Reported maltreatment in children with multiple disabilities

This study examined a population of children with multiple disabilities to investigate whether functional, developmental, or perinatal factors could differentiate children reported and substantiated as maltreated from those not so reported. Data were collected from medical records of a cohort of 500 children evaluated between 1973 and 1984 at the Kennedy Institute in Baltimore, Maryland. Maltreatment reporting was documented through the State of Maryland Abuse Registry and the counties of residence of all study children. Results indicated that the profiles of demographic and family characteristics associated with child maltreatment reporting in this population are consistent with the literature, but child functional and developmental characteristics were not confirmed as risk factors for substantiated maltreatment reports. Indeed, contrary to investigator expectations, the more severely disabled children, in terms of functioning, appeared at less risk of maltreatment than did disabled children functioning at more age-appropriate levels.     

THE IMPACT OF INSTITUTIONAL CHOICE AND ENVIRONMENTS ON AFRICAN-AMERICAN AND WHITE STUDENTS' DEGREE EXPECTATIONS

This study examines the effects of individualcharacteristics, institutional characteristics andexperiences, and financial aid measures onAfrican-American and white college students' degreeaspirations. The main theoretical foundations for this studyare the status attainment models developed in the early1970s and Weidman's (1989) model of undergraduatesocialization. The study used the BeginningPostsecondary Students (BPS:90/92) data set, and the findingsshow that regression models between the two groups havemany similarities: Students' aspirations are mostly theresult of socioeconomic factors, initial degree aspirations, and institutional characteristics.Financial aid measures are not significant predictors ofaspirations for African-American students, although workstudy awards and fewer hours per week spent working significantly affect white students'aspirations. There are quite a few differences betweenthe groups' regression models. For instance,intellectual selfconfidence has opposite effects onaspirations for African-American and white students.African-American enrollment and faculty contactpositively affect AfricanAmerican students' aspirations,while tuition cost and peer contact have positiveeffects on white students' aspirations.     

Teachers as Political Actors

In this paper the authors argue that contrary to official rhetoric, education is a political process and teachers are political actors who operate in a number of political arenas. Contemporary political processes, it is suggested have marginalized the voices of teachers, constructed teachers as technicians and limited the transformative potential of education work. If teachers are to wrest back greater control over their work, they will need to engage in concerted political action. This requires teachers to be politically literate and politically active. The development of such skills and attitudes should not be left to chance, and it is maintained that political education should be placed at the core of teacher education programmes. This paper explores the nature of the political skills, understandings and attitudes which should be central to teacher education and an attempt to achieve this is outlined by reference to a preservice programme in which this is attempted.     

Support and barriers in long-term recovery after Hurricane Sandy: improvisation as a communicative process of resilience

ABSTRACT

This study examines the long-term recovery and resilience processes of households on the New Jersey coast after Hurricane Sandy. Based on theoretical frameworks of community ecology, communication ecology, and the Communication Theory of Resilience, we analyzed focus group interviews and timeline data to examine the sources and forms of support and barrier and provide a detailed account of the ways in which individuals engaged with support and barrier sources. Results show that resilience was enacted through the process of mobilizing and improvising networks of informal and institutional ties, sometimes joining them, to access resources. Communicative processes were central to improvisation, and ineffective communication and coordination constituted a majority of barriers in accessing social support for recovery. Results also detail how processes varied temporally. This study contributes to the literature on resilience as a communicative process, with improvisation at its core, that is enacted through interacting informal, institutional, and physical systems in communities.     

Are schools meeting their clients' expectations? Parents voice their perceptions about children learning to read in schools today

This research, as part of a larger project examining effective reading instruction for 10–12 year old students, explores the perceptions of thirteen parents in six schools. The study identified: parents recognise their engagement in reading with their children impacts on children's motivation to read; parents have concerns about the degree to which schools meet children's reading needs; and some parents seek external assessment and support. The study as a whole indicates the importance of effective home school relationships.     

Why Some Youths Do Not Realise Their Post-Secondary Education Aspirations

Tertiary Education and Management - This paper explores the ability of students to achieve their optimistic educational scenario (aspirations) and to provide contextual information on the factors...     

Relationships among Special Education Teachers' Knowledge,Instructional Practice and Students' Performance in Reading Fluency

The purpose of this study was to explore the relationships among (1) special education teachers’ knowledge for teaching reading fluency, (2) the specific instructional practices they used in fluency instruction, and (3) gains of students with specific learning disabilities (SLD) on a performance measure of oral reading fluency (ORF). Analyses based on multilevel linear modeling and analysis of covariance indicated that for 42 special education teachers teaching third, fourth, and fifth graders with SLD in intensive reading groups, teachers’ knowledge for teaching reading fluency predicted student gains on ORF measures, but did not predict their instructional practice. Furthermore, teacher practice did not predict student gains on ORF. Practical implications and future research are discussed.     

Barriers and assets to external funding for African American faculty

Abstract

External funding is required for promotion and tenure in many disciplines, especially at research intensive universities. The purpose of this study was to identify barriers and assets to external funding for African American faculty at a research intensive university. A phenomenological approach was used to capture the voice of 16 African American faculty through focus groups and interviews. Data were interpreted through the lens of Critical Race Theory. The three primary themes were: (1) barriers, (2) influence of race, and (3) assets. Barriers included lack of mentors and collaborators; teaching load and lack of protective time; scarcity of funding; and lack of administrative support and infrastructure for getting grants out. Faculty reported several assets for securing funding. These included both personal (e.g. good training, innovation) and external (e.g. collaborations with community members) assets. Recommendations for addressing barriers are provided.     

The Language of Coping: Understanding Filipino Geriatric Patients' Hemodialysis Lived Experiences

The majority of patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) are undergoing maintenance hemodialyisis. Hemodialysis is a process of removing metabolic waste, other poisons, and excess fluids from the blood and replacing essential blood constituents through a dialysis machine. With hemodialysis causing stress not only to physical status but also to psychological functioning and well-being, the individual will have to strive to cope with it. Coping involves cognitive and/or behavioral efforts exerted by the individual to be able to master, reduce, or tolerate the demands of a situation. Different coping strategies are being utilized by individuals such as thinking positively, having a positive outlook, and positively comparing self to others in similar situations. These techniques are what is referred to as optimistic coping. The study aims to capture the essences or languages of coping according to a select group of Filipino elderly patients with lived hemodialysis experiences. A total of 13 respondents, selected through purposive sampling, were provided with a two-part questionnaire. The first part is the robotfoto, which provides the cartographic sketch of the subjects. The second part is the semistructured interview, with an aide memoir. This is intended to surface the subjects' lived experience relative to hemodialysis experience coping mechanisms and the meaning of coping to them. Data gathered were transcribed and analyzed via cool and warm analyses. A repertory grid was constructed where significant statements were categorized and thematised revealing the languages of coping according to elderly patients with lived hemodialysis experience. Through interviews, the study yielded three themes that reveal the language of coping for Filipino geriatric patients undergoing hemodialyis. These themes consist of (a) coping as scaffolding: or the power to hold on, (b) coping as sailing: or the power to let go, and (c) coping as sanguinity: or the power to see the difference. Coping was defined as an ability (will power, acceptance, positive thinking) that people possess to keep up with certain stressful events, thereby making life more tolerable.     

Concept of Care,Caring Expectations,and Caring Frustrations of the Elderly Suffering from Chronic Illness

While it is true that elderly concepts of care and caring expectations have been ascertained in previous literatures, little is known about how the elderly population views caring frustrations—particularly that of the Filipino elderly. This study purports to surface the lebenswelt of healthcare expectations and frustrations based on the repondents’ concept of care. A three-part instrument consisting of robotfoto, picture prompts, and unstructured interviews was used to elicit pertinent data. Through the use of dendrogram, field texts were phenomenologically reduced to emerge conceptual clusters. On the whole, this study yielded interesting conceptualizations which include the Clock of Care, the Clock of Caring Expectations and the Clock of Caring Frustrations. The emerged meanings in this study create a picture of care as a driving force in the progression of care expectations and frustrations. This eidetic background enables healthcare providers to offer care that is both timely and relevant to their client's subjective illness experience.