Science Journals in the Preschool Classroom

We believe that science journals can be used in the preschool classroom as tools for supporting and assessing children’s learning of science- and literacy-relevant content and procedures. To support this argument, we review changes in attitudes about the cognitive competencies of preschoolers and in teaching and learning expectations for early childhood education. We describe practical aspects of using science notebooks with this age group and discuss specific ways that journals support children’s learning. Finally, the role of journals in assessment is discussed.     

Teaching Community Skills to Two Young Children with Autism Using a Digital Self-Managed Activity Schedule

The current study investigated the efficacy of a self-managed activity schedule to teach 2 participants how to effectively order food items from a local community bakery. 2 participants who were on the autism spectrum were taught to follow a task analysis that was displayed on an iPhone. We used a multiple baseline design across participants to evaluate the effectiveness of the teaching procedure. Results showed that the participants were able to order items, and this skill generalized to a novel bakery. The task analysis and iPhone were immediately withdrawn at a 2 to 5 week follow-up, and both participants were still able to effectively perform the steps of the task analysis without the use of prompts.     

Relationships between mathematical knowledge for teaching and teaching practice: the case of proof

Teachers of mathematics orchestrate opportunities for interactions between learners and subject matter. Therefore, mathematics teachers need rich, multidimensional content knowledge for teaching mathematics, which incorporates knowledge of the subject matter, students, and teaching. Studying this mathematical knowledge for teaching (MKT) necessitates more than a unidirectional assessment. In this study, the mathematical knowledge for teaching reasoning and proving of two secondary mathematics teachers was investigated through classroom observations and clinical assessments. Results indicate that using MKT as a frame for examining classroom practice, in addition to assessing the MKT a teacher possesses in a clinical setting, provides an in-depth and innovative method for investigating MKT. The comparison of the two cases also identifies student positioning as a key mediating factor between MKT and opportunities to learn. Implications for using MKT as a lens for examining practice in teacher education are discussed.     

Separating the fish from the sharks: a longitudinal study of preschool response inhibition

The development of response inhibition was investigated using a computerized go/no‐go task, in a lagged sequential design where 376 preschool children were assessed repeatedly between 3.0 and 5.25 years of age. Growth curve modeling was used to examine change in performance and predictors of individual differences. The most pronounced change was observed between 3 and 3.75 years. Better working memory and general cognitive ability were related to more accurate performance at all ages, but relations with speed changed with age, where better cognitive skills were initially related to slower responding, but faster responding at later ages. Boys responded more quickly and were more accurate on go trials, whereas girls were better able to withhold responding on no‐go trials.     

Data‐Driven Improvement in Prekindergarten Classrooms: Report From a Partnership in an Urban District

In 2014–2015 and 2015–2016, a metropolitan school system in the southern United States embarked on a unique mission to improve the quality of its public prekindergarten programs through a partnership with a group of developmental researchers in an iterative, data‐based venture. Data on 407 children in Year 1 and 433 in Year 2 (who were enrolled in 26 classrooms and extensively observed) are presented from the first 2 years of the ongoing partnership. All children were 4 years of age. Variability in classroom practices, measured empirically, and variability in child outcomes provided the means to examine the relations between children's gains in academic and social‐emotional areas and major areas of classroom practices. Lessons learned, the eight identified significant practices, implications, and next steps in the partnership are addressed.     

Accumbens D2: Raters of the Loss Outcome

Zalocusky et al. (Nature 531:642–646, 2016) recently showed that activity in D2R+ cells in the nucleus accumbens is associated with loss sensitivity to prior outcomes and reduced subsequent risky choice, and that optogenetic stimulation of these cells decreased risky choices in risk-prone rats. While their findings are important for understanding trait-level risk-taking, future research should aim to examine the neuronal mechanisms of a broader range of facets of gain and loss processing with respect to different potential reference points.     

Book Reviews

Abstract

Educators have invested considerable effort in developing environmental education programs that address students' knowledge, attitudes, and action competence regarding environmental issues. The authors explore the effectiveness of such programs in terms of both student learning outcomes and the intergenerational influence that results when students discuss their learning experiences with their parents and other community members. Six environmental education programs involving 284 students in Queensland schools, from Grades 5-12, were investigated. Students and their parents were surveyed and interviewed regarding their perceptions about the program, the program's influence on their environmental learning, and the extent and nature of discussions that the program stimulated between students and their parents. The authors draw conclusions about key features that should be incorporated into environmental education programs to encourage and empower students to bring about environmental change in their homes and communities.     

The Writing Portfolio: Assessment Starts with A

Because of the nature of institutional administration, the intrinsic characteristics of the teaching profession, and outside factors, educators may suffer from many stress-related problems such as anxiety, illness, and withdrawal. In this article, the authors offer three case studies taken from field analysis as examples of stress in the workplace. These illustrations are followed by a discussion of the ways scholarship has endeavored to deal with the problem of stress.