approaches.

This paper presents the results of a large-scale survey of undergraduates in England, concerning their envisaged career choices and how they made them. This gives a more complete account of those who do and do not want to be teachers than usual in the existing literature based primarily on prospective/existing teacher accounts. The paper looks at the issue of shortages, the reasons why people might be deterred from teaching, and summarises the methods used in our new study, followed by the results. The results cover descriptive analyses, and a comparison of responses from those who considered being a teacher (or not), those who had applied to train as a teacher (or not), and those intending to teach. These results are put together in two logistic regression models, one predicting/explaining who considered teaching, and the second explaining who then intends to become a teacher. Conclusions are drawn in the final section.

The increased national focus on racism and white supremacy has encouraged social workers to look more closely at racism in the profession, which includes racism that occurs in social work education. This study specifically examines social work students' experiences with racism in social work classes. A convenience sample of current and former students (n = 293) provided quantitative and qualitative responses to a survey that was sent to social work programs and posted on social work-related websites. Findings indicated that half of the students of color and one-third of the white students experienced or witnessed racist incidents in social work classes, perpetrated by students and faculty alike. Though the vast majority of respondents noted that the classroom generally was a safe environment to discuss race, and that they felt comfortable voicing concerns about racism, only half of the incidents were addressed, and it was usually students, not faculty, who raised concerns about the incidents. Through centering student voices, this study supports the need for actions to be taken by schools of social work to prevent and to address racism in the classroom.

Background: A raft of initiatives and reforms have been introduced in many countries to attract and recruit school teachers, many of which do not have a clear evidence base, so their effectiveness remains unclear. Prior research has been largely correlational in design. This paper describes a rigorous and comprehensive review of international evidence, synthesising the findings of some of the strongest empirical work so far. Methods: The review synthesises a total of 120 pieces of research from 13 electronic databases, Google/Google scholar and other sources. Each study is weighted by strength of evidence. Results: The strongest evidence suggests that targeted money can encourage people into teaching but does not necessarily keep them in the teaching profession. The money needs to be large enough to compensate for the disadvantages of working in certain schools and areas, and competitive enough to offset the opportunity costs of not being in more lucrative occupations, and its effect is only short-term. Conclusions: Continuing professional development (CPD) and early career support could be promising approaches for retaining teachers in the profession, but the evidence for them is weak. There is no evidence that any other approaches work, largely because of the lack of robust studies.

Mixed methods research (MMR) designs are well suited for answering policy-relevant questions, yet they remain underutilized in public policy and public administration scholarship. To provide a deeper understanding of the effective use of such designs, this article examines the prevalence of MMR in public policy and public administration journals, drawing a key distinction between "canonical" and "non-canonical" MMR. Canonical mixed methods studies are characterized by (1) an explicit rationale for using mixed methods (i.e., a clear connection between methodological decisions and research questions), (2) effective integration of qualitative and quantitative strands, and (3) design transparency. We demonstrate the value of a canonical approach in public policy and public administration research by highlighting differences in quality between canonical and non-canonical mixed methods studies. Our findings indicate that a canonical approach to mixed methods research makes positive contributions to methodological quality and knowledge development.

Replication studies in education are relatively rare. Of the few which are conducted, many are conceptual rather than direct replications. With so few replication studies, and many of those that are attempted producing null results, the scientific status of the evidence base for educational policy and practice is in question. Replicating Makel and Plucker's review of the education replication literature, conducted in 2014, this paper presents a mapping review looking at rates of replication in education research from 2011 to 2020. We provide an overview of the number of replication studies by replication type, year, outcome, authorship, and journal. Our results are consistent with those of Makel and Plucker, revealing very low but gradually increasing rates of replication study in education. We discuss the role of replication in producing a robust and trustworthy evidence base for policy and practice, and some of the challenges in operationalising definitions of replication we encountered.

This paper describes an independently evaluated randomised controlled trial of a self-affirmation intervention, replicating earlier studies, mostly conducted in the US with ethnic minority students. Self-affirmation theory suggests that some stigmatised groups, such as those from ethnic minority or poor families, face stereotype threats which undermine their academic performance. Engaging in value affirmation writing activities when such threats are most salient can give individuals a positive sense of value, negating harmful feelings, and fostering academic learning. The present study, involving 10,807 pupils aged 14 to 16 in England showed that the intervention can be successfully replicated with children from low socioeconomic backgrounds in England. The analysis showed positive effects for the intervention group. Pupils who completed more exercises also performed better. The findings are worth consideration given that it costs virtually nothing and does no harm.

Feedback is an integral part of education and there is a substantial body of trials exploring and confirming its effect on learning. This evidence base comes mostly from studies of compulsory school age children; there is very little evidence to support effective feedback practice at higher education, beyond the frameworks and strategies advocated by those claiming expertise in the area. This systematic review aims to address this gap. We review causal evidence from trials of feedback and formative assessment in higher education. Although the evidence base is currently limited, our results suggest that low stakes-quizzing is a particularly powerful approach and that there are benefits for forms of peer and tutor feedback, although these depend on implementation factors. There was mixed evidence for praise, grading and technology-based feedback. We organise our findings into several evidence-grounded categories and discuss the next steps for the field and evidence-informed feedback practice in universities.

Introduced in England in 2011, the pupil premium policy was an ambitious reform aimed at tackling the persistent attainment gap between disadvantaged pupils and their more affluent peers. The policy provides school leaders with the professional autonomy to determine how pupil premium funding should be used. This article examines the decision-making processes and influences involved in the use of these additional resources. We conducted interviews with 21 school leaders from different contexts across the Midlands in order to investigate the approaches, perceptions and experiences that influenced their engagement with the pupil premium policy. The findings highlight the range of strategies employed to determine how the funding should be used and the factors that influence the decisions made. Our data also indicate the tensions and challenges that are experienced by school leaders in relation to effective use of the funding. We conclude with recommendations for policymakers and practitioners in relation to the requirement for high-quality, accessible information to support pupil premium use, the role of accountability mechanisms and the need for wider societal reform in order to tackle social disadvantage.

In this study we investigated the research designs employed to study the interdisciplinary profession of school librarianship during a time period of notable changes across both the Pre-K-12 and school library domains. To conduct this work, we analyzed all 217 articles published in "School Library Research" (SLR) and "School Libraries Worldwide" (SLW) from 2007 through July 2015. Results point to the high variability in research designs employed and limited inclusion of Pre-K-12 students as participants. The articles also exhibit high incidences of collaboration between scholars but limited involvement of practitioners as researchers. Findings are discussed in relation to research and practice.

In recent years, philosophical work directly concerned with the practice of mathematics has intensified, giving rise to a movement known as the "philosophy of mathematical practice." In this paper we offer a survey of this movement aimed at mathematics educators. We first describe the core questions philosophers of mathematical practice investigate as well as the philosophical methods they use to tackle them. We then provide a selective overview of work in the philosophy of mathematical practice covering topics including the distinction between formal and informal proofs, visualization and artefacts, mathematical explanation and understanding, value judgments, and mathematical design. We conclude with some remarks on the potential connections between the philosophy of mathematical practice and mathematics education.

World Health Organisation data suggest that up to 99% of the global population are exposed to air pollutants above recommended levels. Impacts to health range from increased risk of stroke and cardiovascular disease to chronic respiratory conditions, and air pollution may contribute to over 7 million premature deaths a year. Additionally, mounting evidence suggests that in utero or early life exposure to particulate matter (PM) in ambient air pollution increases the risk of neurodevelopmental impairment with obvious lifelong consequences. Identifying brain‐specific cellular targets of PM is vital for determining its long‐term consequences. We previously established that microglial‐like BV2 cells were particularly sensitive to urban (U)PM‐induced damage including reactive oxygen species production, which was abrogated by a mitochondrially targeted antioxidant. Here we extend those studies to find that UPM treatment causes a rapid impairment of mitochondrial function and increased mitochondrial fragmentation. However, there is a subsequent restoration of mitochondrial and therefore cell health occurring concomitantly with upregulated measures of mitochondrial biogenesis and mitochondrial load. Our data highlight that protecting mitochondrial function may represent a valuable mechanism to offset the effects of UPM exposure in the neonatal brain. Key points: Air pollution represents a growing risk to long‐term health especially in early life, and the CNS is emerging a target for airborne particulate matter (PM).We previously showed that microglial‐like BV2 cells were vulnerable to urban (U)PM exposure, which impaired cell survival and promoted reactive oxygen species production.Here we find that, following UPM exposure, BV2 mitochondrial membrane potential is rapidly reduced, concomitant with decreased cellular bioenergetics and increased mitochondrial fission.However, markers of mitochondrial biogenesis and mitochondrial mass are subsequently induced, which may represent a cellular mitigation strategy.As mitochondria are more vulnerable in the developing brain, exposure to air pollution may represent a greater risk to lifelong health in this cohort; conversely, promoting mitochondrial integrity may offset these risks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores the challenges and importance of GCSE English and maths resits for students in England. It highlights the low pass rates and the lack of research literature on this topic. The Education Endowment Foundation conducted a practice review, which identified key themes for improving resits, including curriculum, resources, learner needs, teacher development, and leadership. The article emphasizes the need for further research and effective strategies to support students in their resit exams, particularly those from disadvantaged backgrounds. It suggests incorporating strategies from Key Stage 4 and the university sector, but cautions that easily adoptable approaches are limited. The authors stress the importance of investing in the post-16 workforce and institutions and encourage practitioners, leaders, and researchers to contribute to their work. [Extracted from the article]

Ecosystems are rapidly degraded by anthropogenic pressures, affecting the provision of ecosystem services. Therefore, it is increasingly important that we can quantify and manage ecosystem services to maintain human well‐being.Many ecosystem services are underpinned by ecosystem functions and processes that are driven by interspecific ecological interactions. Humans then benefit from ecosystem services through socio‐ecological interactions. Therefore, interaction network approaches can provide a unique understanding of ecosystem service flows.In this paper, we assess the current interface between network ecology and ecosystem services, before exploring how work linking these two fields could be enhanced.We emphasise the value of network approaches and explore network methods to improve the assessment and management of ecosystem services. Within this, we highlight the role of local and indigenous knowledge in operationalising network approaches in a useful ecosystem service context. Read the free Plain Language Summary for this article on the Journal blog. Read the free Plain Language Summary for this article on the Journal blog. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article explores the implementation of FLASH Marking, a new approach to marking and feedback in education. The authors discuss how their previous methods were ineffective and led to a heavy workload for teachers. They found guidance from a 1999 pamphlet on assessment for learning and used it to develop FLASH Marking, which focuses on specific skills, modeling, self-assessment, and feedback. A national trial of FLASH Marking showed promising results in reducing workload and received positive feedback from teachers and students. However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, data on student progress and attainment is uncertain. The authors offer advice for developing effective feedback approaches, including being explicit about success criteria and committing time to professional development. The article also discusses the positive impact of an evidence-informed approach on professional practice and student outcomes. The authors express their gratitude for being a part of this experience. [Extracted from the article]

This paper describes a systematic review of international research evidence identifying the most promising approaches to attracting and retaining teachers in hard-to-staff areas. Only empirical studies that employed a causal or suitable comparative design and had robust measurements of recruitment and retention outcomes were considered. Studies were assessed for strength of evidence taking into account threats to trustworthiness which may bias the results. A search of 13 electronic databases and Google/Google scholar identified 20 distinct research reports that met the inclusion criteria. Financial incentives was the only approach that seems to work in attracting teachers to challenging schools, but not effective in retaining them. To keep teachers working in challenging schools a supportive and conducive working environment would be needed. Other approaches such as mentoring, support, or teacher development do not have strong evidence of effectiveness, largely because much of the research on these approaches was weak. More robust research capable of addressing causal questions is therefore urgently required to determine their impact in attracting and retaining good teachers in areas where they are most needed. Long-term solution would be to change school-allocation policies and improve economic conditions in such areas so that the problem of staffing does not arise.

This paper presents the findings of a 1-year efficacy trial of Maths Counts (MC), an intensive, individualised programme delivered by trained teaching assistants. The programme was delivered 3 times a week over 10 weeks. The sample included 291 Year 3 to Year 6 pupils (age 7 to 11) from 35 primary schools in England. Pupils were individually randomised within school to receive MC or business as usual. The results suggest that MC is effective for children struggling with basic maths skills (ES = +0.12 for general maths skills and +0.18 for maths attitude), but there is no evidence that it is particularly effective for children eligible for free school meals. Staff and pupil absences, and other social-emotional and behavioural difficulties may have prevented some pupils from getting the most from the programme. In general, the trial shows that trained teaching assistants can be effectively deployed to support children's maths learning.

This study examines parental choice preferences following the introduction of the Free Schools policy in England. It reports on two phases of data collection: first, the analysis of factors that Free School and non-Free School parents reported as important in informing their choices; and, second, findings from semi-structured interviews with parents of children attending a Free School. The findings show that Free School parents' choices were mostly influenced by similar factors to those of parents elsewhere. There were, however, some notable exceptions, particularly in relation to school size, ethos and curriculum. The analyses also highlight how the lack of information available led parents to use proxies to assess potential academic quality and school suitability for their child. The tensions that exist for parents in exercising choice within this new context and the implications for school intakes and diversity within the system are discussed.

The article highlights an international evidence about the factors that will contribute to an increase in teacher retention. Topics mentioned include the impact of school leadership practices and organizational climate on job satisfaction, work environment and mental wellbeing of teachers, the main practices for efficient school principals, the strategies for enhancing leadership practices, and the key characteristics of effective school leaders.

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