The Structure of Preschoolers’ Emotion Knowledge: Model Equivalence and Validity Using a Structural Equation Modeling Approach

Research Findings: A theory-based 2-factor structure of preschoolers’ emotion knowledge (i.e., recognition of emotional expression and understanding of emotion-eliciting situations) was tested using confirmatory factor analysis. Compared to 1- and 3-factor models, the 2-factor model showed a better fit to the data. The model was found to be equivalent for gender, race, age, and socioeconomic risk. Theory and the high correlation between the 2 latent factors suggested a hierarchical nature of development, in which a higher level of emotion knowledge is built upon a lower level. In our validity model, we found significant paths from the recognition to the situation factor and from the situation factor to teachers’ reports of preschoolers’ learning behaviors and social competence. Results provide further evidence of the significant role emotion plays in preschoolers’ school readiness. Practice or Policy: Early childhood educators can benefit from knowing that recognition of expressions and understanding of emotion-eliciting situations are appropriately teachable in this age range and can focus such teaching upon negative emotions and those that may vary across individuals. Furthermore, relations between these aspects of emotion knowledge and school readiness add to accumulating evidence that early childhood programming focusing upon emotion knowledge has multiple benefits.     

Close But No Cigar (Yet): A Commentary on “Has Consultation Achieved Its Primary Prevention Potential?,” an article by Joseph E. Zins

More than a decade ago, Joseph Zins (1995) hypothesized that consultation had the power to prevent children from developing academic, social, emotional, and related problems. To date, empirical research has yet to fully validate its value. This commentary discusses the potential benefit of consultation as a preventive measure, identifies ways to overcome barriers to implementation, and recognizes that more research is needed to fully validate its use as a primary prevention strategy.     

Whiteness and social studies teacher education: tensions in the pedagogical task

Utilizing a critical whiteness studies framework, the authors analyzed the experiences of a cohort of predominantly White pre-service social studies teachers discussing race and Whiteness in relation to education. The pre-service teachers resisted identifying White privilege as a form of structural racism, instead preferring individualized understandings of racism. The participants also utilized their personal biographies to accept or reject aspects of race privilege. The authors highlighted three tensions for teacher educators to consider when engaging pre-service teachers in discussions about race privilege, including recognizing the unfamiliar nature of structural thinking, appreciating the limitations of personal experience, and acknowledging the challenges of structural considerations within individual classrooms. The authors’ findings – and the tensions they highlight– depart from previous literature on White teachers and race by paying specific attention to pedagogical issues related to developing a critical racial consciousness in White teachers and by attending to the ways in which Whiteness, as a structural force, limits the ability of White teachers to engage in conversations about race. The authors attempt to trouble the assumption that the pedagogical practices in teacher education adequately create an environment in which White teachers can thoroughly engage in the problematics of race, racism, and Whiteness.     

Criminology and Criminal Justice Doctoral Programs in 2012–2013: Transformation of a Male-Dominated Arena

This study provides a cross-sectional portrait of female scholars working as tenure-track faculty members at institutions offering doctoral degrees in criminology and/or criminal justice. Relying primarily upon departmental websites as an initial source of information, it was determined that the 35 programs were comprised of 198 (35.9%) female and 353 (64.1%) male tenure-track faculty members. Despite the historical male domination of criminal justice professions as well as higher education instructional roles, this study finds that females represent an increasingly visible and instrumental component of doctoral education within the discipline. Females comprised at least 50% of faculty members within seven doctoral programs, and seven programs had female administrators. Most importantly, a majority of the hires over the previous 12?years were female. Assuming this trend continues, a once male-dominated academic discipline will soon find itself in the midst of unprecedented change.     

The coverage of ethics in research methods textbooks

Ethics is one of the most important topics in criminal justice and criminological research, yet it is also one of the most neglected. Indeed, it is common for professors to merely gloss over ethical issues at the end of their research methods classes, or to exclude them completely. The present study attempts to determine if such disregard for ethics carries over into the coverage found in criminal justice research methods textbooks. Eleven research methods textbooks that are commonly used in criminal justice and criminology were analyzed, and coverage of ethics was found to vary greatly across the books. Unfortunately, we also found that some important issues within research ethics are being omitted in the majority of the books, and we make recommendations toward expanding the coverage of research ethics.     

Segregation and Immigration: An Examination of School Composition for Children of Immigrants

Immigration in the U.S. continues to increase and to become increasingly diverse. About 20% of U.S. students are children of immigrants. This phenomenon is occurring as schools are racially and ethnically resegregating even as race-based decision making for K-12 schooling has been severely limited. This study examines school segregation for children of immigrants who are often an overlooked component of this phenomenon. Using a large national dataset, the author explores the extent to which children of immigrants are segregated from non-immigrants as well as the extent to which they are segregated from Whites. This study also examines how these relationships vary based on a student's race/ethnicity and socioeconomic status. Results show a society where children of immigrants are segregated in school, which carries with it a host of likely negative outcomes. Implications for policy, practice, and future research are discussed.     

A Methodology for Determining the Transferability Rate of Courses

For transfer students, the transfer of credit between institutions creates a barrier to graduation as students’ time and money is ultimately wasted when courses do not successfully transfer as credit applicable toward degree requirements at the receiving institution. Understanding the extent to which courses at your institution transfer to other institutions is the first step to increase the transferability of courses and, ultimately, ease this barrier. We created a process for utilizing the enrollment data from the National Student Clearinghouse to identify a subset of institutions to which large numbers of our former students transferred in the past three years. Then, for these institutions, we recorded course transfer equivalency information from the Michigan Transfer Network website and several other sources. To determine the transferability rate of courses, a coding system was created to increase consistency in the identification of a course as transferable. The detailed methodology for this transferability analysis will be discussed. Finally, we will discuss the ways in which we use the transferability rate to better understand course characteristics in relation to transferability.     

Minor Hassles in Community College Student Life

Over the past several decades, academic stress—the pressures, frustrations and hassles associated with all aspects of college life—has gained increased attention in the literature. In this grant-funded study, a group of 161 students at an urban Northeastern community college took a comprehensive survey. The survey included questions about their academic stressors, their reactions to the stressors, and their coping strategies. In this survey, minor hassles emerged as the most prominent stressor experienced by these students. This paper describes the minor hassles experienced by the students, relates the findings to current and past literature on stress, and presents implications for community college administrators.     

A Note on Multigroup Comparisons Using SAS PROC CALIS

Ant colony optimization is a recently proposed heuristic procedure inspired by the behavior of real ants. This article applies the procedure to model specification searches in structural equation modeling and reports the results. The results demonstrate the capabilities of ant colony optimization algorithms for conducting automated searches.     

The Mississippi Community College Story: From Humble Beginnings to Extraordinary Outcomes

ABSTRACT

Mississippi has the oldest state-wide system of public 2-year colleges in the USA. The story of the creation of the community college system in Mississippi is both complex and powerful. Founded upon the combination of the needs of rural students, the challenge of poor transportation, and a serendipitous conference side-trip, the college system has faced and overcome many challenges. During the systems infancy, there was a struggle to define what role the colleges were to play in society, which is a struggle that continues today. Beginning as an outgrowth of a state K-12 system with agricultural roots, the system became an independent higher education entity that supported all the people of the state. The colleges of Mississippi experienced all of the transitional challenges common to the community college movement and navigated these challenges against the backdrop of a rapidly evolving view of segregation and race relations. The purpose of this paper is to present a concise picture of the history and development of the community college movement in Mississippi.