Cognitive constraints and the early learning goals in writing

This study examined the relative importance of a number of cognitive factors (i.e. working memory, vocabulary knowledge, general cognitive ability and reading skills) in accounting for differences in the rate of progress made by children in the development of emergent writing skills. Sixty-seven children were assessed on tasks measuring the visuospatial, phonological and central executive components of working memory. The children's written texts were analysed according to the assessment scale for writing from the Early Years Foundation Stage Profile. The results indicate that reading performance and visuospatial memory skills are crucial to determining whether or not children aged 4–5 years are able to meet the UK government's prescribed educational standards for writing. The importance of visual skills in the acquisition of orthographic knowledge and writing conventions gained through reading is discussed in relation to current instructional strategies within schools.     

Risky choices: the dilemmas of introducing contemporary art practices into schools

Contemporary art is a popular feature of the cultural landscape in the United Kingdom, and recent research has recommended introducing its practices into state education. Yet these practices are still rare in schools, and this paper argues that the many difficulties that arise from attempts to introduce them are indicative of their socially contingent character, which threatens to disrupt the ideological underpinnings of orthodox school practices. The school art projects ‘Room 13’ and ‘Teaching through contemporary art’ are used as prominent examples of contemporary art practices that support a relatively high degree of learner autonomy within state education, yet are situated outside of government initiatives. Through these projects the paper explores the dilemmas that the participants face, which include questions of learner agency, choice and creative risk, and the effects of regulatory assessment systems upon collaboration, experiment, play and ephemeral learning outcomes. The paper concludes by examining the possibilities of encouraging these more ‘risky’ contemporary practices in schools.     

Science at the Center: An Emergent, Standards-Based, Child-Centered Framework for Early Learners

This article will describe an approach to planning and assessment that is designed to support an emergent, play-based curriculum while helping teachers make informed instructional decisions. Using assessment that supports curriculum allows early childhood professionals to infuse early learning content standards into meaningful, relevant and connected topics of study. Through a combined effort among teachers, administrators and university faculty, one demonstration school developed a method of integrating and evaluating content standards and developmental skills into an emergent curriculum model. While this remains a work in progress, it does show promise for being an effective way to address state standards while maintaining recommended developmentally appropriate practices.     

School‐based counseling of abused children

Abused children experience high rates of behavior, emotional, and learning problems but infrequently receive treatment. Most services provided to abused children and their families are not based on any clear evidence that they work. A number of evidence‐based treatments (EBTs), demonstrated to be safe and effective in treating a range of difficulties that present in children exposed to family violence, are appropriate for schools. We briefly review forms of abuse, describe EBTs appropriate for schools, and present a decision tree for deciding who to treat and how. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Analysis of author affiliation across four school psychology journals from 2000 to 2008: Where is the practitioner research?

Articles published between 2000 and 2008 in four major school psychology journals—School Psychology Review, Journal of School Psychology, Psychology in the Schools, and School Psychology Quarterly—were classified based on type (empirical or narrative) and on the primary and secondary authors' affiliations. Results showed that more than 90% of the primary and secondary authors were university affiliated with little difference across article type. Although more than 85% of school psychologists are practitioners, these results suggest that their contributions to these school psychology journals are limited because they account for less than 10% of the authors of articles. Discussion focuses on practitioners' involvement in the research base that is intended to inform their professional behaviors. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

The Relative Credibility of Zoo‐Affiliated Spokespeople for Delivering Conservation Messages

Abstract Zoos aspire to be leaders in environmental conservation through their work in environmental education. This study examined whether a spokesperson's job title impacts credibility when conservation messages are delivered to the public. Visitors to a zoo were presented with seven environmental messages. They then selected—from a list of zoo‐related job titles—the one they deemed most credible and the one considered least credible. Statistical analysis established that three “credible” job titles were selected significantly more often, while three were generally selected as “least credible.” The authors demonstrate that some job titles have greater credibility than others among visitors, and recommend that more attention be given to this variable if attitude and behavior change are desired outcomes. They caution that while source credibility may vary based on job title, the influence it has on persuasiveness is yet to be determined.     

The PRET A Rapporter framework: Evaluating digital libraries from the perspective of information work

The strongest tradition of IR systems evaluation has focused on system effectiveness; more recently, there has been a growing interest in evaluation of Interactive IR systems, balancing system and user-oriented evaluation criteria. In this paper we shift the focus to considering how IR systems, and particularly digital libraries, can be evaluated to assess (and improve) their fit with users’ broader work activities. Taking this focus, we answer a different set of evaluation questions that reveal more about the design of interfaces, user–system interactions and how systems may be deployed in the information working context. The planning and conduct of such evaluation studies share some features with the established methods for conducting IR evaluation studies, but come with a shift in emphasis; for example, a greater range of ethical considerations may be pertinent. We present the PRET A Rapporter framework for structuring user-centred evaluation studies and illustrate its application to three evaluation studies of digital library systems.     

Metaphonological Abilities of Phonologically Disordered Children

There is currently a great deal of interest in the underlying metaphonological abilities of children with phonological output impairment and their possible relationship with both the continuing speech problem and later literacy development. We present data from 61 children with phonological output problems and 59 normal speakers on a range of metaphonological, speech output, language and cognitive assessments. While supporting an overall group difference in metaphonological ability, the range of individual variation is highlighted. Some weak relationships were found between metaphonological skills and other language and cognitive performance, but not between metaphonological ability and severity of speech performance. The accepted developmental order of phonological awareness tasks was not entirely supported; rather, subgroups of children were found who were showing quite different orders of difficulty. A distinction between segmentation and rhyming skills was confirmed.