Reactive attachment disorder in maltreated toddlers

OBJECTIVE: To determine if Reactive Attachment Disorder (RAD) can be reliably identified in maltreated toddlers in foster care, if the two types of RAD are independent, and to estimate the prevalence of RAD in these maltreated toddlers. METHODS: Clinicians treating 94 maltreated toddlers in foster care were interviewed regarding signs of attachment disorder at intake in an intervention program. RESULTS: Using categorical and continuous measures, both types of RAD can be reliably identified in maltreated toddlers. Both continuous scores and categorical diagnoses indicated that a substantial minority of maltreated young children do exhibit signs of attachment disorders sufficient to meet criteria in DSM-IV and ICD-10. The two types were moderately convergent and at times co-occurred in the same child. Prevalence of RAD in this high-risk sample was 38-40%. Indiscriminate/disinhibited RAD was identified in children with and without an attachment figure. Within this maltreated group, toddlers whose mothers had a history of psychiatric disturbance were more likely to be diagnosed with attachment disorders. CONCLUSIONS: RAD may be reliably identified in maltreated toddlers. Emotionally withdrawn/inhibited and indiscriminate/disinhibited types of RAD are not entirely independent.     

Teachers’ leadership: a maker or a breaker of students’ educational motivation

Teachers’ leadership plays a critical and central role in students’ educational motivations. This indicates that, in the school context, a teacher’s leadership can have both positive and negative impacts on students’ educational motivation and performance. This article explores these assumptions, building on the path-goal theory, more specifically the effects of teachers’ leadership from students’ perspectives. Using a qualitative research design, this study collected data comprising 35 interviews with children and young people in both primary and upper-secondary school. The results show that the degree of teachers’ developmental leadership greatly affects students’ educational motivation and school performance. Two contrasting teachers’ profiles were found: teachers with a high degree of developmental leadership and teachers with a low degree of developmental leadership. Our findings suggest that teachers with the profile of a high degree of developmental leadership create an environment that fosters educational motivation positively among students, facilitating students’ achievement of high performance levels and a sense of well-being about their studies. In contrast, we show that teachers with a low degree of developmental leadership create an environment that is nonconductive for educational motivation, performance or the welfare of schoolwork.     

Teachers’ and school leaders’ perceptions of commercialisation in Australian public schools

This paper explores teachers’ and school leaders’ perceptions of commercialisation in Australian public schools, reporting on findings from an open-ended survey question from an exploratory study that sought to investigate teacher and school leader perceptions and experiences of commercialisation. Commercialisation, for the purposes of this paper, is understood as the creation, marketing and sale of education goods and services to schools by for-profit providers and often includes (but is not limited to) the provision of curriculum content, assessment services, data infrastructures, digital learning, remedial instruction, professional development and school administration support. Our account highlights that commercialisation is prevalent in the day-to-day practice of Australian public schools. The perceptions of teachers and leaders suggest that commercialisation is complex, with both affordances and challenges. Respondents acknowledged that aspects of commercialisation are necessary for successfully running schools and classrooms in the 21st century, but also noted that there is a fine line beyond which these seemingly innocuous services become perilous. Concerns focused on how particular services are leading to the deprofessionalisation of teachers as they have less autonomy over what to teach and how to teach it. Moreover, teachers and school leaders reported being perturbed by the idea that commercial providers and services might work to replace teachers in the future. Drawing on these data we argue that growing commercialisation in Australian public schools clearly requires an ethical debate that schools, education professionals, policy makers and interested publics are yet to have.     

How Useful are Computerised Screening Systems for Predicting Subsequent Learning Difficulties in Young Children? An Exploration of the Strengths and Weaknesses of the Cognitive Profiling System (CoPS 1)

The Cognitive Profiling System (CoPS 1) is a psychometric assessment/screening system presented in the form of computer games to children in their early school years in order to predict the probability of later learning difficulties of both a general and specific nature (Singleton, Horne, & Thomas, 1999 Singleton, C. H., Horne, J. and Thomas, K. 1999. Computerised baseline assessment of literacy. Journal of Research in Reading, 22(1): 67–80.  [Google Scholar]). Although some evidence is available as to the predictive validity of the resulting cognitive profile, as yet few independent studies have been carried out to investigate the system’s strengths and weaknesses.

The present study describes a small‐scale longitude investigation of how well scores on the CoPS 1 of 66 children in two urban primary schools in the west of England predicted their success or failure on the Key Stage 1 Standard Assessment Tasks (SATs) in literacy and mathematics. Significant correlations were found between the two measures, but these differed markedly from those found in previous research. In‐depth case studies were subsequently carried out on five children selected from this cohort at Year 4, when they were 9 years old. Despite providing some valuable information, the results raised questions about the predictive validity of CoPS 1 when applied to specific individual children. Caution is therefore urged in the application of such computerised techniques as ‘stand alone’ predictors of learning difficulties.     

Multimedia and interactivity in distance learning of resuscitation guidelines: a randomised controlled trial

The aim of the study was to conduct a comparative analysis of three forms of knowledge transfer online, taking into account the long-term knowledge growth rate and the satisfaction of students surveyed in respect to distance learning. The cohort of participants for this survey were students of the first degree, studying in the Emergency Medical Services. The authors created three e-learning courses in basic and advanced resuscitation procedures. The level of course participants’ satisfaction was analysed, as well as the knowledge growth rate measured three times: 7, 30 and 90 days, respectively, after finishing the course. The level of satisfaction in all the groups surveyed was comparable. The growth rate for knowledge was the highest in group C in the second and third survey, respectively (30 and 90 days after the end of the course), and a significant difference in favour of course C was demonstrated one month after finishing classes.     

Nurturing learning or encouraging dependency? Teacher constructions of students in lower attainment groups in English secondary schools

‘Ability’ or attainment grouping can introduce an additional label that influences teachers’ expectations of students in specific attainment groups. This paper is based on a survey of 597 teachers across 82 schools and 34 teacher interviews in 10 schools undertaken as part of a large-scale mixed-methods study in England. The paper focuses on English and mathematics teachers’ expectations of secondary school students in lower attainment groups, and explores how low-attaining students are constructed as learners who benefit from specific approaches to learning justified through discourses of nurturing and protection. The authors argue that the adoption of different pedagogical approaches for groups of low-attaining learners to nurture them may in some cases be fostering dependency on teachers and cap opportunities for more independent learning. Furthermore, more inclusive whole-school learning-culture approaches may better allow for students across the attainment range to become independent learners.     

Mutual influence of marital conflict and children's behavior problems: shared and nonshared family risks

This within-family, longitudinal study including biological and stepfamilies investigated mutual influences between marital conflict and children's behavior problems. Children (4 to 17 years; N=296) residing in 127 families drawn from a general population study were investigated at Time 1 and again 2 years later. These nested data were analyzed using multilevel modeling, controlling for previous child behavior or marital conflict. Marital conflict about children predicted change in children's behavior. Children's behavior also predicted an increase in marital conflict, particularly in stepfamilies. Differences between siblings in exposure to conflict and the extent to which siblings were a source of argument increased more in stepfamilies than in biological families. Boys were exposed to more conflict over time than were girls.     

Teachers’ use of educative curriculum materials to engage students in science practices

New reform documents underscore the importance of integrating science practices into the learning of science. This integration requires sophisticated teaching that does not often happen. Educative curriculum materials – materials explicitly designed to support teacher and student learning – have been posited as a way to support teachers to achieve these ambitious goals, yet little is known about how elementary teachers actually use educative curriculum materials to support student engagement in science practices. To address this gap, this study investigated how five upper elementary teachers supported students to engage in science practices during an enactment of two curriculum units. Three of the teachers had units enhanced with educative features, informed by current research and reforms, while two of the teachers had units without these features. The teachers varied in how they supported students in the science practices of justifying predictions, constructing evidence-based claims, recording observations, and planning investigations. For example, some of the teachers with the educative features supported students in constructing evidence-based claims and justifying predictions in ways called for by the educative features. Implications for curriculum developers and teacher educators are discussed based on the patterns found in the teachers’ use of the educative curriculum materials.     

Academic Administrators’ Beliefs About Diversity

As our nation and society becomes more racially and ethnically diverse, college campuses are experiencing a dynamic shift in the student demographic on campus as well. Purposes of the study were to: (a) analyze the beliefs of kinesiology academic unit leaders (i.e., chairs, directors, heads) regarding faculty and student diversity within their programs and departments and (b) inquire about strategic goals for faculty and student diversification within their programs and departments. The participants were 68 administrators (43 men, 25 women) and all current members of the American Kinesiology Association (AKA) as of 2015. Thematic content data analysis of the open-ended probes exposed the recurrent themes: (a) advocacy, motives, and actions; (b) diversity identified, but rarely defined; and (c) history, status, and outlook. Implications of the findings are that issues associated with diversity in kinesiology programs and departments should be addressed with vigor and progressive actions.