Examining the Relations of the Home Literacy Environments of Families of Low SES with Children’s Early Literacy Skills

This study examined variability of the home literacy environment (HLE) using multiple measures among families of low SES. The relations of the measures to each other and to children’s early oral language skills and print knowledge were reported. Considerable variability of the self-reported HLE items and the Children’s Title Checklist (CTC) but low correlations were found among items. Children’s expressive language skills were predicted by the CTC. The number of storybooks in the home predicted variance within children’s receptive vocabulary. Concepts about Print (CAP) scores were predicted by the primary caregivers’ frequency of shared reading and the age when parents began reading to children. Children’s letter name scores were not associated with any of the HLE measures in this study. The research provides additional information about the HLE within the homes of low SES using multiple measures and how they relate differentially to children’s early language and literacy skills.     

The Effects of Verbal Mediation Training on the Problem‐Solving Skills of Children with Partial Sight and Children without Visual Impairments

Thirty children with partial sight and 30 children with unimpaired sight aged between 8 and 12 years were randomly assigned to either verbal mediation or visual mediation training regimes. Participants were asked to complete four variations of the Tower of Hanoi puzzle and success on the task was judged on the basis of the number of moves and time taken to complete the puzzles. Children with visual impairments had some difficulty in adjusting to the requirements of the problem‐solving tasks. However, on the final and most difficult of the tasks (a four‐disc problem), the children with impaired sight performed very much like participants without visual impairments. The effect of verbal mediation training was superior to that of visual mediation training in the final trials of the four‐disc problem‐solving period for both children with partial sight and children without visual impairments.     

The Effects of an Age‐appropriate Intervention on Young Children's Understanding of Inheritance

ABSTRACT The present study explored 4(N = 22) and 7‐year‐olds’ (N = 24) under‐Standing of biological inheritance in cows and horses. An intervention technique adapted from Springer (1995) in which children are taught the basic facts of intrauterine development and birth, in story form, was used in an attempt to improve children's conceptual understanding of inheritance. All children were pre‐tested about inheritance and subsequently half were trained using the intervention (the others were controls). All children were post‐tested within a week of pre‐test, and about 4 weeks later completed delayed post‐tests. Results showed that at pre‐test there were significant age differences in both judgements and explanations of inheritance with 7‐year‐olds exhibiting more sophisticated biological reasoning. Surprisingly, there were no significant improvements for either age in judgements or explanations of inheritance as a function of the intervention at post‐test or delayed post‐test. The findings are discussed with reference to theoretical issues surrounding children's theory of inheritance and the implications for training studies.     

The Effects of a Comprehensive Early Literacy Project on Preschoolers’ Language and Literacy Skills

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of a federally funded early literacy project that aimed to promote the school readiness skills of preschool-age children from low income families. Through daily, explicit, and systematic instruction, the project targeted to improve preschoolers’ oral language skills, phonological awareness, print awareness, and alphabet knowledge that aligned with the existing curriculum of the local school district. Data were collected through multiple sources at the individual child level, classroom level, and from the family/home environment. Significant gains were found between pre- and post-tests in child outcomes, classroom environments, instructional practices, parent attitudes toward early literacy, and family involvement in literacy activities. Additionally, classroom organization was identified as a significant predictor for children’s receptive language skills. Limitations of the current study and implications for future research as well as instructional practices were discussed.     

Children’s Expressive Language Skills and Their Impact on the Relation Between First- and Second-Language Phonological Awareness Skills

The purpose of this study was to evaluate whether the cross-language relations between the phonological awareness (PA) skills of preschool children learning more than one language are dependent upon their first- and second-language oral language skills. Four hundred sixty-six Spanish-speaking language minority children participated in this study. Results indicated that the relation between children’s first- and second-language PA skills varied as a function of their first- and second-language oral language skills. This effect was language specific such that only oral language skills in the same language as the PA outcome moderated the relations between children’s first- and second-language PA skills. This study helps extend findings from prior research on the cross-language transfer of PA.     

The Enduring Effects of Early-Learned Ideas and Local Folklore on Children’s Astronomy Knowledge

Research in Science Education - The research described here examined the sources of knowledge of astronomy of children (age 3–18) in China and New Zealand, together with the development of...     

Effects of 8 Weeks with Embodied Learning on 5–6-Year-Old Danish Children’s Pre-reading Skills and Word Reading Skills: the PLAYMORE Project,DK

Educational Psychology Review - The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of embodied learning on children’s pre-reading and word reading skills. We conducted a three-armed...     

Effects of a Value-Reappraisal Intervention on Statistics Students’ Motivation and Performance

The authors investigated the effects of an exploratory value-reappraisal intervention on students’ motivation and performance in an undergraduate introductory statistics course. They sampled 82 students from 2 instructors’ sections during both the fall and spring semesters. Students were randomly assigned within each section to either the Value-Reappraisal (VR) or Control condition (C). VR presented messages about the importance of statistics and guided students in exploring potential values of learning statistics. Results showed positive effects of VR on task value, endogenous instrumentality, and a choice-behavior measure of interest. The authors found VR to affect exam performance, but only for students who had a particular instructor. This research helps broaden literature on self-regulation and expectancy-value models of motivation by focusing on the regulation of value perceptions.     

Effects of the Problem-Posing Approach on Students’ Problem Solving Skills and Metacognitive Awareness in Science Education

Research in Science Education - The interrelationship between mathematics and science education has frequently been emphasized, and common goals and approaches have often been adopted between...     

Effect of an Intervention Program on “Hign Risk” Spanish American Children1, 2

Abstract

Mental ability, language development (English), language development (Spanish) and self-image changes were studied as effects of an early intervention program for preschool children. Ss were fifty 3-, 4-, and 5-year old children from disadvantaged backgrounds and from bilingual cultures. Sa also exhibited a number of additional handicapping factors. Differences between groups (N = 30 for experimental and N = 20 for control) were analyzed with analysis of covariance utilizing pretest scores as covariates. Results indicated that intervention Ss made significantly greater gains in mental ability, language (English), and made greater gains in language (Spanish). Also, intervention subjects demonstrated a positive growth in self-image.     

Effects of vanadate on the activities of mice glucokinase and hexokinase

This study aimed at acquiring knowledge on the hypoglycemic mechanisms of sodium metavanadate (SMV) showed that the liver glucokinase and muscle hexokinase activities increased rapidly after oral SMV was given, and that the blood glucose level was correlated closely with the activities of the two enzymes but not with the insulin level; which indicated that SMV could improve the altered glucose phosphorylation in diabetic mice independently of stimulating insulin secretion. This was probably one of the mechanisms of hypoglycemic effects of SMV.     

The Effect of Listening to Excerpts from Children’s Stories about Mexican-Americans on the Attitudes of Sixth Graders

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of listening to excerpts from children's stories about Mexican-Americans upon 1) attitudes toward Mexican-Americans, 2) self-concepts, and 3) reading interests. The sample consisted of 220 sixth graders who were classified by sex and ethnicity and randomly divided into experimental and control groups. Once weekly for six weeks, children heard story excerpts and responded to the Interest Questionnaire. After six weeks, children were given an ethnic attitude measure and a selfesteem inventory. ANOVA results revealed that treatment promoted positive ethnic attitudes inconsistently and had no significant effect upon self-concept or interest scores.     

Analysis on “The Nightingale and The Rose” from the View of Beauty in Color

Oscar Wilde is one of the most famous writers in the period of the Victoria Age. As his classical work, "The Nightingale and The Rose" has been worshiped for its profound theme and the brilliant exertion of color. Now, the tale will be analyzed from the view of beauty in Color, expecting sharing my reviews with all of you.     

Effects of social persuasion from parents and teachers on Chinese students’ self-efficacy: an exploratory study

This study compared the effects of social persuasion from parents and teachers on students’ self-efficacy in reading comprehension in English as a foreign language. Ninety-nine Grade 8 Chinese students in a secondary school in Hong Kong completed a questionnaire with six scenarios which tapped their self-efficacy after receiving positive and negative feedback that were described as coming from their teacher, mother and father. Students decreased their self-efficacy after receiving negative feedback and the source of feedback did not make a statistically significant difference. Conversely, positive feedback led to an increase in self-efficacy with the mother’s positive feedback leading to a higher increase in self-efficacy than feedback from the teacher and the father. No statistically significant difference was noted in the change in self-efficacy after receiving feedback from the father and the teacher. Parents and teachers should increase the use of positive feedback and decrease that of negative feedback. Implications for collaboration between teachers and parents in providing positive feedback on students’ academic performance were discussed.     

Parent Engagement and School Readiness: Effects of the Getting Ready Intervention on Preschool Children's Social–Emotional Competencies

Research Findings: Parental engagement with children has been linked to a number of adaptive characteristics in preschool children, and relationships between families and professionals are an important contributor to school readiness. Furthermore, social–emotional competence is a key component of young children's school readiness. This study reports the results of a randomized trial of a parent engagement intervention (Getting Ready) designed to facilitate school readiness among disadvantaged preschool children, with a particular focus on social–emotional outcomes. Two hundred and twenty children were involved over the 4-year study period. Statistically significant differences were observed between treatment and control participants in the rate of change over a 2-year period on teacher reports for certain interpersonal competencies (i.e., attachment, initiative, and anxiety/withdrawal). In contrast, no statistically significant differences between groups over a 2-year period were noted for behavioral concerns (anger/aggression, self-control, or behavioral problems) as a function of the Getting Ready intervention. Practice or Policy: The intervention appears to be particularly effective at building social–emotional competencies beyond the effects experienced as a function of participation in Head Start programming alone. Limitations and implications for future research are reviewed.     

Effects of pH and Eh on release of nitrogen and phosphorus from sediments of West Lake

INTRODUCTIONAsasinkandaninnersourceofnutrients,sedimentsplayanimportantroleinlakeeutroph ication.TheeutrophicationstatusofWestLakeisstillcriticalinrecentyearsevenaftermostpollutionsourcesaroundWestLakehavebeencontrolled(Peietal.,1998) ,mainlythroughtherel…     

The Effects of the “Flight Technique” of Teaching on Creativity Scores

The effects of human relations seminars on dogmatism scores of educational administration students were investigated. Two groups of graduate students coming largely from the Middle and Far East were used in this study. The experimental group was given a series of human relations workshops over a period of four weeks. The results provided evidence that human relations training can reduce dogmatism as measured by the Rokeach Dogmatism Scale. Also, the seminars provided an opportunity not usually found in the traditional academic program for graduate students to interact with their peers and the faculty.     

Effects of Hg and Cu on the activities of soil acid phosphatase

Comparative study on the activity and kinectic properties of acid phosphatase (ACPase) of three soils amended with Hg and Cu at constant temperature and humidity was carried out. The results indicated that the inhibition on ACPase of the three sample soils by Hg and Cu varied with the content of soil organic matter and pH, where, Soil 1 was the most seriously contami- nated due to its lowest content of organic matter and the lowest pH among three samples, Soil 2 took the second place, and Soil 3 was the least contaminated. Except Soil 3, the activity of soil ACPase tended to increase along with the contact time under the same type and the same concentration of heavy metal. In particular the Vmax values of ACPase in all three samples decreased with increasing Hg and Cu concentration, whereas the Km values were affected weakly. According to the change of Vmax and Km values, Cu and Hg had the same inhibition effect on soil ACPase. Both of them may be a type of compound of non-competitive and anti-competitive inhibition. Statistic analyses indicated that activities of soil ACPase and Vmax values could serve as bioindicator to partially denote the heavy metal Hg and Cu contamination degree.