Contributions of Children's Temperament to Teachers' Judgments of Social Competence From Kindergarten Through Second Grade

Research Findings: Children's social competence has been linked to successful transition to formal school. The purpose of this study was to examine the contributions of children's temperament to teachers' ratings of their social competence from kindergarten through 2nd grade. Children (N = 1,364) from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Early Child Care Research Network participated in this study. Mothers rated children's shyness, attentional focusing, and inhibitory control with the Children's Behavior Questionnaire at 4½ years, and teachers rated children's social competence with three subscales (cooperation, assertion, and self-control) of the Social Skills Rating System at kindergarten, 1st, and 2nd grade. Latent growth curve analysis indicated that both shyness and effortful control contributed to children's social competence. Bolder children were likely to have higher assertion ratings, and shyer children with greater attentional focusing were likely to have higher assertion ratings. Shyer children and children with greater inhibitory control and attentional focusing were likely to have higher teacher ratings of self-control and cooperation. Practice or Policy: Findings highlight the importance of considering child temperament characteristics when understanding children's social competence and successful adjustment to kindergarten. Information may help parents, preschool teachers, and early elementary teachers prepare children who may be at particular risk for lower social competence.     

Enhancing Eighth Grade Students' Learning of Buoyancy: The Interaction of Teachers' Instructional Approach and Students' Learning Preference Styles

This study investigates the potential of enhancing students' learning of difficult science concepts by exploring the interaction between teachers' four different instructional approaches and students' four different learning preference styles. Students' immediate performance and their retention for learning of buoyancy concepts serve to examine the effects, using the concept of “buoyancy,” which has been classified as a difficult concept because it is at a higher hierarchical level and involves the understanding of both matter and process. Results indicate that students' post-test scores were significantly affected by both the types of instruction and students' learning preference styles; while students' retention test scores were significantly affected by the types of instructions. Moreover, this study does not support that matching teaching style with students' learning preference would make students' learning more effective. Nevertheless, because procedural learning preference styles (QB-learning preference) students performed better on the retention test than other learning preference styles students, it indicates the possibility that procedural learners are more efficient than others for learning such higher hierarchical and difficult concepts, regardless of the types of instruction students receive.     

幼儿多元智能的发展特点及其与气质、父母教养方式的关系

本研究采用问卷法和测量法,以大连市某幼儿园104名3～5幼儿为被试,分析了幼儿多元智能发展的年龄差异和性别差异,并进一步探讨了幼儿多元智能发展与幼儿气质、父母教养方式之间的关系。结果表明3～5岁幼儿多元智能的发展存在年龄差异,幼儿的多元智能随年龄增长而逐渐发展,且该年龄阶段是多元智能发展的关键期;3～5岁幼儿空间智能发展的性别差异显著;3～5岁幼儿多元智能与气质、父母教养方式密切相关。气质特点不同的幼儿在多元智能的发展上呈现出不同的特点,父母教养方式也会影响幼儿多元智能的发展。     

Teacher-Directed Decoding Practice with Manipulative Letters and Word Reading Skill Development of Struggling First Grade Students

We compared the effects of two approaches to decoding on the word reading skills of struggling first-grade students: decontextualized, teacher directed decoding practice with manipulative letters and embedded, incidental decoding practice. Participants were 98 students at risk for reading disability. We randomly assigned participants to three groups: (1) treatment, (2) comparison, and (3) control. The treatment group received 30 sessions of small-group instruction using manipulative letters to practice decoding skills. The comparison group received the same small-group reading instruction without the additional decoding practice. The control group did not receive supplemental small-group instruction. Analyses indicated that students who received the additional decoding practice with manipulative letters scored significantly better on phonological awareness, decoding, and word recognition skills than students who received incidental decoding practice.     

沿海与内地儿童自尊发展特点：以学业因素为基准

采用量表法,对沿海与内地城市、乡村普通小学四、五、六年级、普通初中一、二年级的1895名儿童进行研究,探讨了儿童的自尊发展与学业表现的关系。结果表明：（1）以学业表现为基准考察,沿海与内地儿童的自尊发展,在能力、成就感、纪律和公德与助人维度呈显著差异;（2）在能力维度上,沿海与内地儿童的高学业水平对应呈现高自尊态势,中、低学业水平对应呈现中、低自尊态势;（3）在成就感、纪律、公德与助人维度上,沿海与内地儿童的高学业水平对应呈现低自尊态势,良中学业水平对应呈现中等自尊态势,差学业水平对应呈现高自尊态势;（4）以学业表现为基准考察,沿海与内地儿童的自尊发展,较低学业水平的儿童均有极强的高自尊诉求;（5）沿海与内地儿童的自尊发展,从学业因素与自尊6维度之间的关系考察,表现出鲜明的取向上的一致性。     

家庭文化氛围与子女的学业发展

家庭文化氛围对孩子的学业成绩有重大的影响,因此父母要善于营造家庭良好的文化氛围：精心装扮居室,携同孩子一起学习,与孩子在一起玩出学问,端正自己的言行举止。     

提升大学教师专业发展——教学学术的维度

大学是人才培养的重要基地,而教学是作为培养人才的主渠道之一,因此大学教师的教学水平就影响了大学输出人才的质量。当前一些大学重视科研和社会服务而忽视人才培养,教学日益边缘化,殊不知教学是学校的主旋律,也是衡量教师专业发展的一个重要的维度。因此让大学教师回归教学,回归到育人为本的理念是大学教师专业发展的必然选择。     

Family Instability and Young Children's School Adjustment: Callousness and Negative Internal Representations as Mediators

This study examined the mediating roles of children's callousness and negative internal representations of family relationships in associations between family instability and children's adjustment to school in early childhood. Participants in this multimethod (i.e., survey, observations), multiinformant (i.e., parent, teacher, observer), longitudinal study included 243 preschool children (M_age = 4.60 years) and their families. Findings from the lagged, autoregressive tests of the mediational paths indicated that both children's callousness and negative internal representations of family relationships mediated longitudinal associations between family instability and children's school adjustment problems over a 2‐year period (i.e., the transition from preschool to first grade). Findings are discussed in relation to the attenuation hypothesis (E. J. Susman, 2006) and emotional security theory (EST; P. T. Davies, M. A. Winter, & D. Cicchetti, 2006).     

师幼互动与幼儿的主体性发展

师幼互动对幼儿主体性的建构和发展具有重要影响.作为师幼互动的两个主体,教师和幼儿在师幼互动过程中起着不同的作用.教师和幼儿对师幼互动的发生、发展以及互动内容连续性方面所起的作用都不相同.教师要努力提高师幼互动质量,促进幼儿的主体性建构与发展.     

Academic and Cognitive Characteristics of Persistent Mathematics Difficulty from First Through Fourth Grade

This longitudinal study investigated the academic and cognitive characteristics of persistent mathematics difficulty (MD-p) from first to fourth grade. Ninety-nine children were retrospectively categorized into one of three groups: MD-p, transient mathematics difficulty (MD-t), or typically developing. MD-p was defined as persistently low mathematics achievement (≤25th percentile) in at least 2 years from first to fourth grade. The results indicated that the MD-p group was more likely than other groups to have deficits in calculation, practical problem solving, number facts, and reading. In terms of cognitive characteristics, MD-p was specifically characterized by deficits in math concepts and phonological decoding, though there was some evidence for the involvement of working memory, processing speed, and numerical reasoning.     

Associations Between Low-Income Children's Fine Motor Skills in Preschool and Academic Performance in Second Grade

Research Findings: Given the growing literature pertaining to the importance of fine motor skills for later academic achievement (D. W. Grissmer, K. J. Grimm, S. M. Aiyer, W. M. Murrah, &; J. S. Steele, 2010 Grissmer , D. W. , Grimm , K. J. , Aiyer , S. M. , Murrah , W. M. , &; Steele , J. S. ( 2010 ). Fine motor skills and early comprehension of the world: Two new school readiness indicators . Developmental Psychology , 46 , 1008 – 1017 .[Crossref], [PubMed], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]), the current study examines whether the fine motor skills of economically disadvantaged preschool students predict later academic performance in 2nd grade. More specifically, we expand on the current literature and evaluate whether 2 types of fine motor skills—fine motor object manipulation and fine motor writing—predict academic achievement above and beyond the effects of demographic characteristics and early language and cognition skills. Results indicate that performance on both fine motor writing and object manipulation tasks had significant effects on 2nd-grade reading and math achievement, as measured by grades and standardized test scores. Stronger effects were yielded for writing tasks compared to object manipulation tasks. Practice or Policy: Implications for researchers and early childhood practitioners are discussed.     

Mother–Child Planning, Child Emotional Functioning, and Children's Transition to First Grade

Mother–child planning was examined in relation to child emotional functioning and first-grade school performance. Ninety dyads were randomly assigned to the explicit-goal condition (emphasized accuracy and preparation for a child-only posttest) or the no-explicit-goal condition (dyads just asked to work together). In the no-explicit-goal condition only, children higher in negative emotionality and lower in regulation skills were less engaged in the task and planned less effectively. Both mother–child planning and adaptive child emotional functioning were positively associated with school performance. Results suggest that child emotional functioning mediated associations between planning and school performance. Implications of these findings for the development of planning and children's transition to school are discussed.     

Children's Competencies in Process Skills in Kindergarten and Their Impact on Academic Achievement in Third Grade

Research Findings: The purpose of this study was to investigate the factorial structure of kindergarten children's mathematics and science process skills and the impact of children's competencies in process skills on their performance on mathematics and science achievement tests in 3rd grade. A subset of the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study–Kindergarten cohort data set (n = 8,731) was analyzed using multilevel structural equation modeling. Results demonstrated that science and mathematics process skills were highly related at the construct level but not at the indicator level, as was anticipated. Kindergarten children's competency in mathematics process skills was a strong predictor of their performance on science and mathematics achievement tests in the 3rd grade. However, children's competency in science process skills was only a significant predictor of their performance on a science achievement test in the 3rd grade. Moreover, socioeconomic status and gender were statistically significant predictors of process skills and performance on achievement tests. Practice or Policy: The findings of the present study suggest that the development of children's science and mathematics process skills should be supported utilizing integrated inquiry-based science and mathematics activities to help children recognize the connection between mathematics and science and to contribute to their science and mathematics achievement in later grades.     

论大学教师学术创新力的基础:学术洞察想象力

创新力作为一种高级智力能力,已经在心理学领域取得了丰硕的研究成果。本文拟从心理学角度探讨大学教师学术创新力的基础,提出学术洞察力和学术想象力两大心理能力基础。学术洞察力包括学术感知能力、学术专注能力、学术识别能力、多通道协同能力和多视角分析能力;学术想象力包括原创性想象能力和建构性想象能力。高等教育管理者应该从创造宽松自由的研究环境、搭建宽广通畅的学术平台和建立激励性评价机制三方面提高大学教师的学术创新力。     

关注师幼交往:教师专业发展新视角

师幼交往在促进儿童发展的同时,也可以促进教师的专业发展.师幼交往可以帮助教师提高教育发现能力,形成教育主体观,生成教育智慧.理想的师幼交往要求教师支持儿童,倾听儿童,欣赏儿童,对儿童保持好奇心,如此才能在促进儿童发展的同时促进教师专业能力的提高.     

Parenting and Temperament as Interacting Agents in Early Language Development

Objective. This study investigated relations among parenting, temperament, and early language, especially parenting as a moderator of the temperament-language association. Design. Measures of temperament, parenting (maternal responsiveness), and language were obtained from a sample of 102 predominantly European American, middle-class mother - infant dyads who were studied when the infants were 12 and 16 months of age. Results. The interaction between infant distress to novelty and maternal responsiveness at 12 months was related to 16-month language, such that when infants were low in distress to novelty, more responsive parenting was associated with better language abilities. Moreover, for boys only, greater maternal responsiveness was related to better language abilities only when boys displayed less smiling and laughter. Conclusions. The effects of emotionality and parenting on language acquisition depend on the level of the other.     

Age of Entry to Kindergarten and Children's Academic Achievement and Socioemotional Development

Research Findings: Data on more than 900 children participating in the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Study of Early Child Care were analyzed to examine the effect of age of entry to kindergarten on children's functioning in early elementary school. Children's academic achievement and socioemotional development were measured repeatedly from the age of 54 months through 3rd grade. With family background factors and experience in child care in the first 54 months of life controlled, hierarchical linear modeling (growth curve) analysis revealed that children who entered kindergarten at younger ages had higher (estimated) scores in kindergarten on the Woodcock—Johnson (W-J) Letter-Word Recognition subtest but received lower ratings from kindergarten teachers on Language and Literacy and Mathematical Thinking scales. Furthermore, children who entered kindergarten at older ages evinced greater increases over time on 4 W-J subtests (i.e., Letter-Word Recognition, Applied Problems, Memory for Sentences, Picture Vocabulary) and outperformed children who started kindergarten at younger ages on 2 W-J subtests in 3rd grade (i.e., Applied Problems, Picture Vocabulary). Age of entry proved unrelated to socioemotional functioning.

Practice: The fact that age-of-entry effects were small in magnitude and dwarfed by other aspects of children's family and child care experiences suggests that age at starting school should not be regarded as a major determinant of children's school achievement, but that it may merit consideration in context with other probably more important factors (e.g., child's behavior and abilities).     

Family Conflict and Children's Behavior Problems: The Moderating Role of Child Temperament

Child temperament was examined as a moderator of the link between family conflict and child behavior problems. Temperament assessed in early childhood was used to predict the relation between family conflict and externalizing behavior problems measured during the early elementary school years. For children with difficult temperament, a strong association between subsequent family conflict and behavioral adjustment was predicted; for children with easy or intermediate temperaments, low to moderate associations were predicted. These hypotheses were tested across 3 temperament groups (easy, intermediate, and difficult). Data were collected from 108 children and families participating in the Fullerton Longitudinal Study at ages 3 through 10 years. Consistent with the hypotheses, the data provided support for the moderating role of temperament in predicting the association between family conflict and child externalizing behavior problems. These findings suggest that temperamental difficultness operates as a vulnerability factor with respect to the development of children's behavior problems in families with high conflict.     

Age of Entry to Kindergarten and Children's Academic Achievement and Socioemotional Development

Research Findings: Data on more than 900 children participating in the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Study of Early Child Care were analyzed to examine the effect of age of entry to kindergarten on children's functioning in early elementary school. Children's academic achievement and socioemotional development were measured repeatedly from the age of 54 months through 3rd grade. With family background factors and experience in child care in the first 54 months of life controlled, hierarchical linear modeling (growth curve) analysis revealed that children who entered kindergarten at younger ages had higher (estimated) scores in kindergarten on the Woodcock—Johnson (W-J) Letter-Word Recognition subtest but received lower ratings from kindergarten teachers on Language and Literacy and Mathematical Thinking scales. Furthermore, children who entered kindergarten at older ages evinced greater increases over time on 4 W-J subtests (i.e., Letter-Word Recognition, Applied Problems, Memory for Sentences, Picture Vocabulary) and outperformed children who started kindergarten at younger ages on 2 W-J subtests in 3rd grade (i.e., Applied Problems, Picture Vocabulary). Age of entry proved unrelated to socioemotional functioning.

Practice: The fact that age-of-entry effects were small in magnitude and dwarfed by other aspects of children's family and child care experiences suggests that age at starting school should not be regarded as a major determinant of children's school achievement, but that it may merit consideration in context with other probably more important factors (e.g., child's behavior and abilities).