Culturally Embedded Measurement of Latino Caregivers’ Engagement in Head Start: A Tale of Two Forms of Engagement

Practice and Policy: The preschool years represent a critical time to foster family engagement in education for children growing up in poverty. Yet the ways in which Latino families with lower levels of income engage with their children’s education at home and at school might look different from how middle-income parents from the dominant U.S. culture do, depending on cultural values and beliefs about best ways to support children’s learning as well as on socioeconomic realities that present barriers for traditional forms of engagement. This study sought to examine further the psychometric functioning of a promising new measure of family engagement, developed with and for Latino Head Start families. Research Findings: Results of this study supported continued use of this measure, with clear caveats and directions for future research. Findings suggested that the ways Latino Head Start parents engage with children’s learning and development at home (e.g., supporting children’s social awareness and behavior, connection to cultural heritage, academic skills) might be a more culturally nuanced and salient form of engagement, while school-based engagement (e.g., volunteering at school, communicating with teachers) might be a more universal form. Findings contribute to understandings of Latino family engagement as well as to methodological considerations for culture-specific measurement development efforts, with relevance for early education researchers and professionals.     

Does variability within natural turfgrass sports fields influence ground-derived injuries?

Natural turfgrass sports fields exhibit within-field variations due to climatic conditions, field construction, field management, and foot traffic patterns from field usage. Variations within a field could influence the playing surface predictability and require athletes to make abrupt or frequent adjustments that lead to increased ground-derived injury occurrence. This study introduces a new methodology aimed at evaluating the potential relationship between within-field variations of turfgrass sports field properties and ground-derived athlete injuries. Collegiate Club Sport athletes self-reported ground-derived injuries over two years. Soil moisture, turfgrass quality, surface hardness, and turfgrass shear strength were quantified from their two home fields. Hot spot analysis identified significantly high (hot spots) and low (cold spots) values within the fields. Injury locations were compared to hot spot maps each month. Binomial proportion tests determined if there were differences between observed injury proportions and expected proportions. Twenty-three ground-derived injuries were reported overall. The observed injury proportions occurring in turfgrass quality cold spots [0.52 (95% CI 0.29–0.76)] and soil moisture hot spots [0.43 (95% CI 0.22–0.66)] was significantly higher than expected [0.20 (p?p?相似文献   

Education reform visions and new forms of gymnastics and dance as elements of a new body culture and ‘body education’ (1890–1930)

Late 19th-century Germany was shaped by industrialisation, technological progress, and urbanisation. Crises of modernisation resulted in a widespread criticism of civilisation that provided ground for the rise of numerous reform movements in various social contexts. They reacted to crises of their time by questioning established conventions, aiming at an overthrow of everything old in the name of the new and created enormous artistic and intellectual potential. This contribution explores the development of two avantgardist streams, the education reform movement and the gymnastics and dance movement, and points out the link that connected modern forms of body education and dance to education reform visions using Hamburg as an example. The willingness to experiment that came with Hamburg’s dedication to radical reform visions was evident not only in the public school system, but also in the emerging arts and culture scene that brought forth new forms of dance and movement.     

Lulling them to sleep

One of my fondest memories as a child is falling asleep to the sound of my grandmothe singing me a lullaby. Now that I am a teacher in a specialized preschool with small classes try to provide some fond memories for my children by singing them to sleep at naptime.Martha Christine is a Kindergarten Teacher at the Wiley House Preschool in Allentown, PA.     

Academic Snakes and Merit Ladders: reconceptualising the ‘glass ceiling’

Evidence from the life history of a woman academic is used to support the argument that understandings of the underrepresentation of women in senior positions in higher education, the so‐called glass ceiling’, require concepts about the interaction of process and structure. A radical reconceptualisation of the notion of academic merit encompassing diversity rather than a single hegemonic masculinity and measures advancing women as a group are required to address the problem.     

Evaluation of distance learning delivery of health information management and health informatics programmes: a UK perspective

The aim of the article is to review evaluations of distance learning programmes in health information management, in order to identify the critical success factors for such programmes and discuss future directions. The emphasis is on the UK experience, based partly on reflections on the experience of one programme at University of Wales Aberystwyth (now over 10 years old), and partly on a policy review conducted for the NHS Information Authority and the NHS Information Policy Unit. The methods are, as far as possible, those of a systematic review of existing research, with, additionally, an overview of relevant policy developments for lifelong learning. The topics covered include the aims, objectives and educational philosophies of the programmes. The evidence, combined with the UWA experience, indicates the importance of face-to-face interaction, to complement distance or virtual learning. A student-centred approach to curriculum design and delivery is essential.     

The Power of Dialogue and Meaningful Connectedness: Conversations between Two Female Scholars

In this paper, the authors examine the power of dialogue and meaningful connectedness from their perspectives as female scholars of color. They draw from the feminist co-mentoring literature, which encourages equal balance of power among participants where each person takes on the role of teacher and learner, or mentor and mentee, since both have something significant to contribute. These contributions are rooted in critical dialogue, which places emphasis on humanizing and empowering those involved in the dialogue. Building community and fostering deeper connections and interactions among the co-mentors is also a key component of this framework. The findings revealed three major themes: (1) Developing an academic and scholarly identity; (2) Battling a sense of place and belonging, and; (3) Finding hope and regaining power and agency. This work is significant because it highlights the critical importance and value of mentoring for women of color in the academy, especially when authentic relationships are rooted in ethical care for one another. Additionally, this research further examines how relationships are created, developed, and sustained among scholars.