Mother-child bookreading in low-income families: correlates and outcomes during the first three years of life

About half of 2,581 low-income mothers reported reading daily to their children. At 14 months, the odds of reading daily increased by the child being firstborn or female. At 24 and 36 months, these odds increased by maternal verbal ability or education and by the child being firstborn or of Early Head Start status. White mothers read more than did Hispanic or African American mothers. For English-speaking children, concurrent reading was associated with vocabulary and comprehension at 14 months, and with vocabulary and cognitive development at 24 months. A pattern of daily reading over the 3 data points for English-speaking children and daily reading at any 1 data point for Spanish-speaking children predicted children's language and cognition at 36 months. Path analyses suggest reciprocal and snowballing relations between maternal bookreading and children's vocabulary.     

Henry Dale's Nobel Prize Winning `Discovery'

A particular model of scientific achievement is embedded within the Nobel Prize, one that privileges the scientific `loner', whoachieves a distinct discovery at a particularmoment in time. A common criticism of this`individualistic' story of achievement is thatit obscures the social and cultural factors inscientific discovery. A collective story,highlighting the role of social relations andscientific milieux, may offer more explanatorypower in accounting for scientific discoveriesand inventions. This paper explores the processby which Henry Dale became recognized as thediscoverer of the chemical transmission ofnerve impulses. It compares the explanatorypower of the story of individual creativitywith a story that highlights the interactionbetween a scientist and his environment.     

The learning and study strategies of college students with ADHD

This study compared learning and study strategies of students with attention‐deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) to two groups: college students with learning disabilities (LD) and college students without disabilities. In addition, strengths and weaknesses within the ADHD group were examined on the Learning and Study Strategies Inventory, 2nd edition (LASSI; C.E. Weinstein & D.R. Palmer, 2002). The LASSI was also evaluated as a predictive measure for academic achievement for college students with ADHD compared to other students. Results indicate that several important differences may exist in the learning and study strategies of students with ADHD versus students with LD and students without disabilities. However, the LASSI may not be a useful tool for predicting academic achievement for college students with ADHD. Interventions for working with students with ADHD are given. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Gender differences in national assessment of educational progress science items: What does “i don't know” really mean?

The National Assessment of Educational Progress Science Assessment has consistently revealed small gender differences on science content items but not on science inquiry items. This assessment differs from others in that respondents can choose “I don't know” rather than guessing. This paper examines explanations for the gender differences including (a) differential prior instruction, (b) differential response to uncertainty and use of the “I don't know” response, (c) differential response to figurally presented items, and (d) different attitudes towards science. Of these possible explanations, the first two received support. Females are more likely to use the “I don't know” response, especially for items with physical science content or masculine themes such as football. To ameliorate this situation we need more effective science instruction and more gender-neutral assessment items.     

A Glimpse into the Minds of Mothers: The Default Mode Network and Responsiveness to Infant Cries

SYNOPSIS

The authors comment on a paper reporting differences between mothers and non-mothers in neural responses to infant cries and other emotive sounds while engaging in self- or goal-oriented tasks. The value of examining deactivation of the default mode network (DMN) as a means of understanding differential attention patterns in both typical and atypical populations is discussed, as is the generalizability of the experimental paradigm to ecologically relevant contexts. The role of an individual’s age, parental status, and experience in shaping responses to infant crying is considered, and future avenues of research are suggested. An argument is made for coupling neuroimaging techniques with behavioral assays to better understand the determinants of maternal behavior.     

Programme evaluation toolbox: effective evaluation principles and considerations in career practice

In our ever-present age of accountability, career development professionals are increasingly called upon to document evidence-based outcomes and other metrics of programme effectiveness. In this article, we will review the key components of effective programme evaluation, including purposes and types of evaluation. Our review will span empirical and practical literature across disciplines and within guidance and counselling, specifically. We will review current evaluation models within an international context but focus predominantly on US based ones, along with articulating their shortfalls. Finally, we will present a potentially transformative advocacy-infused model of programme evaluation.     

Changing classrooms bring new questions: environmental influences,self-efficacy,and academic achievement

Learning Environments Research - In recent years, considerable attention has been given to how the physical structure of active learning classrooms affects academic performance, but little is known...     

‘Partnership’ in Action: Contagious Abortion and the Governance of Livestock Disease in Britain, 1885–1921

Most histories of livestock disease in Britain treat the development of control policy as a government responsibility, to which farmers made little constructive contribution. Similarly, farmers rarely appear in accounts of disease research. This paper uses the example of contagious abortion (brucellosis) at the turn of the twentieth century to reveal that state-farming collaboration in research and policy did in fact occur, and that it operated in various ways, with often unexpected outcomes. The collaborative approach to contagious abortion is partly attributed to its clinical and epidemiological features, which made it an unsuitable candidate for the existing, state-led policy of stamping out disease. It is claimed that such collaboration has been overlooked by historians on account of their focus upon diseases that were amenable to stamping out. This focus needs to change if history is to inform present-day disease governance in Britain, which is founded on the concept of ‘partnership’ between farmers and the state.