Commentary on “Implementing New York's Universal Pre-Kindergarten Program: An Exploratory Study of Systemic Impacts”

The Morrissey, Lekies, and Cochran (this issue) article is a welcome addition to the literature focusing on whether state-funded preschool education negatively impacts child care. Yet, although the study is a step in the right direction, it does not provide the data needed to answer the question at hand or inform state preschool and child care policy. Furthermore, while there is merit to research that begins with the premise that publicly funded preschool initiatives may contribute to instability in the child care market, the present commentary offers an alternative perspective on such an outcome. More specifically, the commentary argues that such initiatives may be the best thing that ever happened to children, their families, and those who work in the field. The commentary concludes with a recommendation for additional studies that combine concern for an adequate supply of child care with robust data and an overall focus on improving children's outcomes.     

Writing4practice in engineering courses: Implementation and assessment approaches

In this article, we analyze a two‐semester effort to integrate writing instruction into a multi‐disciplinary sophomore engineering design course in Northern Arizona University's College of Engineering and Technology. Specifically, we describe the programmatic implementation and assessment approach to evaluate whether student writing improved over the course of the semester. After discussing the reasons for taking a writing‐intensive approach to engineering, we analyze the results of a pre‐and post‐test administered over the span of an academic semester. Although the outcome of our assessment did not show significant improvement, we argue that writing instruction is important for increasing students’ overall learning skills. We conclude by pointing out several benefits and disadvantages of trying to assess writing improvement over two one‐semester periods.     

Developing and evaluating authentic integration between research and coursework in professional doctorate programs

Integration has always been a prominent issue debated in the burgeoning literature on professional doctorate programs. This focus on integration, however, has largely involved the integration between theoretical and practical understandings of various professions. Exploring the integration between research and coursework components of professional doctorate programs has received less attention. This article explores the character of the integration between coursework and research in several professional doctorate programs at a number of Australian research‐intensive universities and universities of technology. Using a content analysis methodology, this research charted the various models for sequencing research and coursework and established whether integration was an explicit or implicit goal of the espoused curriculum. It also sought to explore whether there were differences in the levels of integration in professional doctorate programs across different types of universities or patterns of variation across disciplines.     

Place-based education and pre-service teachers: a case study from India

Case studies of successful place-based education that involve international partnerships are rare. This article reports on an inclusive educational collaboration between pre-service teachers at an Australian university and primary and secondary school-aged children in a slum area of Delhi, India. Encouraged to undertake teaching that affirmed and extended the children's existing linguistic and cultural knowledge, the six teacher candidates collaboratively planned and implemented exemplary programmes geared to the children's interests and needs. This highly inclusive teaching and learning took various forms: a photographic project in the community, the collection of family portraits and stories, a dance and drama performance, and rich conversations on topics ranging from popular culture to politics. Using data drawn from observations of teaching, teacher candidate interviews and written reflections, and artefacts of student learning, this article analyses the processes and outcomes of this highly successful teaching. Essential to the success of this initiative was focused preparation that stressed cross-cultural awareness and sensitivity, a rejection of deficit notions about children and families living in slums, knowledge of Indian socio-political complexities, and a commitment to the building of equitable and ethical relationships with the Indian children and NGO staff. It is anticipated that this analysis will inform further attempts at place-based collaboration in the service of quality education.     

A Comparison of Four Measurement Models for the Watson–Barker Listening Test (WBLT)–Form C

This article compares 4 measurement models for the Watson–Barker Listening Test (WBLT)–Form C and constitutes the first confirmatory test of this listening comprehension measure. Results show that data does not conform to (a) a 5-factor correlated model, (b) a second-order model, or (c) a unidimensional model; and no model was sufficiently better than (d) the independence model. Exploratory analyses provide additional evidence that items are largely unrelated to one another. Given these findings, the use of the WBLT–Form C in assessments of listening comprehension is not recommended. The discussion explores what these findings imply for the conceptualization and measurement of listening and for potential revisions of the WBLT.     

Bordering on Empathy: The Effect of Selective Exposure and Border Residency on Immigration Attitudes

Two surveys, including an original survey and a survey containing substantial secondary data, found substantial links between party identity, selective media exposure and attitudes on immigration. Republicans were significantly more likely to segregate themselves to like-minded media and to avoid traditional objective sources like national and local newspapers, local and national broadcast television news. Border-state residency failed to moderate attitudes about immigration; differences were found between local and national media. Finally, Republican support for immigration fell between 2016 and 2018, after the election of President Trump.     

Statewide Articulation Agreements between High Schools and Community College Career and Technical Programs

Recent legislation requires increased linkages between all levels of educational institutions. Articulation agreements are critical to ensure a smooth transition for students, and statewide agreements afford students more options for continuing their education. High school and community college instructors were brought together in a statewide meeting to review curricula and determine community college courses for which high-school-program-completers meeting certain criteria, including a specified score on the statewide occupation-specific assessment, could receive credit. Thirty-three high school programs were selected for statewide articulation agreements, with at least one community college program allowing articulation with approximately 50 community college courses.     

REVIEW ESSAY: Somatography

A History and Criticism of American Public Address. vols. Edited by William Norwood Brigance. New York: McGraw‐Hill Book Co., Inc., 1943; pp. xvii + 1030. $10.00.

Dictionary of World Literature: Criticism, Forms, Technique. Edited by Joseph T. Shipley. New York: The Philosophical Library, 1943; pp. xvi + 633. $7.50.

Speech in Education: A Guide for the Classroom Teacher. By Ollie L. Backus. New York: Longmans, Green and Company, 1943; pp. 358 + xv. $2.75.

Gesture and Environment. By David Efron. Sketches by Stuyvesant Van Veen. Foreword by Franz Boas. New York: King's Crown Press, 1941; pp. 184 + x.

The Film Sense. By Sergei Eisenstein. Translated and edited by Jay Leyda. Harcourt, Brace; pp. 288. $3.00.

Pioneering in Psychology. By Carl E. Seashore. University of Iowa Studies, No. 398. Iowa City, Iowa: University of Iowa Press, 1942; pp. 232.

A Federal Sales Tax. Compiled by E. R. Nichols. New York: The H. W. Wilson Co., 1942; pp. 259. $1.25. Wagesand Prices Complied by Robert E. Summers. New York :The H. W. Wilson Co., 1942; pp 219.$1.25.

The Defective in Speech. By Mildred Freberg Berry and Jon Eisenson. New York: F. S. Crofts &; Co., 1942; pp. 426. $3.00.

Interpretative Reading. By Sara Lowery and Gertrude E. Johnson. New York. D. Appleton‐Century, 1942; pp. xx + 607.

Inner Springs. By Frances Lester Warner. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1943; pp. 189.

The Penguin Hansard, Vols. 1–5. Taken verbatim from the House of Commons Official Report of Parliamentary Debates. Har‐mondsworth, Middlesex, England, and New York: Penguin Books, Ltd., 1940–1942; pp. app. 300 in each vol. $.25.

The General Basic English Dictionary. Edited by C. K. Ogden with the help of a committee of the Orthological Institute. New York: W. W. Norton &; Co., 1942; pp. x + 441. $2.50.

War Words: Recommended Pronunciations. By W. Cabell Greet. New York: Published for the Columbia Broadcasting System by Columbia University Press, 1943; pp. 137. $1.50.

English Usage. By Arthur G. Kennedy. New York: D. Appleton‐Century Company, 1942; pp. xi, 166. $1.25.

The Best One‐Act Plays of 1942. Edited by Margaret Mayorga. New York: Dodd, Mead and Company, 1943; pp. 265. $2.50.

25 Non‐Royalty American Comedies. Compiled by William Kozlenko. New York: Greenberg, 1943; pp. 430. $2.50.

The Writer's Radio Theatre, 1941. Edited by Norman S. Weiser. New York: Harper and Brothers, 1943. $2.00.

Speeches and Documents in American History, Vol. IV: 1914–1939. (No. 491, The World's Classics.) Selected and edited by Robert Birley. London: Oxford University Press, 1942; pp. xix + 300. $.95.     

Review Essay: Post-Traumatic Memories around the Globe

The Work of Preaching. By Arthur I. Hqyt. New edition. New York: The Macmillan Company, 1917. Cloth, pp. 389, Price $1.50.

Speech‐making. By R. D. T. Hollister. Ann Arbor, Michigan, George Wahr, 1918. Cloth, pp. 386.

Amateur and Educational Dramatics. By Evelyn Hilliard, Theodora McCormick, and Kate Oglebay. New York: The Macmillan Company, 1917. Cloth, pp. 169. Price $1.00.

The Aesthetics of Motion. By George H. Browne. The Turner Publishing Co., New Ulm, Minn. Pp. 46.

Winning Orations (in Contests of the Inter‐Collegiate Prohibition Association). Edited By Harry S. Warner, Chicago, Inter‐Collegiate Prohibition Association, 1917. Paper, pp. 184. Price 35c.

War Shock. By Eder, M.D. P. Blakiston's Sons &; Co., Philadelphia, 1917 Pp. 152.

Oral English. (The bulletin of the Alabama Polytechnic Institute, Auburn). Vol. 12, No. 8. October, 1917. Paper, pp. 55.