Through the years: a longitudinal study of physical education teachers from a research-based preparation program

This study investigated factors that enhanced and constrained the career development of six teachers, who had graduated from the same university teacher education program, in their induction years (Woods & Earls, 1995) and again later in their career cycles. Three participants were physical education teachers (PETs), and three were former physical education teachers (FPETs). Fessler's (1985) Teacher Career Stage Model provided the theoretical framework. Data sources were: interviews with teachers and their teacher educators and direct observations of lessons. Results indicated that the PETs continued to have skill development as their primary teaching objective. The teachers maintained many of their teaching skills, and shifted between the career cycles of "competency building" and "enthusiastic and growing." All three FPETs left their physical education positions during the career frustration stage and at the time of publication were in the career exit stage.     

‘Untold’ doctoral stories: can we move beyond cultural narratives of neglect?

This article examines the stories of 24 social sciences doctoral students in three universities, one in Canada and two in the UK, who experienced challenging roads to completion. While their stories confirm earlier findings, they also provide insight into how students' agency and personal networks of relationships may be critical, both as resources and constraints. We argue that these ‘untold stories’ of student agency coupled with supervisor narratives of students ‘not measuring up’ can contribute to a culture of institutional neglect. Pedagogies emphasizing an ethic of care and relational rather than regulatory practices are essential if these conditions are to change.     

Emotion Work Revealed by Job Loss Discourse: Backgrounding-Foregrounding of Feelings, Construction of Normalcy, and (Re)instituting of Traditional Masculinities

Three emotion work themes were displayed in the discourse of individuals who lost their jobs and of their family members. Foregrounding-backgrounding of emotions indicated not only how some individuals and family members exerted effort to express positive emotions, but also why they would do so (for deep authenticity). In the construction of normalcy, respondents made an effort to portray and enact their lives as similar to the way things were before the job loss. By (re)instituting traditional masculinities, the men who lost their jobs were able to be "real" men in an emasculating situation. Taken together, these findings offer possibilities for further theoretical development and for communication interventions that can be applied by human resource professionals, career and outplacement counselors, family members, friends, and the individuals themselves.     

A measure of emergent literacy for students with severe developmental disabilities

This study examined the underlying structure of the Nonverbal Literacy Assessment (NVLA), an instrument designed to measure emergent literacy for K–fourth‐grade students with severe developmental disabilities. The NVLA was conceptualized as having six constructs that reflected emergent literacy skills: (a) phonemic awareness, (b) phonics, (c) comprehension, (d) vocabulary, (e) listening comprehension, and (f) text awareness. Confirmatory factor analysis using data from 207 student administrations was used to examine the six‐factor model and two alternative models. Results suggested that all three models fit the data, but the high corrections coefficients among the constructs suggested that a one‐factor model of emergent literacy was the best‐fitting model. Implications and limitations are discussed. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Embedding Mathematical Dialogue in Parent–Child Shared Book Reading: A Preliminary Investigation

Research Findings: Shared book reading provides a meaningful context for rich conversations to occur between a child and an adult and offers opportunities for children to be exposed to a range of vocabulary and concepts that often extend beyond their everyday experiences. Few studies have examined parent–child shared book reading as a context for embedding mathematical discussion. The purpose of this study was to examine systematically the effect of training parents to focus on mathematical concepts and vocabulary during shared book reading. Specific research questions were as follows: (a) Did parents increase their use of math talk during shared storybook reading following training? (b) Did parents generalize intervention strategies? And (c) did children increase their use of math talk during shared storybook reading? Results from a yoked multiple-baseline design with 6 dyads indicated variability across the dyads with 2 general patterns. Math talk increased following training for 3 of the dyads, whereas verbal mathematical behavior did not show consistent change for the other 3 dyads. Practice or Policy: Results are discussed in the context of home support for early mathematical development.     

The “Gift” of Time: Documenting Faculty Decisions to Stop the Tenure Clock During a Pandemic

Innovative Higher Education - Anticipating the deleterious effects of pandemic mitigation protocols on faculty’s research and creative work, many universities introduced mechanisms for...     

Day care and family dynamics

Twenty-one dual-earner families whose preschool-aged children entered day care before 6 months of age and 19 dual-earner families whose preschool-aged children entered day care during the second year of life filled out questionnaires on the nature of their children's caregiving environment; their perceptions of the effects of day care on parent-child interaction and children's development; their overall job satisfaction; social support networks; and personal well-being, marital stress, and companionship. Mothers and fathers reported high levels of satisfaction with the caregiving environment and the effects of day care. Parental perceptions of the effects of day care on parent-child interaction and children's development did not differ as a function of time of entry into day care. Parental perceptions of selected parent-child variables were associated with job satisfaction, social support, and the marital measures. Parental perceptions of parent-child interaction were related to their perceptions of the effects of day care on children's social and cognitive skills. Mothers and fathers differed in these perceptions. There was some support for a conceptual link between marital variables and children's functioning in day care.     

Security considerations for the spiral development model

Security measures have been well established within the waterfall development life cycle model. However, more software projects are using the spiral development life cycle model. Software developers and project managers can easily forget about adapting security measures. The spiral model uses iterative steps that can create changes in each phase of software development process. This will challenge security to ensure the application has few flaws or vulnerabilities that could be exploited. Failure to impose the right security measures at each of these phases can open up vulnerabilities for hackers to exploit and prove costly in patching. This paper will explore areas where security can be engaged within each iteration step of the spiral development model. This way security can continue protection of the software product as it becomes ready for deployment. The paper will help organizations realize where to deploy security measures to reduce vulnerabilities in the software application.