COMPARISON OF THE BECK DEPRESSION INVENTORY-II AND THE INVENTORY TO DIAGNOSE DEPRESSION: IMPLICATIONS FOR COMMUNITY COLLEGE COUNSELORS

Community college counselors need to assess depressive symptoms in students and to differentiate depressive symptoms from anxiety symptoms to help them implement crisis intervention strategies. Two instruments available to the community college counselor are the Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II) and the Inventory to Diagnose Depression (IDD). This article, which is based on the published literature, reports on and discusses the construct and discriminant validities of the BDI-II and IDD so that community college counselors may use them with knowledge of the strengths and weaknesses of each instrument. Although results should be interpreted with caution, both instruments are useful in measuring the presence or absence of depressive symptoms.     

LEARNING COMMUNITIES AND COMMUNITY COLLEGES: A CASE STUDY

Learning communities have been present in community college settings for more than a decade. The literature suggests that they are generally effective for both participating students and faculty. As economic development increasingly demands greater technological sophistication, and community colleges are faced with increasing numbers of developmentally challenged students, learning communities may be one means to effectively resolve this paradox. This article is directed to those faculty and staff who may be considering the initiation of a learning community. It provides a review of literature, and presents a set of issues currently being addressed at one small community college in Louisiana where a learning community is in the design stage.     

Study Skills Analysis: A Pilot Study Linking a Success and Psychology Course

This study explored a concept that learning study skills in the context of the content area under study may transfer across courses, multiplying the benefits towards academic success. Methods that have been reported to influence academic growth at the community college level include success courses and applied study skills. In this pilot project among community college students, two instructors provided an enriched study skills curriculum by linking a success course with a psychology course. The instructors used techniques and activities geared toward enhancing study skills such as developing metacognitive strategies. The Learning and Study Skills Inventory (LASSI) was used to assess students’ progress. Despite few statistically significant findings, there were several interesting interaction effects. These provide some evidence for the need to emphasize the development of study strategies in existing success courses while also formally or informally tying such courses with a content course.     

Technology User Groups and Early Childhood Education: A Preliminary Study

This article presents a preliminary examination of the potential of Technology User Groups as a professional development venue for early childhood education professionals in developing operational and functional competence in using hardware and software components of a Technology toolkit. Technology user groups are composed of varying numbers of participants having an interest in technology, and are led by one or more skilled facilitators who meet with participants across time to help them acquire and demonstrate new technology skill sets. A series of these groups were conducted with seven early education professionals serving young preschool children who were at risk or who had disabilities. The impact of these technology user groups was examined using self-reports subsequent to individual participation. Specific data were collected regarding the types of technologies that had been used, and the types of classroom instructional products that had been created and implemented in classrooms using the technologies. A discussion of the value of technology user groups is presented.     

Instructional Leadership in Practice: What Does It Look Like,and What Influence Does It Have?

Literature on school reform has emphasized the need for principals to expand beyond their traditionally administrative role and become instructional leaders. This article examines the relationship between the practice of site-based instructional leadership and the professional development that teachers received in the context of a district-wide reform effort in San Diego City Schools. Using data from teacher surveys and school-based interviews, we find a connection between aspects of principal instructional leadership (coherent school-wide vision and leaders' engagement in instructional improvement) and selected research-based characteristics of effective teacher professional development (coherence and focus on content and curriculum). We conclude by addressing some of the tensions and limitations associated with a particular vision for site-based instructional leadership.     

Effective evaluation through appreciative inquiry

Evaluators in the HPI field can improve their performance program results with effective evaluation through appreciative inquiry. Appreciative inquiry and evaluation have many similarities, and when combined they add value and effectiveness to the measurement of intervention results. Appreciative inquiry is beneficial in many evaluation contexts: for example, when previous evaluations have failed or when change needs to be accelerated. Success is associated with applying appreciative inquiry to the evaluation process for performance improvement projects.     

Populist linguistic tone in recent U.S. presidential campaign discourse: a DICTION analysis

ABSTRACT

This study analyzed the tone of public campaign remarks of right- and left-wing populist (Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders, respectively) and right and left-wing non-populist (Mitt Romney and Hillary Clinton, respectively) U.S. presidential candidates using DICTION 7.0. Findings suggest that populists tended to use a linguistic tone that is high in pessimism, group abstractness, and exclusion. Pessimism and group abstractness were positively associated with immigration language in right-wing populist speech. Commonality and “we-ness” were positively associated with populist language in left-wing populist speech.     

Twenty-four-hour movement behaviours and fundamental movement skills in preschool children: A compositional and isotemporal substitution analysis

ABSTRACT

Studies that have analysed the association between the different movement behaviours and fundamental movement skills (FMS) have considered it in an independent manner, disregarding the compositional nature of 24-h movement behaviours (24-h MB). The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between the 24-h MB and FMS in preschoolers using a compositional data analysis . Two hundred and four preschoolers (4.5 ± 0.8 years old; 101 boys) provided objectively assessed physical activity (PA) and sedentary behaviour (SB) data (Actigraph wGT3X), and FMS (TGMD-2). Sleep duration (SD) was reported by parents. Association of daily composition of movement behaviours with FMS was explored using compositional analysis and isotemporal substitution (R Core Team, 3.6.1). When considered as a 24-h MB composition (PA, SB and SD), adjusted for age, BMI and sex, the composition predicted locomotor (r² = 0.31), object control (r² = 0.19), and total motor score (r² = 0.35), respectively (all P < 0.001). Reallocation of time from light to moderate-to-vigorous PA was associated with greatest positive changes in total motor score. Achieving adequate balance between movement behaviours over the 24-h period, and its relationship with locomotor and object control skills should be considered and further investigated in early childhood.