Relooking Assessment: A Study on Assessing Developmental Learning Outcomes in Toddlers

In most countries the funding for early childhood education has increased and governments in some countries have taken serious steps to bring about positive change in the profession. However, the increase in funding by governments and other funding organisations around the world has, understandably, attracted increased accountability as these organisations need to know that their financial investments are achieving desired outcomes. To seek evidence that positive learning outcomes have indeed been achieved through these investments is a reasonable request, and there is a shared responsibility and accountability for professionals to provide appropriate evidence. The downside, however, can be the request for standardised test information, as if performance on such tests provides proof of all desired outcomes. More than ever before, it is important for early childhood educators to be able to provide accurate, objective information about children’s assessment in ways other than by standardised testing, which may not reflect the complex reality of children’s lives. This paper reports on a research study in Singapore that investigated curriculum effectiveness using developmental learning outcomes as a means of assessing children. The research was devised to examine if eight specified broad developmental learning outcomes could measure the effectiveness of the curriculum by assessing children’s learning as shown in qualitative data. Practical examples showed evidence of children’s learning and the role of the educator in facilitating and documenting developmental learning outcomes.     

Peer Play Interactions and Learning for Low-Income Preschool Children: The Moderating Role of Classroom Quality

Research Findings: The present study examined the degree to which the association between interactive peer play and academic skills was dependent upon the level of classroom quality for a representative sample of culturally and linguistically diverse urban Head Start children (N = 304 children across 53 classrooms). Peer play interactions within the classroom were assessed by teacher assistants in the fall of the year; observations of the quality of classroom instructional, emotional, and organizational support were conducted in the middle of the year; and norm-referenced direct assessments of literacy, language, and mathematics skills were administered in the spring. Findings from multilevel models indicated that disruptive and disconnected peer play behaviors early in the preschool year were associated with lower literacy and language skills regardless of classroom quality. However, interactive peer play early in the year was associated with higher mathematics outcomes when children were enrolled in classrooms characterized by high instructional support. Practice or Policy: Implications for early childhood research, practice, and policy are discussed.     

Refutational texts and the change process

The purposes of this chapter are to examine the persuasive qualities of refutational text and explore the role of refutational text in educational settings that have competing agendas. As educators, we should understand the competing agendas existing in education and find ways to meet those agendas effectively. The use of refutation to aid learning fits into one agenda. The teaching of refutation as a persuasive rhetorical device fits into another.     

气候·人类·地球

随着工业化进程脚步的加快,现代化痕迹遍布生活的每个角落,同时人类也不得不面临现代化生产给自然气候带来的不容忽视的严重影响。我们在渐渐失去冬天……     

Ethnographic Data and Education Policy Analysis: Recent Qualitative Research

Review of Harry F. Wolcott, Teachers vs. Technocrats: An Eduacational Innovation in Anthropological Perspective (Eugene, Ore.: Univ. of Oregon, 1977).
Review of Safe School Study: Violent Schools – Safe Schools (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1978).
Review of Ray Rist, The Invisible Children: School Integration in American Society (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard Univ. Press, 1978).     

African American preschool children's physical activity levels in Head Start

The purpose of this study was to describe the physical activity levels of urban inner city preschoolers while attending Head Start, the federally funded preschool program for children from low-income families. Participants were 158 African American children. Their physical activity during Head Start days was measured using programmed RT-3 accelerometers. Results revealed that the children spent the most time in sedentary and light physical activity, while their participation in moderate-to-vigorous physical activities was low. Given the sedentary class format and limited physical space for the Head Start programs observed, we suggest adding a structured physical activity component to Head Start schools to fight the overweight and obesity crisis.     

The impact of childhood sexual abuse in anorexia nervosa

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to examine the impact of childhood sexual abuse (CSA) on clinical characteristics and premature termination of treatment in anorexia nervosa (AN). METHOD: The participants were 77 consecutive patients with AN admitted to an inpatient eating disorders unit. The patients were assessed in terms of eating disorder symptoms, general psychopathology, and CSA history at admission to hospital. RESULTS: Thirty-seven patients (48%) reported a history of CSA before the onset of the eating disorder. Individuals with a history of CSA reported significantly greater psychiatric comorbidity, including higher levels of depression and anxiety, lower self-esteem, more interpersonal problems, and more severe obsessive-compulsive symptoms. Patients with the binge-purge subtype of AN (AN-BP) were significantly more likely to report a history of CSA prior to the onset of the eating disorder as compared with patients with the restricting subtype (AN-R) of the illness (65% of the AN-BP patients vs. 37% of the AN-R patients; p<.02). Contrary to our predictions, abused patients were not significantly more likely to dropout of treatment overall. However, patients of the binge-purge subtype (AN-BP) with a history of CSA were significantly more likely to terminate treatment prematurely as compared with the other patients. CONCLUSIONS: Consistent with previous findings, the present results indicate that the prevalence of CSA is high among individuals seeking inpatient treatment for AN. A history of CSA was associated with greater psychiatric disturbance overall and a higher rate of dropout for patients of the binge-purge subtype.