Exploratory analysis of decentralized governance and its implications for the equity of early childhood education services in four countries of Europe and Central Asia

We conducted a qualitative study in four countries of the Europe and Central Asia (ECA) region and explored the Early Childhood Education (ECE) policy landscape with an emphasis on the challenges and opportunities decentralization has presented for the provision of services. We content-analyzed ECE policies and documents to map national approaches to ECE. Key informant interviews were conducted to assess the implementation of decentralized ECE governance. An analytical framework that combined core constructs of ECE systems and key domains of decentralization (autonomy, institutional capacity and accountability) was developed and applied. Our analysis points to four overarching processes that contribute to the perpetuation and possible increase of inequitable ECE including (1) sparse mechanisms for participatory and autonomous policy formulation, with few systematic efforts to strengthen local institutional capacities; (2) fragmented policy approaches to promote the assessment and strengthening of quality at scale; (3) funding frameworks and financing schemes that tend to benefit enrolment in contexts of higher levels of economic development; and (4) few mechanisms for coordination to ensure operational coherence across the ECE sector.     

Cultural Humility in Physical Education Teacher Education: A Missing Piece in Developing a New Generation of Socially Just Physical Education Teachers

ABSTRACT

The increased pluralism in today’s United States society, including our public school student population, has called for physical education teacher education (PETE) programs to train teachers who can respond to the educational needs of students from diverse backgrounds. However, concerns have been raised with educator preparation programs’ ability to prepare teachers to address diversity in our schools. Therefore, the purpose of this article is to discuss the movement toward teaching for social justice in PETE with focus on preparing teachers for cultural diversity; this includes special attention to cultural humility as a missing component in physical education teacher preparation. We discuss the current state of diversity in PETE, leading to a discussion of social justice as a theme in teaching and teacher education in physical education. Next, we detail the underpinnings of social justice pedagogies in physical education and the need for infusing cultural humility in PETE.     

Soothing pain-elicited distress in infants with swaddling and pacifiers

The effectiveness of pacifiers and swaddling in reducing pain-induced distress was compared in 2-week-old infants who underwent heel-sticks and 2-month-old infants who received injections. Crying, state, and heart rate were measured on 32 infants at each age during baseline, the stress of heel-stick or injection, and during 3-min soothing intervention and postintervention periods. At 2 weeks, infants' HR levels and crying declined significantly more rapidly in the pacifier than in the swaddling condition. At 2 months, both conditions produced similar rates of decline in HR and crying. At both ages, infants in the pacifier group spent significantly more time in an alert state than did swaddled infants. Following termination of the intervention at both ages, HR and crying tended to rebound more in the pacifier than in the swaddling group. Swaddling and pacifiers thus reduce pain-elicited distress differently.     

Syllabic Strategy as Opposed to Coda Optimization in the Segmentation of Spanish Letter-Strings Using Word Spotting

A word-spotting task is used in Spanish to test the way in which polysyllabic letter-strings are parsed in this language. Monosyllabic words (e.g., bar) embedded at the beginning of a pseudoword were immediately followed by either a coda-forming consonant (e.g., barto) or a vowel (e.g., baros). In the former case, the embedded word corresponds to the first spoken syllable, whereas it cuts across the syllable boundary in the latter case. Unlike a previous study in English using the same methodology (Taft & Álvarez, 2014), the embedded word was found to be easier to detect when followed by a consonant than a vowel, at least for low-frequency words. It was concluded that phonological recoding is more important in the parsing of Spanish words than English words, where maximization of the coda dominates instead.     

The effect of frequency of testing upon the measurement of achievement in an intensive time-series design

Progress in the development of an intensive time-series design for use in classroom situations has raised several questions regarding the validity of the data obtained. One such question is related to the effect of frequency of testing upon the data. This study was designed to determine the presence of such an effect. Use of the design with eighth grade students studying a unit on crustal evolution indicated that the frequency of data collection did not adversely affect student attitudes toward the science class nor did it have any measurable effect upon class achievement data. The results of a previous study were also replicated, giving increased confidence in the validity of the data yielded by the intensive time-series design as used in these studies.     

What do daily behavior report cards (DBRCs) measure? An initial comparison of DBRCs with direct observation for off‐task behavior

This study investigated the similarity of information provided from a daily behavior report card (DBRC) as rated by the teacher to direct observation data obtained from external observers. In addition, the similarity of ratings was compared with variations of problem severity (mild, severe) and teacher training (none, some). Results suggested a moderate association between teacher perceptions of behavior as measured by DBRC ratings and direct observation conducted by an external observer. In addition, 23–45% of the variance in DBRC ratings was consistent with the direct observation data. Severity of the behavior problem or the inclusion of training was not found to significantly affect the similarity of ratings. In summary, results tentatively suggest that the DBRC may be a viable supplement to direct observation for estimating behavior in applied settings. Limitations, future research directions, and implications are discussed. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Psychol Schs 42: 669–676, 2005.     

Indexical Expressions in Word Problems and their Influence on Multiple Referents of the Unknown

When translating word problems into equations, a common error consists of using the same letter to refer to two different quantities. This error, called multiple referents for the unknown, can be connected to the existence of deictic or indexical expressions within the problem statement. This paper aims to analyse the influence of indexical expressions on the incidence of the multiple referents for the unknown error. Results from a quantitative study with 117 Spanish secondary students show a significantly higher number of such type of error when the problem statement contains indexical expressions. The analysis of students’ performances in subsequent interviews indicates that this error may be due to the fragmented reading of statements.     

Reward devaluation disrupts latent inhibition in fear conditioning

Three experiments explored the link between reward shifts and latent inhibition (LI). Using consummatory procedures, rewards were either downshifted from 32% to 4% sucrose (Experiments 1–2), or upshifted from 4% to 32% sucrose (Experiment 3). In both cases, appropriate unshifted controls were also included. LI was implemented in terms of fear conditioning involving a single tone-shock pairing after extensive tone-only preexposure. Nonpreexposed controls were also included. Experiment 1 demonstrated a typical LI effect (i.e., disruption of fear conditioning after preexposure to the tone) in animals previously exposed only to 4% sucrose. However, the LI effect was eliminated by preexposure to a 32%-to-4% sucrose devaluation. Experiment 2 replicated this effect when the LI protocol was administered immediately after the reward devaluation event. However, LI was restored when preexposure was administered after a 60-min retention interval. Finally, Experiment 3 showed that a reward upshift did not affect LI. These results point to a significant role of negative emotion related to reward devaluation in the enhancement of stimulus processing despite extensive nonreinforced preexposure experience.     

Does teacher homework feedback matter to 6th graders’ school engagement?: a mixed methods study

Metacognition and Learning - The effectiveness of homework on improving student academic achievement depends on several factors; for example, feedback provided by the teacher (i.e. grading) and...     

“Did you do your homework?” Mathematics teachers’ homework follow‐up practices at middle school level

Teachers’ homework follow‐up practices, the in‐class strategies teachers use to monitor their students’ homework assignments, have an impact on their students’ homework behaviors and academic achievement. The current study explored the perspectives of middle school mathematics teachers on the three domains of homework follow‐up: the practices used in class, the purposes of each practice, and the aspects that may influence this process. Data were collected from two data sources (i.e., focus groups and classroom observations) and were analyzed using thematic analysis. The findings showed that teachers monitored homework either using a single strategy or a combination of strategies (e.g., checking homework completion and providing individual feedback) linked to a specific purpose (e.g., promote students’ involvement). The teachers also reported that they were under certain constraints when they delivered homework follow‐up practices (e.g., pressure to follow the curriculum), so their practices’ effectiveness sometimes can be compromised. Implications for practice are discussed.