Elegant grapheme-phoneme correspondence: a periodic chart and singularity generalization unify decoding

The accompanying article introduces highly transparent grapheme-phoneme relationships embodied within a Periodic table of decoding cells, which arguably presents the quintessential transparent decoding elements. The study then folds these cells into one highly transparent but simply stated singularity generalization—this generalization unifies the decoding cells (97% transparency). Deeper, the periodic table and singularity generalization together highlight the connectivity of the periodic cells. Moreover, these interrelated cells, coupled with the singularity generalization, clarify teaching targets and enable efficient learning of the letter-sound code. This singularity generalization, in turn, serves as a model for creating unified but easily stated subordinate generalizations for any one of the transparent cells or groups of cells shown within the tables. The article then expands the periodic cells into two tables of teacher-ready sample word lists—one table includes sample words for the basic and phonogram vowel cells, and the other table embraces word samples for the transparent consonant cells. The paper concludes with suggestions for teaching the cellular transparency embedded within reoccurring isolated words and running text to promote decoding automaticity of the periodic cells.     

Networking and the use of information technologies in the French education system

Conclusion It may be pointed out in conclusion that the two connotations of the word ‘network’— the fact of working together coupled with that of the new information and communication media—finally come together and situate the French education system in a real context of change, for both connotations are obviously complementary. Communication, co-operative work, the pooling of resources and skills, with a view to improving the quality and effectiveness of education and promoting equality of opportunity through access to knowledge, are central to these various projects. Thanks to the greater flexibility made possible by these tools, a new public—those who are isolated or those who find it impossible to move—are and will be taken into account. The purpose of these projects is to increase the performance of the education system and adapt it to the social and economic realities of the community. This shows how important it is to facilitate their implementation, in association with all partners concerned. Original language: French Fran?ois Louis (France) University degrees in public law and labour law and a graduate of the French école nationale d'administration (ENA) (1979). Since 1989, he has been head of the Planning and Resources Management Unit of the French Direction des lycées et collèges, after having held the post of Secretary-General of educational administration for the Paris region. In 1994, he published a book entitledDécentralisation et autonomie des établissements [Decentralization and school autonomy], as well as a report published by OECD in 1995 entitledL'enseignement secondaire en France, la mutation des dix dernières années [Secondary education in France, a decade of change].     

Trust and improvement in schools

This paper examines how trust affects teachers’ willingness to work with innovations introduced by central office administrators. Interview and focus group data collected over a three-year period in five schools are used to analyze the centrality of trust to teachers’ willingness to work with administrators to implement continuous improvement and quality management practices for their schools and classrooms. A qualitative data analysis software package was used to code interviews and focus groups for spontaneous comments that addressed trust. Two schools were characterized by high trust, and high willingness to change; high levels of distrust distinguished three others. This emphasis of the analysis is on the association of spontaneously expressed sentiments of trust or distrust and the association of those sentiments with willingness to participate in change initiated from outside the school building. Pre-existing patterns of relational and institutional trust will enhance or limit the ability of leaders to initiate large-scale change. More needs to be known about how to change coherently distrustful school settings in order for systemic change to occur.

The Center for Collegiate Mental Health: Practice and Research Working Together

The authors describe the Center for Collegiate Mental Health (CCMH), a practice–research network of university counseling centers, and introduce the special issue of the Journal of College Counseling that features the work of the CCMH. The issue features five studies conducted by the CCMH, all of which were focused on the mental health and treatment needs of culturally diverse college students. The special issue concludes with a commentary by Gordon Nagayama Hall.     

Differential Third‐Grade Outcomes Associated With Attending Publicly Funded Preschool Programs for Low‐Income Latino Children

This study examined the third‐grade outcomes of 11,902 low‐income Latino children who experienced public school pre‐K or child care via subsidies (center‐based care) at age 4 in Miami‐Dade County, Florida. Regression and propensity score analyses revealed that children who experienced public school pre‐K earned higher scores on standardized assessments of math and reading in third grade and had higher grade point averages than those who attended center‐based care 4 years earlier. The sustained associations between public school pre‐K (vs. center‐based care) and third‐grade outcomes were mediated by children's kindergarten entry preacademic and social–behavioral skills, and among English‐language learners, English proficiency. Implications for investing in early childhood programs to assist with the school readiness of young Latino children in poverty are discussed.     

Inferring False Beliefs from Actions and Reactions

Current evidence suggests that young children have little understanding of false belief. Standard false belief tasks, however, may underestimate children's ability for 2 reasons. First, the only cue to belief in these tasks is a protagonist's lack of perceptual access to some critical event, and this may not be a very salient cue for young children. Second, the standard tasks require children to make forward-looking predictions from the causes of a belief (e.g., from what a protagonist has or has not perceived) to either the protagonist's belief or the protagonist's action, and children may not be very skilled at making such predictions. In 2 experiments we investigated whether 3-year-olds would do better on tasks in which the belief cues were stronger, and in which they could reason backward to the belief from its effects (e.g., from a protagonist's actions and reactions). Even on these easy tasks, however, they did not perform well. These findings provide strong support for the view that children of this age do not fully understand the representational nature of belief.     

Analyzing teacher narratives in early childhood garden-based education

Learning gardens can provide dynamic learning and developmental experiences for young children. This case study of 12 early childhood teachers explores how teachers describe (1) learning across numerous school readiness domains and (2) how to support this learning by promoting opportunities for autonomy, relatedness, and competence. Participants worked at a university-affiliated early education program with a learning garden in the midwestern United States. Data included 19 narrative, photo-elicitation interviews during two growing seasons. Iterative qualitative analyses informed the creation of a Gourd Tee-Pee Model that describes learning across multiple domains and integrates self-determination theory into early childhood garden education. This framework can inform the design and evaluation of early childhood garden education programs.