Behaviour problems and their relationship to reading difficulty

An investigation into the relationship between reading difficulty and maladjustment indicated that a significantly greater number of backward readers than normal readers were antisocial. The higher incidence of maladjustment was found in those backward readers with perceptual motor problems. The backward readers were also significantly more restless and uncontrolled in their behaviour. The relationship of restless hyperactive behaviour with perceptual motor difficulties is associated with an inability by the backward reader to ignore distracting stimuli and focus upon relevant perceptual information. As the restless hyperactive behaviour was present from an early age but the antisocial behaviour did not develop until he or she was experiencing difficulty with reading, it is probable that the backward reader's poor concentration and impulsive behaviour contribute both to the reading difficulty and to the development of antisocial tendencies.     

Parenting and child behavioral adjustment in early childhood: a quantitative genetic approach to studying family processes

The aim of this study was to examine environmental and gene-environment processes linking parenting (i.e., affect, control, responsiveness) and preschool children's behavioral adjustment difficulties (e.g., noncompliance, conduct problems) by using bivariate genetic analyses of parents' and observers' ratings. The sample included 120 identical and same-sex fraternal twin pairs (M age = 43 months). Data sources included in-home observations, interviews, and parents' reports. Observers' ratings of children's difficult behaviors included shared and nonshared environmental variance. In contrast, parents' ratings of children's conduct problems showed genetic and nonshared environmental variance. Observer-rated maternal behavior included shared and nonshared environmental variance, although maternal responsiveness also included child genetic variance. Parent self-reported negative and positive affect included shared and nonshared environment as well as child genetic variance. There was no evidence for gene-environment interaction or dominance. Higher levels of difficult behavior and conduct problems covaried with higher levels of maternal negative affect and control and lower levels of maternal positive affect and control. Shared environmental mediation of these correlations was found for observations, whereas genetic and nonshared environmental mediation was found for parents' ratings. In general, estimates of shared environmental variance and mediation were greatest for observational data, and estimates of child genetic variance and mediation were greatest for parent-rated data. The implications of this pattern of findings for genetic research on family processes are discussed.     

The joint contribution of early parental warmth, communication and tracking, and early child conduct problems on monitoring in late childhood

The relationship of parental warmth, communication, and tracking (WCT), and child conduct problems in early elementary school (age 5.5 years) to monitoring in late elementary school (age 9.5 years) was longitudinally examined in a sample of 267 boys and girls. WCT in kindergarten was associated with lower kindergarten levels and less growth of conduct problems into the first grade, and was prospectively associated with effective monitoring in the third and fourth grades. Overt and covert conduct problems in kindergarten and growth in covert problems during kindergarten and first grade were associated with less effective later monitoring. Early conduct problems mediated the prospective association of WCT on later monitoring. The results are described in a transactional model of parent-child relationships and child problem behavior.     

The early prevention of mathematics difficulty: its power and limitations

In this article, the authors consider the power and limitations of responsiveness-to-intervention (RTI) for reducing the need for ongoing and intensive services for the segment of the school population traditionally identified as having a learning disability in mathematics. To assess the robustness of RTI, the authors describe four studies with strong demonstrations of efficacy, as they considered the percentage of students who failed to respond, the post-tutoring achievement gap between tutored and not-at-risk students, and the extent of transfer across components of the mathematics curriculum. The authors then discuss implications and additional research questions pertaining to mathematics intervention generally and within the context of RTI. They conclude with a proposal for an expanded conceptualization of RTI.     

Peer deviancy training and peer coercion: dual processes associated with early-onset conduct problems

The prospective relationships of conduct problems and peer coercion and deviancy training during kindergarten (mean age = 5.3 years) to overt and covert conduct problems in third-fourth grade were examined in a sample of 267 boys and girls. Coercion and deviancy training were distinct peer processes. Both were associated with earlier child conduct problems but were differentially associated with child impulsivity, verbal ability, anxiety, peer rejection, and deviant peer affiliation. Coercion by peers predicted overt conduct problems and peer deviancy training and the interaction of deviancy training and coercion predicted covert conduct problems in third-fourth grade. Peer deviancy training occurs in early childhood and may serve as an independent risk mechanism in addition to peer coercion for early-onset, persisting conduct problems.     

Difference,diversity and difficulty: problems in adult peace education in Northern Ireland

The peace process in Northern Ireland has been hailed, variously, as the successful resolution to one of the world's most intractable conflicts, and as a failed attempt to reconcile the conflicting claims of the two main ethnonationalist communities. At both these points, and at every other point along the continuum, recognition is given to the centrality of education. This article looks at the role played by adult learning, and contrasts two fundamentally different approaches. In one, enlightenment assumptions about the power of knowledge to dispel prejudice have run alongside attempts to create a world of shared values; in the other, a postmodern acceptance of different cultures has accompanied a peace process that builds upon ethnic distinctions. As with the Dayton Accord and with other peace agreements brokered with international assistance, the consociational model of governance has been chosen for Northern Ireland in order to create a political equilibrium between the unionists and nationalists. Such a political framework reverses the direction of previous integrationist educational policies in favour of a celebration of difference, an approach that is fraught with difficulties.     

Home activities and cognitive skills in relation to early literacy and numeracy: testing a multifactorial model in preschoolers

The aim of the present study was to test environmental and cognitive variables as possible cross-domain predictors of early literacy and numeracy skills. One hundred forty-eight preschool children (mean age = 64.36 months ± 3.33) were enrolled in the study. The battery included a home literacy and home numeracy questionnaire, measures and phonological and visuo-spatial working memory, tasks tapping response inhibition, and predictors of literacy (vocabulary, phonological awareness, letter knowledge) and numeracy (magnitude comparison, number knowledge) skills. The structural equation model indicated that verbal working memory and, to a lesser extent, inhibition represented cross-domain predictors, whereas home numeracy activities and visuo-spatial working memory explained additional variance only for early numeracy skills. Implications for parents and educators are discussed.

     

Links between preschool children's prosocial skills and aggressive conduct problems: The contribution of ADHD symptoms

The aim was to examine the relationship between prosocial behavior and conduct problems, especially aggression, in early childhood. In Phase 1 of the study, teachers reported on 93 3–5-year-old children's prosocial behavior and psychological problems, using a screening instrument, the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ). In Phase 2, 65 parents completed the SDQ and were interviewed in depth, using a clinical interview, the Preschool Age Psychiatric Assessment (PAPA). Children with clinically significant symptoms of conduct disorder and ADHD were significantly less prosocial than other children. However, aggressive conduct symptoms were unrelated to prosocial behavior, once symptoms of ADHD were taken into account. The findings suggest that problems in regulating activity and attention interfere with prosocial development.     

Empowering early years workers to identify and target areas of difficulty in pre‐school children

This paper reports on a project aimed at providing skills and resources to support nursery staff in identifying areas of strength and need in 3‐ to 5‐year‐old children. The six participating nurseries were all in areas of high socio‐economic disadvantage. Staff were trained to administer, score and interpret a wide‐ranging screening inventory. Following the assessment of children at nursery entry, staff were given support in developing appropriate programmes of activities to address the weaknesses and build on the strengths identified for individual children. All the children were reassessed following a period of six months. Although time was a major issue, staff were generally positive about the screening process and recognised the worth of early identification and intervention. While 46% of 173 children screened at the start of the project had significant difficulties in some area of development, only 6.9% remained at risk on the screening measure following tailored input. Systematic screening was identified as important for alerting staff to difficulties that might otherwise go unnoticed.     

Prior experience shapes metacognitive judgments at the category level: the role of testing and category difficulty

Most metacognition research has focused on aggregate judgments of overall performance or item-level judgments about performance on particular questions. However, metacognitive judgments at the category level, which have not been as extensively explored, also play a role in students’ study strategies, for example, when students determine what topics to study for an exam. We investigated whether category learning judgments (CLJs) were sensitive to differences in the difficulty of general knowledge categories. After either studying or being tested on facts from several categories (e.g., Shakespeare, Astronomy), participants estimated the likelihood that they could correctly answer new questions from those categories on a later test (i.e., they made CLJs). Results of two studies showed that CLJs were sensitive to differences in category difficulty. Further, participants gave lower or more conservative CLJs when they took an initial test as compared to studying questions from the categories. Results are discussed in terms of the value and relevance of CLJs both in educational settings and in theories of metacognition.     

Participant characteristics and process variables predict attrition from a home-based early intervention program

Although advocates of home visits claim that they improve access to preventive interventions for socially disadvantaged families, home visiting programs often report high dropout rates. This study investigated factors predicting attrition in a sample of 434 low-income, first-time mothers in a German program modeled on the Nurse–Family Partnership program. Both participant characteristics and process variables associated with attrition were examined. The results indicated that 38.5% of the mothers left the program before completing 75% of the enrollment time; 62% of those left for addressable reasons (e.g., losing interest in program participation). Arguably, these participants might be retained through program modifications. Almost half of the dropouts left the program before completing 25% of the enrollment time. Program dropouts were younger and did not experience pregnancy-related risks. With regard to process variables, a high frequency of unsuccessful visit attempts and low maternal engagement during the home visits increased the risk for attrition. Self-referral, a high percentage of time spent on parenting issues as well as a high percentage of grandmother participation during visits contributed to participant retention. Among mothers with a high number of risk factors for child abuse and neglect, partner (husband or boyfriend) participation during visits positively influenced the retention rate. Since process variables explained a larger amount of variance in attrition compared to participant characteristics, it is reasonable to focus on the intervention processes when trying to reduce attrition.     

Solving arithmetic word problems: an analysis of classification as a function of difficulty in children with and without arithmetic LD

This study was designed to determine a word problem difficulty classification in children with arithmetic learning disabilities (ALD; n = 104) in comparison with typically achieving students (n = 44). We tested variables such as (a) semantic structure (Change, Combine, Compare, and Equalize), (b) operation (subtraction and addition), and (c) position of the unknown quantity in the problem. Facet theory with multidimensional scaling techniques (MINISSA) was used to analyze the underlying dimensions in the responses of each group of participants. Our results indicate that although the word problem difficulty classifications for the 2 groups of children were different, the position of the unknown quantity had a greater influence on the level of difficulty of story problems than other variables. The noncanonical problems--specifically, those with the unknown term in the first place--although difficult for both groups of children, were the most difficult problems for children with ALD.     

Impact of Parenting Practices on Adolescent Achievement: Authoritative Parenting, School Involvement, and Encouragement to Succeed

This article examines the impact of authoritative parenting, parental involvement in schooling, and parental encouragement to succeed on adolescent school achievement in an ethnically and socio-economically heterogeneous sample of approximately 6,400 American 14-18-year-olds. Adolescents reported in 1987 on their parents' general child-rearing practices and on their parents' achievement-specific socialization behaviors. In 1987, and again in 1988, data were collected on several aspects of the adolescents' school performance and school engagement. Authoritative parenting (high acceptance, supervision, and psychological autonomy granting) leads to better adolescent school performance and stronger school engagement. The positive impact of authoritative parenting on adolescent achievement, however, is mediated by the positive effect of authoritativeness on parental involvement in schooling. In addition, nonauthoritativeness attenuates the beneficial impact of parental involvement in schooling on adolescents achievement. Parental involvement is much more likely to promote adolescent school success when it occurs in the context of an authoritative home environment.     

Vulnerability to Bullying: Teacher-reported conduct and emotional problems,hyperactivity, peer relationship difficulties,and prosocial behaviour in primary school children

Twenty five class teachers completed a "Strengths and Difficulties" assessment for 523 children aged from 7 to 11 years of age. Children self-completed a 39-item "My Life in School" questionnaire. One third of the sample were self-reported victims of bullying behaviour. Boys with poor prosocial skills, emotional problems and general difficulties with social interaction, expression of emotion and hyperactivity were at greatest risk of being bullied. There was no significant effect of age. The data support previous research findings that gender influences the prevalence of bullying but not that younger children are more vulnerable. This study provides new evidence that teachers recognise social behaviour and interactions that can significantly affect whether primary school children are bullied.     

Association between parental involvement in school and child conduct,social, and internalizing problems: teacher report

The present study examined the factor structure of the Teacher Involvement Questionnaire (Involve-T) by means of exploratory factor analysis and examined the association between children's socio-emotional and behavioural problems and teacher-reported parental involvement in school, using structural equation modelling. The study was conducted with a Norwegian sample of school children in Grades 1–3. Results of the factor analysis supported the use of 3 separate scales, as suggested by the scale author (Webster-Stratton, 1998); however, a number of items in each scale were reduced. Furthermore, the results showed among other findings that teachers reported more frequent contact with parents of children with conduct problems than with those of children who did not display conduct problems, and that parents of children with high levels of socio-emotional competence were more involved in their children's education than other parents. The results need to be replicated in future research in a more representative study population.     

Using phenomenology to conduct environmental education research: Experience and issues

Recently the environmental movement has seen much success and progress under a newly-framed green paradigm. Yet, despite the proliferation of national attention to, and public interest in, the go-green mentality, environmental education still seems to be stuck within the old environmental paradigm. This critical essay shares lessons that environmental education can learn through incorporating a human benefits approach. Ultimately, this essay calls for a reflection on environmental education's presence within the budding sustainability movement and calls for the “humanization” of environmental education discourse and pedagogical practice.