A Longitudinal Analysis of Well‐Being of Ghanaian Children in Transnational Families

This study is the first to employ panel data to examine well‐being outcomes—self‐rated health, happiness, life satisfaction, and school enjoyment—of children in transnational families in an African context. It analyzes data collected in 2013, 2014, and 2015 from secondary schoolchildren and youth (ages 12–21) in Ghana (N = 741). Results indicate that children with fathers, mothers, or both parents away and those cared for by a parent, a family, or a nonfamily member are equally or more likely to have higher levels of well‐being as children in nonmigrant families. Yet, there are certain risk factors—being a female, living in a family affected by divorce or by a change in caregiver while parents migrate—that may decrease child well‐being.     

Daily report cards as a school‐based intervention for children with attention‐deficit/hyperactivity disorder

This paper describes daily report cards and the evidence relating to their use in schools for children with attention‐deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). This intervention typically involves teachers evaluating a student's behaviour at school against pre‐determined targets and parents subsequently providing reinforcement at home for positive reports. Research suggests that the daily report card has been effective in treating a range of ADHD symptoms and improving school outcomes, including academic achievement in some cases. The daily report card also encourages collaboration between teachers and parents, and evidence suggests that the intervention benefits from the inclusion of reinforcement at home. Daily report cards are easy to implement and research finds that teachers consider them an acceptable intervention for ADHD. This paper also considers challenges in using daily report cards, including barriers to their use over the long‐term and the risk of stigma for children with a report card. Ideas to address these issues are suggested.     

Group coping skills program for parents of children with dyslexia and other learning disabilities

Abstract

Fifty seven mothers of children aged 6 to 12 with dyslexia or other learning disabilities were randomly allocated to a group coping skills program (n = 32) or a wait‐list control group (n = 25). Parents completed pre‐ and post‐intervention measures of parenting competence, stress, coping skills, and child behaviour/emotional problems. Prior to the program mothers reported high stress levels associated with child and school factors. After the program significant reductions were found for stress, isolation, self‐blame, and greater emotional closeness (attachment) to the child was reported. Significant reductions in child behaviour problems (externalizing behaviours) and moodiness were also found. Child internalizing behaviours remained high with nearly half the parents reporting child emotional problems (withdrawn, somatic complaints, anxiety/depression). Future interventions with families and schools are recommended to prevent children with learning disabilities and their parents experiencing high levels of emotional distress.     

Families’ social backgrounds matter: Socio‐economic factors,home learning and young children's language,literacy and social outcomes

Parental support with children's learning is considered to be one pathway through which socio‐economic factors influence child competencies. Utilising a national longitudinal sample from the Millennium Cohort Study, this study examined the relationship between home learning and parents’ socio‐economic status and their impact on young children's language/literacy and socio‐emotional competence. The findings consistently showed that, irrespective of socio‐economic status, parents engaged with various learning activities (except reading) roughly equally. The socio‐economic factors examined in this study, i.e., family income and maternal educational qualifications, were found to have a stronger effect on children's language/literacy than on social‐emotional competence. Socio‐economic disadvantage, lack of maternal educational qualifications in particular, remained powerful in influencing competencies in children aged three and at the start of primary school. For children in the first decade of this century in England, these findings have equity implications, especially as the socio‐economic gap in our society widens.     

The influence of child,family, home factors and pre‐school education on the identification of special educational needs at age 10

The early identification of young children's special educational needs (SEN), as well as the development of specific strategies to support those children identified with special needs, are increasingly recognised as crucial to facilitating good adjustment to school and to ensuring that such children are helped to reach their full potential in education. Using a large national sample of young children in England whose developmental progress was followed up from pre‐school, this study investigates which child, family, home and pre‐school factors can be viewed as risk or protective factors for later SEN‐status at age 10. The experience of high‐quality pre‐school education is shown to reduce the likelihood of a child being identified as experiencing SEN in the long run. Teachers’ assessments of SEN are found to be strongly related to children's reading and mathematics attainment, but other factors also predict SEN, including a child's age within a year group.     

Differential Third‐Grade Outcomes Associated With Attending Publicly Funded Preschool Programs for Low‐Income Latino Children

This study examined the third‐grade outcomes of 11,902 low‐income Latino children who experienced public school pre‐K or child care via subsidies (center‐based care) at age 4 in Miami‐Dade County, Florida. Regression and propensity score analyses revealed that children who experienced public school pre‐K earned higher scores on standardized assessments of math and reading in third grade and had higher grade point averages than those who attended center‐based care 4 years earlier. The sustained associations between public school pre‐K (vs. center‐based care) and third‐grade outcomes were mediated by children's kindergarten entry preacademic and social–behavioral skills, and among English‐language learners, English proficiency. Implications for investing in early childhood programs to assist with the school readiness of young Latino children in poverty are discussed.     

Achievement Attributions of Sixth Grade Children and Their Parents

The present study examines the achievement attributions of Greek Cypriot students and their parents. Its aim was to investigate the role of parental and child achievement attributions as parameters of the child's actual school achievement and to examine the existing differences between attributions made by children and their parents. A total of 477 Sixth Grade Greek Cypriot students and their parents participated in the study. A structural equation model was constructed and its ability to fit the data was tested. It was found that child attributions of achievement to effort, ability and other internal factors are positively related to actual achievement, while attributions to luck and external factors are negatively related to achievement. This is in line with earlier findings. Parental and child attributions are not strongly and reliably related. Thus, claims that children develop their own attributions on the basis of their parents’ attributions were not supported. Gender differences were found, with females attributing their achievement to effort more than males did. Finally, underachievers tended to attribute their school performance to external factors (luck, role of others such as parents and teachers), while highly achieving students tended to attribute their performance to their own effort and other internal factors.     

Beyond the ‘classic’ nurture group model: an evaluation of part‐time and cross‐age nurture groups in a Scottish local authority

This study begins to explore ways in which the principles underpinning the traditional ‘nurture group’ model could be altered and age ranges extended while continuing to deliver the proven success of nurture groups in promoting children's social and emotional development. Part‐time nurture groups were established in four different primary schools within the same council area. A total of 25 pupils ranging from age four to ten years attended the nurture groups for the 2006/7 school session and a control group was established within each school. All fifty children were tested using the Boxall Profile, literacy, numeracy and motor skills baseline assessments at pre‐, mid‐ and post‐nurture group intervention. Analysis of the results showed that for the children who had received a part‐time nurture group experience, statistically significant gains were made in the areas of development assessed by the Boxall Profile. Gains were also made in the areas of literacy, numeracy and motor skills; however, these gains were not at a statistically significant level. Results also show that the younger the pupil accessed the nurture group, the more significant gains were made in the measures used.     

The ecology of young children’s behaviour and social competence: child characteristics,socio-economic factors and parenting

Using a longitudinal, UK representative sample from the Millennium Cohort Study, the present study examined the effects of socio-economic factors on mother- and teacher-rated behaviour, and the unique and cumulative contribution of both risk and protective factors inherent in children’s proximal and distal influences to behaviour during the toddler years and at school entry. The findings showed that although family income, parental employment and maternal education had a significant moderate impact on child problem behaviour as rated in the home and school, when considered in the context of child characteristics and family processes their contribution was negligible, especially for income. In contrast, parenting practices and parental well-being emerged as good predictors of behavioural difficulties and prosocial behaviour at school entry, pointing to the importance of supporting parents in order to promote social competence in young children. These findings have implications for family policy.     

PARENT‐TEACHER COMMUNICATION ABOUT CHILDREN WITH AUTISM SPECTRUM DISORDER: AN EXAMINATION OF COLLABORATIVE PROBLEM‐SOLVING

Effective parent‐teacher communication involves problem‐solving concerns about students. Few studies have examined problem‐solving interactions between parents and teachers of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), with a particular focus on identifying communication barriers and strategies for improving them. This study examined the problem‐solving behaviors of parents and teachers of children with ASD. Participants were 18 teachers and 39 parents of children with ASD. Parent‐teacher dyads were prompted to discuss and provide a solution for a problem that a student experienced at home and at school. Parents and teachers also reported on their problem‐solving behaviors. Results showed that parents and teachers displayed limited use of the core elements of problem‐solving. Teachers displayed more problem‐solving behaviors than parents. Both groups reported engaging in more problem‐solving behaviors than they were observed to display during their discussions. Our findings suggest that teacher and parent training programs should include collaborative approaches to problem‐solving.     

Including children with selective mutism in mainstream schools and kindergartens: problems and possibilities

There is little research on inclusion of children with selective mutism in school/kindergarten. Moreover, few studies have tried to understand selectively mute children’s interactions in the natural surroundings of their home and school/kindergarten. Five children meeting the DSM‐IV criteria for selective mutism were video‐observed in social interactions in kindergarten/school and at home. Their parents and the staff in kindergarten/school took part in semi‐structured interviews. Themes arising from the data were: (1) assessment by the school/kindergarten; (2) interactions in the classroom/kindergarten: inadvertent maintenance of mute behaviour; (3) interactions in the classroom/kindergarten: overcoming selective mutism; (4) school/kindergarten contacts with parents; and (5) tensions in cooperation between home and kindergarten/school. Kindergartens/schools that succeeded in including children with selective mutism found that the child started to speak after a year with encouragement and gentle support from adults and other children. In those cases where the children maintained their selectively mute behaviour, teachers and other children either accepted their refusal to speak and their exclusion of themselves, or selectively reinforced the maladaptive behaviour.     

Choices and Expectations at Primary and Secondary Stages in the State and Private Sectors

This paper examines a range of issues concerned with the process of choosing schools in the private and state sectors at the primary/pre‐preparatory stage and at the time of transfer to secondary/senior school. The findings indicate that choices about schools are made at different times and in different ways by parents who use the state and private sectors. One of the key findings is that the process of choosing a school begins earlier in the private than in the state sector; another is that quality of education is cited more frequently as one of the ‘top three’ essential factors by parents of children in the private sector. At both the primary and transfer to secondary stages, very high percentages of parents consider it essential that their child should be happy. A discussion of the different notions that private school and the state school parents may have of ‘happiness’ is offered.     

Examining Change in Cortisol Patterns During the 10‐Week Transition to a New Child‐Care Setting

The transition to out‐of‐home child care brings a number of challenges for children, including complex peer interactions and extended separations from parents. Children often show a midmorning to afternoon rise in cortisol on child‐care days, compared to the typical diurnal decline seen at home. Changes in cortisol were examined in a wide age range of children (N = 168; 1.2 months to 8 years, M = 3.27 years) during the 10‐week transition to a new child‐care setting. Structural equation modeling using latent change scores showed that children experienced an increase in the cortisol rise at child care across the 10‐week transition. Furthermore, child age moderated the difference between home‐ and child‐care cortisol patterns. Findings are placed in a developmental context, and potential implications and future directions are discussed.     

EARLY YEARS EDUCATION AND CHILDREN WITH BEHAVIOURAL AND EMOTIONAL DIFFICULTIES: NURTURING PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT?

The involvement of parents in early years education has increasingly been advocated as a strategy for meeting the needs of young emotionally disturbed children. We summarise the ideal of parental involvement in the early years as expressed within recent government initiatives. We also draw on a case study of a nurture group in a primary school situated in an inner‐city area of severe deprivation. Against this background, we explore notions of the involvement of parents as a partnership. We suggest that, in providing education for young children with emotional and behavioural difficulties, the nurturing of parental involvement is inherently problematic.     

Secondary school teachers’ perceptions of students’ problem behaviours

Much of the research into behaviour problems and school interventions has focused on primary school‐age children. In the primary school setting, the behaviours that cause the most concern to teachers are frequently occurring but relatively minor behaviours such as calling out and interrupting the learning of others. These minor problematic behaviours have been shown to respond to low‐level interventions that are presented as written advice. The behaviours that secondary school teachers perceive as problematic, and the preferred method of intervention, have received comparatively little attention in the research. An investigation of the behaviour problems that high school teachers find most troublesome was conducted in this study. It was found that similar behaviours were reported as troublesome in the secondary school classroom compared with the primary classroom, although differences were demonstrated across year levels. Teachers were also surveyed about their preferred method of intervention/assistance for these behaviour problems. This information about intervention approaches informs the development of strategies for assisting classroom teachers.     

What factors influence the decisions of parents of children with special educational needs when choosing a secondary educational provision for their child at change of phase from primary to secondary education? A review of the literature

This review presents the results of a literature scoping exercise looking at the decisions parents of children with special educational needs (SEN) make when choosing a secondary placement to send their child at change of phase. The review reports on studies that were conducted in England and other areas of the UK as well as in Australia and the USA because there has been only a limited amount of research into this area conducted in an English context. In addition, some of the papers do not discuss school choice specifically but cover related themes. The study identifies a number of broad factors that impact on parents' decision‐making: the age of the child, the nature and degree of the SEN; the socio‐economic status of the parents; the child's experience of inclusion in the primary phase; the secondary schools philosophy, capacity and perceived commitment to SEN; beliefs about teacher's skills, knowledge, capacity and attitudes; and the influence of other people, for example family, friends and professionals.     

“Every child that is a foster child is marked from the beginning”: The home-school communication experiences of foster parents of children with disabilities

This study investigated the perceptions of foster parents of children with disabilities concerning their interactions with school personnel. We conducted semi-structured interviews with 7 foster parents of 6 children with disabilities (age range = 5–16). A qualitative analysis of the interviews resulted in the identification of five thematic areas, including foster parent perceptions of: (a) the role of the foster parent, (b) the efficacy of the foster parent in helping the child learn, (c) invitations to involvement from the school (d) invitations to involvement from the child, and (e) foster child experiences in the school system. Marked differences were found in the perceptions of the perceptions in foster parents of elementary and secondary age students.It is clear that foster parents who take on an active role in their child’s education experienced positive relationships with their child’s school. Foster parents who take a passive role in their partnerships with the schools experienced increased difficulty maintaining motivation to continue in their efforts to increase collaboration and involvement with the schools. They indicated a sense of anger, distrust, and even hostility towards the schools. Based on the findings, recommendations are provided for improving home-school relationships, and addressing obstacles to successful school partnerships with foster families.     

Social Risk and Protective Child,Parenting, and Child Care Factors in Early Elementary School Years

Objective. African American children exposed to multiple social risk factors during early childhood often experience academic difficulties, so identification of protective factors is important. Design. Academic and school behavior trajectories from kindergarten through third grade were studied among 75 African American children who have been followed prospectively since infancy to test hypothesized protective factors: quality of home and child care environments during early childhood, child language and social skills at entry to kindergarten, and school characteristics. Results. Children exposed to multiple risks in early childhood showed lower levels of academic and social-emotional skills from kindergarten through third grade. Parenting mediated the association with risk. Children's language skills, parenting, and child care quality serve as protective factors in acquisition of mathematics skills and reduction in problem behaviors during the first 4 years of primary school for African American children facing multiple risks. Attending a school with a higher proportion of children from low-income families might predict increasing numbers of problem behaviors over time. Conclusions. Exposure to social risk in early childhood negatively predicted academic achievement and adjustment during early elementary school for African American children, in part through associations between exposure to social risk and less responsive and stimulating parenting. Furthermore, the negative associations between risk and academic outcomes were substantially weaker when children had more responsive and sensitive parents or child care providers or entered school with stronger language skills.     

THE ROLE OF SCHOOL LEVEL PROTECTIVE FACTORS IN OVERCOMING CUMULATIVE RISK FOR BEHAVIOR DIFFICULTIES IN CHILDREN WITH SPECIAL EDUCATIONAL NEEDS AND DISABILITIES

The study investigated whether school‐level protective factors could moderate the effects cumulative risk has upon behavior difficulties in children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). The sample comprised 4,288 children identified with SEND: 2,660 pupils within 248 primary schools, and 1,628 pupils within 57 secondary schools. Risk factors associated with increases in behavior difficulties over an 18‐month period were summed to a cumulative risk score. Various school‐level factors were added to multilevel models, with interaction terms computed between cumulative risk and these variables to assess their potential protective effects. The primary school model revealed a significant interaction between cumulative risk and school academic achievement in predicting behavior difficulties. Higher levels of achievement in primary schools help reduce behavior difficulties for children most at risk. The secondary school model evidenced a significant interaction between cumulative risk and school percentage of students eligible for free school meals (FSM). Lower proportions within a school of children eligible for FSM were associated with reductions in behavior difficulties for children at high levels of risk. Interventions aimed at improving school‐level academic achievement and targeting high‐risk students attending schools with large proportions of children eligible for FSM would be beneficial.