The Literacy Early Action Project (LEAP): exploring factors underpinning progress with literacy for a child in his first year of school

In this article, Anthony Feiler, senior lecturer in the Graduate School of Education at the University of Bristol, and Elaine Logan, lecturer in early years education at the City of Bristol College, present a case study of a child who made strong progress with literacy during his first year at school. The child and his family participated in the Literacy Early Action Project (LEAP), a home-visiting scheme for children judged by school staff to be at risk of struggling with literacy. A teaching assistant made weekly home visits during the year and developed literacy support activities with the child's mother and grandparents. Five key factors underpinning the child's progress are identified here: the flexibility in the teaching assistant's approach that enabled extended family members to become engaged in literacy support; the teaching assistant's sensitivity to family culture; the playful approach to learning adopted by the teaching assistant; putting the child at the centre of the intervention; and the existence of a school culture that strongly promoted involvement for parents. Anthony Feiler and Elaine Logan conclude that teaching assistants in the UK might be given more scope to develop support strategies for early childhood education that involve collaborative work with parents.     

The application of artificial intelligence principles to teaching and training*

This paper compares and contrasts the use of AI principles in industrial training with more normal computer‐based training (CBT) approaches. A number of applications of CBT are illustrated (for example simulations, tutorial presentations, fault diagnosis, management games, industrial relations exercises) and compared with an alternative approach using AI. An evaluation of the relative merits of the two approaches will be given. Existing CBT packages are used to illustrate the points raised and the emphasis of the arguments will be on the effectiveness of AI and CBT in terms of both cost and learning. The position of AI applications within CBT is discussed, as is the task of getting started in applying these techniques.     

Voice over distance: a case of podcasting for learning in online teacher education

This paper reports on a case study of an online pre-service teacher education course in a New Zealand university aimed at exploring the potential of student-generated podcasts as a form of interactive formative assessment at a distance. The study was part of a wider two-year funded project with the overall goal of documenting, developing, and disseminating effective and innovative e-learning practice. Findings from lecturer and tutor interviews, student focus group (FG) discussion, and course evaluations indicate that the podcasting task provided opportunities for the course lecturer, tutors, and students to learn and share ideas with one another. The experience empowered students to develop the skills and confidence to initiate more independent inquiry into technologies to support their pedagogical purposes. The study contributes to a better understanding of the skills, dispositions, and knowledge needed to prepare teacher candidates for teaching-learning contexts where information and communication technologies are increasingly pivotal.     

Early manifestations of intellectual performance: Evidence that genetic effects on later academic test performance are mediated through verbal performance in early childhood

Intellectual performance is highly heritable and robustly predicts lifelong health and success but the earliest manifestations of genetic effects on this asset are not well understood. This study examined whether early executive function (EF) or verbal performance mediate genetic influences on subsequent intellectual performance, in 561 U.S.-based adoptees (57% male) and their birth and adoptive parents (70% and 92% White, 13% and 4% African American, 7% and 2% Latinx, respectively), administered measures in 2003–2017. Genetic influences on children's academic performance at 7 years were mediated by verbal performance at 4.5 years (β = .22, 95% CI [0.08, 0.35], p = .002) and not via EF, indicating that verbal performance is an early manifestation of genetic propensity for intellectual performance.     

Developmental trajectories of behavioral inhibition from infancy to age seven: The role of genetic and environmental risk for psychopathology

The present study leveraged data from a longitudinal adoption study of 361 families recruited between 2003 and 2010 in the United States. We investigated how psychopathology symptoms in birth parents (BP; M_age = 24.1 years; 50.5–62.9% completed high school) and adoptive parents (AP; M_age = 37.8 years; 80.9% completed college; 94% mother–father couples) influenced children's behavioral inhibition (BI) trajectories. We used latent growth models of observed BI at 18 and 27 months, and 4.5 and 7 years in a sample of adopted children (Female = 42%, White = 57%, Black = 11%, Multi-racial = 21%, Latinx = 9%). BI generally decreased over time, yet there was substantial variability in these trajectories. Neither BP nor AP psychopathology symptoms independently predicted systematic differences in BI trajectories. Instead, we found that AP internalizing symptoms moderated the effects of BP psychopathology on trajectories of BI, indicating a gene by environment interaction.     

Reducing Risk for Substance Use by Economically Disadvantaged Young Men: Positive Family Environments and Pathways to Educational Attainment

Using prospective, longitudinal data spanning 10 years (age = 10–20) from a study of 295 economically disadvantaged males, the current investigation evaluated a developmental model that links early family environment and later educational aspirations, extracurricular activities, and educational attainment to substance use in early adulthood. The results indicate that a positive family environment during adolescence (low family conflict, high family warmth, and effective child management) predicted educational involvements during adolescence that promoted educational attainment during early adulthood. Finally, higher levels of educational attainment were associated with less substance use in early adulthood, even after controlling for adolescent substance use. These findings suggest that positive parenting promotes educational achievements that increase resilience to substance use for economically disadvantaged males.