Humanoid robots go to school

Education and Information Technologies - Humanoid robots are being used in some schools, however, research on the use of these robots is relatively new. In this three-year study, humanoid robots...     

A strengths-based,culturally responsive family intervention improves Latino kindergarteners’ vocabulary and approaches to learning

Food routines are an ecocultural asset of Latino families. This cluster-randomized trial with 248 children (M_age = 67 months; 50% girls; 13 schools) investigated the impact of a 4-week family program designed to capitalize on food routines in improving Latino kindergarteners’ outcomes in the United States. There were moderate-to-large impacts on child vocabulary (especially food-related) at end-of-treatment and the 5-month follow-up, and suggestive evidence of moderate impacts on approaches to learning (ATL; including ATL math) and executive function at the 5-month follow-up (d = .38–.95). There were no statistically significant impacts on children's math or literacy skills. A strengths-based, culturally responsive family intervention that is integrated into Latino family life can improve the skills needed to succeed in school.     

Across Textual Landscapes: The Role of Affect During Digital Reading Encounters

Children's Literature in Education - This article addresses questions related to how the change in the textual landscape, from paper-based books to electronic books, has an effect on the...     

A study of a multiple component feedback approach to substantive revision for secondary ELL and multilingual writers

This mixed method investigation included a quasi-experiment examining if revision instruction enhanced the substantive revising behavior of 15 English language learner (ELL) and multilingual 10th grade students enrolled in an English class for underperforming students in comparison to 14 non-ELL and multilingual students from the same class who did not receive such instruction. The study also involved a qualitative analyses of the revisions made by students from both groups to more fully describe the type and frequency of substantive revisions made. In terms of the quasi-experiment, students in the treatment group made more Developing Argument revisions than the control group. The qualitative analysis revealed the specific moves students made in their revision work to develop argument including: utilizing text, personal opinion, interpreting text, extending argument, and asking a question. Theoretical and educational implications of the findings are discussed.     

Beliefs About Thought Probability: Evidence for Persistent Errors in Mindreading and Links to Executive Control

Four‐ to 10‐year‐olds' and adults' (N = 263) ability to inhibit privileged knowledge and simulate a naïve perspective were examined. Participants viewed pictures that were then occluded aside from a small ambiguous part. They offered suggestions for how a naïve person might interpret the hidden pictures, as well as rated the probability that a naïve person would think of several different pictures (with one picture being the actual item). Results indicated a significant increase between ages 4 and 7 years in attributing novel interpretations; however, all age groups overestimated the probability that a naïve person could guess the actual pictures. Individual differences in working memory and inhibitory control predicted participants' thought suggestions as well as aspects of their probability judgments.     

UNDERSTANDING DISPROPORTIONATE REPRESENTATION IN SPECIAL EDUCATION BY EXAMINING GROUP DIFFERENCES IN BEHAVIOR RATINGS

The aim of the current study was to examine mean‐group differences on behavior rating scales and variables that may predict such differences. Sixty‐five teachers completed the Clinical Assessment of Behavior–Teacher Form (CAB‐T) for a sample of 982 students. Four outcome variables from the CAB‐T were assessed. Hierarchical linear modeling was used to analyze variance components across three levels; examine mean‐group differences across outcome variables for student gender, race/ethnicity, and free or reduced‐price lunch status; and examine whether teacher variables predicted teacher‐specific differences in ratings. Results revealed that a significant amount of variance was attributable to teacher‐ and school‐level variables. Several mean‐group differences emerged, and some teacher‐specific differences in ratings across groups were predicted by teacher self‐efficacy for behavior management and teacher age, but not for teacher race/ethnicity, gender, or years of experience.     

Emphasising use over attributes in selection of educational software

Rejecting traditional checklist approaches to software selection, this paper discusses an approach emphasising classroom use of software over technical attributes. It proposes a way of thinking about software (the perspectives interactions paradigm) that takes the perspectives of the student, the teacher and the designer and uses interactions between pairs of these perspectives to generate broad questions and more specific issues to be considered when software is being assessed for purchase or classroom use. Some example packages are assessed using the paradigm for several different educational contexts, illustrating that this approach raises issues of classroom interactions and learning processes. These issues go beyond, and are more important for selection decisions than those generally considered with a checklist of software attributes.     

Early childhood education in Guyana

Conclusion The problems of adequate housing for children's programs remain. Many teachers will not catch up with prevailing theories and practice in early childhood education in more technologically advanced countries for a while. Curriculum implementation at classroom level still needs much attention. The budget provided for early education keeps shrinking due to high inflation. Despite the problems, however, the introduction of a national early childhood education program was good for families who could not afford fee-paying schools for their children. “Going national” at the outset was problematic because of the number of issues that needed attention simultaneously. It however, removed the need for lobbying, which can be a long and arduous process before success is achieved. A national program of early childhood education also enabled nursery teachers to surmount many of the problems associated with their image as mere childminders and the low-liest on the rungs of the education ladder. For children, this program also performed an important socialisation and cognitive-developmental function and it forced parents to take another look at early childhood as a definite learning period in the life of the child. Liloutie Christina Taharally was closely involved in the administration of the national early education program, and the training and supervision of nursery teachers in Guyana. An earlier draft of this paper was presented at the 1985 Conference of the National Association for the Education of Young Children with Meg Barden Cline of the School of Education at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst.     

Parents' attitudes to inclusion of their children with special needs

This study investigated the attitudes of 354 Australian parents who have a child with a disability and who attends a state school in Queensland. The types of disability of the children were broadly in accordance with accepted prevalence figures, except for a greater number reported as having autistic spectrum disorder and fewer students with a learning difficulty/attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. The children were in a range of classes, from special schools to schools where there was in-class help from a special teacher or teacher aide. Many of the parents favoured inclusion, some would if additional resources were provided, and a small group of parents favoured special placement. There were a limited number of negative attitudes to inclusion reported by the parents, and though some parents thought that some need existed for in-service education about inclusion, this was not a widespread view.