Adaptation and Pilot Testing of a Sexual Health Intervention for Female Survivors of Violence

Experiences of violence and behaviors that increase the risk of acquiring a sexually transmitted infection are high among women in the United States, and they often intersect (Meyer, Springer, &; Altice, 2011 Meyer, J. P., Springer, S. A., &; Altice, F. L. (2011). Substance abuse, violence, and HIV in women: A literature review of the syndemic. Journal of Women's Health (2002), 20(7), 991–1006. doi:10.1089/jwh.2010.2328[Crossref] , [Google Scholar]; Montgomery et al., 2015 Montgomery, B., Rompalo, A., Hughes, J., Wang, J., Haley, D., Soto-Torres, L., &; Hodder, S. (2015). Violence against women in selected areas of the united states.e1-e11. Am J Public Health, 105(10), 2156–2166 [Google Scholar]; World Health Organization (WHO), 2010 World Health Organization (WHO). (2010). Addressing violence against women and HIV/AIDS: What works?. Geneva, Switzerland: World Health Organization. [Google Scholar]). However, there are few evidence-based HIV-prevention interventions that address the special needs and challenges faced by female survivors of violence (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, (CDC), 2017a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2017a). Compendium of evidence-based interventions and best practices for HIV prevention. Atlanta, GA: Division of HIV/AIDS Prevention, National Center for HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, Sexual Transmitted Diseases and Tuberculosis Prevention. Retrieved from https://www.cdc.gov/hiv/research/interventionresearch/compendium/rr/index.html [Google Scholar]). To address this gap, we adapted and pilot-tested an existing evidence-based women-focused sexual risk-reduction intervention (The Future Is Ours) with 23 self-identified female survivors of violence. The intervention comprised eight-weekly, two-hour cognitive behavioral group sessions focusing on reducing sexual-risk and improving trauma-based coping skills. Using mixed-methods analyses, the adapted intervention was determined feasible and acceptable to participants, and preliminary results suggest that participation could reduce risk factors for sexually transmitted infections. Therefore, testing on a larger scale is warranted.     

Using <Emphasis Type="Italic">I am Moving,I am Learning</Emphasis> to Increase Quality Instruction in Head Start Classrooms

Quality teacher-child interactions are characteristic of effective classrooms resulting in benefits for all children, but may be particularly important for children from low-income families. The purpose of this study was to explore the perception of Illinois Head Start teachers related to how I am Moving, I am Learning (IMIL) could improve the quality of their instruction as measured by the Classroom assessment scoring system (CLASS^®), an observation instrument used to assess the quality of teacher-child interactions across three broad domains and their supporting dimensions. While the study found that early childhood professionals perceive IMIL as a meaningful resource, additional research is needed to substantiate the preliminary findings as well as to guide training initiatives that would help Head Start professionals to make the connection between IMIL and the CLASS^®.     

Teaching the language of mathematics at three levels of an English-medium primary school

This study, situated in a multilingual, English-medium educational context, draws on theory from mathematics and language education to capture teachers’ perspectives on the place of language in their mathematics pedagogy. The benchmark study explored this topic through surveying and interviewing teachers. Additionally, it sought to relate teachers’ views to their practice by focusing on observing three teachers’ mathematics lessons at primary one, three, and five. Findings are that mathematics teachers placed importance on teaching language, being specifically concerned with language as input and comprehension. They taught vocabulary and reading skills in supportive ways explicitly yet differently at the three grade levels. Particularly at the lower levels, teachers contextualised language in the concrete examples employed for mathematics teaching. At all three levels, prominence was given to teaching pupils how to read word problems as well as how to solve them. However, at primary three, a tension was observed between the two aims of teaching mathematical vocabulary and teaching the reading skills for word problems. This paper illustrates the tension and discusses its possible causes.     

YouTube: Educational Potentials and Pitfalls

No abstract available for this article.     

Using psychological constructs from the MUSIC Model of Motivation to predict students’ science identification and career goals: results from the U.S. and Iceland

ABSTRACT

We investigated students’ perceptions related to psychological constructs in their science classes and the influence of these perceptions on their science identification and science career goals. Participants included 575 middle school students from two countries (334 students in the U.S. and 241 students in Iceland). Students completed a self-report questionnaire that included items from several measures. We conducted correlational analyses, confirmatory factor analyses, and structural equation modelling to test our hypotheses. Students’ class perceptions (i.e. empowerment, usefulness, success, interest, and caring) were significantly correlated with their science identification, which was correlated positively with their science career goals. Combining students’ science class perceptions, science identification, and career goals into one model, we documented that the U.S. and Icelandic samples fit the data reasonably well. However, not all of the hypothesised paths were statistically significant. For example, only students’ perceptions of usefulness (for the U.S. and Icelandic students) and success (for the U.S. students only) significantly predicted students’ career goals in the full model. Theoretically, our findings are consistent with results from samples of university engineering students, yet different in some ways. Our results provide evidence for the theoretical relationships between students’ perceptions of science classes and their career goals.     

History in the National Curriculum: a lesson in curriculum devolution

This article will focus on an event in the educational history of Wales in the 1980s which still impacts both on school practice and on thinking about concepts of Welsh identity. That event was the creation of the History Committee for Wales which was charged with devising a history curriculum for Welsh schools in the wake of the 1988 Education Act. The story will be told largely by using evidence gleaned in elite interviews with the ministers, senior inspectors and civil servants most closely associated with the decision to support or accept the creation of this committee.

The significance of the decision will be assessed by charting the progress of curriculum devolution in Wales from the beginnings of state education and the implications of this for ideas of Welshness. This background will be briefly sketched, as will the background to the 1988 Education Act on a wider canvas. General reaction to that act in the Welsh Office will be discussed before the detailed implications for the subject of history will be explored in detail.

It will then be argued that wider discussions as to how schools should approach and reflect the history and culture of nations not only shed important light on devolutionary processes which were gathering pace at the time but also reflect the nature of Welshness as perceived by senior figures in the world of education policy-making.