The Relation between Chinese Preschoolers’ Social-Emotional Competence and Preacademic Skills

Research Findings: The current study examines the relations between Chinese preschoolers’ social-emotional competence and their preacademic skills, as well as the role of child gender and parental education in such relations. A total of 154 children from the northeastern region of China were involved in the study. Both parents and head teachers of the target children completed measures of children’s social-emotional competence and preacademic skills. Multiple aspects of social-emotional competence were investigated. The results showed that children’s withdrawn behaviors and attention problems were negatively related to their preacademic skills. Both parent- and teacher-reported positive social behaviors were positively related to children’s preacademic skills. In addition, child gender and parental education together moderated the effects of children’s anxious/depressed problems and parent-reported social behaviors on children’s preacademic skills. Practice or Policy: Teacher training and support are needed to help preschool teachers (a) better support children who are socially withdrawn or have difficulty regulating attention and (b) understand the construct and importance of social-emotional development in relation to children’s preacademic development . In addition, child characteristics such as age and gender and socioeconomic factors need to be taken into consideration in the study of young children’s social-emotional and cognitive competence.     

Development of a formative peer observation protocol for STEM faculty reflection

Abstract

Faculty peer observation has seen increasing uptake in recent years, in some cases as an alternative or supplement to student teaching evaluations. While many universities encourage faculty peer observation, it is not widely used in a formal way for formative assessment. This article outlines the development of a new faculty peer observation protocol designed for formative assessment of evidence-based educational practices. The goal of the protocol is to foster reflective teaching practices. The peer observation protocol has been designed to mitigate common faculty fears of classroom observation, with detailed assessment methods for specific topic areas. Preliminary testing of the protocol at one university indicated positive faculty outcomes with regard to personal reflection: all the faculty who tested the protocol reported that the observation process had been helpful for them to reflect on their teaching.     

Impacts of Learning Standards and Testing on Gifted Learners in STEM Schools: A Multilevel Analytic Induction

This article shares findings from a multilevel analytic induction of administrators, teachers, and gifted students within specialized science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) schools about their beliefs regarding the role of standards and standardized tests in the education of gifted learners. Sharing results from a cross-case analysis of six schools, we explore the ways in which student experiences of standards-based learning differ from the perceptions of their teachers and school administrators. We found that there is no consensus across administrators, teachers, and students regarding the impact that standards have in the educational process or on outcomes within specialized STEM schools, though all community members value and seek to create deep learning opportunities for students.     

Maternal Sensitivity and the Security of Infant-Mother Attachment: A Q-Sort Study

40 mothers and their 12-month-old infants were observed twice at home by 2 observers for 2 hours. After the second visit, the observers described the infant using the Waters Attachment Behavior Q-sort and the mother's interactive behavior with the Maternal Behavior Q-sort developed by the present authors and Ainsworth's rating scales. Maternal sensitivity was unrelated to maternal age, income, or SES, but correlated positively with maternal education. Mothers of more difficult children were less sensitive. A strong relation was found between infant attachment and maternal sensitivity as measured by the Maternal Behavior Q-sort and by the Ainsworth scales. Using the Q-sort procedure, mothers of more secure infants were more frequently characterized as noticing their babies' signals and using these signals to guide their behavior; they also were more knowledgeable about their infant and appeared to enjoy them more than mothers of less secure infants.     

Co‐constructing inquiry‐based science with teachers: Essential research for lasting reform

In this article we assert a potential research agenda for the teaching and learning of science as inquiry as part of the JRST series on reform in science education. Drawing on the theoretical frameworks of cognitive and sociocultural constructivism, cultural models of meaning, the dialogic function of language, and transformational models of teacher education, we propose that more research is needed in the areas of teachers' beliefs, knowledge, and practices of inquiry‐based science, as well as, student learning. Because the efficacy of reform efforts rest largely with teachers, their voices need to be included in the design and implementation of inquiry‐based curriculum. As we review the literature and pose future research questions, we propose that particular attention be paid to research on inquiry in diverse classrooms, and to modes of inquiry‐based instruction that are designed by teachers. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 38: 631–645, 2001     

Using a Multilevel Assessment Scheme in Reforming Science Methods Courses

The development of new courses is strengthened by assessment and a response to the assessment. Two new science methods courses for elementary and secondary preservice teachers were developed, fostered by the Great Salt Lake Project. The preservice teachers designed and performed research projects that they then converted into inquiry-based teaching units. The professors applied a 3-layer assessment scheme to evaluate the courses and the preservice teachers based on changes in student attitudes, student-generated curricula, and internal course evaluations. Each type of assessment effectively informed the reform process, and strengths and weaknesses of the courses were revealed. Strengths of the courses included students learning to see science as a process and comprehending inquiry as a pedagogical approach. Weaknesses observed included a lack of understanding in three areas: the role of assessment, the need to address cultural issues, and the significance of scientific literacy.     

Gang behavior in the schools: Reality or myth?

The purpose of this review is to explore the nature of gang behavior in U.S. schools, with a particular focus on the extent to which such behavior affects or exacerbates the larger issue of school violence. An unanticipated finding was the absence of strong empirical support for school gang violence. The evidence does show youth gangs have changed dramatically over the last several decades and have become more violent, largely due to drugs and weapons-carrying. One major impact of this violence on schools has been the dissolving of the school as the neutral zone, where gang activity ceased. Thus, it appears that the similar turf issues of the street gangs have infiltrated the schools. The review explores problems related to school gang violence definitions and literature, trends in school-related gang activity, reasons for gang membership, at-risk youth, and proposed strategies for ameliorating the problem.     

Intensive instruction affects brain magnetic activity associated with oral word reading in children with persistent reading disabilities

Fifteen children ages 7 to 9 years who had persistent reading difficulties despite adequate instruction were provided with intensive tutorial interventions. The interventions targeted deficient phonological processing and decoding skills for 8 weeks (2 hours per day) followed by an 8-week, 1-hour-per-day intervention that focused on the development of reading fluency skills. Spatiotemporal brain activation profiles were obtained at baseline and after each 8-week intervention program using magnetoencephalography during the performance of an oral sight-word reading task. Changes in brain activity were found in the posterior part of the middle temporal gyrus (Brodmann's Area [BA] 21: increased degree of activity and reduced onset latency), the lateral occipitotemporal region (BA 19/37: decreased onset latency of activation), and the premotor cortex (increased onset latency). Overall changes associated with the intervention were primarily normalizing, as indicated by (a) increased activity in a region that is typically involved in lexical--semantic processing (BA 21) and (b) a shift in the relative timing of regional activity in temporal and frontal cortices to a pattern typically seen in unimpaired readers. These findings extend previous results in demonstrating significant changes in the spatiotemporal profile of activation associated with word reading in response to reading remediation.     

Long-Term Memory for Context-Specific Category Information at Six Months

The ability of 6-month-old infants to remember a functional category acquired in a specific context was assessed in 3 experiments via an operant procedure in which infants learned to perform a specific action (a footkick) to activate an object suspended before them. In Experiment 1, infants trained with different exemplars in the same context transferred responding to a novel exemplar in the same but not a different context 24 hours later. Experiment 2 revealed that infants' reactivated memory of category training remained intact and context-specific after 3 weeks. In Experiment 3, a novel category exemplar was able to reactivate the forgotten memory of category training only in the encoding context. At 6 months, information about the place where categories are constructed is prerequisite for retrieval of a category concept from long-term memory. This requirement insures that early category concepts remain stable over relatively long periods.