Children and Place: Stories We Have, Stories We Need

Given existing curricula, instructional and assessment practices, teacher preparation programs, and multicultural education approaches, schools can be unhelpful places for students who are not at least middle class and politically white. Critical theory offers a range of conceptual frameworks for understanding and addressing these injustices but teachers find the ideas difficult to learn or to practice in classrooms. Increased attention to the use of stories is suggested to support individual and collective transformation and growth for teachers, students, and communities.     

Social functioning among college students diagnosed with ADHD and the mediating role of emotion regulation

Despite the many studies that have documented the association between symptoms of ADHD and social difficulties in children and adolescents, few have examined this phenomenon in college students. In addition, the underlying factors contributing to such social difficulties are still poorly understood. We hypothesised that college students with symptoms of ADHD, namely inattention and hyperactivity/impulsivity, would continue to display social behavioural difficulties, and that emotion regulation would play a mediating role in that relationship. Ninety-nine 17–24-year-old college students filled out three questionnaires to assess Inattentive and Hyperactivity/Impulsivity Symptoms, Social Skills, and Emotion Regulation abilities. Analysis revealed that emotion regulation is a significant mediator between Inattentive Symptoms and Social Skills for female students. There was no significant correlation between ADHD symptoms and Social Skills for males. Female college students report social functioning difficulties associated with their inattentive and hyperactive symptoms, and impaired emotion regulation abilities mediate this relationship for inattentive symptoms only.     

Adventures in Implementing a Testing Program

What are the ways in which a testing program can run aground? What are some suggestions for avoiding these problems?     

A subtraction experiment with six and seven year old children

This paper gives an account of an experiment involving 176 children of 6 and 7 years and their difficulties with subtraction problems. By using two screening questions, four levels of attainment were established and two teaching programmes were then devised to help the children forward to their next level. The results show that it is possible to assess a level of understanding in subtraction quickly and accurately and that, through the teaching programmes, pre-requisite skills needed to establish a sound foundation for subtraction can be taught. The experiment indicates, however, that an attempt to symbolise too soon is a danger to be avoided.     

The effect of socioeconomic background on earnings: a comparison by race

Consistent with previous studies, we find that family background variables exert significant indirect effects on earnings of both white and black males. In the case of blacks, parental income in particular exerts a significant direct effect on earnings. Education is found to be a much more important determinant of black earnings than white earnings, while job tenure has the reverse relationship. After adjustments, parental income and level of education exert the strongest effects on reducing the black-white earnings differential.     

Correlates of problem recognition and intentions to change among caregivers of abused and neglected children

OBJECTIVE: To identify individual, family, and caseworker characteristics associated with problem recognition (PR) and intentions to change (ITC) in a sample of caregivers who received in-home child welfare services following substantiated reports of child abuse or neglect. METHODS: Caregivers were interviewed at 4 weeks, 16 weeks, and 1 year after referral for in-home services. In these interviews, the University of Rhode Island Change Assessment scale assessed PR and ITC in relation to caregiving practices. Additional data were obtained from administrative records and surveys of in-home services caseworkers. We used growth models to identify caregiver, family, and caseworker characteristics associated with initial levels of PR and ITC, and with changes in PR and ITC over time. RESULTS: Contrary to expectations, there were no overall increases in PR and ITC during the first 4 months of in-home services. PR and ITC scores fluctuated over time, in relation to some external events, case characteristics, and caseworker characteristics; however, we were able to account for small portions of the variance in PR and ITC. Controlling for social desirability bias and other variables in the analysis, negative life events, lack of network support, and the severity of caregiver depression were associated with greater PR; housing problems were associated with lower PR. Caregiver depression and age were associated with ITC. Caregivers whose children had been removed from their homes showed significant increases in ITC in the first few months of in-home services. The duration of caseworkers' child welfare experience predicted increases in their clients' PR in the first 4 months and more frequent contacts with an experienced caseworker predicted small, but significant increases in ITC over time. CONCLUSIONS: PR and ITC are associated with somewhat different case characteristics and may be affected by caseworkers' experience.     

Inside the College Writing Gap: Exploring the Mixed Messages of Remediation Support

This case study offers a qualitative perspective on a relationship between institutional structures and student outcomes. The data describe the conditions in 10 English remediation classrooms at one urban community college district. The study uses new literacies as a theoretical framework with which to understand how these conditions supported classroom-level teaching and learning. Findings suggest that classroom conditions undermined new literacies’ assumptions that college writing is a social practice. The authors discuss the implications of these findings for research to improve writing remediation policies.