Head start teaching center: Evaluation of a new approach to head start staff development

Head Start Teaching Centers are a national demonstration project designed to provide participatory training in all Head Start component areas within the context of an exemplary Head Start program. Each Teaching Center employs an independent evaluation to study this alternative approach to Head Start staff development. This paper presents the results of the outcome evaluation for the first year of the New England Head Start Teaching Center. The New England Head Start Teaching Center was designed to provide intensive training during a 3 or 5 day period of residence at the Teaching Center. This paper briefly describes the national Head Start Teaching Center model, the implementation of this model in the New England region, the outcome evaluation plan, and the results from the first year of training. The analyses of year one data indicated that training provided by the New England Head Start Teaching Center produced significant gains. As compared to similar Head Start employees who did not participate in training, both trainees and their supervisors reported significant gains in trainees' knowledge, skills, and expertise after participating in the New England Head Start Teaching Center training.     

Family Routines and Parental Monitoring as Protective Factors Among Early and Middle Adolescents Affected by Maternal HIV/AIDS

The influence of parenting skills on adolescent outcomes among children affected by maternal HIV/AIDS (N = 118, M age = 13) was investigated. Among families with more frequent family routines, over time adolescents showed lower rates of aggression, anxiety, worry, depression, conduct disorder, binge drinking, and increased self‐concept. Among families with higher levels of parental monitoring, adolescents showed significant declines in anxiety and depression, conduct disorder, and binge drinking, along with increased self‐concept. Mothers’ level of illness was associated with parenting. Greater variability in parental monitoring resulted in higher levels of problem behaviors.     

1, 2, 3, 4: Infusing Quantitative Literacy into Introductory Biology

Biology of the twenty-first century is an increasingly quantitative science. Undergraduate biology education therefore needs to provide opportunities for students to develop fluency in the tools and language of quantitative disciplines. Quantitative literacy (QL) is important for future scientists as well as for citizens, who need to interpret numeric information and data-based claims regarding nearly every aspect of daily life. To address the need for QL in biology education, we incorporated quantitative concepts throughout a semester-long introductory biology course at a large research university. Early in the course, we assessed the quantitative skills that students bring to the introductory biology classroom and found that students had difficulties in performing simple calculations, representing data graphically, and articulating data-driven arguments. In response to students'' learning needs, we infused the course with quantitative concepts aligned with the existing course content and learning objectives. The effectiveness of this approach is demonstrated by significant improvement in the quality of students'' graphical representations of biological data. Infusing QL in introductory biology presents challenges. Our study, however, supports the conclusion that it is feasible in the context of an existing course, consistent with the goals of college biology education, and promotes students'' development of important quantitative skills.     

Ethical elders: Campus role models for moral development

Educating for virtue has been a task of U.S. colleges and universities since the founding of this nation's first institution of higher learning. The authors of this article suggest that campus ethical elders have obligations toward students and toward younger colleagues who aspire to a life in education.     

Challenges and possibilities in climate change education

Educating and communicating about climate change is challenging. Researchers reported that climate change concepts are often misunderstood. Some people do not believe that climate change will have impacts on their own life. Other challenges may include people＇s difficulty in perceiving small or gradual environmental changes, the fact that overconsumption brings people power and recognition, people＇s weak connection to nature, and people＇s tendency to make emotional decisions and quickly solve environmental problems. Drawn from research, some climate change communication and education strategies are presented. Well designed environmental messages could convince people that they can still reduce the scale of the phenomenon and could link mitigation actions to people＇s positive desires or aspirations, while providing local examples of climate change impacts and illustrated information. In mitigation education, some strategies （future education, reflective, experiential, socio-constructivist approaches and the community of change）, jointly used, could correct the learners＇ misconceptions and lead them to action. In adaptation education, scientists and citizens could get together to choose a specific problem that may worsen with climate change, analyze it, and propose and implement adaptations. In the meantime, pedagogical strategies inspired by cognitive science could strengthen the citizens＇ skills： posing and solving problems, decision-making, scenario building and sustainable planning.     

A measure of emergent literacy for students with severe developmental disabilities

This study examined the underlying structure of the Nonverbal Literacy Assessment (NVLA), an instrument designed to measure emergent literacy for K–fourth‐grade students with severe developmental disabilities. The NVLA was conceptualized as having six constructs that reflected emergent literacy skills: (a) phonemic awareness, (b) phonics, (c) comprehension, (d) vocabulary, (e) listening comprehension, and (f) text awareness. Confirmatory factor analysis using data from 207 student administrations was used to examine the six‐factor model and two alternative models. Results suggested that all three models fit the data, but the high corrections coefficients among the constructs suggested that a one‐factor model of emergent literacy was the best‐fitting model. Implications and limitations are discussed. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

State Anxiety as a Function of Skill Level and Proximity to Competition

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate differences between the oversized racquet and the standard-sized racquet in (1) a tennis shot accuracy test on four basic strokes (ground strokes, volley, return of serve, and serve), and (2) a measure of players' subjective evaluation of playability (control, accuracy, power, and feel). Research participants (n = 57) were undergraduate students separated into two skill levels, intermediate (n = 29) and beginners (n = 28). Data were analyzed using a two-factor ANOVA with repeated measures on one factor. Result from the skills tests indicated that both beginning and intermediate groups scores significantly higher when using the oversized racquet. The scores received when using the oversized racquet tended to reflect a general increase in all four components of the skill test, particularly the return of serve. Data indicated that the subjective evaluation of the playing characteristic of each racquet was influenced by the player's skill level. Beginning players favored the oversized racquet, yet intermediate players rated the two racquet types about equal. The investigation suggests that beginning and intermediate tennis players, educators, and tennis teaching professionals should consider using and encouraging the use of oversized racquets.     

Validation of Weinbach's and Hanavan's Models for Computation of Physical Properties of the Forearm

Abstract

The purpose of the present study was to validate the Weinbach and the Hanavan models for the determinations of the forearm volume and center of mass. The study was conducted using 20 forearms from six male and four female cadavers. Results from the present investigation indicate that Weinbach's model is more accurate than Hanavan's model in estimating forearm volume and center of mass. The relative location of the center of mass and the center of volume was also investigated with the Weinbach model and these centers were found to coincide. The Hanavan model should be used only in the cases where the shape of the forearm closely resembles that of a truncated cone.