Promoting Parents' Social Capital to Increase Children's Attendance in Head Start: Evidence From an Experimental Intervention

Improving children's attendance is a high priority for Head Start and other early childhood education programs serving low-income children. We conducted a randomized control trial in a major northern city to evaluate the impact of a low-cost intervention designed to promote parents' social capital as a potential influence on children's attendance in Head Start centers. The intervention assigned children to treatment group classrooms based on (a) neighborhood of residence (geography condition) or (b) the geography condition plus the opportunity for parents to form partnerships in support of their children's attendance, or to control group classrooms according to Head Start guidelines only. We did not find impacts on average attendance throughout the year. However, the intervention did lead to increased attendance during the winter when average center attendance was lowest. There were no impacts on fall or spring attendance. Follow-up exploratory analyses of focus groups with parents and staff suggested that parents' level of connection and trust, self-generated partnership strategies, and commitment to their children's education may be factors by which parents' social capital expands and children's attendance improves.     

Observations of Parent Reactions to Sex-Stereotyped Behaviors: Age and Sex Effects

To examine differential socialization of boys and girls by mothers and fathers, home observations were completed for families of 92 12-month-old children, 82 18-month-old children, and 172 5-year-old children. Mothers gave more instructions and directions than did fathers, while fathers spent more time in positive play interaction. Differences in parents' reactions to 12- and 18-month boys and girls were as expected, with the exception that boys received more negative comment for communication attempts than did girls. The suggestion in the literature that fathers would be more involved in sex typing than mothers was not confirmed in this study. The only 2 significant sex-of-parent x sex-of-child effects occurred at 18 months; fathers gave fewer positive reactions to boys engaging in female-typical toy play, and mothers gave more instruction to girls when they attempted to communicate. We argue that the second year of life is the time when children are learning many new skills and when parents are still experimenting with parenting styles and may well use stereotypical responses when unsure of themselves.     

Young African-American Multigenerational Families in Poverty: Quality of Mothering and Grandmothering

Parenting practices (problem-solving and disciplinary styles) in a sample of 99 young, low-income, African-American multigenerational families were examined, using home-based observations of grandmothers and young mothers (mean age at first birth; 18.3; range = 13.3 to 25.5), interacting separately with 3-year-old children. A risk and resilience approach was applied in studying African-American families' behavior in harsh social contexts, and included a consideration of the role of kin, shared child rearing between mothers and grandmothers, coresidence, and adolescent parenthood. Mothers and grandmothers did not differ in the mean level of the quality of their parenting practices. Similarly, few significant correlations in parenting quality across generations were evident, and these primarily involved negative dimensions of parenting between younger childbearers and grandmothers. No main effect of mothers' age at first birth on mothers' parenting was found. In contrast, there was a main effect of grandmother coresidence on both mothers' and grandmothers' parenting, which was negative. Moreover, the interaction between coresidence and mothers' age at first birth indicated that multigenerational families most likely to provide positive parenting were those where older mothers did not reside with the grandmother. Yet, in families with very young mothers, coresiding grandmothers showed higher quality of parenting than did non-coresiding grandmothers.     

Environmental and Genetic Variance in Children's Observed and Reported Maladaptive Behavior

The genetic and environmental contributions to children's maladaptive behavior are assessed in a sample of 154 twin pairs (77 MZ twin pairs and 77 DZ twin pairs), who range in age from 6 to 11 years. To bridge the strengths of behavioral genetic methods and environmental assessment techniques, we use a multimethod, multimeasure approach to data collection, and analyze the data using behavioral genetic modeling techniques. Results indicate that genetic variation accounts for a majority of the variance in parent-reported child maladaptive behavior (average = 62%). One parent-report measure also suggests a smaller, significant contribution of shared environmental variance. In contrast to the parental ratings, the observational coding and global impressions of parent-twin interactive behavior suggest that shared environment is the primary source of variance accounting for parent and child maladaptive behavior. This is due, in part, to the direct influence one's interactive partner has on the expression of maladaptive behavior in an interactive setting. When controlling for the co-participant's behavior, genetic variation increases and shared environmental variation decreases.     

Capturing and Enhancing Science Teachers’ Professional Knowledge

This paper reports research from a three-year Australian science teacher professional learning project, the Science Teaching and Learning (STaL) Project, in which groups of science teacher participants (across years K – 12) worked with academics over a one-year period as teacher researchers. Through reflecting on their experiences within the STaL Project and collecting data from their classrooms related to specific science teaching concerns, teacher participants constructed cases around particular aspects of their professional learning. The cases that these participants developed elicited rich insights into their teaching and their students’ learning of science. This paper discusses how the cases were developed by the teacher researcher participants and uses exemplars as a way of illustrating the nature of the professional knowledge developed.     

Implementation fidelity of MyTeachingPartner literacy and language activities: Association with preschoolers’ language and literacy growth

There is surprisingly little empirical research examining issues of fidelity of implementation within the early childhood education literature. In the MyTeachingPartner project, 154 teachers were provided with materials to implement a supplemental classroom curriculum addressing six aspects of literacy and language development. The present study examines the degree of variability in three aspects of implementation fidelity – dosage, adherence, and quality of delivery – and whether these components of fidelity were associated with children's growth in language and literacy skills across the preschool year. Findings indicate that teachers reported using the curriculum fairly often (dosage) and that they were observed to generally follow curricular lesson plans (adherence). In contrast, the quality of delivery, defined as the use of evidence-based teacher–child interactions for teaching literacy and language, was much lower. Children in classrooms in which activities were observed to last for longer (dosage) and in which teachers exhibited higher quality of delivery of literacy lessons made significantly greater gains in early literacy skills across the preschool year. Also, teachers’ use of higher quality language interactions was associated with gains for children who did not speak English at home. Results have implications for teacher professional development and the supports provided to ensure that curricula are delivered most effectively.     

Associations Between School Readiness and Obesity‐ and Inflammation‐Related Biomarkers in Low‐Income Preschoolers Within the Healthy Kids Study

Previous research suggests obesity is negatively related to cognitive functioning and academic outcomes in addition to physical health. However, not much is known about this association in early childhood or potential physiological underpinnings. Biomarkers related to obesity have been associated with cognition, in particular the adipokine leptin, and pro‐inflammatory cytokines including interleukin‐6 (IL‐6), tumor necrosis factor‐alpha (TNF‐alpha) and C‐reactive protein (CRP). These associations may be further exacerbated for children who experience early life stress. With a sample of low‐income preschoolers, the current study examined associations between obesity‐related biomarkers and aspects of behavioral and cognitive school readiness. Partial correlations controlling for child age show hypothesized negative associations between pro‐inflammatory cytokines and school readiness, while leptin was positively associated with cognitive school readiness and body mass index (BMI) z‐score. Findings suggest connections between obesity, physiology, and school readiness need further examination, but may have implications for early childhood education and health interventions.     

A Systematic Review of Barriers and Facilitators of Disability Disclosure and Accommodations for Youth in Post-Secondary Education

This review critically appraised the literature on disability disclosure and accommodations for youth with disabilities in post-secondary education (PSE). Systematic searches of 8 databases identified 36 studies meeting our inclusion criteria. These studies were analysed with respect to the characteristics of the participants, methodology, results of the studies and quality of evidence. Five thousand, one hundred and seventy four participants (mean age 26.4) were represented across six countries. Barriers to disability disclosure and requests for accommodations in PSE included stigma, discrimination, lack of knowledge of supports and how to access them, type of course and instructor, coping styles, and nature of the disability. Facilitators included supports and resources, coping and self-advocacy skills, mentorship, and realising the benefits of disclosure. Factors affecting the process and timing of disability disclosure in PSE included the type of disability, and mode of disclosure. There was a lack of consensus on the timing of disclosure.     

Reflections on the Use of the RTE Model in Physical Education

Abstract

Research on teacher effectiveness (RTE) using process-product design is a relative newcomer in the area of educational research and an infant in the realm of physical education. The “ideal” model for RTE postulated by cognitive domain researchers from the University of Pittsburgh's Learning Research and Development Center specified six requirements for such research including measures of outcome, teacher behavior, and other influencing factors; a model of classroom processes; data collection procedures; and analysis techniques. This paper discusses procedures and problems related to application of the model where the outcome was psychomotor. Specific topics of discussion include utilizing practice time, providing feedback, defining teaching, measuring teacher mastery, selecting the learning task, utilizing the experimental teaching unit (ETU) approach, and using observation systems. The knowledge base in the acquisition of motor skill must be translated into language for the practitioner. To accomplish this translation, it is necessary to identify teacher behaviors that facilitate learning within given contexts for a specified task or tasks. Such identification will be possible when additional research provides refinement in the model and a sound foundation of knowledge. This research endeavor was an early step in the refinement process.