Family risks and protective factors: Pathways to Early Head Start toddlers’ social-emotional functioning

Early Head Start children may be more likely to exhibit difficulties with social-emotional functioning due to the high-risk environments in which they live. However, positive parenting may serve as a protective factor against the influence of risk on children's outcomes. The current study examines the effects of contextual and proximal risks on children's social-emotional outcomes and whether these effects are mediated by maternal sensitivity. One-hundred and fourteen low-income, high-risk mother-toddler dyads participated in this longitudinal study designed to examine the relationships between family risk, mothers’ sensitivity, and children's social-emotional functioning in Early Head Start families. Researchers conducted two 2.5-h home visits, approximately six months apart, during which they assessed mothers’ levels of family risk, maternal sensitivity, and their children's social-emotional functioning. A theoretically derived structural equation model was tested to examine the direct paths from family risk variables to children's social-emotional functioning and the indirect paths by way of the mediator variable, maternal sensitivity. Support was found for a model that identified maternal sensitivity as a mediator of the relationship between parenting stress and children's social-emotional functioning. Results have implications for providing services through Early Head Start programs that are aimed at alleviating parenting stress and enhancing maternal sensitivity.     

Ancillary staff members' mainstreaming recommendations for students with mild exceptionalities

Mainstreaming decisions, including identification of handicapped students for regular class placement and support service recommendations (e.g., reduced class size, inservice training, consultation services), are frequently made by nonclassroom personnel such as school psychologists, occupational/physical therapists, and speech/language pathologists. Factors considered by these professionals in making mainstreaming decisions are poorly understood, however. This study sought to identify mainstreaming modifications judged to be important by ancillary professionals in recommending mainstreaming of students with mild exceptionalities. Data revealed that no significant differences were noted in number of selected modifications as a function of diagnostic category. Ancillary staff members indicated, however, that substantial modifications were needed to facilitate successful mainstreaming. Results are discussed relative to current educational trends.     

Networking frameworks: a method for analyzing the complexities of classroom cultures focusing on justifying

In this paper, we network five frameworks (cognitive demand, lesson cohesion, cognitive engagement, collective argumentation, and student contribution) for an analytic approach that allows us to present a more holistic picture of classrooms which engage students in justifying. We network these frameworks around the edges of the instructional triangle as a means to coordinate them to illustrate the observable relationships among teacher, students(s), and content. We illustrate the potential of integrating these frameworks via analysis of two lessons that, while sharing surface level similarities, are profoundly different when considering the complexities of a classroom focused on justifying. We found that this integrated comparison across all dimensions (rather than focusing on just one or two) was a useful way to compare lessons with respect to a classroom culture that is characterized by students engaging in justifying.