The Development of Perspective Taking: Understanding Differences in Information and Weighting

2 separate aspects of perspective taking are that judgments attributed to another should depend on the information available to the other (Information effect) and on how the other's use of information differs from one's own (Weighting effect). These 2 aspects of perspective taking were studied in a moral judgment task with preschoolers, and second and fifth graders. Subjects were read a series of stories about a little boy transgressing and asked to make judgments from both their own perspective and that of a mother character in the stories. The mother story character had either the same information as the subject or only partial information. Valence of intention and consequence and the amount of mother's knowledge varied factorially. Subjects were clustered using scores derived from the judgements. 3 clusters were found that showed different levels of perspective-taking ability. There was a developmental progression in the 3 levels of perspective taking. Subjects in the Harshness cluster attributed harsher judgments to the mother perspective. Subjects in the Weighting cluster weighted information differently depending on the perspective from which they judged. Subjects in the Information-and-Weighting cluster weighted information differently depending on perspective, and also considered the amount of information available to the mother character in attributing judgments. The findings are compared to current theory on the development of perspective taking. Future research and theory need to consider the influence of both information and weighting differences on performance in perspective-taking tasks.     

Need for approval and children's well-being

This research examined the hypothesis that a tendency to base one's self-worth on peer approval is associated with positive and negative aspects of children's well-being. A sample of 153 fourth through eighth graders (9.0 to 14.8 years) reported on need for approval, global self-worth, social-evaluative concerns, anxiety and depression, and exposure to victimization. Teachers reported on social behavior. Results confirmed that need for approval is a two-dimensional construct composed of positive (enhanced self-worth in the face of social approval) and negative (diminished self-worth in the face of social disapproval) approval-based self-appraisals. Need for approval had trade-offs for well-being that depended on the dimension (positive vs. negative), the psychological domain (emotional vs. social adjustment), children's sex and age, and children's social context (high vs. low peer victimization).     

Dog Treat Ball: An Activity to Introduce Systems of Differential Equations

Abstract

This paper describes an activity using a dog treat ball to introduce systems of first-order differential equations. Beads are placed in the first of two hemispherical chambers of a food-dispensing dog toy. As the ball is turned, students track the number of beads in the first chamber, the second chamber, and the exterior of the ball. Students develop a working assumption, write a system of differential equations to model the number of beads in each region, and use a spreadsheet to compare their experimental and model results.     

Child Sexual Abuse Prevention Education: A Qualitative Study of Teachers’ Experiences Implementing the Second Step Child Protection Unit

Abstract

This study explored teachers’ reactions to implementing a Pre-K-Grade 5 school-based child sexual abuse prevention education program. Fifty-seven classroom teachers and two school counselors attended one of nine focus groups conducted after the implementation of the Committee for Children’s Second Step Child Protection Unit. Teachers discussed their feelings about teaching the unit before and after implementation, their students’ reactions to the lessons, and parental feedback. Initially, teachers were anxious and apprehensive about teaching the six-lesson curriculum but found the experience to be positive and rewarding. Students engaged enthusiastically with the lessons, and parental pushback was minimal. Challenges and recommendations for implementing teacher-led personal safety education are discussed.     

A synthesis of fluency interventions for secondary struggling readers

Previous research studies examining the effects of fluency interventions on the fluency and comprehension outcomes for secondary struggling readers are synthesized. An extensive search of the professional literature between 1980 and 2005 yielded a total of 19 intervention studies that provided fluency interventions to secondary struggling readers and measured comprehension and/or fluency outcomes. Findings revealed fluency outcomes were consistently improved following interventions that included listening passage previewing such as listening to an audiotape or adult model of good reading before attempting to read a passage. In addition, there is preliminary evidence that there may be no differential effects between repeated reading interventions and the same amount of non-repetitive reading with older struggling readers for increasing reading speed, word recognition, and comprehension.     

Bullets or butterflies? Teaching, research and knowledge creation

This article explores current debates about the development of teaching and learning in the UK. The author examines how these debates are mirrored in discussions about teacher education and notions of professionalism and professional development. There is an account of the history of thinking about pedagogy in the UK, with a particular focus on the work of Lawrence Stenhouse and his ??teacher as researcher?? conception of curriculum and teacher development. The author argues that this is a strong and useful model for the development of pedagogy. The ??teacher as researcher?? model is offered as a framework that integrates many different perspectives. The article concludes with a discussion of the blocks and facilitators to this vision of the teacher as researcher being adopted.     

Examination for Bias in Principal Ratings of Teachers' Preparation

The Department of Education is moving to change accountability for teacher preparation institutions to include surveys of the graduates and their supervising principal following paid employment. This study describes one of a number of quantitative studies that examine the validity and usefulness of such follow-up surveys. Using multiple years of data, the authors examined the effect of teacher socioeconomic status and ethnicity on principals' evaluation of the teachers' preparation. The results indicated that there was no difference in ratings based on graduates' parent education, family income, or ethnicity. Post hoc evaluation showed that Latino teachers were rated better prepared to work with diversity in the classroom and to teach English learners. Bias does not appear to be part of principal evaluation. However, because principals are prone to rating teachers on a binary, satisfactory/unsatisfactory basis, follow-up surveys may not be the most useful tool for assessing some nuances of teacher preparation.