The association of southern women for the prevention of lynching: Strategies of a movement in the comic frame

Recent debates and writings on Kenneth Burke's frames of reference have gone beyond the predominant tragic frame to explore Burke's preferred comic frame (Carlson, 1986, 1988; Condit 1992, 1994). This study of the Association of Southern Women for the Prevention of Lynching, 1930–1942, builds on previous studies of the comic frame to explore four rhetorical strategies available to the comic rhetor. By choosing to operate within a comic frame, the ASWPL became a coalition of white Southern women successful at halting and eventually bringing an end to lynching in the South.     

Assessment matters: What are students learning about sustainability?

Kimberly Yousey‐Elsener, Diana Richter Keith, and Staci Lynne Ripkey provide a model to integrate sustainability efforts, student learning, and assessment into one coherent process.     

The nature and correlates of Mexican-American adolescents' time with parents and peers

Drawing on cultural-ecological and person-environment fit perspectives, this study examined links among Mexican-American adolescents' time with peers and parents, parents' cultural orientations, and adolescents' psychosocial adjustment and cultural orientations. Participants were 492 Mexican-American adolescents (Ms=15.7 and 12.8 years for older siblings and younger siblings) and their parents in 246 families. Family members described their family relationships, cultural orientations, and psychosocial functioning in home interviews, and time-use data were collected during a series of nightly phone calls. Mexican-American adolescents spent the majority of their peer time with Mexican youth. Some support was found for the hypothesis that the mismatch between parents' cultural orientations and adolescents' peer involvement is linked to adolescents' psychosocial functioning.     

Early Childhood Predictors of Post-Kindergarten Executive Function: Behavior, Parent-Report, and Psychophysiology

RESEARCH FINDINGS: This study examined whether children's executive functions before kindergarten would predict variance in executive functions after kindergarten. We obtained behavioral (working memory task performance), parental-reported (temperament-based inhibitory control), and psychophysiological (working memory-related changes in heart rate and brain electrical activity) measures of executive functions from a group of preschool-aged children. After children finished kindergarten, approximately 2 years later, parents were asked to complete an assessment of children's executive function skills. A regression analysis revealed that pre-kindergarten behavioral, parental-reported, and psychophysiological measures accounted for variance in post-kindergarten executive functions. Specifically, working memory task performance, temperament-based inhibitory control, and working memory-related changes in brain electrical activity accounted for unique variance in post-kindergarten executive functions. These data provide a unique contribution to the executive function literature: No other study has examined whether behavioral, psychophysiological, and parental-reported executive function measures can account for unique variance in future executive function. PRACTICE OR POLICY: These findings are discussed in relation to children's transition to school and executive function training programs.     

Working memory and mathematics: A review of developmental,individual difference,and cognitive approaches

Working memory refers to a mental workspace, involved in controlling, regulating, and actively maintaining relevant information to accomplish complex cognitive tasks (e.g. mathematical processing). Despite the potential relevance of a relation between working memory and math for understanding developmental and individual differences in mathematical skills, the nature of this relationship is not well-understood. This paper reviews four approaches that address the relation of working memory and math: 1) dual task studies establishing the role of working memory during on-line math performance; 2) individual difference studies examining working memory in children with math difficulties; 3) studies of working memory as a predictor of mathematical outcomes; and 4) longitudinal studies of working memory and math. The goal of this review is to evaluate current information on the nature of the relationship between working memory and math provided by these four approaches, and to present some of the outstanding questions for future research.     

Analyzing on-line video club discussions focused on formative assessment

The goal of this qualitative study was to examine teacher noticing of specific interactions related to the formative assessment process during teachers' participation in an on-line video club. Nineteen teachers used an electronic video coaching platform, Edthena to view peers' videos and provide electronic feedback specific to the formative assessment process. Seven hundred and twenty-seven comments by participants were analyzed for both topics of comments related to interactive formative assessment and the type of response. The findings revealed that comments within the on-line video club focused predominantly on one aspect of formative assessment, questioning. Additionally, teachers were most comfortable validating fellow teachers' practices as opposed to providing recommendations for future practice. Implications for future use of on-line video clubs are included.