The Role of Auditory and Visual Speech in Word Learning at 18 Months and in Adulthood

Visual information influences speech perception in both infants and adults. It is still unknown whether lexical representations are multisensory. To address this question, we exposed 18‐month‐old infants (n = 32) and adults (n = 32) to new word–object pairings: Participants either heard the acoustic form of the words or saw the talking face in silence. They were then tested on recognition in the same or the other modality. Both 18‐month‐old infants and adults learned the lexical mappings when the words were presented auditorily and recognized the mapping at test when the word was presented in either modality, but only adults learned new words in a visual‐only presentation. These results suggest developmental changes in the sensory format of lexical representations.     

Delivering an MBA Management Consulting Experience

This article reports on an innovative MBA elective consulting course that attempts to address how to better prepare inexperienced MBA students for a competitive job market. This article is a best practice paper designed to provide insights and encouragement to educators.     

Investigating geographic variation in use of psychotropic medications among youth in child welfare

Objectives

Public Law (P.L.) 110-351, the “Fostering Connections to Success Act,” calls for state child welfare agencies to partner with Medicaid and pediatric experts to provide planning and oversight regarding the provision of health and mental health services, including medication, to children in state custody. Recent reports, media cases, and class action lawsuits suggest over-use of psychotropic medications to address the behavioral needs of children in the child welfare system. We examined geographic variability in psychotropic medication use across US child welfare agency catchment areas to determine how rates of psychotropic medication use vary in relation to child, community, child welfare, and health system-level factors.

Methods

Cross-sectional analysis of Wave 1 data for the 92 child welfare catchment areas participating in the National Survey of Child and Adolescent Well-being, a random probability sample of 2,504 children ages 2-15 years undergoing investigation for abuse and neglect. We employed multilevel regression modeling to examine the impact of catchment-level variables on medication use, controlling for child-level variables.

Results

Fifteen percent of children reported taking psychotropic medications. Rates of medication use across catchment areas ranged widely from 0 to 40%, a 40-fold difference. On multi-level logistic regression modeling, older age (p < .001), male gender (p < .001), emotional and behavioral problems (p < .001), and insurance (p = .05) were associated with psychotropic medication use at the child-level. At the catchment-level, stressful environment within the child welfare system was negatively associated with medication use. No other catchment-level variables examined were found to explain use.

Conclusions

Striking disparities in medication use exist across catchment areas in this national sample. Of the catchment variables examined, only stressful environment was related to medication use.

Practice implications

These findings highlight significant geographic variation in medication use that most likely reflect both under-use and over-reliance on psychotropic medication. The link between child welfare environment and medication use suggests the influence of systemic, as opposed to clinical, causes of variation in medication use. This requires greater implementation of organizational processes governing quality of care for this highly vulnerable population.     

Not a one-shot deal: Generative professional development among experienced teachers

This study examines two experienced teachers’ transformations and sense of agency as they implemented a writer’s workshop curriculum with multi-lingual third grade students. Multiple lines of inquiry guide the study including communities of practice (Lave & Wenger, 1991), teacher identities in figured worlds (Holland, Lachicotte, Skinner, & Cain, 1998), and the ethic of care (Noddings, 1984/2003). A constant comparative method was used to analyze classroom observation notes, interviews and debriefing sessions (Glaser & Strauss, 1967). Findings indicate that teachers transformed their pedagogical practices around writing, and at the same time reconsidered what it may mean to become renewed professionals.     

Measuring success： Evaluating educational programs

This paper reveals a new evaluation model, which enables educational program and project managers to evaluate their programs with a simple and easy to understand approach. The ＂index of success model＂ is comprised of five parameters that enable to focus on and evaluate both the implementation and results of an educational program. The integration of these parameters forms a complete and comprehensive picture, which in turn provides the most information on the success or failure of the program. The parameters are： （1） the relevance index, referring to an evaluation of predefined objectives; （2） the efficiency index, referring to the fiscal efficiency of the program; （3） the effectiveness index evaluating the attainment of the program＇s objectives; （4） the impact index gauging the effect on the consumers, for whom the program is undertaken; and （5） the final parameter is the program＇s sustainability index. Since Israel＇s education strategy currently leans towards site-based monitoring and evaluation, such a model can potentially be of great help to school management and staff.     

Beliefs, attitudes and perceptions about research and practice in a professional field

Using the theory of planned behavior as a theoretical framework, survey data from 121 authors in the professional field of school librarianship (40% of whom were practitioners) were used to identify beliefs about publishing in the field, attitudes to research and publication, perceived social norms and social influences on research and publication, and perceived barriers to research and publication. The journals in which the authors prefer to publish and their reasons for journal choice are also reported. This is the first reported study to specifically address reasons for publication choice in a professional field, and it indicates that relevance to practice is an important consideration, in addition to scholarly rigor, when authors in professional fields consider where to publish their research. The views and motivations of full professors, other researchers and practitioner-authors were surprisingly similar, although practitioners—who had less research preparation than researchers—were less confident about their ability to conduct and write-up research. Additionally, researchers other than full professors, and practitioners, reported that the encouragements of peers and supervisors or senior colleagues were important social influences for research and publication.