The role of materialism on social,emotional and behavioural difficulties for British adolescents

The relationship between materialism and social-emotional behavioural difficulties (SEBDs) was assessed by comparing a sample of adolescents receiving in-school behavioural support with adolescents not receiving any support. All participants completed the Youth Materialism Scale and the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire. Binary logistic regression indicated that adolescents who reported higher levels of materialism were more likely to be classified into a group considered ‘at-risk’ for developing conduct and peer problems. Hierarchical logistic regression assessed the moderation of behavioural support and indicated that adolescents in receipt of behavioural support who reported higher levels of materialism were at a greater risk of hyperactivity in comparison to those who receive support but reported lower levels of materialism. For adolescents not receiving behavioural support, less materialistic attitudes placed them at a greater risk of hyperactivity. These findings highlight the importance of distinguishing between different SEBD typologies and the potential effects of materialism during adolescence.     

Sexuality and relationships education: toward a social studies approach

Globally, gender norms and power differentials profoundly affect both girls' and boys' sexual attitudes, practices and health. One avenue for enabling young people to reflect on traditional gender arrangements that endanger their health—and to lay the groundwork for satisfying sexual lives—is sexuality and relationships education (SRE). Unfortunately, many SRE programmes address gender norms and critical thinking skills either superficially or not at all. Moreover, in some developing countries, SRE programmes do not reach the majority of girls aged 15–19, a high proportion of whom are simply not in school. This paper argues for grounding SRE within a social studies framework, emphasizing gender and social context. Such an approach can foster critical thinking skills, can provide a foundation for subsequent lessons on explicitly sexual topics, can illuminate the links between gender inequality and other social issues, can allow for a human‐rights emphasis that may prove politically less controversial than technical sexuality topics, and may ultimately prove vital to achieving better sexual health outcomes. The experience of community‐based programmes provides lessons for designing and evaluating such approaches in schools.     

The role of learned resourcefulness in helping female undergraduates deal with unwanted sexual activity

We examined the relationship between learned resourcefulness skills and the manner in which undergraduate heterosexual women handle unwanted sexual advances/activity. Participants consisted of 150 females completing a set of questionnaires assessing general learned resourcefulness, sexual giving-in experience, sexual resourcefulness, sexual self-efficacy and reasons for consent. The hypothesis that possessing a higher general repertoire of learned resourcefulness skills would uniquely predict greater sexual self-control with unwanted sexual advances was supported. Physical contact with men, greater sexual victimization, more reasons for consenting, and less use of sexual resourcefulness skills all directly contributed to voluntarily giving-in behavior. Implications for sexuality education and counseling are discussed.     

Challenging the premises of international policy reviews: an introduction to the review symposium

In 2009, a think tank called the International Alliance of Leading Education Institutes (IALEI) announced the results of a study entitled Climate Change and Sustainable Development: The Response from Education. Intended for a policy audience, the study offered a glimpse into the status of Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) and an early look at the emergence of Climate Change Education (CCE), in 10 different nations. As with most international reports, the IALEI report provoked many questions, some of which are more broadly relevant to scholarship and practice. This paper introduces a review symposium that addresses three such questions: (1) How coherent is the concept of ESD across national contexts and what conceptual tensions continue to surround ESD and CCE? (2) Can nation-level analyses tell us anything useful about countries where education is not centrally governed? and (3) In light of the evolving relationship between educational research and policy, how should researchers engage with ongoing policy debates?     

Developing Expertise With Classroom Assessment in K–12 Science: Learning to Interpret Student Work. Interim Findings From a 2-Year Study

This article reports findings on growth in 3 science teachers' expertise with interpretation of student work over 1 year of participation in a program. The program was designed to strengthen classroom assessment. Using a framework for classroom assessment expertise, we analyze patterns of teacher learning, and the roles of the professional program and the quality of the assessments provided with teachers' instructional materials.     

Curriculum-Based Measurement as a Predictor of Performance on a State Assessment: Diagnostic Efficiency of Local Norms

With the concurrent emphasis on accountability, prevention, and early intervention, curriculum-based measurement of reading (R-CBM) is playing an increasingly important role in the educational process. This study investigated the differences in diagnostic accuracy and utility between commercial norms and local norms when making high-stakes, local decisions. Scores on Dynamic Indicators of Early Literacy Skills Oral Reading Fluency for 1,374 students in Grades 2 to 5 were used to predict outcomes the Georgia reading achievement test, the Criterion Referenced Competency Tests. Local norms were generated using logistic regression and receiver operator characteristic curve analysis. The generated cut scores were compared to the commercial norms for differences in diagnostic efficiency. The generated cut scores were lower than the commercial norms and had improved diagnostic efficiency. Implications related to educational policy and the use of R-CBM are discussed.     

A multivariate latent growth curve analysis of adolescent substance use

This article demonstrates a multivariate latent growth curve methodology (LGM) for analyzing longitudinal adolescent substance use data. Hypotheses concerning the form of growth in substance use, individual differences in the common trajectory over time, and covariates influencing growth were tested. Significant linear increases existed for alcohol, cigarette, and marijuana use. Second‐order multivariate extensions of LGM indicated that associations among the individual differences parameters of the various substances could be adequately modeled by a higher order substance use construct. Family status, parent‐child conflict, peer encouragement for substance use, parent substance use, and age significantly influenced initial levels of use. Peer encouragement, change in peer encouragement, change in parent‐child conflict, age, and gender significantly influenced development of use. These findings support the influence of families and peers on the development of adolescent substance use and demonstrate the utility of multivariate extensions of LGM in the analysis of longitudinal data.     

Fostering partnerships with families: academic service-learning in the Little Village

ABSTRACT

Strong family-teacher partnerships increase family engagement, promoting positive outcomes for children. Early childhood educators need knowledge, skills, and dispositions for establishing strong, meaningful partnerships with diverse families. This research investigated the impact of academic service-learning (ASL) on undergraduate students’ knowledge, skills, and dispositions for partnering with culturally and linguistically diverse families to promote young children’s early academic learning. Participants included nine undergraduates in an early childhood teacher preparation course, ten culturally and linguistically diverse families, and thirteen 2- to 5-year-old children. In this mixed-methods study, written student ASL reflections, pre- and post-ASL student surveys, and parent evaluations were analyzed. Three themes emerged from the analysis: (1) Students entered the ASL experience with excitement and a mostly positive approach; (2) Early to mid-semester, students articulated a high degree of nervousness and discomfort as well as challenges to partnership-building, yet also noted family interest and engagement; and (3) Mid- to late semester, most students expressed their growing confidence in their own skills for relating to diverse families, and identified family strengths. Our findings support ASL as an effective teacher-preparation pedagogy to help students build family-teacher partnerships.     

A Review of Research on School Bullying Among African American Youth: An Ecological Systems Analysis

School bullying and peer victimization are social problems that affect African American youth across various environmental contexts. Regrettably, many of the empirical research on bullying and peer victimization among African American youth has examined individual and direct level influences in silos rather than a constellation of factors occurring in multiple settings, such as home, school, and neighborhood. As a holistic model, the social–ecological framework provides a context with which to situate and interpret findings and draw implications from a broader psychosocial framework, which can be applicable across various systems. We utilize Bronfenbrenner’s (American Psychologist 32:513–531, 1977) social–ecological framework as a springboard for investigating the accumulation of risk contributors and the presences of protective factors in relation to school bullying and peer victimization of African American youth. More specifically, we examine the risk and protective factors occurring in the micro- (i.e., parents, peers, school, and community), exo- (i.e., parental stress), and macrosystem levels (i.e., hypermasculinity, and gender role beliefs and stereotypes). We then discuss implications for research and school-based practice.