IT Takes a Village: A Case Study of Internal and External Supports of an Urban High School Magnet Career Academy

The Urban Review - The purpose of this study was to examine internal and external supports of an information technology themed (whole school) urban magnet high school located in a low-income urban...     

Response rate is not an effective mediator of learned stimulus equivalence in pigeons

We explored response rate as a possible mediator of learned stimulus equivalence. Five pigeons were trained to discriminate four clip art pictures presented during a 10-sec discrete-trial fixed interval (FI) schedule: two paired with a one-pellet reinforcer, which supported a low rate of responding, and two paired with a nine-pellet reinforcer, which supported a high rate of responding. After subjects associated one stimulus from each of these pairs with a discriminative choice response, researchers presented two new clip art stimuli during a 10-sec FI: one trained with a differential reinforcement of low rate schedule (DRL) after the FI and the other trained with a differential reinforcement of high rate schedule (DRH) after the FI. Each of the stimuli that were withheld during choice training was later shown to see if the choice responses would transfer to these stimuli. The results suggest that response rate alone does not mediate learned stimulus equivalence.     

Mental Health in Head Start: New Directions for the Twenty-First Century

This article has two aims: to explore the historical reasons why mental health has been a contested issue in Head Start, and to describe areas of challenge and innovation which might further the program's goal of improving the well-being of parents and children in poverty. The historical sources of silence in the program concerning mental health issues are noted, and recent efforts to bring mental health closer to the center of the Head Start agenda described. Four areas of challenge which are crucial in improving mental health in Head Start, are then reviewed: definitional issues at the individual and family levels, program-level consultation and services, system-level coordination, and macro-level policy changes. In each section, the nature of the challenge, current innovative practices in response to the challenge, and recommendations for further action are discussed. A concluding section presents a summary of recommendations for both program practice and research.     

Teaching strategies associated with conceptual change learning in Science

The use of teaching strategies associated with a conceptual change model of science teaching was examined in a study of thirteen 7th-grade life science teachers. Teachers taught units on photosynthesis, cellular respiration, and matter cycling in ecosystems in their regular classes under conditions varying as to whether or not conceptual change-oriented instructional materials and training sessions were provided. Greater use of conceptual change teaching strategies was associated with use of the special instructional materials, but not with the training. Students in classes where teachers were provided with the materials tended to perform better on posttests than those where such materials were not provided. The use of the conceptual change strategies by teachers was also associated with higher student performance on tests designed to assess conceptual change learning. The results support claims for the usefulness of conceptual change teaching strategies, but few of the teachers in this study could successfully implement these strategies without the support of appropriately designed curriculum materials.