Agencies,educators, communities and wildfire: partnerships to enhance environmental education for youth

We studied seven programs that engage youth from 10 to 18 years old in wildfire risk reduction in their communities in the United States through in-depth interviews to examine the nature and role of community-school partnerships in resource-focused environmental education. While the programs use a variety of strategies, from Scout badge to summer school, they exhibit several common dimensions: they all engage youth in community projects; they all arise from partnerships between resource agencies, community organizations, and educators; they all began when people familiar with both wildfire and youth education saw an opportunity to improve the community and educate youth through action; and all partners are able to contribute to the common program yet retain their individual identity as they meet their own mission-based goals. We use themes and quotes to illustrate these common dimensions for establishing community-school partnerships that could build action competence through environment-based education projects.     

A Two-State Study of Family Child Care Engagement in Quality Rating and Improvement Systems: A Mixed-Methods Analysis

ABSTRACT

Research Findings. The current study is a mixed-methods investigation of family child care provider participation in voluntary Quality Rating and Improvement Systems (QRIS) in 2 states. Study 1 is an analysis of matched QRIS and child care licensing administrative data extracted from both states in May, 2014. Poverty and population density variables were added to the dataset by aligning U.S. Census data and Rural Urban Commuting Area codes (RUCA) to the matched state child care data. Participation patterns differed in the 2 states relative to provider characteristics (subsidy receipt, years licensed, and location). Study 2 consists of focus groups with participating (n = 22) and non-participating (n = 19) providers. Professionalism and financial incentives emerged as significant in attracting family child care providers to QRIS. Although family child care providers identified several clear benefits to QRIS, many more challenges emerged that negatively impact their participation. Practice or Policy. As most states are employing a QRIS framework to integrate quality improvement efforts, perspectives from this sector of early care and education are often overlooked. Study findings suggest that QRIS can be more responsive and effective with family child care providers if more consideration of their unique features are considered in systems design and implementation.     

The expositive discourse as pedagogical discourse: studying recontextualization in the production of a science museum exhibition

In this paper I report on the sociological and educational particulars of The Biodiscovery Space exhibition of the Life Museum of the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, using Basil Bernstein’s framework of pedagogic discourse and recontextualization. Data for analysis was obtained from interviews with the exhibition developers, field observations of museum visitors and analysis of exhibition documents. Using the ideas of power, classification and framework, among others, I analyzed the recontextualization process of the production of expositive discourse. Thus, working with Bernstein’s idea of classification, I explain the relationship between the discourses of the science of biology, history of science, museology, education, and communication in order to produce an expositive discourse. I also make explicit how agents of the Official Recontextualization Field of the Museum and the Pedagogic Recontextualization Field “....of the Museum determine partly the final expositive discourse of an exhibition”. Using the idea of a pedagogic discourse framework, I discuss how the constraints imposed by objects and texts in exhibitions help to create a specific manner of visitor interaction with these elements, “even if they have some autonomy”. Considerations about the audience and the intended process of acquisition are presented, when I discuss the control strategies of the exhibition. I propose that the Biodiscovery Space exhibit has a visible pedagogy. Finally, using the collected data I discuss the power tensions created in the production of expositive discourse showing how distributive, recontextualization and evaluation rules work in the context of exhibitions. The study of the dynamics in forming the expositive discourse using Bernstein’s framework reveals the individuals and institutions, the selection criteria, the negotiations and the power relations involved. It has the potential to assist both educators and researchers in the museum education field, as well as designers to understand the teaching and learning processes that occur during a visit and to establish relevant criteria to evaluate quality to best produce exhibitions in science museums.     

The developmental consequence of different patterns of maltreatment

From a longitudinal study of 267 high risk families, four different patterns of maltreatment were identified. The mothers have been tested, interviewed and observed in a number of situations starting during the last trimester of pregnancy and continuing at regularly scheduled intervals through the preschool period. The four maltreatment groups were: physical abuse; hostile/verbally abusive; psychologically unavailable; and neglecting. A control group of mothers who provided adequate care was selected from the remaining high risk sample. In an earlier follow-up, among the maltreated children a disproportionately large number of infants were found to be anxiously attached to their mothers at 12 and 18 months, and their performance in a problem-solving situation at age two was poor. In the current follow-up, the children were videotaped at 42 months in a "barrier box" and teaching situation, and at 56 months they were observed in a preschool situation. The physically abused children were distractible, lacked persistence, ego control and enthusiasm, and experienced considerable negative emotion. The children whose mothers were psychologically unavailable showed marked increases in maladaptive patterns of functioning from infancy through preschool. As expected, they were avoidant of their mother, angry, noncompliant, and they were highly dependent. The neglected children had the most difficulty pulling themselves together to deal with various tasks. They lacked self-esteem and agency necessary to cope with their environment.     

Differences between WISC‐R and WISC‐III performance scale among children with ADHD

Reviews involving the Wechsler Scales for children suggest that Full Scale IQ scores on the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children, Third Edition, average 5 to 6 points lower than scores on the second edition of the scale [WISC‐R, Wechsler, D. (1974). Zimmerman & Woo‐Sam, 1997], with the differences distributed disproportionately over subtests, i.e., with larger discrepancies found within the Performance Scale (Wechsler, 1991). Changes on the revised subtests of the WISC‐III Performance Scale may place children with ADHD at a disadvantage compared to their performance on analogous WISC‐R subtests. We examined IQ test performance in 122 unmedicated children with ADHD (61 given the WISC‐R, 61 given the WISC‐III), and 46 children from a healthy, comparison group (23 given the WISC‐R, 23 given the WISC‐III). The ADHD and comparison group samples were matched for sex and for Verbal IQ between WISC‐R and WISC‐III. Children with ADHD had significantly lower Performance IQ on WISC‐III compared to the WISC‐R, with the Picture Arrangement subtest showing the most significant difference. In contrast, there were no significant differences between the WISC‐R and WISC‐III cohorts on Performance IQ or any Performance subtests among the comparison group. These findings highlight the importance of examining the comparability of ability test revisions among clinical and non‐clinical populations, and will be especially salient when the WISC‐III is revised. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Psychol Schs 40: 331–340, 2003.     

The Interconnected Model of Professional Growth as a means to assess the development of a mathematics teacher

In this qualitative study we used a case study approach to observe and analyse a mathematics teacher who was challenged to redesign her lessons during network meetings with colleagues. Changes in practical knowledge are described by means of concept maps and semi-structured interviews. We applied cycles of change from the Interconnected Model of Professional Growth to describe the teacher’s professional development. We show that the teacher’s practical knowledge changes in the domain of practical content knowledge, and that controlled experimentation and reflection are necessary conditions to learn a new teaching strategy and to develop a series of lessons for pupils.     

Infant Attention and Early Childhood Executive Function

Individual differences in infant attention are theorized to reflect the speed of information processing and are related to later cognitive abilities (i.e., memory, language, and intelligence). This study provides the first systematic longitudinal analysis of infant attention and early childhood executive function (EF; e.g., working memory, inhibitory control, cognitive flexibility). A group of 5‐month‐olds (n = 201) were classified as short or long lookers. At 24, 36, and 48 months of age, children completed age‐appropriate EF tasks. Infant short lookers (i.e., more efficient information processors) exhibited higher EF throughout early childhood as compared to infant long lookers, even after controlling for verbal ability (a potential indicator of intelligence). These findings are discussed in relation to the emergence of executive attention.     

“The total woman:”; The rhetoric of completion

The success of Marabel Morgan's Total Woman indicate its rhetorical effectiveness despite its substantive flaws. This article argues that the book's strong appeal to readers stems from: (1) its promise of fulfillment if woman expiate the guilt they bear for marital discord by self sacrifice; (2) its reinforcement of readers perceptions of themselves and their husbands; and (3) its emphasis on the power of “Total Women”; and its encouragement of sexual fantasy and play. These strategies produce a persuasive message which plays on readers’ concerns for their marriages, offers an alternative to the self consciousness urged by feminists and permits women to fulfill comfortable stereotypes yet experience the power and sexual freedom promised by liberationists. For readers with troubled marriages Morgan provides an alluringly simple, emotionally attractive answer to complex questions. Her message is rhetorically effective even if intellectually weak and psychologically misleading.