Occupational and educational aspirations and attainment of young adults with and without LD 2 years after high school completion

A national longitudinal database was used to compare the aspirations and attainment of individuals with and without learning disabilities (LD) 2 years after high school completion. Analyses revealed that individuals with LD reported lower graduation rates, were more likely to aspire to moderate- (men) or low-prestige (women) occupations, and were more likely to be employed and less likely to be enrolled in some type of postsecondary education program than their nondisabled peers. High educational aspirations in Grade 12 and successful completion of an academic or college-prep high school program were equally important in predicting 2-year postsecondary status for adolescents enrolled in postsecondary education regardless of disability status. However, depending on disability status, different predictors were identified for individuals who were either employed or out of the workforce. These results point to a continued need for transition planning and support for young adults with LD and suggest ways in which professionals can anticipate and adjust for identified differences in aspirations and postsecondary attainment.     

Teacher self-efficacy moderates the relations between imposed pressure from imposed curriculum changes and teacher stress

Based on the Job Demands-resources (RD-R) model, the aim of the current study was to examine how pressure arising from imposed curriculum changes and teacher self-efficacy relate to perceived stress in teachers. Participants (839 teachers working in English schools) completed an online survey that contained questions about demographics, self-reported pressure from imposed curriculum changes, teacher self-efficacy, and perceived stress. Pressure from imposed curriculum changes was positively, and teacher self-efficacy negatively, related to perceived stress. Teacher-self efficacy moderated relations between pressure from imposed curriculum changes and perceived stress. High teacher self-efficacy was associated with lower perceived stress, relative to low teacher self-efficacy, when pressure from imposed curriculum changes was low. The differential advantage offered by high self-efficacy declined as pressure from imposed curriculum changes increased.     

The adaptation of hearing parents of hearing-impaired youths

This study evaluated the emotional and marital adjustment of hearing parents of hearing-impaired youths. Participants included mothers and fathers of hearing-impaired youths and mothers and fathers of hearing youths. In contrast with expectations based on clinical impressions reported in the literature, parents of hearing-impaired youths reported less symptomatology than did parents of hearing youths, and there were no differences in the marital satisfaction of parents in intact families. Moreover, parental adjustment was not associated with the duration of time since the child was diagnosed as hearing impaired. In addition, hierarchical multiple regression analyses revealed that family cohesion was associated with low maternal symptomatology and high marital satisfaction for both spouses. For mothers, low symptomatology was associated with low stress and female gender of child; high marital satisfaction also was linked with a less severe degree of hearing loss in the youth.     

Assessment of Communication Competencies in Engineering Design Projects

Reforms in engineering education have caused a shift from the traditional stand-alone course in technical communication for Engineering students towards communication training integrated in courses and design projects that allows students to develop four layers of competence. This shift creates opportunities for realistic and situated learning, but offers challenges for assessment of communication competence at student, course and program levels. On the basis of a detailed definition of communicative competence, three formats for integrated communication training are described: Linked to design projects, integrated in design projects and integrated at program level. Assessment of communication competence in these formats is constrained by their characteristics with regard to student motivation, individual and group work, and situated learning.     

A Report on the Further Training of Teachers in Media Education

Because of media developments discernible in recent years and those foreseeable in the future, media education has to be looked upon as an absolute necessity. To be able to make media education a reality in schools (which, in this field, are undeniably the most important social institution for young people), the lack of training of teachers in that field has to be remedied. The continued training of teachers in media education described in this contribution must be seen against this background. Within limitations as to region and school levels it was directed at a group of schoolteachers in the province of Carinthia. After some general remarks on media education, the aims and contents as well as the organisation of the course are described.     

The effect of distributed monitoring exercises and feedback on performance, monitoring accuracy, and self-efficacy

Monitoring one’s own study processes accurately is important in self-regulated learning. This study compared a treatment (N = 45) and comparison class (N = 39) on the effects of monitoring exercises and feedback on calibration and test performance over a 16-week undergraduate course. Path analyses revealed a significant influence of the intervention on class performance, calibration, and self-efficacy. The results suggest the appropriateness of integrating distributed metacognitive exercises in class content and the fundamental role of monitoring ability in performance-based course outcomes and self-efficacy.     

Working and Playing Together: Prediction of Preschool Social-Emotional Competence from Mother-Child Interaction

The impact of mother-child interaction on preschoolers' social-emotional competence was evaluated. Twenty-five girls and 23 boys (mean age = 44 mos) and their mothers were videotaped performing four play/teaching tasks. Preschool teachers completed the Baumrind Preschool Behavior Q-Sort and the Behar Problem Behavior Questionnaire. Mother-child interaction aggregates represented task orientation, positive emotion, and allowance of autonomy/reliance on mother. Results indicated that specific maternal interaction aggregates coherently predicted the children's Positive Social Behavior, Assertiveness, and Sadness in the preschool setting. Child aggregates were less effective predictors of teachers' ratings. Several gender differences in the prediction of social-emotional competence were found (e.g., maternal allowance of autonomy predicted girls' sadness, but boys' sadness was predicted by their own negative emotion). These findings' contributions to the parent-child literature are discussed.