Behavior contracts: A home‐school cooperative effort

CHILDREN OF NASHVILLE by Sarah Foster Kelley. Nashville, Tennessee: Blue and Gray Press, 1973. x + 447 pp. $16.50.

EMERGING PATTERNS OF ADMINISTRATIVE ACCOUNTABILITY compiled and edited by Lesley H. Browder, Jr. Berkeley, California: McCutchan Publishing Corporation, 1971. vi + 571 pp. $9.75.

INCREASING THE OPTIONS: Recent Developments in College and University Degree Programs by John R. Valley. New York: College Entrance Examination Board, Office of New Degree Programs, 1972. 56 pp. $2.50.

COLLEGE AND UNIVERSITY LAW by Alexander and Erwin S. Solomon. Charlottesville, Virginia: The Michie Company, 1972. xxvi + 776 pp. $16.00.

PERSPECTIVES ON SECONDARY MATHEMATICS EDUCATION edited by Jerry A. McIntosh. Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice Hall, Inc., 1971. 259 pp. $3.95.

SCHOLARS AND STATESMEN by Kenneth H. Ashworth. San Francisco: Jossey‐Bass Inc., Publishers, 1972. xiv + 160 pp. $7.75.

LEARNING TO BE: THE WORLD OF EDUCATION TODAY AND TOMORROW. United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. New York: UNIPUB, INC., 1972. 313 pp. $6.00.

ART EDUCATION: AN INTERNATIONAL SURVEY by UNESCO. New York: UNIPUB, INC., 1972. 109 pp. $9.00.     

Parental history of positive development and child behavior in next generation offspring: A two-cohort prospective intergenerational study

This study examined whether positive development (PD) in adolescence and young adulthood predicts offspring behavior in two Australasian intergenerational cohorts. The Australian Temperament Project Generation 3 Study assessed PD at age 19–28 (years 2002–2010) and behavior in 1165 infants (12–18 months; 608 girls) of 694 Australian-born parents (age 29–35; 2012–2019; 399 mothers). The Dunedin Multidisciplinary Health and Development Parenting Study assessed PD at age 15–18 (years 1987–1991) and behavior in 695 preschoolers (3–5 years; 349 girls) and their New Zealand born parents (age 21–46; 1994–2018; 363 mothers; 89% European ethnicity). In both cohorts, PD before parenthood predicted more positive offspring behavior (β_range = .11–.16) and fewer behavior problems (β_range = −.09 to −.11). Promoting strengths may secure a healthy start to life.     

Early reading success and its relationship to reading achievement and reading volume: replication of ‘10 years later’

Cunningham and Stanovich reported a longitudinal investigation over 10 years that examined the unique influence of exposure to print in explaining individual differences on various measures of reading achievement and declarative (general) knowledge. The present study replicated their investigation with a larger number of participants and additional measures of literacy and language skills. Fifty-four 1st graders were administered reading, spelling, vocabulary, IQ, and listening comprehension measures and then followed to the end of 10th grade. At the end of 10th grade, they were administered an IQ test and measures of reading comprehension, language ability, general knowledge, and exposure to print. Results showed that 1st grade reading skills were a strong predictor of 10th grade outcomes. Second and third-grade reading skills were predictive of individual differences in print exposure even after 10th grade reading comprehension and language ability had been partialed. Individual differences in print exposure also predicted differences in the growth of reading ability, word decoding, spelling, vocabulary, and listening comprehension throughout the elementary grades. Findings confirm the powerful, long-term benefits of providing children with a fast start in reading and support the reciprocal nature of strong reading skills and engagement in reading and reading-related activities.     

Contested discourses of teacher professionalism: current tensions between education policy and teachers’ union

This article addresses constructions and redefinitions of teacher professionalism by focusing on the discursive negotiations between the government and the teachers’ union in Norway. Based on an examination of three white papers on teacher education from the past 15?years and policy documents put forth by the Union of Education Norway during the past decade, the authors argue that new constructions of teacher professionalism are produced both by the government and from within the teachers’ union. However, there are differences between the government and the teachers’ union concerning what the main aspects of teacher professionalism are. The government emphasises teacher accountability, research-based practice and specialisation. By contrast, the teachers’ union highlights research-informed practice, responsibility for educational quality and professional ethics. There are three main areas of discursive struggle focused by the teachers’ union: the resistance to accountability policies, the redefining of research-based practice and the lengthening of teacher education. The authors argue that the teachers’ union is adopting an increasingly more active approach, thereby also challenging the idea that the teachers’ union is less interested in developing and taking responsibility for the quality of school education.     

Media Regulation and Control

James Q. Wilson, ed. The Politics of Regulation (New York: Basic Books, 1980---$18.95)

Robert A. Goldwin, ed. Bureaucrats, Policy Analysts, Statesmen: Who Leads? (Washington: American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research, 1150 17th St. NW, 1980---$5.25, paper with cloth edition also available)

Warren L. Patton's An Author's Guide to the Copyright Law (Lexington, Mass.: Lexington Books/D.C. Heath, 1980---$21.95)

Joseph J. Hemmer, Jr.'s Communication Under Law (Metuchen, N.J.: Scarecrow Press, 1979 and 1980-- $15.00 and 20.1)0, two vols.)     

How academic teachers perceive and facilitate creativity

We will present a case study result from a cross-disciplinary education called Medialogy, which is taught in the Technical and Science Faculty at Aalborg University. The aim of Medialogy is to facilitate creativity within technical solutions. The intention of this paper is to answer the following: how do the Medialogy teachers perceive creativity and how do they facilitate it? Many of the answers point to the pedagogical approach used in problem-based learning, which are perceived as an important element for the creative process. In this paper we will also argue the importance of including the social context (both at a macro and at a micro level) in the definition and use of creativity in engineering education.     

Attachment and social support in the prediction of psychopathology among young adults with and without a history of physical maltreatment

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to examine the roles that social support and attachment play with regard to psychopathology among young adults with and without a history of physical maltreatment. Attachment was conceptualized in terms of the dimensions of view of self and view of other. Attachment and social support were examined individually and concurrently as protective factors. METHOD: The sample consisted of 956 young adults, 294 of whom had a history of physical abuse. Individuals filled out a series of questionnaires inquiring about current attachment, social support, and psychopathology symptoms. A regression design was used, examining how well attachment and/or social support predicted current psychopathology. RESULTS: Results indicated that attachment security, particularly when characterized by a positive view of self, strongly predicted lower levels of psychopathology, irrespective of abuse status. Notably, view of self was a substantially larger predictor than was view of other or social support for individuals with and without a history of physical maltreatment. Among maltreatment subtypes, psychological abuse emerged as the largest predictor of psychopathology. CONCLUSIONS: The current study suggests that the attachment dimension of view of self is fundamental in predicting current psychopathology level, irrespective of abuse history. In addition, the subtype of psychological abuse deserves further investigation as a risk factor.     

Modeling Spelling Acquisition: The Effect of Orthographic Regularities on Silent-Letter Representations

In this report, we propose a model of spelling acquisition inspired by statistical learning and a frame-like model of orthographic representations: the fuzzy representation model. To provide an initial test of the model’s predictions for inconsistent words, 107 French-speaking children in Grades 1 to 3 were asked to spell words ending with a silent letter. Half of the words ended with the frequent silent t and half with the less frequent silent d. As predicted, children accurately spelled more t- than d-words. Most errors were omissions and substitutions of the silent letter. Consistent with statistical learning, there was some evidence that children used the preceding orthographic context when making substitution errors. The proportion of omissions, however, was not consistent with the statistical properties of French. These findings are discussed in light of the fuzzy representation model, whereby inconsistencies in words are more likely to be underspecified, if represented at all.