The enactment of literacy curriculum policy by early childhood teachers in two Australian schools

Since the early 2000s, literacy education has become an area of intense focus in Australian education policy, positioned to have a role in Australia's pursuit of enhanced international competitiveness in the “global knowledge economy”. Policy called for improvements in literacy outcomes, monitored by mandated annual assessments, and policy statements recognised the need to establish solid literacy foundations in early childhood to facilitate learning, and desired improvements, in later years. This article is derived from a larger study that investigated the production and enactment of literacy curriculum policy by early childhood teachers in Australian schools. It focuses on the school level within the State of Western Australia, presenting findings derived from thematic and critical discourse analysis of participant interview and documentary data collected in two case‐study schools. Comparative analysis revealed that literacy curriculum policy processes in both case‐study schools were focused on achieving improved test results in mandated testing regimes. This was impacting upon literacy curriculum in the early childhood years of schooling, in Australia deemed to involve children up to 8 years of age, in many, possibly adverse, ways. These findings may offer insights in other contexts about literacy curriculum policy processes that are focused on enhancing competitive positioning.     

Mandated Psychological Assessments for Suicide Risk in a College Population: A Pilot Study

This study was conducted to evaluate the impact of a protocol mandating psychological assessment of college students exhibiting specific signs of suicide risk and/or nonsuicidal self-harm. Thirty-seven current and former students who had been documented as at risk completed a structured interview in person or by phone. Outcomes suggest this protocol identifies students at risk for suicide, with 27% having made an attempt at some point in their lives and 50% having been suicidal at the time the report was written. The majority of participants endorsed the value of this intervention.     

Students with Self-identified Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (si-SEND): Flourishing or Languishing!

Students’ wellbeing is an essential component of their ability to function well, not only at school but also in all life domains. Many studies have investigated student wellbeing. However, empirical studies about the wellbeing of students with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) are scarce. Furthermore, many studies have adopted a deficit view of wellbeing and mental [ill]-health. This study adopted a more positive perspective. We administered a questionnaire assessing social-emotional and psychological wellbeing, global self-concept, resilience, bullying, mental ill-health and school satisfaction to 1930 students, aged 13–15 years, who were attending seven mainstream schools in South Australia. Of those students, 172 self-identified as having SEND. Results showed significant differences, with students who self-identified with SEND not faring as well as other students on all measures. In particular, just over one third (39.9%) of students who self-identified as having SEND reported that they were flourishing, compared with just over half (57.6%) of the students who did not indicate that they had special needs. The findings indicate that more attention needs to be given to designing and implementing supports to improve the wellbeing and school satisfaction of students who self-identify as having SEND.     

Improving teaching self-efficacy for teachers in inclusive classrooms in Hong Kong

This study investigated changes in teacher self-efficacy for inclusive practice using a mixed method research design. Participants were 417 in-service teachers in Hong Kong taking a 1-week basic teacher-training course about inclusive education. Data were collected pre and post participation in the course using the Teacher Efficacy for Inclusive Practices Scale (TEIP). A series of five in-depth focus-group interviews provided greater clarification of the perceptions and efficacy issues of teachers. The best predictors to participants’ teaching self-efficacy were confidence in teaching students with special education needs (SEN) and knowledge of legislation and policies for inclusive practice. From the focus-groups, results demonstrated a more positive attitude change towards students with SEN with a number of essential factors emerging as highly beneficial for inclusive teaching in Hong Kong (i.e. caring and love, school environment and curriculum adaption). The discussion considers the role of short training programmes as an appropriate means to improving self-efficacy for teaching within inclusive classrooms in Hong Kong.     

School Counselor Preparation in Kenya: Do Kenyan School Counselors Feel Adequately Prepared to Perform Their Roles?

School counselor training in Kenya is a relatively new phenomenon. This study examined Kenyan school counselors’ perceptions of the adequacy of their preparedness to perform their roles within the school setting. The survey was administered to 105 school counselors in four counties. The findings revealed that Kenyan school counselors perceived themselves as being adequately prepared; however, participants revealed deficiencies in their preparation and ability to deal with a wide range of student issues. Implications of these findings to the training of school counselors and counselor training programs are discussed.     

Cross-language transfer of reading skills: an empirical investigation of bidirectionality and the influence of instructional environments

Reading and Writing - The linguistic interdependence hypothesis (Cummins, 1979, 2000) states that children’s second-language (L2) proficiency is, to some extent, a function of their...     

Why collective bargaining in higher education

Fordham University faculty members rejected collective bargaining in a National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) supervised election in the spring of 1975. The present study was conducted prior to the election. Relationships between faculty members' attitudes toward collective action and their perceptions of the quality of the organizational characteristics of the University were examined.The study was based on modern organization theory which contends that the needs of organizational participants must be satisfied and integrated with organizational goals to maximize output and to minimize the potential for dysfunctional behavior of the participants.The findings supported theory. Faculty members were less supportive of collective action when they perceived administrator-faculty and intrafaculty relationships, motivation processes, and communication processes to be at levels conducive to meeting their needs.     

Academic vocabulary and reading comprehension: exploring the relationships across measures of vocabulary knowledge

Reading and Writing - This study examined the relationship between knowledge of academic vocabulary and reading comprehension in data contributed by 5855 middle school students. Each student...     

Using communication to manage uncertainty about cervical cancer screening guideline adherence among Appalachian women

Changes to the United States Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) recommendations for cervical cancer preventive services have led to patient confusion, especially in medically underserved populations. We investigated how patient uncertainty concerning cervical cancer screening guidelines is appraised and managed through communication with healthcare providers by conducting in-depth, face-to-face interviews with 24 adult women between the ages of 24 and 65 (m?=?41, SD?=?14) living in Appalachia Kentucky. In general, participants expressed a high degree of uncertainty about the updated cervical cancer screening guidelines and appraised this uncertainty as both a danger and an opportunity. Communication with healthcare providers served both to exacerbate and to mitigate patient uncertainty. The study identifies how healthcare providers may use the change in USPSTF guidelines as a “teachable moment” to productively counsel patients on the importance of timely screening, the typical progression of certain types of high-risk HPV (human papillomavirus) infection to cervical cancer, and the importance of follow-up care.     

Content Analysis of a Live CDC Twitter Chat During the 2014 Ebola Outbreak

A public response to a looming health threat may be marked with misinformation and panic. However, providing the public with accurate information and updates may be an effective way to prevent widespread fear. In response to the 2014 Ebola panic in the United States, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) initiated a Twitter conversation with the public to alleviate concerns and provide accurate information about the disease. This study conducted a content analysis of 512 randomly selected tweets by the general public directed to the CDC. The major themes identified included the etiology of Ebola, policy, the environment, spread and scope of the disease, fear and anxiety from the public, and misinformation. Practical implications of these findings include encouraging government and emergency health response organizations to prepare educational messages and materials in advance that detail responses to common questions, such as transmission and symptoms.