Understanding the Program Effectiveness of Early Mathematics Interventions for Prekindergarten and Kindergarten Environments: A Meta-Analytic Review

Research Findings: The early childhood years are critical in developing early mathematics skills, but the opportunities one has to learn mathematics tend to be limited, preventing the development of significant mathematics learning. By conducting a meta-analysis of 29 experimental and quasi-experimental studies that have been published since 2000, this study extends beyond prior evaluations of early mathematics programs for prekindergarten and kindergarten environments by quantifying program effectiveness in terms of effect sizes and examining 6 aspects of these programs. We found an overall moderate to large effect size. There was a tendency for programs to produce larger effects when they (a) targeted a single content strand, (b) presented content 120 to 150 min per week, (c) designed programs for the prekindergarten environment, (d) presented content individually to children, and (e) used researcher-made mathematics assessments. Practice or Policy: Early mathematics programs can be designed to be both developmentally appropriate and highly effective. The goal of this meta-analysis was to reveal these programs to early development and education professionals so that they understand some of the factors that might explain why some produced stronger effects than others.     

Assessment of progressively delayed prompts on guided skill learning in rats

We examined the controlling factors that allow a prompted skill to become autonomous in a discrete-trials implementation of Touchette’s (1971) progressively delayed prompting procedure, but our subjects were rats rather than children with disabilities. Our prompted skill was a left-right lever-press sequence guided by two panel lights. We manipulated (a) the effectiveness of the guiding lights prompt and (b) the presence or absence of a progressively delayed prompt in four groups of rats. The less effective prompt yielded greater autonomy than the more effective prompt. The ability of the progressively delayed prompt procedure to produce behavioral autonomy depended upon characteristics of the obtained delay (trial duration) rather than on the pending prompt. Sequence accuracy was reliably higher in unprompted trials than in prompted trials, and this difference was maintained in the 2 groups that received no prompts but yielded equivalent trial durations. Overall sequence accuracy decreased systematically as trial duration increased. Shorter trials and their greater accuracy were correlated with higher overall reinforcement rates for faster responding. Waiting for delayed prompts (even if no actual prompt was provided) was associated with lower overall reinforcement rate by decreasing accuracy and by lengthening trials. These findings extend results from previous studies regarding the controlling factors in delayed prompting procedures applied to children with disabilities.     

Familial patterns of expression of specific reading disability in a population sample

Summary A sample school population of 75 family units of equal size was investigated for expression of specific reading disability. 25.3% of the total children showed specific reading disability as defined in this study. By using spelling achievement as the criterion for the presence of the disability, the incidence of the disorder was shown to be much higher in certain families than in others, with clear sibling aggregation. The siblings of specific-reading-disability cases demonstrated lower spelling competence than the total siblings in normal families, even when well above a crippling level. Both within individual families and by grades, the spelling rating in relation to grade norms of the specific-reading-disability family cases with their siblings tended to decline with age, in contrast to normal families where it tended to improve with age. This pattern was even more striking if the greater language competence of females, now quite generally accepted and further supported by this study, was taken into account. It was demonstrated that the above patterns were not primarily a product of intelligence level or teaching methods. The bearing of these findings on the tenability of the most common, current hypotheses concerning causation was briefly discussed. From the Language Clinic and Division of Neurology, Massachusetts General Hospital.     

Longitudinal Effects of PostDivorce Interparental Conflict on Children’s Mental Health Problems Through Fear of Abandonment: Does Parenting Quality Play a Buffering Role?

In a sample of 559 children (ages 9–18), researchers investigated whether: (a) fear of abandonment mediated the association between postdivorce interparental conflict (IPC) and mental health problems, and (b) parent–child relationship quality moderated the association between IPC and fear of abandonment. Mediation analyses indicated that pretest IPC predicted fear of abandonment 3 months later, which then predicted child- and teacher-reported mental health problems 10 months later. The hypothesized protective effect of a high-quality parent–child relationship was not observed. IPC predicted fear of abandonment for all children, except for those with low- and moderate-quality father–child relationships, for whom IPC was not significantly related to fear of abandonment. Findings highlight the need to optimize child coping programs and improve parenting-after-divorce programs to reduce IPC.     

Introduction to the Special Issue: Global Perspectives on Vocational Guidance

This thematic issue of the International Journal for Educational and Vocational Guidance includes a selection of papers presented at an IAEVG-NCDA Symposium, entitled “International Perspectives on Career Development”. The articles in this special issue deal with a number of topics related to international developments and perspectives, the impact of globalisation on guidance practice and research, and comparative approaches to educational and vocational guidance that differentiate career development practices in different countries. The outcome of the general discussion that centred around these specific themes at the International Symposium were jointly published in a special issue of the Career Development Quarterly, Vol. 54, No. 1.

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Zusammenfassung. Einleitung zur Sonderausgabe: Weltweite Perspektiven der Berufsberatung Diese thematische Ausgabe des Internationalen Journals für Bildungs- und Berufsberatung enthält eine Auswahl von Vorträgen, die auf einem AIOSP-NCDA-Symposium mit dem Titel “Internationale Perspektiven der Berufslaufbahnentwicklung” gehalten wurden. Die Artikel dieser Sonderausgabe repräsentieren eine Anzahl von Themen, die internationale Entwicklungen und Perspektiven, die Auswirkungen der Globalisierung auf Praxis und Forschung zur Beruflichen Beratung sowie vergleichende Untersuchungen zur Bildungs- und Berufsberatung betreffen, die Beratungsansätze in verschiedenen Ländern voneinander differenzieren. Die Ergebnisse der allgemeinen Diskussion auf dem internationalen Symposium rund um diese Themen wurden bereits in einer gemeinschaftlich herausgegebenen Sonderausgabe des Career Development Quarterly, Jahrgang 54, Nr. 1, veröffentlicht.

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Resumen. Introducción al Número Especial: Perspectivas Globales de la Orientación Profesional Este número temático de la Revista Internacional de Orientación Educativa y Profesional incluye una selección de comunicaciones presentadas en un Simposio Internacional de la AIOEP-NCDA (Asociación Nacional del Desarrollo de la Carrera), denominado Perspectivas Internacionales sobre el Desarrollo de la Carrera. Los artículos de este número especial abordan una serie de temas relacionados con diversas perspectivas y avances en el ámbito internacional, el impacto de la globalización sobre la investigación y la práctica de la orientación, y análisis comparativos de la orientación educativa y profesional que permiten diferenciar prácticas de desarrollo de la carrera en distintos países. Los resultados y conclusiones de la discusión general que se generó en torno a estos temas en el Simposio Internacional se publicaron conjuntamente en un número especial del Career Development Quarterly, Vol. 54, No. 1.

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Résumé. Introduction au Numéro Spécial: Perspectives mondiales sur l’orientation professionnelle Ce numéro thématique de l’International Journal for Educational and Vocational Guidancecomprend une sélection d’articles présentés à un Symposium de l’AIOSP-NCDA, intitulé Perspectives Internationales sur le Développement de la Vie de Travail. Les articles de ce numéro spécial concernent un ensemble de thèmes liés à des évolutions et des perspectives internationales, à l’impact de la mondialisation sur la pratique et la recherche en orientation ainsi qu’à des approches de l’orientation scolaire et professionnelle qui différencient les pratiques en développement de la vie de travail dans différents pays. Les conclusions de la discussion générale qui était centrée sur ces thèmes spécifiques au Symposium International ont été publiés conjointement dans un numéro spécial du Career Development Quarterly, Vol. 54, No. 1.

     

Emerging trends in carrer counselling

This paper examines the emerging trends in counselling, particularly career counselling, in relation to education, career and employment. It deals with the counselling issues associated with each of these emphases and with the comprehensive populations for whom education, career, and employment content may be different but important in various settings: schools, universities, business and industry, community. Particularly important are the counselling emphases associated with unemployment, underemployment, career and job change, and persons with disabilities. Major attention is given to emerging perspectives on the relationship of career counselling to mental health, stress and anger management, and behavioural health.