Juggling personal life and professionalism: Ethical implications for rural school psychologists

Rural communities often contain unique features that separate them from more urban communities. Although a body of research is devoted to ethical considerations for psychologists working in rural communities as a whole, much less current research is focused on working in rural schools. This paper specifically highlights ethical considerations regarding competence, multiple relationships, and confidentiality. Given that access to services within the community may be limited, school psychologists may encounter cases that are outside of their area of competence. Furthermore, due to the interconnectedness present in many rural communities, psychologists frequently have multiple relationships with those whom they have professional contact. Confidentiality may be compromised when families and school personnel also have multiple relationships. These factors must be considered by psychologists working in rural schools, and steps must be taken at the outset of practice to ensure ethical compliance. More specific means of obtaining this compliance are discussed in this paper.     

Immigrant families’ use of early childcare: Predictors of care type

Early care and education (ECE) settings are important developmental contexts for young children, with nearly half of all U.S. children experiencing non-parental care during infancy and toddlerhood. However, there is little research examining patterns and predictors of ECE selection among immigrant families even though children of immigrants represent the fastest growing population in the U.S. Using data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Birth Cohort (N ≈ 10,700), including a diverse group of children with immigrant parents (N ≈ 2950), this study aims to fill gaps in the literature by examining predictors of the type of ECE (parent, relative, home-based, or center-based) children experience during infancy and toddlerhood (children aged 7–38 months). It examines how immigrant, family, child, and contextual characteristics predict ECE selection within immigrant families and whether these correlates of ECE selection differ across native and immigrant families. Results show distinct patterns of infant and toddler ECE related to immigrant status, particularly when it came to socioeconomic advantage predicting increased relative care for children of immigrants but not native families. Furthermore, several immigrant-specific characteristics, including region of origin, English proficiency, and availability of non-English ECE options, were associated with immigrant families’ ECE choices for their infants and toddlers.     

The Impacts of COVID-19 on Early Childhood Education: Capturing the Unique Challenges Associated with Remote Teaching and Learning in K-2

Early Childhood Education Journal - Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, schools across North America closed to in person learning in March 2020. Since then, it has become increasingly clear that physical...     

In search of pedagogical content knowledge in science: Developing ways of articulating and documenting professional practice

This study examines the development of ways of documenting and portraying science teachers' pedagogical content knowledge (PCK). As a result of a longitudinal study into science teachers' pedagogical content knowledge, a method is developed for capturing and portraying PCK that comprises two important elements. The first is linked to the particular science content, termed Content Representation (CoRe), and the second is linked to teaching practice, termed Professional and Pedagogical experience Repertoire (PaP‐eR). Through this approach new understandings of PCK emerge that are of interest in terms of both academic (knowledge building about PCK) and teaching perspectives. This study includes a full CoRe and one PaP‐eR and fully demonstrates how these two elements interact to begin to portray science teachers' pedagogical content knowledge. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 41: 370–391, 2004     

Are they paying attention? Students’ lack of motivation and attention potentially threaten the utility of course evaluations

Student evaluations are a common source of information used by instructors and administrators, but their utility depends on students’ motivation and attention. This paper presents evidence from two studies indicating that insufficient effort responding and lack of motivation may be problems in course evaluations. In the first study, approximately one in four students responded in an improbable way to ‘catch items’ embedded in actual course evaluation instruments, suggesting a lack of attention. In the second study, students’ responses to an online survey indicated that they doubted that their responses to course evaluations would be used by instructors or administrators. The majority of students admitted to only occasionally putting sufficient effort into their responses. Potential means for identifying insufficient effort responding and mechanisms for increasing student attention and motivation during the course evaluation process are discussed.     

Within and beyond a grow-your-own-teacher program: Documenting the contextualized preparation and professional development experiences of critically conscious Latina teachers

ABSTRACT

This study provides an account of seven Latina teachers’ select educational, professional, and personal experiences over the past 10 years as they completed a grow-your-own-teacher program, became licensed teachers, and established themselves in Latinx minority–majority public schools within their rural, mid-western community. More specifically, as a Latina researcher and participant observer, I sought to better understand the culturally and linguistically diverse (CLD) Latina teachers’ process-oriented engagement and conscientization over time. Far from being ‘ready-made’ conscientized teachers, in this work I discuss the ways CLD Latina teachers’ multiple and developing identities as bilingual learners, mothers, racialized minorities in schools, and educated professionals serve as both burdens and gifts in their engagement and processes of conscientization for teaching CLD students. Through the use of critical literatures, and life and professional story methodologies informed by Chicana feminist epistemologies, I sought to privilege Latina teachers’ narratives as well as uncover the mechanisms and experiences that proved most impactful for their development and sustainment within white normative educational spaces. Findings illustrate an emergence of racialized, identitarian resources among Latinas and implicate a nuanced, culturally contextualized, pedagogical approach to pre-/in-service CLD teacher professional development that engages participants in reflective storying, critical inquiry, and restorative community building.     

Suicide Intervention Training for Counselor Trainees: A Quasi‐Experimental Study on Skill Retention

The authors used a quasi‐experimental design to explore the effect of Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training on 126 counselor trainees. Results showed that after 3 months, trainees had retained improvements in measured response skills and self‐reported attitudes. The authors discuss the developmental benefits of incorporating similar training into counselor education. Implications for skill measurement are also considered.     

The influence of environmental factors on rugby football injuries

The aim of this study was to establish the influence of weather and pitch conditions on the frequency and nature of rugby injuries. Observers at 26 senior rugby clubs in the Borders District of the Scottish Rugby Union reported all injuries to 1169 (96%) registered players at Saturday home and away matches during the 1993-94 season (August 1993 to April 1994). Weather and pitch conditions at 112 grounds were recorded on 605 occasions; 1268 Borders teams played at these grounds,with 344 injury episodes being sustained. Matches were played in dry weather for three-quarters of these occasions. There was a moderate association between weather and the state of the pitch (Spearman's rank correlation, r = -0.46, P ? 0.001), with heavier pitches occurring in wetter weather. Logistic regression revealed that there were significant month-of-season (P = 0.003), wind strength (P = 0.008) and temperature (P = 0.011) effects on the risk of injury. On four of five occasions when matches were played in a downpour of rain, at least one injury episode occurred. Our results show that the month of the season and the weather may influence the occurrence of rugby injuries, but that the state of the pitch does not. Further studies are required to investigate these factors in more detail.     

Proposed Guidelines for Operating Counselor Education and Supervision Training Clinics

The purpose of this article is to justify and present a set of guidelines for the effective and ethical administration of counselor education and supervision training clinics. Responding directly to a call for creating guidelines, the authors address core issues surrounding their development. Benefits for clear and accessible guidelines and risks associated with their absence are covered. Drawing upon existing contributions from the field and related professions, guidelines are proposed along with a plan for their approval and implementation in counselor education training clinics.     

Extracurricular Activities,Screen Media Activity,and Sleep May Be Modifiable Factors Related to Children’s Cognitive Functioning: Evidence From the ABCD Study®

This study used a machine learning framework in conjunction with a large battery of measures from 9,718 school-age children (ages 9–11) from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development^SM (ABCD) Study to identify factors associated with fluid cognitive functioning (FCF), or the capacity to learn, solve problems, and adapt to novel situations. The identified algorithm explained 14.74% of the variance in FCF, replicating previously reported socioeconomic and mental health contributors to FCF, and adding novel and potentially modifiable contributors, including extracurricular involvement, screen media activity, and sleep duration. Pragmatic interventions targeting these contributors may enhance cognitive performance and protect against their negative impact on FCF in children.