Kindergarten Transition Preparation: A Comparison of Teacher and Parent Practices for Children with Autism and Other Developmental Disabilities

The transition to kindergarten represents an important developmental milestone for children and may pose unique challenges to children with disabilities, their families, and teachers. The primary goal of the current study was to investigate teacher concerns regarding the transition to kindergarten as well as teacher and parent-reported transition preparation practices and involvement for a sample of children with autism spectrum disorders (n = 19) and children with other developmental disabilities (n = 76). Teachers reported significantly more concerns for children in the ASD group than for children in the DD group, although there was no difference in total involvement in transition practices between groups. Although teacher and parent involvement in transition preparation was generally high, generic less individualized practices often were utilized. Study findings are discussed in the context of future research directions to help facilitate kindergarten transitions for young children with disabilities.     

Relational Maintenance in the Digital Age: Implicit Rules and Multiple Modalities

The present project utilized a mixed methods approach to examine how individuals use CMC to maintain proximal relationships. Nine different communication channels were examined concurrently to elucidate how frequently mediated relational maintenance is used and to examine what participants reported in terms of motives for use and avoidance of particular channels. Findings indicate that participants in proximal relationships are hyper-aware of the amount of intimacy implied by a particular communication channel and strategically engage channels to suit their needs. We propose that relationships will be difficult to maintain if people violate the implicit rules that appear to govern channel selection.     

The effects of combining simulations and laboratory experiments on Zimbabwean students’ conceptual understanding of electric circuits

ABSTRACT

Background

Information Communication Technologies are increasingly present in the African educational system at all educational levels. However, their integration into pedagogical practices to improve the quality of teaching and learning across disciplines remains the exception.     

Intellectual Disability and Developmental Risk: Promoting Intervention to Improve Child and Family Well‐Being

Initial intervention processes for children with intellectual disabilities (IDs) largely focused on direct efforts to impact core cognitive and academic deficits associated with the diagnosis. Recent research on risk processes in families of children with ID, however, has influenced new developmental system approaches to early intervention. Recent risk and resilience processes are reviewed that connect stress, family process, and the high rates of behavioral problems in children with ID that have substantial influence on child and family outcomes. These models are linked to emerging evidence‐based intervention processes that focus on strategic parent skill training and mindfulness interventions that reduce parental stress and create indirect benefits for children's behavioral competencies. A family‐focused developmental systems approach (M. J. Guralnick, 2011) is emphasized.     

Communicating feedback in teaching practice supervision in a learning-oriented field experience assessment framework

This article seeks to understand the ways in which feedback was communicated in post-observation conferences in teaching practice supervision within the learning-oriented field experience assessment (LOFEA) framework. 32 post-observation conferences between 21 pairs of supervisors and participants of in-service teacher education programmes, and interviews with supervisors and participants were analyzed, with findings revealed in four themes:

1.

The distribution of content and nature of feedback in post-observation conferences;     

CHE Principles: facilitating authentic and dialogical semi-structured interviews in educational research

This paper examines the values of the CHE principles of Connectivity, Humanness and Empathy as a guiding framework for maximizing the ethical and methodological advantages of semi-structured interview research practices. The authors draw from two separate educational studies and apply the CHE principles to analyse and evaluate the effectiveness of decision-making in facilitating sustainable relationships with the participants in each study. Findings highlight that dialogical relations with participants were evident in both studies, and identify significant junctures where decision-making and actions influenced effective rapport-building and respectful and reciprocal relationships with participants in the research. The CHE principles emerge as providing a robust framework for educational researchers to employ when auditing their decision-making prior to and during their engagement in qualitative interviews.     

Promoting a self-sustaining learning community: investigating an internal model for teacher development

The authors report an investigation of a five-step structured study-group approach to promoting a?self-sustaining learning community that supports teachers in developing the ‘habits of mind’ necessary for improving literacy acquisition and development for urban African American students attending a low-performing, high-poverty elementary school. The authors report that over a two-year time period the conversations among the teachers at the study-group meetings changed to be more positive about the children, to make linkages between themselves and the culture the children bring to school, to enthusiasm for sharing their own strategies and engaging in public reflection, and collaborating in developing new instructional approaches.