The Transition to Kindergarten: Predicting Socio-Behavioral Outcomes for Children With and Without Disabilities

The transition to kindergarten is regarded as a critical early childhood developmental milestone with important implications for later school outcomes. Little prior research has focused on predictors of socio-behavioral kindergarten outcomes using longitudinal research designs. Further, few studies have examined kindergarten transition using samples of children both with and without disabilities. The goal of the current study was to explore predictors of socio-behavioral kindergarten outcomes in children with and without developmental disabilities over time. Data collection involved parent, preschool teacher, and kindergarten teacher reports of child behavior and involvement in kindergarten transition practices across three time points during transition. Results of hierarchical linear regression analyses demonstrated that preschool child behavioral variables (i.e., adaptive and problem behavior) were stronger predictors of kindergarten outcomes relative to caregiver concerns and involvement in transition preparation. Best practices in kindergarten transition programming for children with and without disabilities are discussed.     

Outcomes of Home-Support Consultation on the Maintenance of Bicycle-Riding Skills for Youth With Autism Spectrum Disorder

Bicycle riding is a functional motor skill that increases physical activity opportunities, social interaction, and independence. However, bicycle riding is difficult for youth with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) to learn. This study examined the effectiveness of home-support consultation (HSC) on increasing the maintenance of independent bicycle riding following initial skill acquisition. Fifty-one youth with a confirmed ASD diagnosis learned to ride a two-wheeled bicycle during a training camp. Twenty-nine riders enrolled in a HSC intervention to promote distributed practice of the learned skill. The control cohort (N = 22) was exempt from the HSC intervention. One year following initial skill acquisition, 62.07% of the HSC cohort compared to 36.36% of the control cohort still reportedly displayed the skill. Within the HSC cohort, riders who reported at least 8 weeks of practice following acquisition on average maintained the skill. Implications of home consultation are discussed.     

Parent and Peer Predictors of Change in Attachment Security From Adolescence to Adulthood

Interview, self‐report, peer report, and observational data were used to examine parent and peer relationship qualities as predictors of relative changes in attachment security in a community sample of adolescents followed from ages 14 to 24. Early maternal supportive behavior predicted relative increases in attachment security from adolescence to adulthood, whereas psychological control and interparental hostile conflict predicted relative decreases. Peer predictors of relative increases in security included collaborative and autonomous behaviors and lack of hostile interactions, with peer predictions growing stronger for relationships assessed at later ages. Overall, models accounted for sufficient variance as to suggest that attachment security across this period is well explained by a combination of stability plus theoretically predicted change linked to social relationship qualities.     

Acquisition and extinction of facilitation in the C57BL/6J mouse

Acquisition, extinction, and transfer of facilitation were explored in a series of experiments with C57BL/6J mice. With a procedure in which an auditory target was followed by food only in the presence of a visual facilitator, Experiments 1—4 showed that the facilitator promoted magazine entries to the auditory target. This enhancement effect was eliminated by training the facilitator as a conditioned inhibitor (Experiments 1 and 3B). Enhancement was also reduced by nonreinforced presentations of the facilitator in a discrimination procedure (Experiment 1) and by simple nonreinforcement of the facilitator (Experiments 2, 3A, and 4). In contrast to the results obtained with a facilitator, simple nonreinforcement of an inhibitor, a visual cue that had signaled when an auditory target would not be reinforced, did not reduce its ability to modulate responding to that target (Experiment 4). However, both the facilitator and the inhibitor were found to transfer their modulatory effects to other targets (Experiment 4). Finally, mice demonstrated no evidence of differential responding on a biconditional discrimination procedure in which one auditory target (A1) was reinforced in the presence of one visual stimulus (L1) but not in the presence of another (L2), and a different auditory target (A2) was reinforced in L2 but not in L1 (Experiment 5). The implications of these results for analysis of the function of a facilitator are discussed.     

The influence of instruction,prior knowledge,and values on climate change risk perception among undergraduates

We evaluated influences on the climate change risk perceptions of undergraduate students in an introductory Earth Science course. For this sample, domain‐specific content knowledge about climate change was a significant predictor of students' risk perception of climate change while cultural worldviews (individualism, hierarchy) and political orientation were not. These results contrast with previous studies highlighting worldviews as a dominant influence on risk perception. At the beginning of the semester, students' climate change content knowledge was relatively low, with average scores on a 21‐item test less than 50%. Post instruction results indicated that students learned climate change science during the course, and their perceptions of risks associated with climate change increased. Unlike most prior research evaluating links between climate change knowledge and risk perception, our measure of content knowledge was a validated assessment specific to climate change. Use of this specific climate knowledge test may be one reason that we detected a relationship between climate knowledge and risk perception whereas most of the previous research has not. Another—possibly complementary—explanation may be a generational shift between our study sample and prior samples. Undergraduates today, having grown up with more exposure to climate change in schools and the media than previous generations, may be diverging from average adults in that learning climate science appears to also increase their perceptions of the risks climate change poses. Undergraduate courses with embedded climate‐related activities present an opportunity to both increase climate science knowledge and risk perceptions of future decision makers.     

Factors Influencing Preservice Teachers’ Self-Efficacy in Addressing Cultural and Linguistic Needs of Diverse Learners

Abstract

How preservice teachers perceive their readiness to work with diverse learners can indicate their future success in the classroom. Using self-efficacy theory as a conceptual base, this study examined what factors contribute to preservice teachers’ self-efficacy level in addressing English Learners’ (ELs) cultural and linguistic needs, while adopting a multi-method design. Data sources included a self-efficacy survey of a group of preservice teachers, written rationales for their self-efficacy ratings, and suggestions for improving their self-efficacy. Data analyses revealed that the preservice teachers lacked self-efficacy in communicating with ELs while showing high self-efficacy in employing different learning modalities. In addition, direct exposure through field and/or life experiences and curriculum emphasis were identified as key factors. Findings further illuminate the preservice teachers’ incongruent understandings of mainstream school culture versus ELs’ cultures, the role of culture in academic versus social and emotional domains, and lack of interconnectedness between academic excellence and cultural competency.     

PDA power at the bedside

George Washington University's Himmelfarb Health Sciences Library was investigating adding PDA resources to the collection when a medical education grant was received. Funds were used for a pilot project to compare PDA use by third-year medical students (MSIII), fourth-year medical students (MSIV), second-year physician assistant (PAII) students, and residents in the clinical setting. The PDA Committee evaluated various titles by the following criteria: both Palm and PocketPC operating systems compatibility, ease of use, depth of information, product cost, and a wide target audience. Griffith's 5 Minute Clinical Consult by Skyscape was selected. Library registration was required to receive the software and PDA downloading instructions. A short, Web-based questionnaire was developed to evaluate the product's use in the clinical setting. A low response rate of 74 questionnaires (23% of participants) was received and analyzed in March 2004. As additional funding becomes available, PDA software will be seriously considered as additions to the collection.     

Communicating openness in deliberation

Normative and practical accounts of deliberative democracy cite open-mindedness as a key feature of good deliberation. Yet scholars have often focused on attitude change or self-report measures to empirically demonstrate openness. This paper draws on grounded practical theory to understand openness as a discursive stance in public deliberation. Openness is used to address four practical problems encountered in deliberation: disagreement, opinion formation, dysfunctional community problem-solving, and deliberative sense making. Indicating openness and expressing attitude change are different discursive practices. Expecting participants to refrain from forming opinions before deliberation may be naïve. Instead, participants’ eagerness to make sense of deliberation by invoking shared understanding and openness should be used to develop meta-consensus.     

A comparative study of risk assessments and recommended interventions in Canada and Israel.

OBJECTIVES: Our goal was to examine how professionals assess children at risk and their parents, and decide on particular interventions. Specifically, we explored whether their assessments and decision-making are influenced by (1) the mother's degree of cooperativeness and/or (2) the country in which the worker lives (Canada or Israel). METHOD: Workers working in the child welfare field (N = 181) were presented with a case vignette and asked to assess the child and parents, and the degree of risk to the child, and make an intervention recommendation. The measures used in this study were based on previous work and field-tested in both countries. RESULTS: Significant differences were found between the two countries regarding workers' age and level of experience, with Canadians being older and more experienced than Israelis. Significant differences were also found between the two countries regarding the assessments of the child and parents and also of risk to the child, with Canadians assessing significantly more stringently than Israelis. The difference in levels of experience between the two countries did not explain these differences; however, it did influence intervention recommendations, only for those with 3 years or more of experience. Within this group, significantly more Canadians than Israelis recommended removing the child from the home. Regarding maternal cooperativeness, this factor did affect workers' assessments of the mother, but not of the father or child, or the worker's recommended intervention. Israelis' assessments were significantly more influenced by the mother's cooperativeness than Canadians'. CONCLUSIONS: Significant differences were found between the Canadian and Israeli professionals in this study in both their assessments and their intervention recommendations. These appear to reflect the different social, cultural, and political contexts in which these professionals work, and underscores the value of cross-national comparative studies in child welfare.