Friendships Over the Transition from Early Childhood Centre to School Les Aities au Cours de la transition entre le Centre d'Enseignement Prescolaire et l'Ecole Primaire Amistades en el Periodo de Transicion de los Centros de Primera Infancia a la Escuela

This study is an ethnographic, participant observation study of the friendships of 16 4-5-year-old children over the transition to school. Data were collected over 18 months through regular visits with children at kindergarten, home and school. Children were followed individually by the researcher on the first day of school. Anecdotal field notes and videotaped interviews were analysed according to friendship themes. Children played, shared activities and fun together with friends. Important shared activities for friends over the transition included birthday parties and associated gift giving, staying overnight, sharing resources (for example toys or pens) and involvement in reciprocal or complementary play. Children viewed the researcher as a friend: they played with her, asked for her help, joined in activities with her and gained comfort from her proximity. Only two dyadic friendships survived over the transition to school. While friendships were a focal concern of children's lives during the transition, children with friends did not make an easier transition to school. C'est une etude sur les amities de seize enfants, ages de 4 a 5 ans, durant leur transition de l'ecole maternelle a l'ecole. La methodologie consiste de l'observation participante du domaine ethnographique. Les donnees ont rassemble pendant 18 mois par des visitees regulieres aux ecoles maternelle, aux ecoles et chez les enfants. Chaque enfant etait accompagne par la chercheuse la premiere journee a l'ecole. Les annotations anecdotiques et les entrevues enregistres sur magnetoscope, etaient analyses selon des themes sur l'amitie. Les enfants ont joue, ils se sont bien s'amuses avec leurs amis et ils ont partage aux activites ensemble, comme des fetes d'anniversaire complet avec les cadeaux d'anniversaire, ils se sont passes la nuit chez l'un l'autre, ils se sont partages les choses (comme des jouets et des plumes) et ils se sont engages dans des jeux muteuls et complementaires. Les enfants voyaient la chercheuse comme une amie-ils ont joue avec elle, ont demande son aide, ont partage aux activites avec elle et ils l'ont trouvee une consolanteuse. Il' n'y avait que deux pairs des amis qui ont survecu la transition a l'ecole. Bien que les amities aient une place centrale dans la vie des enfants pendant la transition, ceux qui avaient leurs amis n'avaient pas une transition plus facile. Este es un estudio etnografico y participe-observacion de las amistades de 16 ninos/ninas de 5-6 anos durante la transicion hacia la escuela. Datos fueron recolectados durante 18 meses atraves the visitas regulares al parvulario, al hogar y a la escuela. Los ninos fueron observados individualmente por la investigadora en el primer dia de escuela. Notas anecdoticas y entrevistas video-grabadas fueron analisados de acuerdo a temas de amistad. Los ninos jugaban, compartian actividades y se divertian juntos. Las actividades compartidas importante para los amigos durante la transicion incluyian las fiestas de cumpleanos y regalos, el pasar la noche, el compartir recursos (como juguetes y lapiceros), y el envolvimiento en juegos reciprocos o complementarios. Los ninos veian a la como amigajugaban con ella, solicitaban su ayuda, se unian en actividades con ella y se comfortaban con su proximidad. Solamente dos amistadas diadicas sobrevivieron la transicion hacia la escuela. Aunque las amistades eran una proeucupacion focal en la vida de los ninos durante la transicion los ninos con amigos no tuvieron una transicion mas facil.     

Weighty Perceptions: A Study of the Attitudes and Beliefs of Preservice Teacher Education Students Regarding Diversity and Urban Education

Twenty-first century predictions forecast highly diverse, urban students and predominantly white, monolingual, interculturally limited teachers as the makeup of the new millennium's schools. To avoid a cultural crash, today's potential teaching force must be prepared for tomorrow's students by teacher educators in colleges and universities. Helping future teachers understand what they believe about education in general and, specifically, culturally diverse populations of students can provide an important key for that preparation. This article describes one college of education's efforts to make implicit beliefs explicit through survey data, its application of data to programs, and its plans for continuing research.     

Learning contexts,black Cultural Ethos,and the science achievement of African American students in an urban middle school

As other countries vigorously promote rapid advancement in science, optimizing the participation of all students in the United States in science is imperative. This study focused on African American students and examined their science achievement in relation to Black Cultural Ethos (BCE), a construct rooted in psychology. Via qualitative and quantitative data obtained from a non‐random control group design, the study addressed three questions: (1) With respect to BCE, what characterizes the natural instructional contexts of two middle school science teachers? (2) What characterizes the achievement of African American students in contexts that incorporate BCE and contexts that do not? (3) What achievement patterns, if any, exist in BCE and non‐BCE instructional contexts? With regard to the natural contexts, the teachers did not incorporate BCE even when the opportunities were available to do so. Within these non‐BCE contexts, the group's mean scores on the study‐specific test that aligned with instruction decreased from pretest to posttest with approximately one‐third of the students' scores improving. When a context was altered with a moderate effect size of 0.47 to include BCE, the group's mean scores on the aforementioned test increased from pretest to posttest with two‐thirds of the students' scores improving. An illustration of the interplay between BCE and context and a consideration of the interplay as a mediating factor in research involving African American students encapsulate the significance and implications of the study's findings. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 45: 665–683, 2008     

Effect on Primary Level Students of Inservice Teacher Education in an Informal Science Setting

Journal of Science Teacher Education -     

Preparing teachers for inclusive classrooms

Effective teaching skills consist of high levels of student engagement based on good classroom and time management skills; the ability to scaffold learning that is adapted to students' current levels of understanding; cognitively engaging students in higher-order thinking; and encouraging and supporting success. The research reported here suggests that in elementary classrooms, effective teaching skills are effective for all students, both with and without special education needs.     

The CLEP General Examination validation program at the University of Illinois from 1970 to 1972

The present article reports a validation program at a large midwestern university using the CLEP General Examinations for Social Sciences and History, Humanities, and Natural Sciences. It outlines the various meetings and discussions that took place among the representatives of the various colleges in discussing the implications of the validation studies. It details the decision-making process followed in determining the cutoff scores and the amount of credit to be granted in satisfying the four general educational requirements at the University. It also documents some of the problems encountered in arriving at a final set of cutoff scores.