Using the Text Structures of Information Books to Teach Writing in the Primary Grades

Teaching children in the primary grades the text structures and features used by authors of information text has been shown to improve comprehension of information texts and provide the scaffolding and support these children need in order to write their own information texts. As teachers implement the English Language Arts Common Core State Standards (CCSS), they will need support and training on how to meet these increased curricular demands. In this article, we describe how children’s information books can be used as exemplars of well-structured text models to teach young students how to write selected discourse patterns required in the CCSS. As children in the primary grades learn to recognize and use well-structured example information texts as models for their own writing, they will be better prepared to deal with less well-structured, more complex text examples in their reading and writing in the years to come.     

Put Theory Into Practice

Audrey J. Jaeger, Stephany Dunstan, Courtney Thornton, Alyssa B. Rockenbach, Joy G. Gayles, and Karen J. Haley argue that applying our theoretical frameworks in everyday decision making will help us to be more efficient and effective—and they provide a user‐friendly analogy to guide us in this endeavor.     

ASSESSING STUDENT PERFORMANCE USING VIDEO IN COMBINATION WITH SELF,PEER, AND INSTRUCTOR EVALUATION CHECKLISTS

Abstract

In this article, the authors propose six standards for the work of Intergenerational Specialists in an emerging field of professional practice. These standards are intended to guide students in academic settings who are preparing to work as Intergenerational Specialists in direct service roles, administrative capacities, or the supervision and training of others in the field. In addition, they might also be considered useful guidelines for program developers who want to ensure mutually beneficial interactions between younger people and older adults in any kind of organized intergenerational context. The proposed Standards for Intergenerational Practice are currently being piloted by students in a graduate degree program, and eventually will be submitted to Generations United for endorsement and widespread acceptance by the field. These basic principles are consistent with NAEYC's Developmentally Appropriate Practices for early childhood programs, and they are also consistent with ethical practices in programs for older adults.     

Effects of High and Low Prior Knowledge on Construction of a Joint Problem Space

The participants were 4th-year medical students designing a clinical trial to test a new hypothetical anticancer drug. They worked with the computer simulation the Oncology Thinking Cap in facilitated groups that differed in terms of their prior knowledge. Both groups engaged in constructive activity and reached similar endpoints. The groups differed qualitatively in how they went about constructing and navigating the joint problem space. The high-prior-knowledge group used their knowledge to help them construct plans, evaluate their actions, and stay focused on the goals of the experimental design task. The low-prior-knowledge group searched through the data exhaustively and used them to generate their plans. They were unsystematic in their planning and interpretation. They used the computer representations in their reasoning and worked at mapping the connections between the representations. The computer scaffolding played an important role for both groups, but the facilitator played a greater role in the low-prior-knowledge group.     

SENIOR CISE : A PRINT EXERCISE INTERVENTION FOR OLDER ADULTS

This study was conducted to examine the efficacy of an inexpensive educational print exercise intervention based on the Transtheoretical Model (TTM) for older adults. Secondary objectives of this study were to examine the quality of the print intervention and possible ways to improve it through survey techniques. This was a posttest survey design. Information about the Senior cise booklet was distributed to senior housing communities and recreation centers throughout Rhode Island. One hundred thirty-three posters and 5,280 pamphlets with return postcards for ordering the Senior cise booklet were delivered over a period of nine months. Individuals who requested the booklet were contacted via telephone two weeks following mailing to assess the efficacy and quality of the booklet. Ninety-eight individuals requested the booklet and 61 participants completed the evaluation (mean age = 73 - 5.3 years; 77.1% female). The majority of participants found the booklet of good quality, stated that it created an interest, and said it inspired them to actually engage in physical activity. Survey participants cited only a few main good points and negative points about the booklet in general. The use of an inexpensive educational print intervention (Senior cise ) based on the TTM was well received and successful in engaging older adults to consider and participate in physical activity. The positive and negative points cited about the booklet will allow other researchers a better insight into what can make educational print interventions successful. Experimental research designs are recommended to evaluate more fully the efficacy of future exercise based print interventions.     

A Comparison of Child-rearing Practices among Chinese, Immigrant Chinese, and Caucasian-American Parents

This study investigated the differences and similarities in child-rearing practices among Chinese, immigrant Chinese, and Caucasian-American parents. The subjects of this study were the mothers and fathers of 138 children enrolled in kindergarten, first grade, and second grade in Taiwan and the United States. The child-rearing variables under study were: parental control, encouragement of independence, expression of affection, and emphasis on achievement. MANOVA yielded significant group effects on the parental variables. It was found that Chinese and immigrant Chinese parents tended to rate higher on parental control, encouragement of independence, and emphasis on achievement than Caucasian-American parents. The adaptability of the immigrant Chinese to the conditions of life and social structures of the United States, while maintaining traditional patterns of socialization, is discussed.     

The effects of a data use intervention on educators’ satisfaction and data literacy

Schools in many different countries are increasingly expected to use data for school improvement. However, schools struggle with the implementation of data use, because building human capacity around data use in education has not received enough attention. Educators urgently need to develop data literacy skills for being able to use data. For supporting schools with the endeavor of developing data literacy skills, we developed and implemented a data use intervention in secondary schools based in the Netherlands. This study therefore focuses on the effects of this intervention on educator satisfaction with the intervention and their data literacy skills and attitude toward data use. This study uses a quasi-experimental research design and employs a mixed-methods approach with a data use questionnaire filled in by data team schools (N = 9) and comparison schools (N = 42), a satisfaction questionnaire filled in by data team participants (N = 55), pre- and posttest knowledge tests filled in by data team participants (N = 36), and interview data (N = 11) from three case study schools. The results show that the participants were, for example, very satisfied with the support received during the intervention. Also, respondents developed new data literacy skills and showed a more positive attitude toward data use. The results show how teachers can be supported systematically in data use in their educational practice. In the conclusions, we discuss some important implications for practice regarding the intensity and duration of support and implications for further research.     

Enrollment management and career services: Translating concepts into practice

Summary We in career services must move from feeling that enrollment management is not our job to the realization that much of what we already do positively impacts recruitment and retention. We must become more proactive in our efforts, and more demonstrative of our impact. Our image with students, parents, staff, faculty and alumni should include what we do to help bring students to our campus, and what we do to help make them successful learners, both while on campus and throughout their work life.     

Supplementation of urban home visitation with a series of group meetings for parents and infants: results of a "real-world" randomized, controlled trial

OBJECTIVE: Home visitation has been shown to be effective in reducing rates of child maltreatment and in enhancing psychosocial outcomes in children and their parents. Even when available, however, it is underutilized by parents in some urban settings. We tested a supplemental 10-session group intervention for its ability to increase active participation in home visitation, enhance the quality of caregiving behavior of parents, and improve social developmental outcome in children. METHOD: A randomized controlled design was utilized, involving two separate cohorts of parents of 3- to 18-month old infants, totaling 148 parent-child dyads. The intervention focused on practical experience in promoting parent-infant attachment relationships. RESULTS: At 6 months follow-up, there was a substantial increase in the proportion of intervention group parents participating in home visitation, compared to parents in the control group (Fisher's exact p = .008). Parents in the intervention group exhibited a trend for improvement in their capacity to appropriately interpret infants' emotional cues (p = .08), independent of the effects of home visitation itself. Attrition in both the treatment and control groups was inversely associated with income and level of education. CONCLUSIONS: Group meetings may constitute an effective means of engaging stressed urban families in home visitation.