Young black children and science: Chronotopes of narratives around their science journals

We explored 30 Black Kindergarten‐2nd grade students' spoken narratives around pages of their science journals that the children selected as best for showing them as scientists. Because in all narratives, space–time relationships play an important role not only in situating but also in constituting them, we focused on such relationships using Bakhtin's (1981) construct of chronotopes. Our chronotopical analysis aimed at fleshing out the temporal and spatial features that were present in the children's journal pages, and in the children's ways of talking both about these features and about being scientists. Our goal was to better understand ways in which African‐American children identify with science and scientists in particular contexts: an interview with an adult who had visited their class throughout that year and a class where they were offered various opportunities to engage with science. Using six cases that maximized the variety of understandings we could develop vis‐à‐vis our research question, we show how the children's narratives were filled with differing space–time relationships in which the children found ways to showcase their agency. Thus, we provide insights into how the children authored relationships with science and scientists, negotiated the past with the present and possible future, and contextualized their narratives within various time‐spaces that had meaning for them. Moreover, multiple people populated the children's chronotopes and became intertwined with the space–time relationships that underlined their conceptions of themselves vis‐à‐vis science and scientists. Despite the varied conceptions of science and scientists that the children portrayed, their narratives communicated a high level of confidence in being able to do science and be scientists, and initiative in learning. The children's narratives were filled with hope, “able‐ness,” knowledge, affect, and possibility. These findings point to several considerations for practice. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 49: 568–596, 2012     

Absorptive capacity: A conceptual framework for understanding district central office learning

Globally, school systems are pressed to engage in large-scale school improvement. In the United States and other countries, school district central offices and other local governing agencies often engage with external organizations and individuals to support such educational change efforts. However, initiatives with external partners are not always productive. We draw on the idea of absorptive capacity to present a conceptual framework for understanding when and under what conditions partnerships are likely to foster district learning and support change efforts. We contend that prior knowledge, communication pathways, strategic knowledge leadership, and resources to partner are preconditions for a district central office’s absorptive capacity, and we identify the features of the external partner that likely matter for productive partnering. We argue that the relationship between district absorptive capacity and features of the partner is mediated by the nature of the interactions between district and partner, with likely consequences for organizational learning outcomes. For researchers, this framework serves as a tool for understanding how a district central office can learn from an external partner for educational improvement efforts. For school district leaders and external partners, this framework provides a structure for thinking strategically about when and under what conditions a partnership is likely to be productive.     

Development of a Reality‐Based Multimedia Case Study Teaching Method and its Effect on Students’ Planned Food Safety Behaviors

There is opportunity to decrease the frequency of foodborne illnesses by improving food safety competencies and planned behaviors of college students before they begin careers in the food industry. The objectives of this study were to (1) develop a multimedia case study teaching method that provides real world context for food science education; and (2) evaluate the extent to which it improves the intentions of students to implement food safety management systems upon entering the workforce, as well its impact on knowledge gains and students’ abilities to understand complex concepts. The target audience consisted of all participants in an upper‐level undergraduate food safety management systems course (n = 17). A pretest and posttest survey research instrument was developed to measure knowledge gains and also students’ food safety intentions using the framework of the Theory of Planned Behavior. Students experienced significant gains in knowledge, attitude, and intention after completion of the course (P < 0.05). One hundred percent of students agreed that the interactive videos aided in their understanding of food safety concepts. A paired t test suggested that both behavioral control beliefs and attitudes of students toward food safety management significantly increased (P < 0.5) after completion of the case study. These results suggest that integrating multimedia case studies into food science education may enhance food safety behaviors.     

Motivational interviewing as a positive response to high‐school bullying

Intervention approaches to bullying are largely preventive in nature, and even these have been shown to be ineffective, if not iatrogenic, with adolescents. Responses to bullying are limited to traditional punitive approaches or “no‐blame” approaches aiming to restore the relationship between the targeted students. Neither of these approaches may effectively engage the perpetrator of bullying at a motivational level, and we propose motivational interviewing (MI) as a means of promoting meaningful behavioral change among youths who bully. We provide a narrative review of MI and map its core features onto the extant literature on self‐reported motivations for bullying, highlighting the ways that MI fits with bullying and could serve as a potent solution that could be deployed by school psychologists and other student support staff members. Qualitative preliminary feedback and initial competency in MI from trained practitioners are presented as preliminary data from a cluster‐randomized control trial, documenting school staff perspectives on the integration of MI into their approach to bullying with recommendations for integrating MI into school settings.     

Contact,culture and context: evidence from mixed faith schools in Northern Ireland and Israel

This paper compares the concept of mixed faith/cultural education in Northern Ireland and Israel. It is primarily concerned with the processes that these ‘integrated’ schools adopt in their quest to improve relations between divided ethnic groups. Drawing on qualitative data collected in two mixed religion primary schools in each jurisdiction the paper shows that the schools' existing cultural norms act as important mediating influences on the way that inter‐group relationships are constructed. The paper concludes that attention needs to be paid to both the policy context and the culture if contact initiatives are to be successful.     

Finding the Hook: Computer Science Education in Elementary Contexts

The purpose of this study was to investigate how elementary teachers with little knowledge of computer science (CS) and project-based learning (PBL) experienced integrating CS through PBL as a part of a standards-based elementary curriculum in Grades 3–5. The researchers used qualitative constant comparison methods on field notes and reflections to describe the teachers' participation in professional development to create CS-infused projects to be implemented with their students. Categories that emerged included standards integration, student autonomy, and challenges of infrastructure and time. The data are from the first 6 months of a 3-year, National Science Foundation-funded project. (Keywords: computer science, project-based learning, integration, elementary curriculum)     

Understanding patterns of food insecurity and family well-being amid the COVID-19 pandemic using daily surveys

This paper investigates economic and psychological hardship during the COVID-19 pandemic among a diverse sample (61% Latinx; 16% White; 9% Black; 14% mixed/other race) of socioeconomically disadvantaged parents (90% mothers; mean age = 35 years) and their elementary school-aged children (ages 4–11; 49% female) in rural Pennsylvania (N = 272). Families participating in a local food assistance program reported on food insecurity (FI) and parent and child mood and behavior daily from January to May 2020. Longitudinal models revealed that FI, negative parent and child mood, and child misbehavior significantly increased when schools closed; only FI and parent depression later decreased. FI decreased most among those who received the local food assistance program; Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program receipt uniquely predicted decreases in child FI.     

Maternal Support of Children’s Math Learning in Associations Between Family Income and Math School Readiness

This study examined maternal support of children’s math learning at 36 months (n = 140) as a mediator of the association between early childhood family income and children’s counting and calculation skills at 4½ and 6–7 years. Family income was associated with this measure of children’s math school readiness, but the association was almost entirely indirect and mediated by observed maternal support of children’s numerical skills at 36 months. Maternal support of children’s spatial concept and general learning (cognitive stimulation and sensitivity) were not significant mediators of this association. Results suggest that income-based gaps in counting and calculation skills at school entry may be due in part to the constraints that low family income places on early numerical learning support.     

Neuropsychological correlates of vocabulary, reading, and working memory in deaf children with cochlear implants

The performance of deaf children with cochlear implants was assessed using measures standardized on hearing children. To investigate nonverbal cognitive and sensorimotor processes associated with postimplant variability, five selected sensorimotor and visuospatial subtests from A Developmental Neuropsychological Assessment (NEPSY) were compared with standardized vocabulary, reading, and digit span measures. Participants were 26 deaf children, ages 6-14 years, who received a cochlear implant between ages 1 and 6 years; duration of implant use ranged from 3 to 11 years. Results indicated significant correlations between standard scores on the Design Copying subtest of the NEPSY and standard scores on vocabulary comprehension, reading, and digit span measures. The results contribute to our understanding of the benefits of cochlear implantation and cognitive processes that may support postimplant language and academic functioning.