A multiage-grouping success story

How children organize themselves in play reflects groupings found in society. Multiage grouping in schools reflects the same. Multiage grouping is grouping children of multiple ages, at least one year apart, for instruction. With renewed interest in this practice comes anxiety for teachers who contemplate such a change. Some questions teachers often ask include: How do I get started?, and How do I organize the day? This article is the success story of one teacher as she began her multiaged classroom. Perhaps her story can answer some questions and serve as a beginning model for others.     

Patent basics: History, background, and searching fundamentals

The U.S. patent system and the body of issued patents are key elements in meeting information needs related to technology and innovation. Most librarians, however, have little understanding of the value of patents as sources of technological information—and less knowledge about how to help users tap what has been called, “the largest and most comprehensive body of technological literature in the world.” This article attempts to provide a sufficient background on patent fundamentals to allow librarians to assist or refer users who would benefit by the use of patents. Detailed patent searching instructions are provided for staff in Government Printing Office depository libraries to use materials available through the depository program. The value of utilizing one of the 58 Patent depository libraries to enhance and expedite the search process is highlighted, and online searching options are introduced.     

Evaluation and decentralised governance: Examples of inspections in polycentric education systems

Across Europe schools and other service providers increasingly operate in networks to provide inclusive education or develop and implement more localized school-to-school improvement models. As some education systems move towards more decentralized decision-making where multiple actors have an active role in steering and governing schools, the tasks and responsibilities of Inspectorates of Education must also change. This paper reflects on these changes and suggests ‘polycentric’ inspection models that fit such a decentralized context. Examples of inspection frameworks and methods from Northern Ireland, England and the Netherlands are provided, as well as a brief discussion of the potential impact of such ‘polycentric’ models.     

Continuities in Emotion Understanding from Three to Six Years

As part of a longitudinal study, 47 children who were tested on their understanding of basic emotions when they were 3 years old were tested again at 6 on their understanding of conflicting emotions. Significant stability in individual differences was found over this 3-year period. Antecedents to emotion understanding at 3 continued to be significantly related to children's understanding at 6, including participation in discourse about causality, positive interaction with older siblings, and language ability. Girls outperformed boys, and there was a suggestion that the girls' understanding of emotions was more closely associated than the boys' with the quality of their sibling relationships. Children's concurrent reports of negative experiences at home and at school were related to their sensitivity to the experience of ambivalent emotions. The results are discussed with respect to the social origins and implications of this core aspect of children's social-cognitive development.