Adolescents' cognitive and emotional responses to marital hostility

Early adolescents' (11-14 years) responses to marital hostility were examined in a sample of 416 families. The cognitive-contextual perspective and emotional security hypothesis guided the study and 9 adolescent responses were identified. Prospective associations were examined in several structural equation models that included adolescent problems as outcomes. Self-blame and perceived threat uniquely mediated the association between Year 1 marital hostility and Year 3 adolescent externalizing problems (p<.05). Self-blame, lower constructive representations, internalization of feelings, avoidance, and emotional dysregulation uniquely mediated the association between Year 1 marital hostility and Year 3 internalizing problems. Specific cognitive and emotionally based responses are important to understanding how martial hostility affects youth and need to be considered within an integrated model.     

Language development: A complex,systematic, and natural process

Conclusions Although we do not understand very well what the processes are that contribute to language development, it is clear that communication plays a central role. As children strive to become increasingly skilled at communicating their ideas (White, 1959), as they have increasingly complex ideas to communicate (Piaget, 1955), and as they encounter an increasingly diverse set of people with whom to communicate (Brown, 1973), they must learn to use language which is richer and more flexible.When children come to school or to a day care center they already know a great deal about language. They have readily and actively mastered words, sentences and forms of communication which they need in their own family and community. In their new environment—the school or center—children's language development can further be fostered by adults who are receptive to children's efforts at communication. Adults who encourage children to use language in new ways, who attend to what children mean to say and who recognize that children's errors are often not mistakes, are likely to play a positive role in children's language development.Janet H. Kane and Karen Sheingold are on the Staff at Bank Street College of Education.     

Teachers’ capacity for organizational learning: the effects of school culture and context

This paper investigates how key elements of school culture are associated with teachers’ capacity to find and act on new information. We analyzed survey data from 3,579 teachers located in 117 schools which were a randomly selected sample from 9 states in the US. We found that school cultural components such as academic press, student support, and trust and respect among teachers promote teachers’ capacity for organizational learning. We also found that the role of teacher professional culture in molding the capacity for organizational learning is critical. In terms of school contexts, we identified that school level (elementary, middle, and high school) was associated with teachers’ capacity for organizational learning in 2 different ways. First, as the school level increases, the capacity for organizational learning tends to decrease. Second, as school level increases, the positive relation between reflective dialogue and teachers’ capacity for organizational learning is weakened. Implications of these results are discussed.     

Harder Than I Thought: A Qualitative Study of the Implementation of a Total Quality Management Approach in Business Education

After a brief discussion of the role of Total Quality Management (TQM) in higher education, this article analyzes factors impacting its adoption in the Management Department at Central Missouri State University (Central). In examining the program at Central a brief history of the program is presented along with the results of a qualitative analysis of interviews of the faculty engaged in the program. This information provides useful insights to the development of TQM processes in education. Several key factors are identified including outcomes, the educational process, and student assessment.