Parents’ educational involvement: Types of resources and forms of involvement in four countries

Parents’ involvement in schooling and education is highly important for children’s results. Still, both levels of involvement and their effects vary according to social class. Previous research on educational reproduction within the family has, however, largely studied differences between the middle and the working class, and generally ignored differences in the composition of cultural and economic capital. In this article, we aim to fill this gap in the literature by separating cultural and economic resources and investigate their correlation with two kinds of parental involvement in four different European countries. Results show that parents with more cultural resources are more likely to be involved by having future educational expectations, and parents with more economic resources are more likely to be involved in their children’s current schooling (e.g. help with homework) than those with more cultural resources. The association between economic resources and involvement in educational expectations is however stronger in Spain and Iceland than in Belgium and Norway, suggesting an influence from system-level features as well as general economic trends.     

Carbon outclasses wood in racket paddles: Ratings of expert and intermediate tennis players

Wooden racket paddles were modified with rubber and carbon fibre laminates and their differences tested in terms of flexural, damping, and coefficient of restitution properties. Four rackets types were designed: a wood reference, wood with rubber, carbon fibre 0°, and carbon fibre 90°. Seven expert and eight intermediate tennis players tested the rackets. To determine which of the four rackets suited the players best, we asked the players to compare the rackets two by two. After each pair tested, participants had to fill out a 4-item questionnaire in which different aspects of the rackets' performance were judged. The most preferred racket was the 0° carbon fibre racket, followed by the 90° carbon fibre racket, the wood racket and, finally, the 1-mm rubber racket. Thus, rackets with the highest stiffness, least damping, and highest coefficient of restitution were the most preferred. Interestingly, although experts and intermediate players overall judged the rackets in very similar ways according to force, vibration, and control, they were sensitive to quite different physical characteristics of the rackets.     

A Cross-Linguistic,Longitudinal Study of the Foundations of Decoding and Reading Comprehension Ability

ABSTRACT

The present study investigated the moderating role of orthographic consistency on the development of reading comprehension in four language groups (English, n = 179; Spanish, n = 188; Czech, n = 135; Slovak, n = 194) from kindergarten to Grade 2. In all languages, early variations in phoneme awareness/letter knowledge, rapid automatised naming, and emerging decoding skills, but not oral language, predicted variations in decoding skills at the end of Grade 1; these in turn predicted reading comprehension in Grade 2. For the three consistent orthographies (Spanish, Slovak, and Czech), kindergarten language skills were another significant predictor of Grade 2 reading comprehension. This effect was absent in the English sample, where variations in decoding skills were a more powerful predictor. These results provide the first longitudinal evidence for effects of orthographic consistency on the development of reading comprehension and provide support for the simple view of reading.     

Motor coordination difficulties in 5–6‐year‐old children with severe behavioural and emotional problems

Incidence, severity and types of motor difficulties in children with severe behavioural and emotional problems were evaluated. A group of 6‐year‐olds (n = 29) with such problems and controls (n = 29) were compared on the Movement Assessment Battery for Children (M‐ABC). The groups were compared on total scores as well as manual dexterity, ball skills and balance. Individual M‐ABC profiles were compared with Teacher's Report Form profiles. It was found that 62.1% in the high‐risk group and 20.7% in the control group showed motor coordination difficulties. In the high‐risk group 55.2% fulfilled the criteria of the DSM‐IV for developmental coordination disorder, compared to 3.4% controls. The high‐risk group showed significant difficulties within all sub‐areas of the M‐ABC. There was a significant relationship between attention problems and manual dexterity difficulties. The combination of problems identified makes these children vulnerable with regard to school inclusion and in need of proper assessment and intervention.     

The effectiveness of a universal school-based programme on coping and mental health: a randomised,controlled study of Zippy’s Friends

The purpose of this study was to evaluate Zippy’s Friends, a universal school programme that aims at strengthening children’s coping skills. The sample consisted of 1483 children (aged 7–8?years) from 91 second-grade classes in 35 schools. The schools were matched and randomly assigned to intervention or control conditions. Coping was assessed by the Kidcope checklist for children and an adapted version for parents. Parents and teachers reported mental health outcomes using the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire. Controlling for the hierarchical structure of the data, latent variable regression analysis indicated that the programme had a significant positive effect on coping and on the impact of mental health difficulties in daily life. Subgroup analyses suggested that coping was improved in girls and children from the low socio-economic subgroup, whereas the impact of mental health difficulties was reduced in boys.