Cognitive Stimulation at Home and in Child Care and Children’s Preacademic Skills in Two-Parent Families

This paper used the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Birth Cohort (N = 1,258) to examine the influence of hilevels of cognitive stimulation from mothers, fathers, and childcare providers at 24 months and children’s pre-academic skills at 48 and 60 months in two parent families. Results from path analysis showed direct positive effects of fathers’ early cognitive stimulation on early reading and math skills at 48 and 60 months. There were also two moderated effects: The effects of high levels of maternal stimulation at 24 months on early math and reading skills at 48 months were largest for children also receiving high levels of cognitive stimulation from their childcare providers. Implications for including fathers in studies of the home cognitive stimulation and strengthening the parent-childcare connection are discussed.     

Media Production

BROADCAST WRITING: PRINCIPLES AND PRACTICES by Roger L. Walters (New York: Random House, 1988—$17.00, paper)

WRITING BROADCAST NEWS: SHORTER, SHARPER, STRONGER—A PROFESSIONAL HANDBOOK by Mervin Block (Chicago: Bonus Books, 1987—$22.95)

HANDBOOK FOR PUBLIC RELATIONS WRITING by Thomas Bivins (Lincolnwood, IL: NTV Business Books, 1988—$14.95, paper)

PUBLIC RELATIONS CASES by Jerry A. Hendrix (Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, 1988—price not given, paper—also available is a 100 page instructor's manual for adopters)     

Reference

INSIDE U.S. BUSINESS: A CONCISE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF LEADING INDUSTRIES by Philip Mattera (Homewood, IL: Dow Jones-Irwin, 1987—price not given)

DICTIONARY OF COMPUTERS, INFORMATION PROCESSING & TELECOMMUNICATIONS by Jerry Rosenberg (New York: John Wiley, 1987—$18.95, paper, with a hardback available as well)     

Counselor Attitudes Toward Administrative Practices: Massachusetts and Connecticut

Administrative practices and their relationship to counselor role conflict, as perceived by school counselors, was investigated by survey questionnaire in Massachusetts and Connecticut. Results indicated that counselors feel that role clarification would ensue if guidance pupil personnel services directors had administrative jurisdiction of programs and that the main deterrent is traditional autonomy of the building principal. At the secondary level, principals tend to have supervisory and administrative control, while at the elementary level the reverse trend appears to be true.     

The Public Face of Kinesiology in the 21st Century

Recent enrollment growth in kinesiology places it second among academic areas of study in higher education. This article addresses issues that have prompted that growth, will allow it to continue, and examines other likely changes in the field. A major factor in growth has been the value of kinesiology as a major for allied health professional programs such as physical therapy and occupational therapy. In general, this growth is good for the field but creates the need for added faculty and facilities, stressing the capacity of current doctoral programs in kinesiology. Questions also arise about the distribution of undergraduate majors with many more seeking allied health options rather than kinesiology’s traditional fields of fitness leadership and physical education teaching. Other topics addressed include the increasing use of lecturers rather than tenure/tenure-line faculty, large public versus smaller private universities, use of the kinesiology core (American Kinesiology Association), direction of kinesiology research (sport or health related), and the role of kinesiology in public health.     

An Examination of Changes to State Civic Education Requirements, 2004–2016

Across the country, states are considering policies that support civic learning among youth. Recent initiatives at the state level have changed graduation requirements and state assessments around high school civics. These initiatives can be grouped into three types: coursework, assessments, and accountability. The first type, coursework, refers to whether a state’s graduation requirements include a course in civics. The second, assessments, encompasses state requirements that students be assessed on civics or citizenship education. The third type, accountability, refers to whether a state’s accountability system includes state assessments in civics or citizenship education. The purpose of this study is threefold: (1) to describe state policies in civics education and the variation in them among the American states, (2) to document the changes in state policies between 2004 and 2016, and (3) to help unpack the reasons behind changes to civics education policy among the American states. We find considerable variation in civics education policies across states, as well as substantial changes within states over time. Using event history analysis, we exploit the variation to examine the extent to which political, economic, and demographic factors inside a state as well as the actions of neighboring or regional states condition adoption of assessment policies. We find evidence that the proportion of Hispanic and black populations in a state are positively associated with adoption and discuss implications and areas for future research.