LINKING MINORITY AND DISADVANTAGED HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS WITH HEALTH PROFESSIONS TRAINING: A WIN-WIN SITUATION FOR STUDENTS AND OLDER ADULTS

This article describes a pilot project designed to encourage career interest by minority high school students in health professions in geriatrics and gerontology. This multifaceted educational program used a contextual training approach and was conducted over a five-week period. Program components included classroom sessions, group as well as independent activities and research, guided field trips, faculty lectures, and the development of a final report directed at health careers in gerontology. The majority of the students were planning or considering a career in geriatrics or gerontology at the completion of the program. Students' evaluative comments revealed a more positive attitude toward the elderly, significant interest in gerontology careers, and strong support for the program. A strategy for longterm follow-up of participants is presented, as well as lessons learned and plans for future programming. This program was implemented by the Rhode Island Geriatric Education Center, in collaboration with the University of Rhode Island Urban Field Center, in response to the "Kids Into Health Careers" initiative established by the U.S. Bureau of Health Professions.     

Telling Them Their Own Stories: Legitimizing sexual and reproductive health education in rural Bangladesh

Most people in Bangladesh are rural, poor and underprivileged. The incidence of sexual disease has increased, but little has been done to educate rural people about sexual and reproductive health. In 1997, a sexual and reproductive health project was initiated within a collaborative research agreement between the International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research (ICDDR,B) and the Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee (BRAC), an indigenous non-governmental organization which pursues integrated rural development strategies. Qualitative in-depth interviews with 65 different women, men, boys and girls revealed significant sexual health problems and a lack of knowledge of sexual and reproductive health. The interviews were transformed into composite problem-solving picture stories and information about sexual and reproductive health. Stories mirrored respondents' interpretations of sexual behavior. Those who had achieved or ascribed legitimacy to talk about sex, e.g. traditional health providers, were trained to utilize the methods and materials. Qualitative evaluations revealed important changes in health providers' self-confidence, business and personal interactions as well as changes in clients' behavior. This project found that sexual and reproductive health education can be integrated into indigenous health activities if the sociocultural context in which sex, relationships, risks, diseases and communication occur is reflected in a program's content and methods. Unquestionably, there is a great need for sex education in rural Bangladesh.     

Creating a dialogue between sociological and egalitarian theory in education

No one discipline has a monopoly on the truth, especially in the analysis of a complex subject such as equality. If we are to deepen our understanding of inequality in education, we must open a dialogue with other disciplines, most especially with egalitarian theory. Bearing in mind the limitations of writing in a majority language tradition, the article explores the potential for creating a dialogue about equality between sociologists and critical and feminist egalitarian theorists. What sociologists can gain from egalitarian theory is a deepening of their understanding of the interface between the ethical and the empirical, of the interrelationship between fact and value in social life. In addition, egalitarian theory has the capacity to broaden our understanding of inequality in education beyond the distributive view of social justice that has dominated thinking in education to date. Drawing on the work of egalitarian theorists the article outlines four particular interpretations of equality that have relevance for researchers in education.     

Maternal social support as a predictor of mother-child stress and stimulation

There is increasing interest in the role of social support in determining risk for child abuse and neglect. The present study assessed the relationship between maternal social support and two areas: stress in the mother-child relationship: and level of stimulation provided in the home. Maternal social support was assessed prenatally and at a two-year follow-up, while the latter variables were compiled at the two-year follow-up. The data were obtained from 38 urban, low SES (80% on public assistance) mothers and their 2-year-old children. Maternal social support correlated positively with level of stimulation and negatively with level of mother-child stress, and was the best predictor of both, relative to any SES, mother or child variables. In addition, high stress, low support mothers provided significantly less stimulation to their children. The theoretical implications for social support as a mediator variable as well as its implications for early identification and prevention efforts in abuse and neglect are discussed.     

Embedding Interventions to Promote Self-Determination within Multitiered Systems of Supports

Schools are increasingly exploring the implementation of multitiered systems of support. This article reviews the literature pertaining to efforts to promote self-determination to provide initial direction as to how interventions and supports to promote self-determination could be implemented within a tiered framework. The intent is to provide direction to the field on how such an approach can engage all students—including students with and without disabilities—in their learning across the lifespan to promote positive school and postschool outcomes. Specifically, we review interventions and supports that have been described in the literature pertaining to self-determination, organizing our review and analysis around the traditional three-tier approach. Implications for future research and development to promote the universal applicability of self-determination are discussed.     

Reporting Quality of Single-Case Research Published in Learning Disabilities Journals

Single-case research designs are useful for learning disability researchers interested in refining novel interventions (e.g., new mathematics intervention) before scaling, small n populations (e.g., students with comorbid learning and emotional and behavioral disabilities), and testing unique conditions (e.g., remote locales). Much attention has been devoted to developing research quality standards, which is essential for replication and implementation fidelity; however, little is known about the reporting quality of single-case design studies. To gain insight into the quality of learning disability single-case research design study reporting, we analyzed 72 articles published between 2010 and 2021 in six learning disability-focused journals using the Single-Case Reporting Guideline In BEhavioral interventions (SCRIBE) standards. Findings suggest that reporting quality has remained stagnant, and none of the studies reviewed met all of the reporting standards. Alignment with standards ranged from 33% to 77%. Implications for researchers and practitioners are discussed.     

ON THE PUBLIC AND CIVIC PURPOSES OF EDUCATION

A bstract .  In this review essay, Kathleen Knight Abowitz discusses three recent books related to democratic public life and schooling: Susan H. Fuhrman and Marvin Lazerson's The Public Schools , Walter C. Parker's Teaching Democracy: Unity and Diversity in Public Life , and Kevin McDonough and Walter Feinberg's Education and Citizenship in Liberal-Democratic Societies . Abowitz details how each text is inspired by meanings of liberal democracy that evolved during the Enlightenment era, in which individual rights were constitutionally coded and equality came to be a powerful social and educational ideal, and how each book also takes up different sorts of Enlightenment traditions of public life and education, attempting to revitalize their meanings for public education today. Yet while these books are inspiring and instructive in numerous ways, they are also notable for the issues they fail to take into theoretical account, particularly the colonization of public spheres by the private and market-based spheres of commerce, and the ways in which increasing ecological crisis calls for new ways of conceiving our political and educational frameworks.     

Developing Scientific Literacy in a Primary School

The science education literature demonstrates that scientific literacy is generally valued and acknowledged among educators as a desirable student learning outcome. However, what scientific literacy really means in terms of classroom practice and student learning is debatable due to the inherent complexity of the term and varying expectations of what it means for learning outcomes. To date the teacher voice has been noticeably absent from this debate even though the very nature of teacher expertise lies at the heart of the processes which shape students' scientific literacy. The research reported in this paper taps into the expertise of (participating) primary teachers by analyzing the insights and thinking that emerged as they attempted to unravel some of the pedagogical complexities associated with constructing an understanding of scientific literacy in their own classrooms. The research examines the processes and structures within one primary school that were created to provide conditions to allow teachers to explore and build on the range of ideas that presently inform the scientific literacy debate. The research reports these teachers' views and practices that shaped their actions in teaching for scientific literacy.     

Poverty,family resources and children's early educational attainment: The mediating role of parenting

This study uses longitudinal data from the UK Millennium Cohort Study to show the extent to which episodic and more persistent poverty in early childhood and the lack of other family resources disadvantage children at the start of their school careers in terms of whether they have achieved the target indicator of ‘good level of achievement’ on the Foundation Stage Profile. Positive parenting is shown to be an important contributor to school achievement that matters for children, regardless of poverty experience or family disadvantage. It is also shown to be an important mediator in redressing the effects of poverty and disadvantage.