Parent-child interaction and conduct disorder

This paper reviews recent research on the role of parent-child interaction in the etiology of children's conduct disorder. It examines the role of social and family factors in conduct disorder and the possible mechanisms by which these contextual factors might affect parent-child interaction and child problem behavior. A major focus is on research that has compared the patterns of interaction in families with and without conduct-disordered children, using observational methods, in order to test different theoretical explanations about how conduct disorder develops and is maintained. Further research is needed on the neglected area of positive parent-child interaction, which may be just as important as conflictual processes in determining the development of conduct disorder. Theoretical and methodological issues are raised about the problems of determining causality from correlational research, and the possibilities for naturalistic experimental studies are discussed.     

Setting Common Examination Papers that Differentiate

Many GCSE syllabuses are examined with examinations in which all candidates take the same papers. The setting of such papers is problematic because of the wide range of abilities and achievements of pupils at the age of 16, together with the requirement that appropriate differentiation should be provided (i.e. opportunities for candidates to show what they know, understand and can do must be given). This paper considers a number of issues relevant to the setting of such examinations. These include how differentiation may be provided; the wording of questions; and how marks should be allocated. It highlights a number of potential pitfalls and concludes that although papers, which are accessible to all candidates and discriminate appropriately, can be set, common papers will not always provide adequate opportunities for the most able and least able candidates to show what they know, understand and can do.     

The Interfacing of Preservice and Inservice Experiences of Reform-Based Teaching: A Longitudinal Study

This article contrasts four elementary teachers who were graduates of a teacher education program that incorporated a reform-based mathematics methods course. The report provides results from a four-year longitudinal study that extended from the time that the participants were preservice teachers until the end of their second year of teaching. The article provides background information of each teacher, vignettes from her teaching, excerpts from interviews, and an analysis of each teacher's case. Results from the case studies indicate that two of the four teachers sustained their cognitively-based conceptions about mathematics teaching and learning, and implemented these conceptions into practice. The analysis suggests that there were several factors that influenced the teachers' conceptions and the choices they made in their teaching: personal commitment, professional strength, curriculum, planning, assessment, beliefs, knowledge, and support from school administration. The article concludes with implications for teaching and questions about the nature of what might be required in the beginning years of teaching if new teachers are expected to implement reform-based mathematics teaching practices. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Liminality,disruption, and change: A prismatic look at pandemic education

PROSPECTS - Using prismatic inquiry, a team of researchers documented a variety of personal experiences that spanned elementary through higher education, with the goal of determining what helped...     

Depressive symptoms in young adults: the influences of the early home environment and early educational child care

The relationship between depressive symptoms in young adults, the quality of the early home environment, and early educational child care was investigated in young adults randomly assigned to receive early childhood intervention in the Abecedarian study. Of the original 111 infants enrolled (98% African American), 104 participated in an age-21 follow-up. Those who had early treatment reported fewer depressive symptoms. The protective effects of the early childhood program were further supported by a significant home environment by treatment interaction. Negative effects of lower quality home environments on young adult depressive symptoms were almost entirely offset by preschool treatment, whereas depressive symptoms increased as the quality of the early home environment decreased for those in the control group.     

‘Man sorting books’: historical research in an archive of university photographs

The impetus for this article was an encounter with thousands of photographs in an online archive of a public university in New Zealand, taken over the twentieth century. The size of the archive and the paucity of information about many images draws attention to challenges of commencing work in a large institutional visual archive. The first part of the article outlines initial forays into the archive and attempts to ‘sort’ the 22,000 plus images it contains into some form of order, utilising the categories of people, things, spaces, activities. The second part considers the history of the library as integral to an idea of the university and its role in the storing, organisation and dissemination of knowledge. It analyses archival images of the library to reflect on its place in the university, together with the limits and opportunities afforded by visual archives in histories of higher education.     

Uncoupling the Articulation Between Girls' Education and Tradition in Tanzania

This article explores theoretical and historical problems associated with representations of gender and race in the Third World. Using a feminist cultural studies approach, the author examines representations associated with the concept of African tradition that have shaped colonial and post-colonial education policy for girls in Tanzania. Archival materials from missionary, colonial, and African sources reveal the multiple and often conflicting views of tradition conveyed through programmes intended to increase African girls' participation in school. The uses of tradition in colonial policy making are compared with its meanings in contemporary educational programmes for girls in an attempt to further feminist scholarship and action around the issue of girls' education.     

Behavioral contrast as a function of component duration and baseline rate of reinforcement

Three experiments examined changes in size of multiple-schedule behavioral contrast with changes in an independent variable. Experiment 1 found that positive contrast generally increased with increases in component duration when pigeons pressed treadles. Experiments 2 and 3 found that positive and negative contrast generally increased with increases in the baseline rates of reinforcement when pigeons pecked keys. The experiments show that positive and negative contrast vary as similar functions of the same variables. Experiment 1 also suggests that these functions are different for different responses.     

A rubric to track the development of secondary pre-service and novice teachers’ summative assessment literacy

Abstract

Teachers require specialised assessment knowledge and skills in order to effectively assess student learning. These knowledge and skills develop over time through ongoing teacher learning and experiences. The first part of this paper presents a Summative Assessment Literacy Rubric (SALRubric) constructed to track the development of secondary science teachers’ summative assessment literacy. The analytic rubric consists of 10 dimensions spread across three categories drawn from the literature and context-specific empirical evidence: knowledge of assessment, understanding the context for assessment, and recognising the impact of assessment. The second part of this paper applies the SALRubric in a case study to explore the development of summative assessment literacy of New Zealand secondary science pre-service and novice teachers. An increasing sophistication in these teachers’ summative assessment literacy was evident over 20 months albeit in a nuanced manner for individual teachers. The rubric was a very useful tool for evaluating and documenting shifts in teachers’ summative assessment literacy over time. Implications of the use of SALRubric are discussed in terms of summative assessment literacy practice and development.     

Quality of extension advice: a gendered case study from Ghana and Sri Lanka

Purpose: Women farmers have less access to extension services than male farmers, even though they make up almost half of the global agricultural workforce. Gender-focused international development programmes have focused on how ensuring women receive better access to advice. However, the quality of the technical advice and the service women receive in comparison to male farmers needs better understanding. Study design/methodology/approach: Five thousand interactions between male and female extension workers (‘plant doctors’) and farmers attending Plantwise plant clinics in Ghana and Sri Lanka are assessed for gender-based differences on quality of advice and service provided at clinics. Findings: The overall quality of technical advice given to male and female farmers at plant clinics in both countries did not differ. The quality of the advice given by male and female plant doctors for a specific pest/crop complex was different, and can be linked to results from the quality of service surveys that revealed women’s main negative feedback was the impracticality of advice. Practical implications: Whilst the advice given is technically sound, results highlight the importance of appropriate advice, according to farmer gender and crop grown. Theoretical implications: A greater focus on plant doctors using their knowledge about women’s role in agriculture would help to achieve more tailored advice. Originality/Value: This study leads the way in assessing the quality of the advice given according to gender. With large datasets, this research should help decision makers and future researchers to contemplate advice delivery according to gender.