Training phonological awareness: a study to evaluate the effects of a program of metalinguistic games in kindergarten

A phonological awareness program was evaluated in a small-scale study using thirty eight children from three intact kindergarten classes at an American school on the outskirts of London. The average age of the children was five years four months. There was one experimental class and two control classes. The experimental class received a Danish training program of metalinguistic games and exercises. One control class used a kindergarten reading and writing program called Success in Kindergarten Reading and Writing which incorporates phonological awareness skills, but in an informal way. The other control class followed the normal kindergarten program. The results showed that the children in the experimental group and the Success in Kindergarten group had significantly greater gains in reading and spelling measures given at the end of the year. They also did better on six of the metalinguistic tests, with the experimental group showing significantly greater gains in all the tests of phoneme awareness than the other two groups. The implications of a formal versus informal phonological awareness training program are discussed.     

Impact of School-Based Interventions for Building School Belonging in Adolescence: a Systematic Review

Educational Psychology Review - A student’s sense of school belonging is critical to school success, yet internationally, a large proportion of secondary students do not feel that they belong...     

Observed Engagement as an Indicator of Child Care Program Quality

Research Findings. This study investigated the quality of child care programs based on what children do while they are in these programs. Observing engagement is one method of measuring the effects of child care environments. Engagement refers to the amount of time children spend interacting with the environment in a developmentally and contextually appropriate manner. Group engagement was measured by repeatedly counting the percentage of children engaged in child care classrooms from two different licensing levels. Results showed that engagement levels were related to independent measures of program quality. Furthermore, engagement levels differed as a function of licensing level. Policy Implications. Observation of group engagement is an effective and unique measure of program quality. The group engagement measure not only discriminates between levels of quality; it focuses directly on child behavior and child experience offering a much- needed supplement to global and teacher-related measures. Observation of group engagement is both uncomplicated and expeditious, making it an ideal measure for use by licensing personnel as well as child care staff.     

Childbirth education for multiple pregnancy: part 1: prenatal considerations

Women with a multiple pregnancy have unique learning needs in preparing for birth. This paper explores the issues relevant to women with a multiple pregnancy to support a positive birth experience. One of the foundations of childbirth education and nursing care is to provide the individual woman and her family with knowledge regarding the birth process, what to expect, and how to cope with labor and birth. Education also focuses on caring for the newborns after birth and how to manage in the early days at home. However, traditional childbirth education classes, which meet in a series of evenings or Saturdays, may not meet the needs of women with a multiple pregnancy. In addition, because of the differences in care that exist for women with a multiple pregnancy, new paradigms for childbirth education are needed to meet the learning needs of these families. The purpose of this paper is to provide information to the childbirth educator on the differences in care women with a multiple pregnancy can expect and to suggest strategies to meet the childbirth education needs of these families.     

A Cognitive-behavioural Measure of Student Goal Setting in a Tertiary Educational Context

This study investigated the psychometric properties of a newly developed measure, the Student Goals and Behaviour Questionnaire (SGBQ). The SGBQ is a unique measure in that it assesses both students' goal setting attitudes and behaviour within a tertiary education context. In other words, the SGBQ measures students' actual, rather than preferred academic goals. To date, no such instrument exists in the psychological and educational literature. The SGBQ, a modified version of Locke & Latham's (1990) Goal Setting Questionnaire (MGSQ), and Wood & Locke's (1987) measure of academic self-efficacy (ASEQ) were administered to 100 first-year Psychology students. With regard to construct validity, predicted moderate levels of convergence were found between the SGBQ factors, and MGSQ and ASEQ. It was also found that the SGBQ had predictive validity with respect to subsequent academic performance. Furthermore, a number of demographic characteristics, such as course of study and age were found to be associated with goal setting attitudes and behaviour. The SGBQ would seem to have some promise as an instrument for the assessment and monitoring of student goal setting.     

Families with children conceived by donor insemination: a follow-up at age twelve

Growing public awareness of the use of donor insemination (DI) to enable infertile couples to become parents has been accompanied by increasing concern regarding the potentially negative consequences for family relationships and child development. Findings are presented from a prospective study of the quality of parenting and psychological adjustment of DI children at age 12. Thirty-seven DI families, 49 adoptive families, and 91 families with a naturally conceived child were compared on standardized interview and questionnaire measures administered to mothers, fathers, children, and teachers. The differences between DI families and the other family types reflected greater expressive warmth of DI mothers toward their children and less involvement in the discipline of their children by DI fathers. The DI children were well adjusted in terms of their social and emotional development. The findings are discussed with respect to the secrecy surrounding DI and the imbalance in genetic relatedness between the parents and the child.