Inspiring Academically Talented High School Students to Consider Teaching Careers in Urban Schools

This article addresses a unique effort to implement a summer residential program that identifies and inspires potential educators by reaching down the pipeline to academically talented high school students. The primary goal of the program was to introduce participants to various dimensions of urban teaching. The research and evaluation for the program was designed to include diverse forms of data (quantitative and qualitative) from both staff and program participants. This study??s findings indicate that participants became more informed about prevalent issues in under-resourced urban schools, better understood the need for teachers?? ongoing professional development and felt more comfortable in urban schools. A number of the focal participants also expressed sustained or increased aspirations for teaching youth in urban schools.     

Peer tutoring instructional practice and kindergartners’ achievement and socioemotional development

ABSTRACT

This study examines how the use of peer tutoring instructional practices links to students’ outcomes during kindergarten. Examining this pedagogical strategy allows us to contribute to the literature in three ways. First, we can study one potential mechanism by which peers might influence the outcomes of other peers in the classroom. Second, in that peer tutoring that is used as an instructional practice, the study can inform the link between instructional factors and student outcomes. Finally, our agenda look at the effects of peer tutoring instructional practices on academic and socioemotional outcomes, thereby broadening the meaning of educational attainment. The study relies on the most current national dataset of kindergarten students (the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Kindergarten class of 2010–2011). The findings suggest that a higher frequency of peer tutoring utilisation during instruction predicts greater social skills. However, there is no predictive relationship with behaviour or achievement. Implications are discussed.     

Does Absenteeism Differ for Children with Disabilities in Full-Day versus Part-Day Kindergarten?1

Little is known about the effects of attending full-day versus part-day kindergarten for children with disabilities, and nothing is known about how these settings link to differences in children's school absences. This is concerning, given that children with disabilities have higher absence rates compared to children in the general population. To address this gap, this study examined a nationally-representative sample of kindergartners with disabilities and inquired into whether going to full- versus part-day kindergarten predicted differences in absences. Children with disabilities in full-day kindergarten had more total number of school days missed as well as a higher chance of being chronically absent compared to those children in part-day kindergarten. However, the size of this association was reduced for children with disabilities in lower-SES families and for boys with disabilities. There were no differences by disability category. Policy implications are discussed in terms of how early educational settings can be most supportive, and for whom.     

A grounded theory study of family coach intervention with persistent school non-attenders

Persistent school non-attendance (PSNA) is a widely acknowledged problem. Family coaches work intensively with families where a child or young person (CYP) has persistently poor or no school attendance and there is unemployment or anti-social behaviour. Their work extends across different systems, which gives them a unique, multi-factored understanding of the phenomenon of PSNA in coaching families. The aim of this grounded theory (GT) study was to draw upon the experiences and perspectives of coaches in one UK local authority, to understand what helps and hinders successful intervention. A GT emerged, in which PSNA in coaching families was a red flag, occurring when CYP felt unsafe. This was a product of the home environment not providing a secure base, parents having a diminished capacity and the CYP feeling that their situation was invisible. Successful intervention was relationship-based; improved the visibility of CYP; and increased parenting capacity. Intervention was constrained by conflicting systems that resisted or sabotaged change.     

Does classmate ability influence students’ social skills?

Empirically, the link between classmate ability and individual-level student achievement has been established. And yet, within the scope of this body of literature, there is a dearth of studies examining if a relationship also persists between classmate ability and non-achievement outcomes – that is, social skills. This article fills this research gap. By utilizing a nationally representative longitudinal dataset from the US (i.e., ECLS-K), the effect of the percentage of classmates performing below grade level is assessed on 5 commonly accepted social skills scales. The findings indicate that kindergarten and 1st-grade students in classrooms with a higher percentage of below-grade-level classmates have greater instances of negative social skills and fewer instances of positive social skills. The results are robust across multiple methodological approaches and tests of validity. Implications for policy and practice are addressed.     

Rethinking XML-enabled agile supply chains

This paper critically discusses the use of Extensible Markup Language (XML) for agile supply chains and proposes practical guidelines and future research directions for the field. XML has been identified by many as a prominent technology for enabling electronic supply chain integration, but the adoption of it in the industry has been rather slow and limited. This paper discusses the factors that enable agility in supply chains, and explains why XML is the best candidate for facilitating such factors. Then the major XML-based integration initiatives such as ebXML, RosettaNet, and Web Services are diagnosed in terms of their pros and cons for supply chain agility, as well as the reasons for their slow diffusion. Based on the discussion, this paper proposes that: the integration efforts need to first focus on the industries that need agility; stringent business process standards are necessary; and implementation should be made much easier and more affordable for small and medium enterprises (SMEs). Further research issues are also suggested based on the discussion.     

Privileged Identity Exploration: Examining Counselor Trainees' Reactions to Difficult Dialogues

In this qualitative study, the authors examined master's‐level counselor trainees' reactions to difficult dialogues in the classroom regarding racism, heterosexism/homophobia, and ableism over a 3‐year period. Using the Consensual Qualitative Research method as introduced by C. E. Hill, B. J. Thompson, and E. N. Williams (1997), the data analysis team analyzed narrative and reaction papers submitted during a didactic course on multiculturalism. Behavioral reactions were identified that form the basis for this study: denial, deflection, rationalization, intellectualization, principium, false envy, minimization, and benevolence.