An Emotion-Based Prevention Program for Head Start Children

Empirical research shows that poor emotional competence is an early risk factor for the development of psychopathology. Numerous school-based prevention programs have been developed with the goal of decreasing behavior problems. Several of these programs include a discrete emotions component, but none of them are solely or primarily guided by emotion theory for their design and implementation. The prevention program described in this paper, the emotions course (EC), is a theoretically-coherent program based on differential emotions theory and is designed to be implemented by teachers in Head Start classrooms. Children participating in a pilot implementation of EC showed larger increases in emotion knowledge and less growth in negative emotion expression than their peers in control classrooms. These findings provide initial support for EC. Future implementations of the program need increased monitoring of implementation fidelity as well as additional methods to assess the success of the program.     

Curriculum and Course Syllabi for a High-School CS Program

The authors served on a committee that designed a high-school curriculum in computer science and has been supervising the preparation of a comprehensive study program based on it. The new program is intended for the Israeli high-school system, has been formally approved by the Ministry of Education, and is expected to fully replace the old one in the near future. The program emphasizes the foundations of algorithmics, and teaches programming as a way to get the computer to carry out an algorithm. The purpose of this paper is to describe the program's curriculum and syllabi in detail.     

Leveraging the power of peer-led learning: investigating effects on STEM performance in urban high schools

The Peer Enabled Restructured Classroom (PERC) is an instructional innovation developed to address gaps in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) in urban high schools. The PERC model changes instruction from teacher led to peer led by bringing peer students into the classroom to lead small-group work. Our study sought to provide empirical evidence in support of the peer-led model as a means of improving STEM learning for tutored students in urban schools. We used propensity score matching to evaluate the innovation's impact on students’ achievement on standardized end-of-course tests in two 9th-grade courses – Integrated Algebra and Biology. Results suggest that by the 2nd year of implementation, enrolment in PERC Biology increased the likelihood of passing. Similar effects were not observed for PERC Integrated Algebra, but when comparing cohorts, we found that the 2nd year was twice as likely to pass as the 1st year. We discuss implications for programme improvement.     

文字快速摄录的程序设计

介绍一种新的最适宜批量作业的文字快速摄录方法,即用受控于计算机的数码相机拍摄纸页,然后对传到计算机内的数码照片进行光学字符识别(OCR),最后校对并编辑保存识别出的文字。文章描述了该方法的程序设计及其部分实现,着重介绍了使用ActiveX技术将OCR功能封装成组件,实现OCR操作在后台自动进行的面向组件编程。     

The peer mentor experience in a physical activity intervention for mental health

Despite the effectiveness of peer-led health programs, few studies have been focused on the experiences of the peer mentors involved in such programs. The purpose of the current study was to explore the experiences of peer mentors involved in a peer-led physical activity program for students with mental health concerns, namely anxiety and depression. Participants were eight former peer mentors from a mid-size university who completed interviews regarding their motivation for serving as a peer mentor and the ways in which the program influenced them both during and after the program ended. Findings from an integrative analysis demonstrated that the mentors grew personally, professionally, and interpersonally from their participation. Further, mentors’ experiences could be explained by the self-determination theory.     

Retooling the Health Care Workforce in the Era of the Affordable Care Act: An Evaluation of an Advanced Certificate Program in Integrated Primary and Behavioral Health Care

The Affordable Care Act aims to increase affordable coverage, reduce overall costs, and improve health outcomes. To achieve these aims, new knowledge and skills must be built within the existing workforce. The purpose of this article is to examine the behavioral and organizational changes brought about by an educational program that aimed to retool the healthcare workforce for the implementation of integrated primary and behavioral healthcare models, with an added emphasis on prevention. Sixty-three participants of an Advanced Certificate Program completed 1 or more evidence-informed learning modules centered on integrated primary and behavioral health care. The vast majority of students who completed each of the 5 modules of the program reported acquiring new knowledge and skills. Student satisfaction of the program met or exceeded overall expectations. In addition, program participation has resulted in not only students’ intentions to change workplace practices but also actual implementation of workplace changes related to integrated care models. The Advanced Certificate Program appears to be a promising platform for service providers to align their knowledge and skills with the premises of current healthcare reform.     

Effects of a Cooperative Learning Program on the Elaborations of Students Working in Dyads

In this study, the effects of a school improvement program on cooperative learning (CL) with respect to the elaborations of 6th-grade students working in mixed-ability and mixed-sex dyads on 2 cooperative tasks were examined. A posttest-only design with a control group was used to investigate the provision and receipt of elaborations within the dyads and the performance of the dyads working on cooperative mathematics and language tasks. Treatment dyads were found to exchange significantly more high-level elaborations during the language task than the control dyads. The treatment dyads also tended to produce higher performance scores on the 2 tasks.     

The School for Science and Math at Vanderbilt: An Innovative Research-Based Program for High School Students

The School for Science and Math at Vanderbilt (SSMV) is an innovative partnership program between a Research I private university and a large urban public school system. The SSMV was started in 2007 and currently has 101 students enrolled in the program, with a total of 60 students who have completed the 4-yr sequential program. Students attend the SSMV for one full day per week during the school year and 3–6 wk in the summers following their ninth- to 11th-grade years, with each grade of 26 students coming to the Vanderbilt campus on a separate day. The research-based curriculum focuses on guiding students through the process of learning to develop questions and hypotheses, designing projects and performing analyses, and communicating results of these projects. The SSMV program has elevated the learning outcomes of students as evidenced by increased achievement scores relative to a comparison group of students; has provided a rigorous research-based science, technology, engineering, and mathematics elective curriculum that culminates in a Summer research internship; has produced 27 Intel and Siemens semifinalists and regional finalists over the past 4 yr; and has supported the development of writing and communication skills resulting in regional and national oral presentations and publications in scientific journals.     

Achievement After Participation in a Preparatory Program for Verbally Talented Students

Good verbal skills are crucial for success in school and in many career fields. Project LIVE was a program of enrichment and acceleration focused on the development of verbal talent. It was implemented for 3 years with a group of middle-school students who indicated an above-grade-level reading proficiency and came from families having low-to-moderate income levels. Forty-five students participated in the program and received numerous educational services to improve their reading and writing skills. The students showed significant progress on English and/or reading subtests of the EXPLORE, the Illinois Standards Achievement Test (ISAT), and the Measures of Academic Progress (MAP) tests. Higher parental expectations for children's academic achievement were another positive outcome of the program. More than two thirds of the students were placed in Honors English in their freshman year in high school, which was considerably higher than the percentage (47%) of high-school freshmen in Honors English in the school district where the majority of the students were from moderate- to high-income families.     

Evaluating the suitability of mathematical thinking problems for senior high-school students by including mathematical sense making and global planning

The mathematics curriculum often provides for relatively few mathematical thinking problems or non-routine problems that focus on a deepening of understanding mathematical concepts and the problem-solving process. To develop such problems, methods are required to evaluate their suitability. The purpose of this preliminary study was to find such an evaluation method by including mathematical sense making and global planning. Eighteen 11th-grade high-school students, divided into three groups of three pairs, solved six mathematical thinking problems that included the finding of a numeric solution and the writing of mathematical texts and arguments. Content analysis of the students’ solution procedures provided for three kinds of hierarchically ordered mathematical sense-making categories. The results showed the expected statistically significant difference between the kinds of problems, though only mathematical sense making enabled the exclusion of the routine problem. The implications for practice are discussed.     

A Dynamic Food Science Internship Program: Integration of Problem-Based Learning and Student-Centered Mentoring

ABSTRACT: An internship program based upon problem-based learning (PBL) and student-centered mentoring is developed. Food science majors are introduced to the program in their sophomore/junior year and follow a process that involves learning-style assessments, career counseling, and direct contact with industrial mentors to develop a resume. The problems are designed in collaboration with a faculty advisor so the students can apply their knowledge to industrial situations. Assessment of performance is conducted by having students submit weekly journal entries and a final report and participate in a closing interview. The journals and reports are graded on 6 aspects of a pedagogical reasoning model: Comprehension, transformation, implementation, evaluation, reflection, and new comprehension. This trains students to use a range of knowledge within a restrained environment, as well as assisting students to refine the critical food science and interpersonal skills needed for successful careers after graduation.     

Evaluation of a Decision Training Program for Vocational Guidance

A training program was developed of the basis of psychological decision theories in order to support student career choices. The goal of the training program was to equip the trainees with techniques and knowledge that allow the decision process to be optimised. The training program took five to six hours, was realized with groups of 10–12 participants and consisted of several modules. Each module considered a specific stage of the decision process. The training program has been realised with a sample of 64 high-school attendants in the 10th grade in Switzerland. The acceptance of the training was evaluated with half-standardised questionnaires. The effects were evaluated with an experimental design. Results showed that the training was very highly accepted by the participants and judged as helpful in making career decisions. The most significant effect measured was the clarification of the participants’ personal goals. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Implementing Second Step: Balancing Fidelity and Program Adaptation

We explored Norwegian primary school teachers' fidelity in their use of Second Step, a social competence intervention program. The investigation examined teachers' (N = 17) use of the program and their perceptions of fidelity of implementation through semistructured interviews. The findings suggest that, to a large extent, teachers adapt the program to their own needs. The rationale for adapting the program is relatedto the needs of pupils, the features of the program, and teachers' individual beliefs and experiences. The extent of implementation at school level appears to influence teachers' fidelity, as teachers who reported implementing the program with greater fidelity were mostly in schools with a formalized approach.     

A Conceptual Model for the Expansion of Behavioral Consultation Training

In this article, a general model and specific program that expand traditional behavioral consultation training are presented. The training program involves five interrelated components: (a) procedural and content skills, (b) role and relationship considerations, (c) entry/systems issues, (d) field-based experience, and (e) peer supervision. As a system, each component is necessary but not sufficient in the development of consulting expertise. Likewise, each component is subsumed by one or more components that encompass this broader framework. A theoretical rationale, model for implementation, and future training and research directions are also presented.     

Cultural Preservation Program for Alaska

In this technical report, an innovative cultural preservation program for implementation in Athabascan villages is presented. The parameters for success in implementing such a project is discussed based on a workshop with Athabascan elders.     

Counselor Education Program Development: A Communication-Information Model

The common core concept was presented as the vehicle for developing a more adaptive educational program for the counseling profession. The communication model developed was based on the assumption of common elements of role behavior for counselors across agency settings. The model also depends upon the explication of communication and information needs necessary for adequate functioning of the counselor across as well as within settings as the basis for curriculum content. An organizational structure for implementing the communication model was explicated in a training program setting to facilitate the implementation of the model.     

Effects of a Learning Information System on Mathematics Achievement and Classroom Structure

Abstract

The authors examined the effects of implementing an instructional system that automates application of evidence-based components of effective instruction on student mathematics achievement and on classroom behaviors known to be related to overall student achievement outcomes. A treatment group of 157 4th- and 5th-grade students used the intervention in conjunction with the Everyday Math curriculum. Student performance was compared with a within-school control group of 61 4th- und 5th-grade students, as well as all 4th- and 5th-grade students in the district (N = 6,385). The students in the control groups received only the Everyday Math curriculum. Results indicate that the implementation of the instructional management system as an enhancement to Everyday Math resulted in an increase in the amount of time spent on classroom activities that researchers have identified as contributing to positive academic outcomes. Furthermore, students who used the Accelerated Math program demonstrated greater mathematics achievement gains than did the control groups.     

An EFL Teacher Education Program Proposal

A 3-month teacher education program is proposed to enable teachers to teach more effectively and develop constantly by familiarizing them with social demand,informing them of modern language learning and teaching theories and training their ability in pedagogical reasoning and decision making.The knowledge base,rationale and overall implementation of the whole program are elaborated respectively.     

Nanotechnology applications as a context for teaching the essential concepts of NST

The goals of this study are to map applications of nanotechnology that are recommended to be taught in high-school science and to identify the ‘need-to-know’ essential nanoscale science and technology (NST) concepts for each of the selected nanotechnology applications. A Delphi study using a community of experts was used to address these goals. Five nanotechnology applications that should be taught in high-school science were found to be important and reached a consensus by the Delphi-study experts: (1) nanomedicine, (2) nanoelectronics, (3) photovoltaic cells, (4) nanobots, and (5) self-cleaning. It was found that teaching these five nanotechnology applications should be based on all seven NST concepts, and therefore, these applications can be used as an appealing context for teaching the essential NST concepts. The different recommendations between the two communities of experts emphasize the importance of involving teachers and scientists in the process of designing a scientific curriculum. Identifying the applications of nanotechnology that should be taught in high-school science and identifying the connections between the applications and the essential NST concepts constitute an important step that supports designing a context-based nanotechnology program before it is integrated into a high-school science curriculum.