Designing an internationationalised curriculum for higher education: embracing the local and the global citizen

In this article, differing interpretations of the internationalisation of higher education curriculum are explored analysing the structural and cultural aspects of the curriculum. Voices of tertiary staff from around the world taking part in a four-week, fully online course, entitled ‘Internationalising the curriculum for all students’ contributed to stimulating discussions that raised many questions about whose perspectives were being privileged in defining an internationalised curriculum and what constituted a transformed curriculum. In this analysis, the framework illuminates the varied theoretical and practical stances towards an internationalised curriculum. It highlights that indigenous knowledges and the positionings of marginal and diaspora peoples have been widely overlooked in internationalisation of curriculum practices, and these perspectives need to become integral to discussions of future tertiary education policies and curricula.     

Implementing cycles of Assess,Plan, Do,Review: a literature review of practitioner perspectives

This article uses a literature review process to explore current literature on Response to Intervention (RtI), an approach to the identification of and provision for students with special educational needs introduced in the USA by the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act of 2004. Parallels are made between RtI and the graduated approach of successive cycles of Assess, Plan, Do, Review (APDR) outlined in the Special Educational Needs and Disability Code of Practice introduced in England in 2014. Research concerning APDR is scarce, and therefore this review looks to research on RtI to inform current practice. Recurring themes throughout the literature relate to the ongoing professional development and learning for practitioners that is afforded by engagement in RtI, and an awareness that it takes time to accrue the benefits of such an approach. Further research is needed to ascertain the outworking of a reform such as RtI/APDR within the English context.     

The genetic and environmental covariation among psychopathic personality traits, and reactive and proactive aggression in childhood

The present study investigated the genetic and environmental covariance between psychopathic personality traits with reactive and proactive aggression in 9- to 10-year-old twins (N = 1,219). Psychopathic personality traits were assessed with the Child Psychopathy Scale (D. R. Lynam, 1997), while aggressive behaviors were assessed using the Reactive Proactive Questionnaire (A. Raine et al., 2006). Significant common genetic influences were found to be shared by psychopathic personality traits and aggressive behaviors using both caregiver (mainly mother) and child self-reports. Significant genetic and nonshared environmental influences specific to psychopathic personality traits and reactive and proactive aggression were also found, suggesting etiological independence among these phenotypes. Additionally, the genetic relation between psychopathic personality traits and aggression was significantly stronger for proactive than reactive aggression when using child self-reports.     

Examining the validity of office discipline referrals as an indicator of student behavior problems

Office discipline referral (ODR) data are increasingly used to monitor student behavior problems and the impact of interventions, but there has been limited research examining their validity. The current study examined the concordance of ODRs with teacher ratings of student behavior using data on 8,645 children in 335 classrooms at 21 elementary schools. The results of a variety of analyses (e.g., correlations, multivariate analysis of variance, receiver operating characteristics) suggested that ODRs are moderately valid and reliable. Multilevel analyses revealed that teacher ratings of disruptive behaviors were significantly associated with ODRs, even after controlling for other student‐, classroom‐, and school‐level factors. These findings suggest that ODRs are moderately valid indicators of student behavior problems and may be an efficient source of information for use in school‐based research and data‐based decision‐making. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Gender differences and social support: Mediators or moderators between peer victimization and depressive feelings?

Using self‐report questionnaires, a survey among 606 Dutch primary school children aged 10 to 12 years examined relationships among social support, gender, victimization, and depressive feelings. Hierarchical regression analyses confirmed that victims and bully/victims would report more depressive feelings than uninvolved children. There was no evidence that social support moderated the relationship between victimization and depressive feelings. However, social support appeared to influence the depressive feelings of victimized children, that is, pupils who were victimized received very little support and hence suffered depression. This general mediation effect could be observed in boys. In girls, the mediating effects of social support were more diffuse. For girls, the risk factor for the development of depressive feelings did not so much pertain to the type of bullying as to the subsequent lack of social support they experienced. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Longitudinal predictors of very early Chinese literacy acquisition

This 2‐year longitudinal study examined both concurrent and longitudinal relations of a variety of reading‐related cognitive tasks and Chinese word reading and word dictation among 187 Hong Kong Chinese kindergarteners aged 4–6. Homophone awareness, visual skills and syllable awareness were all uniquely associated with Chinese word reading across time, with age, vocabulary knowledge and nonverbal IQ statistically controlled. Only visual skill and syllable deletion uniquely explained early Chinese word dictation, however. Results extend previous research on cognitive correlates of Chinese literacy and highlight the small but unique contribution of homophone awareness for early reading acquisition in Chinese.     

Investigating English reading comprehension growth in adolescent language minority learners: some insights from the simple view

The development of reading skills in language minority (LM) learners, particularly during the middle school years, remains unclear despite the increasing need for educators to serve this rapidly growing population. In this study, the English reading comprehension growth of middle school LM learners was investigated using a longitudinal design and the simple view of reading as a theoretical framework. Students were assessed at four time points between fifth and seventh grades on standardized measures of listening comprehension, word reading, and reading comprehension. Individual growth modeling revealed that both listening comprehension and word reading assessed in fifth grade predicted the elevation of students’ developmental trajectories in reading comprehension. However, neither skill predicted students’ growth in reading comprehension, and there was no significant variation across children in growth rates, indicating that students in seventh grade remained on a trajectory established in fifth grade. The implications of the slowing rate of reading comprehension development during the middle school years are discussed.     

A review of biochemical and ultrasound markers in the detection of down syndrome

Childbirth educators need to understand existing prenatal care opportunities and current information for expectant women. This article reviews several testing options that are available during the second trimester of pregnancy to detect the risk of Down syndrome. Educators can help expectant women develop their own specific plan of care according to their special situations and needs. Pregnancy outcomes can be improved when women are informed and educated about the testing available to them.     

The effects of speech production and vocabulary training on different components of spoken language performance

A group of 21 hard-of-hearing and deaf children attending primary school were trained by their teachers on the production of selected consonants and on the meanings of selected words. Speech production, vocabulary knowledge, reading aloud, and speech perception measures were obtained before and after each type of training. The speech production training produced a small but significant improvement in the percentage of consonants correctly produced in words. The vocabulary training improved knowledge of word meanings substantially. Performance on speech perception and reading aloud were significantly improved by both types of training. These results were in accord with the predictions of a mathematical model put forward to describe the relationships between speech perception, speech production, and language measures in children (Paatsch, Blamey, Sarant, Martin, & Bow, 2004). These training data demonstrate that the relationships between the measures are causal. In other words, improvements in speech production and vocabulary performance produced by training will carry over into predictable improvements in speech perception and reading scores. Furthermore, the model will help educators identify the most effective methods of improving receptive and expressive spoken language for individual children who are deaf or hard of hearing.