The Influence of Stigma on College Students' Attitudes Toward Online Video Counseling and Face‐to‐Face Counseling

The difference in attitudes toward online video counseling and face‐to‐face counseling and the relationship between stigma and these attitudes were investigated among a sample of 588 college students. Attitudes toward face‐to‐face counseling are more favorable compared with those toward online video counseling. However, self‐stigma does not influence attitudes toward online video counseling to the same extent as face‐to‐face counseling. Services delivered through online video counseling may be beneficial for those experiencing higher levels of stigma.     

The Self‐Reference Effect on Memory in Early Childhood

The self‐reference effect in memory is the advantage for information encoded about self, relative to other people. The early development of this effect was explored here using a concrete encoding paradigm. Trials comprised presentation of a self‐ or other‐image paired with a concrete object. In Study 1, 4‐ to 6‐year‐old children (N = 53) were asked in each trial whether the child pictured would like the object. Recognition memory showed an advantage for self‐paired objects. Study 2 (N = 55) replicated this finding in source memory. In Study 3 (N = 56), participants simply indicated object location. Again, recognition and source memory showed an advantage for self‐paired items. These findings are discussed with reference to mechanisms that ensure information of potential self‐relevance is reliably encoded.     

Attitudes of Early Childhood Teachers Toward Family and Community Involvement

This investigation examined early childhood teachers' attitudes towards families and their involvement with schools, and specific variables that influence these attitudes. Teachers' perspectives about school and family partnerships were assessed using the School and Family Partnerships: Questionnaires for Teachers and Parents in the Elementary and Middle Grades (Epstein & Salinas, 1993). This survey was administered to 92 elementary school teachers in Follow Through classrooms in the southeastern and pacific northwestern United States. Results indicated that teachers' attitudes about family and community involvement were highly positive. Additionally, African American teachers had a more positive attitude than European American teachers. Furthermore, teachers who taught large proportions of low ability students had less positive views of family strengths.     

Teaching Toward Freedom: Early Childhood Education and the Challenges Ahead

This article examines issues surrounding the recruitment and employment of men in early childhood education, including special education, child care, and preschool through primary grade classrooms. Earlier research from the United States, Canada, and Australia concerning men in early education is reviewed. Issues discussed include the limitations of traditional gender roles, concerns of homosexuality, fear of sexual abuse accusations, salaries, and isolation. Initiating dialogue, identifying and remedying prejudices and practices that favor women, and activating support networks are among the activities suggested to increase the number of male teachers in early childhood classrooms.     

Processes of Early Childhood Interventions to Adult Well‐Being

This article describes the contributions of cognitive–scholastic advantage, family support behavior, and school quality and support as processes through which early childhood interventions promote well‐being. Evidence in support of these processes is from longitudinal cohort studies of the Child–Parent Centers and other preventive interventions beginning by age 4. Relatively large effects of participation have been documented for school readiness skills at age 5, parent involvement, K‐12 achievement, remedial education, educational attainment, and crime prevention. The three processes account for up to half of the program impacts on well‐being. They also help to explain the positive economic returns of many effective programs. The generalizability of these processes is supported by a sizable knowledge base, including a scale up of the Child–Parent Centers.     

Early Behavioral Inhibition and Emotion Regulation: Pathways Toward Social Competence in Middle Childhood

This study examined emotion regulation (ER) as a mediator in the relation between early behavioral inhibition (BI) and later social competence (N = 257), and whether this mediation varied depending on BI levels. Maternal report and observational measures were used to assess BI (ages 2 and 3). Children's ER strategies (age 5) and social competence with an unfamiliar peer (age 7) were measured using observational measures. Results showed that BI predicted less engaged ER strategies during a disappointment task, and engaged ER predicted higher social competence. Engaged ER mediated the effect of BI on social competence, but only for highly inhibited children. Findings elucidate developmental trajectories of risk and resilience, and suggest targeting regulatory strategies in early prevention efforts with highly inhibited children.     

Family‐Centered Positive Behavior Support Interventions in Early Childhood To Prevent Obesity

Positive behavior support (PBS) strategies in early childhood, which include proactively structuring environments to support and positively reinforce healthy dietary and physical activity behaviors, are critical for preventing pediatric obesity, particularly among low‐income, ethnic minority children. Existing evidence‐based family‐centered preventive interventions effectively impact parents’ use of PBS strategies. Enhancing these programs to more directly target the key mechanisms of change specific to promoting children's healthy lifestyle behaviors could serve as the foundation for the next generation of effective protocols for preventing pediatric obesity. Two established programs that target PBS that can be feasibly implemented in a variety of service delivery systems using a multi‐tiered, adaptive approach and the next steps of translation are discussed.     

Using a Group‐Centered Approach to Observe Interactions in Early Childhood Education

This study examined the value of using a group‐centered approach to evaluate process quality of early childhood education and care (ECEC). Is observed support of group processes a different aspect of classroom quality, and does it predict children's collaborative play in ECEC in the Netherlands? In two play situations, 37 teachers and 120 two‐ to four‐year‐old children were observed with the Classroom Assessment Scoring System (CLASS) Toddler and two new measures. In a two‐level structural equation model, teachers’ support of group processes was positively related to the CLASS domains and to children's collaborative play, over and above the effect of children's cognitive ability and social competence. These findings suggest that ECEC quality evaluation could be enriched by adding group‐centered indicators of classroom quality.     

Early Childhood Predictors of Severe Youth Violence in Low‐Income Male Adolescents

Using a cohort of 310 low‐income male adolescents living in an urban community and followed prospectively from 18 months through adolescence (ages 15–18 years), the current study examined whether individual, family, and community risk factors from ages 18 to 42 months were associated with adolescents' violent behavior, as indexed by juvenile petitions. Results of multivariate analyses indicated that although family income was the only factor to discriminate those with no arrest record from those with nonviolent arrests, rejecting parenting, child oppositional behavior, emotion regulation, and minority status during the toddler period contributed unique variance in distinguishing male adolescents arrested for violent behavior compared to those never arrested and those arrested for nonviolent behavior. Implications for prevention efforts are discussed.     

Flipping Online Analytics Classes: Achieving Parity with Their Face‐To‐Face Counterparts

We show how the principles of flipped learning that have been successfully applied to analytics classes taught face‐to‐face (F2F) at the undergraduate and graduate levels were emulated in corresponding online classes. Student satisfaction in the online flipped analytics classes was compared to student satisfaction in the F2F flipped analytics classes. Data were collected between the Spring 2016 and Fall 2018 semesters and involved two instructors with a sample of 726 students. The results of an independent samples t‐test showed that there was no significant difference in satisfaction between the online and F2F offerings. A binary logistics regression analysis on the data revealed that whether the flipped course was taught F2F or online had no significant effect on students recommending the course to their peers. The results suggest that flipped learning is transferrable to online analytics courses and yields student satisfaction at par with equivalent F2F flipped courses.     

“We Feel Connected… and Like We Belong”: A Parent-Led,Staff-Supported Model of Family Engagement in Early Childhood

Early Childhood Education Journal - Although researchers and practitioners have acknowledged that family engagement in children’s schooling occurs in many forms, most studies and program...     

Face‐to‐face talk to support computer‐mediated discussion in a primary school literacy practice

In this study, Dutch primary school children used a computer‐mediated discussion forum to discuss the concept of horror stories. In such discussion forums children often write their contributions individually. This paper presents an ongoing empirical study in which the contributions to an electronic discussion forum from children working individually were compared to contributions from children working in dyads. Preliminary results indicated that children working in dyads around the computer wrote more contributions to the computer‐mediated discussion and were more attentive to the collaborative process, than children who wrote their contributions individually.     

Developmental Differences in Memory During Early Childhood: Insights From Event‐Related Potentials

Age‐related differences in behavioral and electrophysiological indices of memory were examined in 3‐ to 6‐year‐old children (N = 76). Behaviorally, no differences were observed in children's ability to identify old items; however, 3‐year‐old children were less accurate in correctly rejecting new items, and 3‐ and 4‐year‐old children recalled fewer contextual details compared to 5‐ and 6‐year‐old children. Age‐related differences in electrophysiological measures (800–1,000 ms after stimulus onset) were observed both to items recalled with contextual details, which increased between 3 and 4 years, and items recalled without contextual details, which were greatest in 5‐year‐old children, even after adjusting for global age‐related differences. These findings, interpreted within a dual‐process framework, may suggest changes in both recollection and familiarity processes during early childhood.     

Family Correlates of False Belief Understanding in Early Childhood: A Meta‐Analysis

This meta‐analysis seeks to integrate findings from 25 years of research on family correlates of young children's false belief understanding (FBU). Using data from 93 studies of 3‐ to 7‐year‐old children, we examined the correlations between FBU and four of the most widely studied family factors: parental socioeconomic status, number of siblings, parental mental‐state talk, and mind‐mindedness. FBU exhibited modest associations with each family variable and these associations held even when individual differences in verbal ability were taken into account. Moderator analyses revealed key child‐related factors (e.g., age, gender) as well as methodological factors that amplified or attenuated the relations between FBU and each family variable. Crucially, available longitudinal data highlight the importance of family factors in the development of FBU.     

Digital Photography and Journals in a Kindergarten-First-Grade Classroom: Toward Meaningful Technology Integration in Early Childhood Education

To explore meaningful and effective technology integration in early childhood education, we investigated how kindergarten–first-grade students created and employed digital photography journals to support social and cognitive reflection. These students used a digital camera to document their daily school activities and created digital photo journals to represent their experiences. Ethnographic video data, field notes, and student journals were examined using a grounded theory approach. Results reveal that when students took pictures, they successfully negotiated their dual roles of photographer and participant in other activities. In the process, the children meaningfully integrated technology into their classroom activities, as well as transformed the nature of the social space surrounding the computer where children created their journals. Furthermore, the journals illustrated children's complex and varied types of cognitive and social reflections. Based on these results, we discuss implications for meaningful technology integration in early childhood education.     

Digital Photography and Journals in a Kindergarten-First-Grade Classroom: Toward Meaningful Technology Integration in Early Childhood Education

To explore meaningful and effective technology integration in early childhood education, we investigated how kindergarten-first-grade students created and employed digital photography journals to support social and cognitive reflection. These students used a digital camera to document their daily school activities and created digital photo journals to represent their experiences. Ethnographic video data, field notes, and student journals were examined using a grounded theory approach. Results reveal that when students took pictures, they successfully negotiated their dual roles of photographer and participant in other activities. In the process, the children meaningfully integrated technology into their classroom activities, as well as transformed the nature of the social space surrounding the computer where children created their journals. Furthermore, the journals illustrated children's complex and varied types of cognitive and social reflections. Based on these results, we discuss implications for meaningful technology integration in early childhood education.     

Early Childhood Services in Ireland

This paper gives background information on early childhood services in Ireland and presents the results of a survey of the preschool experiences of 1065 children. The results of the survey suggest that the majority of children experienced some form of early childhood service before starting school. The most common service was a playgroup although a significant proportion of the children had experienced home‐based care with a relative or family day care provider. The implications of the findings for the development of a policy on early childhood services are discussed.     

Language Intervention in Early Childhood

Developments in early intervention have paralleled those in early language intervention. Such parallels are not surprising given that general early childhood special education and language intervention practices have been influenced by the same theories of development and learning. In addition, because of the importance of communication to learning and academic achievement, and the prevalence of communication problems in children with special needs, language intervention has been fundamental to early intervention services and, reciprocally, language intervention practices have been challenged as a result of changes in early childhood services. In light of this relationship, this paper provides a focus on developments in language intervention within a framework of early intervention.