The social and educational adjustment of abused children

Thirteen 6-year-old children who had been physically abused by their parents were assessed in school for language development, educational attainments and social adjustment, and compared with children from some of the same school classes who served as a comparison group. All the abused children had attended the Family Centre of the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC) in Manchester before starting school, and they and their parents had received social work support and supervision from the special unit team. Ten of the 13 abused children had made measurable progress in reading. There were no significant differences between the groups in language development or number skills, but the abused group did contain more high (maladjusted) scores on the Bristol Social Adjustment Guide. Monitoring educational progress and social adjustment in school would seem to be a useful method of following the progress of such children. Most of the children in this group are so far making progress within the ordinary school system despite the disturbances which have affected their home life.     

Teaching Journey Graphs to Primary School Children: a comparison of procedures

Three different groups of 10‐11‐year‐old children in each of three primary schools, 90 children in all, were given a lesson on the topic of Cartesian coordinate line graphs representing journeys. Three teaching procedures were used which differed according to their degree of embeddedness. The children in each group demonstrated a substantial degree of learning of the topic, a result which is discussed in relation to the general absence from the primary school curriculum of lessons about journey graphs.

However, no significant differences were found between the three teaching procedures indicating that these children were capable of learning about journey graphs from a relatively disembedded point‐plotting procedure. The lessons in which the journeys represented were placed in a social context did not produce a significant degree of additional learning as compared to the formal procedures.     

On modeling and analyzing multi-agent systems using n-calculus

Dynamic architecture of multi-agent systems （MAS） is important for critical systems. As the existing formal specifications of MAS cannot describe its dynamic architecture, a formal approach using n-calculus is presented, which is suited for the describing and analyzing of concurrent MAS with dynamic topology, n-calculus describes the belief-desireintention （BDI） model that represents agent＇s mental states and provides many useful facilities to analyze MAS model such as deadlock, behavior equivalence, and model checking. To illustrate the favorable representation capability of n-calculus, an example of dynamic multi-agent systems in e-commerce is provided. Finally, by using an existing n-calculus supporting tool, MAS model and some key behaviors properties are analyzed and verified.     

Measuring Teacher–Child Relationships in the Greek Kindergarten Setting: A Validity Study of the Student–Teacher Relationship Scale–Short Form

Research Findings: The present study was designed to examine the factorial validity of the Student–Teacher Relationship Scale–Short Form (STRS-SF; R. C. Pianta, 2001 Hamre, B. K. and Pianta, R. C. 2001. Early teacher-child relationships and the trajectory of children's school outcomes through eighth grade.. Child Development, 72: 625–638. [Crossref], [PubMed], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]) and its invariance across gender in the Greek educational context. The STRS-SF comprises 15 items that measure 2 dimensions of teacher–child relationships: Closeness and Conflict. Fifty-six kindergarten teachers completed the STRS-SF about their students (n = 336). A 2-factor model with correlated latent factors was postulated and tested. Confirmatory factor analysis procedures showed marginal fit to the data (comparative fit index [CFI] = .902, root mean square error of approximation [RMSEA] = .066). The fit of the model was further improved by adding 2 error covariances (CFI = .931, RMSEA = .056). Cronbach's alpha coefficient showed adequate internal consistency for Closeness (α = .72) and Conflict (α = .82). In addition, there was a moderate negative association between the 2 subscales (r = ?.38). Examination of STRS-SF invariance showed that it was manifested in the same way across gender. Practice or Policy: The findings of the present study, which was conducted in a cultural context different from the one in which the STRS-SF was developed, seem to support the instrument's factorial validity and equivalence across gender.     

Home Literacy Exposure and Early Language and Literacy Skills in Children Who Struggle With Behavior and Attention Problems

Research Findings: This study investigated the relationships between behavior and attention problems and early language and literacy outcomes for 4-year-olds who experienced varied early home literacy environments. Participants were 1,364 children enrolled in the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development. Attention problems and early home literacy exposure both significantly predicted language and literacy outcomes when relevant covariates were controlled. There was also a significant interaction between behavior and attention problems and early home literacy exposure in predicting expressive language abilities. Specifically, early home literacy exposure was related to more advanced expressive language achievement for children with behavior problems. In contrast, children with attention problems performed below their peers on expressive language measures even when they received comparable early home literacy exposure. Practice or Policy: These findings suggest the need for further research on the differential role of early home literacy exposure on the development of early language and literacy skills in children with behavior and attention problems.