Continuity of Care,Professional Community,and the Policy Context: Potential Benefits for Infant and Toddler Teachers' Professional Development

Practice or Policy: Continuity of care (COC) has many benefits for young children's development but is not the norm in infant/toddler classrooms. As a consequence, policymakers might not realize how such an approach might also benefit the professional development of infant and toddler teachers, particularly if they come to the field with little formal training. Although the supports and policies available to military child development centers may not be possible to implement at present in much of the civilian sector, this study suggests that their potential benefit for infant/toddler teachers' learning and practice may be worthy of further inquiry. Research Findings: This study shares the results of an exploratory study of the benefits of COC, professional community, and the larger policy context for staff working in a military child development center serving children aged 0 to 2. COC-related professional development also seems to enhance professional community, which along with the policy context is viewed as an essential aspect of improving teacher learning and practice in the K–12 literature.     

How Perceptions of an Intervention Program Affect Outcomes

Goals for Health was a National Cancer Institute funded program designed to impact health behaviors of adolescents living in rural Virginia and New York. This study examined three specific objectives: (a) to examine participants' perceptions of the program components and the relationship between program components and overall program perception, (b) to examine whether subgroups of our participant population perceived the program differently, and (c) to examine whether having positive perceptions of the program predicted changes in program outcomes. Results indicated that program components were significantly related to program perceptions. Perceptions of the program did not differ by subgroup and program perceptions significantly predicted changes in tobacco attitudes and self-efficacy about eating behaviors. Given these findings, school consultants should become aware of how implementation of a program and perceptions of a program may impact program outcomes.     

Gerald Caplan: A Tribute to the Originator of Mental Health Consultation

Gerald Caplan (1917–2008), world-renowned child and community psychiatrist, was the originator of the modern practice of mental health consultation. In addition to consultation, Caplan developed and refined many conceptual models and methods for practice for use in community mental health, psychology, and education. This tribute article focuses on his career and contributions to the field of consultation and offers insights into his approach to mental health consultation.     

Early Head Start Relationships: Association with Program Outcomes

Research Findings: Interpersonal relationships among staff caregivers, parents, and children have been recommended as essential aspects of early childhood intervention. This study explored the associations of these relationships with program outcomes for children and parents in 3 Early Head Start programs. A total of 71 children (8–35 months, M = 20), their parents, and 33 program caregivers participated. The results showed that caregiver–child relationships were moderately positive, secure, and interactive and improved in quality over 6 months, whereas caregiver–parent relationships were generally positive and temporally stable. Caregiver–child relationships were more positive for girls, younger children, and those in home-visiting programs. Caregiver–parent relationships were more positive when parents had higher education levels and when staff had more years of experience, had more positive work environments, or had attained a Child Development Associate credential or associate's level of education rather than a 4-year academic degree. Hierarchical linear modeling analysis suggested that the quality of the caregiver–parent relationship was a stronger predictor of both child and parent outcomes than was the quality of the caregiver–child relationship. There were also moderation effects: Stronger associations of caregiver–parent relationships with observed positive parenting were seen in parents with lower education levels and when program caregivers had higher levels of education. Practice or Policy: The results support the importance of caregiver–family relationships in early intervention programs and suggest that staff need to be prepared to build relationships with children and families in individualized ways. Limitations of this study and implications for program improvements and future research are discussed.     

Children's Evaluations of Gender-Stereotypic Household Activities in the Family Context

Research Findings: The goal of this study was to analyze children's (N = 120) evaluations about parental decisions regarding gender-stereotypic household family activities. Children at 5, 8, and 10 years of age were individually interviewed. Contrary to prevailing findings, the majority of children used stereotypic expectations and social-conventional justifications to explain parental exclusion decisions; this pattern was more pronounced for male-stereotypic than female-stereotypic activities. Overall, children's social judgments revealed age-related increases in making stereotypic choices. Boys were more likely than girls to condone stereotypic expectations regarding father–son activities than mother–daughter activities. Practice or Policy: The results are discussed in terms of (a) social–cognitive reasoning about family decision making in the home and (b) gender-stereotypic expectations between parents and children in the home context.     

Treatment Fidelity Challenges in a Five-State Consultation Study

Consultation is a promising approach to creating change in early childhood programs, from innovations in instructional strategies to the enhancement of global program quality. Studies of consultation effectiveness have been hampered by limited reports of implementation fidelity related to consultation procedures. This article describes the challenges of supporting and measuring implementation fidelity in a 5-state study in which community consultants followed a collaborative consultation model to enhance global quality in childcare programs. The authors consider the limitations of using a randomized experimental design to study the effectiveness of consultation and share lessons learned in their efforts to enhance treatment fidelity without compromising the basic tenets of the model or the rigorous design.     

Taking educational games seriously: using the RETAIN model to design endogenous fantasy into standalone educational games

We are witnessing a mad rush to pour educational content into games in an ad hoc manner in hopes that player/learners are motivated simply because the content is housed inside a game. A failure to base educational game design on well-established learning and instructional theories increases the risk of the game failing to meet its intended educational goals, and yielding students who are entertained but who have not acquired any academic skills or knowledge. Our review of standalone educational games has shown that they are not always based on sound educational principles and theories. We contend that, if academic learning is to take place, a new design paradigm must be developed. This article discusses the RETAIN design and evaluation model for educational games that was developed to aide in the evaluation of how well academic content is endogenously immersed and embedded within the game’s fantasy and story context, promoters transfer of knowledge, and encourages repetitive usage to that content becomes available for use in an automatic way.     

Social responsibility in community colleges: Rethinking the commitment to alternative education

Because high school dropouts are among the least advantaged members of American society, the educational system that has failed them has the social responsibility for remediating their educational and developmental needs. The community college is proposed as the institution most able to develop policies and programs that will enable these least advantaged members of American society to overcome the educational system that has failed them. This paper discusses the responsibility of providing a quality education to all individuals, examines the role the community college can play in meeting the educational and social needs of dropouts, and presents an innovative program at a community college that has been particularly effective in meeting the needs of dropouts.