Teaching cause-effect text structure through social studies content to at-risk second graders

This study evaluated the effectiveness of a comprehension program integrated with social studies instruction designed for at-risk second graders. The program included instruction in cause-effect text structure, emphasizing clue words, generic questions, graphic organizers, and the close analysis of specially constructed cause-effect target paragraphs. This program was compared (a) to a content-only program that focused only on social studies and did not include text structure instruction and (b) to a no-instruction control. Fifteen classroom teachers, randomly assigned to treatment, provided the instruction. The program improved the comprehension of instructional cause-effect texts, and there were transfer effects on some comprehension measures. The performance of the 2 instructed groups did not differ on any of the content measures, indicating that such integrated instruction can be accomplished without a loss in the amount of content acquired. This study supports our previous findings on the effectiveness of explicit instruction at the primary-grade level.     

Understanding the Role of Neuroscience in Brain Based Products: A Guide for Educators and Consumers

The term brain based is often used to describe learning theories, principles, and products. Although there have been calls urging educators to be cautious in interpreting and using such material, consumers may find it challenging to understand the role of the brain and to discriminate among brain based products to determine which would be suitable for specific educational goals. We offer a framework for differentiating the multiple meanings of the brain based label and guidelines for educators and consumers to use when evaluating educational products labeled as brain based. The guidelines include: identifying educational goals and target student populations, aligning goals and product purposes, reviewing product merits, identifying benefits and limitations of the product, and characterizing the product's impact on behavioral performance.     

Teachers’ conceptions of teacher professionalism in England in 2003 and 2006

Theoretical and political perspectives on the nature of professionalism in teaching are abundant, but little is known about the views of teachers themselves. We asked primary and secondary school teachers in England what teacher professionalism means to them. We explored what teachers think about professionalism, on what dimensions their thinking varies, and how much it varies. We researched how successful the government had already been, and how successful it would be in the future, in changing teachers’ conceptions of professionalism. Two large‐scale national surveys were conducted, with a longitudinal element. We found that teachers’ thinking about their professionalism may be construed as consisting of an inner core of strong, shared beliefs and commitments; an intermediate set of coherent but contested components of professionalism; and an outer layer of disparate elements which are generally highly disputed and which remain unintegrated into broader ways of thinking.     

Investigating English reading comprehension growth in adolescent language minority learners: some insights from the simple view

The development of reading skills in language minority (LM) learners, particularly during the middle school years, remains unclear despite the increasing need for educators to serve this rapidly growing population. In this study, the English reading comprehension growth of middle school LM learners was investigated using a longitudinal design and the simple view of reading as a theoretical framework. Students were assessed at four time points between fifth and seventh grades on standardized measures of listening comprehension, word reading, and reading comprehension. Individual growth modeling revealed that both listening comprehension and word reading assessed in fifth grade predicted the elevation of students’ developmental trajectories in reading comprehension. However, neither skill predicted students’ growth in reading comprehension, and there was no significant variation across children in growth rates, indicating that students in seventh grade remained on a trajectory established in fifth grade. The implications of the slowing rate of reading comprehension development during the middle school years are discussed.     

Sibling Adjustment and Maternal Well-Being: An Examination of Families With and Without a Child With an Autism Spectrum Disorder

Differences in sibling social, behavioral, and academic adjustment and maternal well-being in families with (n = 20) and without (n = 23) a preschooler with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) were explored. Results are interpreted to suggest that mothers of children with autism report more daily hassles, life stress, and depression than mothers without a child with ASD. There were no significant differences in parent and teacher reports of older siblings' social, behavioral, and academic adjustment in families with and without a child with ASD. Sibling behavioral adjustment was, however, significantly related to maternal well-being. Because families with children with ASD often experience more parenting stress and depression, siblings may be more vulnerable to the cumulative risks over time.     

Using Necessary Information to Identify Item Dependence in Passage-Based Reading Comprehension Tests

Applications of traditional unidimensional item response theory models to passage-based reading comprehension assessment data have been criticized based on potential violations of local independence. However, simple rules for determining dependency, such as including all items associated with a particular passage, may overestimate the dependency that actually exists among the items. The current study proposed a more refined method based on cognitive principles and substantive theories to determine those items that pose a threat. Specifically, the use of common necessary information from text was examined as a contributor of local dependence. Cognitively similar item pairs, those with connected necessary information, had higher local dependence values than item pairs with no connected necessary information. Results suggest that focusing on necessary information may be useful to some extent for understanding and managing item dependence for passage-based reading comprehension tests.     

The Earlier the Better? Individual Participant Data and Traditional Meta-analysis of Age Effects of Parenting Interventions

Strong arguments have been made for early intervention for child problems, stating that early is more effective than later, as the brain is more malleable, and costs are lower. However, there is scant evidence from trials to support this hypothesis, which we therefore tested in two well-powered, state-of-the-art meta-analyses with complementary strengths: (a) Individual participant data (IPD) meta-analysis of European trials of Incredible Years parenting intervention (k = 13, n = 1696; age = 2–11); (b) Larger, trial-level robust variance estimation meta-analysis of a wider range of parenting programs (k = 156, n = 13,378, M_age = 2–10) for reducing disruptive behavior. Both analyses found no evidence that intervention earlier in childhood was more effective; programs targeted at a narrower age range were no more effective than general ones.     

What's in a Policy? Evaluating the Privacy Policies of Children's Apps and Websites

Although the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) was enacted 20?years ago, the recently updated General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) has renewed public interest in privacy policies. Under both COPPA and GDPR, companies must abide by strict regulations protecting children’s personal data. Lengthy and oftentimes ambiguous policies contribute to misinformed users agreeing to terms that might compromise a child’s data. This article provides guidelines for evaluating privacy policies for children that can be used by teachers, parents, and, where appropriate, even the children themselves. Resources from Common Sense Education, including free digital citizenship lesson plans and a review repository of popular apps and websites for children, are also highlighted.     

Targeting associated mechanisms of anterior cruciate ligament injury in female community-level athletes

This study aims to determine if biomechanically informed injury prevention training can reduce associated factors of anterior cruciate ligament injury risk among a general female athletic population. Female community-level team sport athletes, split into intervention (n = 8) and comparison groups (n = 10), completed a sidestepping movement assessment prior to and following a 9-week training period, in which kinetic, kinematic and neuromuscular data were collected. The intervention group completed a biomechanically informed training protocol, consisting of plyometric, resistance and balance exercises, adjunct to normal training, for 15–20 min twice a week. Following the 9-week intervention, total activation of the muscles crossing the knee (n = 7) decreased for both the training (? ?15.02%, d = 0.45) and comparison (? ?9.68%, d = 0.47) groups. This decrease was accompanied by elevated peak knee valgus (? +27.78%, d = ?0.36) and internal rotation moments (? +37.50%, d = ?0.56) in the comparison group, suggesting that female community athletes are at an increased risk of injury after a season of play. Peak knee valgus and internal rotation knee moments among athletes who participated in training intervention did not change over the intervention period. Results suggest participation in a biomechanically informed training intervention may mitigate the apparent deleterious effects of community-level sport participation.