Mentor-shape: exploring the mentoring relationships of Black women in doctoral programs

Using a Black Feminist Thought framework, this phenomenological study focused on lived experiences with mentoring relationships among 38 Black women in doctoral programs in multiple disciplines across universities in the United States. Although emerging studies on Black women in academia acknowledge the significance of mentorship and the reality of discrimination at the intersection of race and gender, the literature lacks empirical support pertaining to the formation and outcomes of mentoring relationships, specifically for Black women in doctoral education. Findings from this study suggested four central themes in the mentoring relationships among Black women in doctoral programs: (a) organic evolvement, (b) shared identity/mutual interest, (c) personal transformation and (d) increase in access and opportunity. Implications for future research, policy, practice and education across disciplines are offered.     

Reading Attitudes and Literacy Skills in Prekindergarten and Kindergarten Children

The current study addressed the development of reading attitudes and their relationship to reading skills. Forty-one prekindergarten and kindergarten learners in 1 of 3 cohorts were assessed 2 or 4 times during the course of a year. Findings indicated a slight decrease in reading attitudes during the kindergarten year. Expected increases in skills were generally indicated with pronounced increases in sight word recognition during the kindergarten year, after other skills had been mastered. Decreases in some skills were evident after summer recess. Other findings from the study and recommendations for future research and practice are provided.     

Developing phonological awareness and word recognition skills: A two-year intervention with low-income,inner-city children

Low-income, inner-city children were involved in a two-year intervention delivered in the regular classroom by regular classroom teachers to develop phonological awareness and word recognition skills. For the treatment children, an 11-week phoneme awareness program in kindergarten was followed by a first grade reading program (extended to grade 2 for some children) that emphasized explicit, systematic instruction in the alphabetic code. Control children participated in the school district's regular basal reading program. Both groups participated in a phonetically-based spelling program mandated by the district. At the end of grade 1, treatment children (n = 66) significantly outperformed control children (n = 62) on measures of phonological awareness, letter name and letter sound knowledge, and three measures of word recognition, and reached marginal significance (0.056) on a fourth. They also significantly outperformed the control children on two measures of spelling. One year later, at the end of grade 2, the treatment children (n = 58) significantly outperformed the control children (n = 48) on all four measures of word recognition. For the groups as a whole, there were no differences on the one measure of spelling readministered at the end of grade 2. However, there were significant differences in spelling between the treatment (n = 16) and control children (n = 13) who remained in the bottom quartile of spellers at the end of grade 2 when partial credit was given for phonetically correct spelling, and significant differences in reading favoring these treatment children on all four measures of word recognition.     

Reference Works

COMPUTER SCIENCE RESOURCES: A GUIDE TO PROFESSIONAL LITERATURE, compiled and edited by Darlene Myers (White Plains, New York: Knowledge Industry Publications, 1981—$59.50, paper).

LIBRARY AND REFERENCE FACILITIES IN THE AREA OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, edited by Margaret S. Jennings (White Plains, New York: Knowledge Industry Publications, 1983—$39.00, paper).

STATISTICAL SERVICES DIRECTORY: A GUIDE TO THE ORGANIZATIONS, CORPORATIONS, PROFESSIONAL AND TRADE ASSOCIATIONS, RESEARCH CENTERS, UNIVERSITIES, PUBLISHERS, FOUNDATIONS, AND GOVERNMENT AGENCIES THAT PROVIDE STATISTICAL SERVICES (Detroit, Michigan: Gale Research Company, 1984—$150).

CAREERS IN INFORMATION, edited by Jane F. Spivack (White Plains, New York: Knowledge Industries Publications, 1982—$34.50/27.50).

VIDEOTEX: A SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY, Volume 1, 1979-1982 (Technical and Education Center of the Graphic Arts, Rochester Institute of Technology, P.O. Box 9887, Rochester, New York—price not given, but about $15.00, paper).

TELEMANAGEMENT NEWS SERVICE: THE NEWS SERVICE ON THE TELEPHONE INDUSTRY FOR OFFICE, DP AND COMMUNICATIONS MANAGEMENT (SRG Publications, P.O. Box 335, Palmyra, New Jersey 08065—$260.00 per year/weekly).

SPACE ENTERPRISE TODAY: THE NEWSLETTER ON COMMERCIAL SPACE VENTURES (Phillips Publishing Inc., 7315 Wisconsin Avenue, Suite 1200 N, Bethesda, Maryland 20814—$297.00 per year/monthly).

LINK-UP: COMMUNICATIONS AND THE SMALL COMPUTER (On-Line Communications, Inc., 3938 Meadowbrook Road, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55426-$23.95 per year/monthly).

RESEARCH NOTES (Policy Development and Planning, Corporation for Public Broadcasting, 1111 Sixteenth Street, N. W., Washington, D.C. 20036—apparently free on request/irregular).

SCA: RADIO SUBCARRIER REPORT (Waters & Company, Security Mutual Building, Suite 322, Binghampton, New York 13901—$185.00 per year/monthly).     

Adult education for social and environmental change in contemporary public art galleries and museums in Canada,Scotland and England

Historically, pubic art galleries and museums have a well-deserved reputation for elitism, colonialism and exclusion and they are, therefore, frequently omitted from the discourse of adult education. However, the escalating social, cultural and ecological problems of this new century have placed pressure on these public institutions to change and respond. Using selective examples, this article attempts to illustrate public arts and cultural institutions as contested, problematic, challenging, yet equally progressive, critical and creative pedagogical spaces that play an important role in the struggle for social and environmental change. Through exhibitions, artworks, objects, workshops and seminars, these institutions trouble identity, decolonize, mock, revisualize, tell alternative stories, reorient authoritative practice, interrogate intolerance and privilege and stimulate critical literacies. We must continue to expose and critique traditions that perpetuate inequalities and maintain the status quo but in a world starved of hope, these sites provide new pedagogical possibilities.     

An appreciative view of human performance technology

Human performance technology has been successful in resolving organizational issues and prompting a variety of business improvements. Yet there are times when the problem‐ centered approach is not sufficient. Instead, attention to organizational strengths and a focus on creating and building a positive vision for the future represent a better strategy. This article looks at a new variation on the consulting model––HPT: Appreciative Approach.