The ‘good’ parent in relation to early childhood literacy: symbolic terrain and lived practice

In this paper we consider the place of early childhood literacy in the discursive construction of the identity(ies) of ‘proper’ parents. Our analysis crosses between representations of parenting in texts produced by commercial and government/public institutional interests and the self‐representations of individual parents in interviews with the researchers. The argument is made that there are commonalities and disjunctures in represented and lived parenting identities as they relate to early literacy. In commercial texts that advertise educational and other products, parents are largely absent from representations and the parent's position is one of consumer on behalf of the child. In government‐sanctioned texts, parents are very much present and are positioned as both learners about and important facilitators of early learning when they ‘interact’ with their children around language and books. The problem for which both, in their different ways, offer a solution is the “not‐yet‐ready” child precipitated into the evaluative environment of school without the initial competence seen as necessary to avoid falling behind right from the start. Both kinds of producers promise a smooth induction of children into mainstream literacy and learning practices if the ‘good parent’ plays her/his part. Finally, we use two parent cases to illustrate how parents' lived practice involves multiple discursive practices and identities as they manage young children's literacy and learning in family contexts in which they also need to negotiate relations with their partners and with paid and domestic work.     

The archival nexus: rethinking the interplay of archival ideas about the nature, value, and use of records

This article traces an alternative to the evidence/memory dichotomy in archival discourse by highlighting the nexus between archival ideas about the nature, value, and use of records as viewed and imagined through the lens of an archival concept of evidence as a relation between record and event. This article then explores how “the archival nexus” provides a different framework for understanding the various meaning-making processes surrounding archives both within and outside the archival repository, and for rethinking the role of the archivist and the position of the archival discipline with regard to other disciplines that explicitly address and engage with the archive.     

Digitizing journal archives: the experience of Taylor & Francis

There are enormous quantities of information available to researchers on the Internet, of varying levels of quality. Now, more than ever, it is important that academic publishers make best use of their journals and provide their readers with access to this high‐value content, in a form that can be easily found and used. To that end, Taylor & Francis have taken up the challenge of satisfying researchers' need to have all relevant content available at their fingertips, by digitizing their older journal content, creating subject‐based collections of backfiles and putting them online. This article provides an insight into the ‘why’ and ‘how’ of the process of digitization of Taylor & Francis's journal archives. The fact that these online backfiles are being requested, purchased, and used demonstrates the added value that publishers may hold in their archives.     

The experiences of deaf and hard of hearing students at a Queensland University: 1985–2005

This article reports on the experiences of deaf and hard of hearing students at a Queensland university, which offers an extensive deaf student support program. Seventy‐two current students and graduates since the program’s inception twenty years ago completed a survey about their experiences, highlights, challenges and use of communication tools and support services at university. Findings indicate, both quantitatively and qualitatively, that students valued the specialised support services they received, although challenges in accessing the academic curriculum remained for many students. In the important area of social factors, many students reported enjoying satisfying friendships and a sense of belonging with other deaf people, often for the first time, while others experienced feelings of social isolation in a largely hearing peer group. Overall, deaf and hard of hearing students who had attended Griffith over the 20 years had a high rate of graduation, comparing favourably with other university students.     

Examining the psychometric properties of the Infant–Toddler Environment Rating Scale-Revised Edition in a high-stakes context

The psychometric properties of the Infant–Toddler Environment Rating Scale-Revised Edition (ITERS-R) were examined using 153 classrooms from child-care centers where resources were tied to center performance. An exploratory factor analysis revealed that the scale measures one global aspect of quality. To decrease redundancy, subsets of items were selected randomly and by experts who rated items according to ease of administration and importance to quality. The shorter subsets demonstrated good discriminant validity, adequate to good psychometric properties, and high associations to the full ITERS-R score. They also demonstrated similar associations to staff education and staff-to-child ratio, as the full instrument. The best assessment of quality was demonstrated by the shortened subset that included items that assess both structural and process features of quality. Multilevel-analyses indicated that classrooms from the same providers score more similarly on ITERS-R than classrooms from other providers. The implications for using the ITERS-R in high-stakes contexts are discussed.     

Home and Parenting Resources Available to Siblings Depending on Their Birth Intention Status

This study examines the differential availability of family and parenting resources to children depending on their birth planning status. The National Longitudinal Survey of Youth data were analyzed, 3,134 mothers and their 5,890 children ( M   =  7.1 years, range = 1 month–14.8 years), of whom 63% were intended at conception, 27% were mistimed, and 10% were unwanted. Fixed-effects models show that unwanted and mistimed children had fewer resources than intended siblings. Parents' emotional resources to older children decreased after the birth of a mistimed sibling. Findings suggest that cognitive and emotional resources are differentially available to children within a family depending on intention status and that unintended births lead to decreased parental resources for older children in the household.     

Trajectories of Physical Discipline: Early Childhood Antecedents and Developmental Outcomes

This study examined childhood antecedents and developmental outcomes associated with trajectories of mild and harsh parental physical discipline. Interview, questionnaire, and observational data were available from 499 children followed from ages 5 to 16 and from 258 children in an independent sample followed from ages 5 to 15. Analyses indicated distinct physical discipline trajectory groups that varied in frequency of physical discipline and rate of change. In both samples, family ecological disadvantage differentiated the trajectory groups; in the first sample, early child externalizing also differentiated the groups. Controlling for early childhood externalizing, the minimal/ceasing trajectory groups were associated with the lowest levels of subsequent adolescent antisocial behavior in both samples and with parent–adolescent positive relationship quality in the second sample.     

The validity of reading comprehension rate: Reading speed,comprehension, and comprehension rates

This article describes a secondary analysis of a brief reading comprehension rate measure, percent comprehension questions correct per minute spent reading (%C/M). This measure includes reading speed (seconds to read) in the denominator and percentage of comprehension questions answered correctly in the numerator. Participants were 22 4th‐, 29 5th‐, and 37 10th‐grade students. Results showed that reading speed accounted for much of the variance in Broad Reading Cluster scores and subtest scores of the Woodcock–Johnson III Tests of Achievement across all grade levels. Converting reading speed to the rate measure %C/M increased Broad Reading Cluster variance accounted for in the 4th‐ and 5th‐grade sample, but decreased the Broad Reading Cluster variance accounted for in the 10th‐grade sample. Discussion focuses on the importance of reading speed and the failure to enhance validity of a brief rate measure in more skilled readers by incorporating a direct measure of comprehension. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

The relationship between treatment integrity and acceptability of reading interventions for children with Attention‐Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder

This study examined the relationship between treatment integrity and acceptability for reading interventions across two consultation models, intensive data‐based academic intervention (IDAI) and traditional data‐based academic intervention (TDAI). Participants included 83 first‐ through fourth‐grade students who met research criteria for Attention‐Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder and evidenced academic difficulties and their general and/or special education teachers. Reading interventions were developed through individualized, data‐driven consultation (IDAI) or generic, menu‐based consultative services (TDAI). Results suggested a moderate, positive relationship between treatment integrity and acceptability for both consultation groups, although the relationship was statistically significant for the IDAI group only. Furthermore, although there was a significant difference between consultation groups on treatment integrity, differences between groups on treatment acceptability were not statistically significant. Implications for practice and future research are discussed. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Within-year changes in children’s intrinsic and extrinsic motivational orientations: Contextual predictors and academic outcomes

The present study was designed to investigate the nature, timing, and correlates of motivational change among a large sample (N = 1051) of third- through eighth-grade students. Analyses of within-year changes in students’ motivational orientations revealed that both intrinsic and extrinsic motivations decreased from fall to spring, with declines in intrinsic motivation especially pronounced for the adolescents and declines in extrinsic motivation especially pronounced for the elementary students. These changes in motivation were explained, in part, by shifts in students’ perceptions of the school goal context. Findings suggested that typical age-related declines in intrinsic motivation may be minimized by a school-wide focus on mastery goals. Finally, the potential academic consequences of students’ motivational orientations were examined with a series of hierarchical multiple regressions. Intrinsic motivation and classroom achievement appeared to influence one another in a positive and reciprocal fashion. Poor classroom performance minimally predicted higher levels of extrinsic motivation, but extrinsic motivation was not a source of low classroom grades.