THE IMPACT OF AN INSERVICE EDUCATIONAL PROGRAM ON THE GERONTOLOGICAL KNOWLEDGE AND ATTITUDES OF GERIATRIC RECREATIONAL SERVICE PROVIDERS

The impact of an inservice program on practitioners’ gerontological knowledge and attitudes was examined. A nonequivalent control group design was used to conduct the study. The experimental group was made up of geriatric recreational service providers attending the first of two annual one‐week inservice educational programs. An outdoor resource management undergraduate level class served as the control group. The experimental group relative to the control group underwent a significant increase in their gerontological knowledge. Neither group experienced a significant change in their attitudes regarding the social value of the elderly or personal anxiety toward aging. The amount of change experienced in gerontological knowledge by program participants was significantly influenced by the degree of contact the individual had had with elders but not by their educational background. Educational background and degree of contact were not significantly associated with change in gerontological‐related attitudes. Implications for persons involved in designing and developing educational programs are discussed.     

The Development of Gender Stereotype Components

Developmental research has been limited by a narrow concept of stereotypes. A more complex model is presented, and developmental changes in gender stereotypes were investigated using the new model. In 2 studies, children were told about several sex-unspecified children, each described as having 1 masculine or 1 feminine characteristic. The children then predicted the likelihood of each story child having other masculine and feminine characteristics. In Study 1, 56 children (4–6 years) were told about target children who liked either a masculine or feminine toy, and then children predicted the targets' interests in other toys. In Study 2, 76 older children (6, 8, 10 years) were told about target children with a masculine or feminine characteristic from 1 of 4 categories (appearance, personality, occupations, toys), and then they predicted the likelihood of targets having other masculine and feminine characteristics from the same and from different categories as the cue. 2 developmental trends emerged: ( a ) children appear first to learn associations among characteristics relevant to their own sex and, later, to learn them for the other sex, and ( b ) older children's stereotypic judgments are more extreme than those of younger children. The implications of these results for the development of stereotypes, assessing gender knowledge, and understanding social judgments are discussed.     

Curriculum Focal Points： A framework for pre-k-8 teachers＇ professional development

Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study raised the concern that the United States （US） mathematics teachers place less emphasis on topics and teach a variety of content strands （Goldsmith, Mark ＆ Kantrov, 2000; Kerachsky, 2008）. The overall pattern in the US mathematics classrooms today is that primary and upper elementary teachers cover numerous topics before students achieve mastery （Cogan ＆ Schmidt, 1999; National Center for Education Statistics, 1997）. To solve this problem, US teachers need to find ways to focus fewer curriculum and study topics with a more in-depth agenda. Curriculum Focal Points for pre-kindergarten through grade 8 mathematics： a quest for coherence （National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, 2006） provides a strong framework that may assist teachers in creating a more coherent and focused mathematics program for students. In this article, the authors discuss example lessons that were implemented and observed in pre-kindergarten, fourth grade and sixth grade classrooms during a year-long professional development program. The overarching goal of this program was to provide appropriate instruction for teachers to organize mathematics standards-based curriculum in geometry, algebra and measurement, using a curriculum that emphasizes a strong conceptual framework. As an outcome of this exploratory research agenda, the authors＇ intentions were to circulate ＂best practices＂ and encourage international connections and discussion when using Curriculum Focal Points （CFP） in global classrooms.