Children's rights and their subjective well-being from a multinational perspective

This article explores the relationship between children's knowledge and perceptions about their rights and subjective well-being (SWB) in a sample of 8-, 10- and 12-year-olds in 18 countries, taking account of gender differences. Children's knowledge and perceptions about their rights were analysed considering whether they reported that they knew their rights, whether they had heard about the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) and whether they thought that, in their country, adults respected their rights. To explore SWB, a modified version of the Student's Life Satisfaction Scale, adapted by the Children's Worlds project, was used. Children reporting that they knew their rights, knew about the CRC, or thought that in their country adults respected their rights demonstrated significantly higher SWB scores than those reporting otherwise in the 18 countries. The effects of perceiving that adults in general respected children's rights in their own country on SWB were much more important than the knowledge of children's rights or the knowledge of the CRC. Results provide useful indications on how to promote children's well-being in public policies, including in education, through the promotion of their rights.     

Effects of a psychomotor intervention programme in preadolescents with Down syndrome / Efectos de un programa de intervención psicomotriz en preadolescentes con síndrome de Down

Movement is key to human physical and mental maturation, hence the importance of non-delayed psychomotor development. Psychomotor development occurs much later in children with Down Syndrome (DS) as compared with typically developing children. The objective of this research is to assess the effectiveness of an intervention programme aimed at the psychomotor development of preadolescents with DS (Experimental Group n = 5, Control Group n = 5), focusing on body schema and spatio-temporal structure. Results show a significant increase in body awareness as well as in concepts of space and quantity. Nevertheless, it is necessary to consolidate these motor abilities in a personalized and more prolonged way in order to minimize psychomotor developmental delays.     

Exploring fourth graders’ sourcing skills / Un análisis de la capacidad de escrutinio sobre las fuentes de información de los estudiantes de cuarto grado

Acquiring information from the Web creates new educational demands even in elementary school. Children need to scrutinize source information (‘sourcing’) to choose trustworthy information. So far, few studies have documented young readers’ abilities to identify and evaluate source information. With two studies, we seek to gather more evidence on elementary students’ sourcing skills and use. In study 1, we investigate to what extent fourth graders can identify source information and evaluate informants’ expertise and intentions in simplistic, age-appropriate reading tasks. In study 2, we explore whether fourth graders spontaneously apply their sourcing skills when reading simplified multiple documents. Results suggest that fourth graders can successfully identify source information and evaluate informants’ expertise and intentions in simple and direct tasks but fail to apply this ability to more complex and implicit tasks. Implications for information literacy education are discussed.     

A model for the effective engagement of all stakeholders in engineering education and its pilot implementation

Methodologies for engineering learning and teaching (MELT) approach aims to enhance the attractiveness of education through science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) among young people, while promoting awareness of future careers in these areas. To this end, students’ expectations are considered within university programmes, aiming to an increased engagement in STEM careers. To accomplish these goals, a new and integrated approach (MELT) is presented, involving the main stakeholders in both scientific education and society. An education framework is presented, providing guidelines for an improved collaborative approach to STEM education in the future. Results from the pilot implementation of MELT are presented, from a small-scale education parliament prototype. From these initial stage and results, it is seen that there is a need for a proper alignment of expectations from all involved stakeholders, concerning the engineering education towards society’s demands.     

Home-based family involvement and academic achievement: a case study in primary education

Does home-based family involvement influence academic performance? To answer this question, a case study research was carried out with 96 children from all six levels of primary education at a public school, and their families. Data regarding home-based family involvement were collected using a questionnaire. Academic achievement was measured from school marks. The results reveal that, apart from two of the factors considered, home–family involvement as a whole is not significantly related to academic achievement. These two factors are access to informal education resources and parents’ employment. Family involvement related to the access of children to informal education resources is significantly related to a better academic achievement. Those students with both parents working perform best, and those with none working, worst. Although gender does not appear to significantly influence academic achievement and family involvement, the results show that girls attain better school performance and receive more family attention than boys.     

An assessment model for virtual communities of practice: a study in the oil and gas industry

This paper proposes a model to assess the level of maturity in Virtual Communities of Practice (VCoPs). The model is based on a theoretical construction attained from the analysis of previous frameworks proposed in literature. Using this construction, we have proposed eight main organizational, managerial and technological levers to improve the performance of VCoPs. Additionally, the model presents the analysis of four performance metrics obtained from these VCoP management levers. The model presented can be used as a benchmarking tool for analysing how companies perform in their management of VCoPs. After developing the model, we applied it to a benchmarking study of four global oil and gas companies. Our results include a performance comparison among these companies as well as the main practices and technologies they use to achieve success in the management of VCoP.     

Component reading skills in Down Syndrome

This study investigates word reading skill in Down Syndrome (DS). Two main questions are addressed: (1) Is reading an island of ability in DS? and (2) What are the cognitive correlates of word reading ability in DS? In particular, how do language versus visual-spatial skills relate to individual differences in reading ability in DS? Participants were 19 individuals with DS, ranging in age from 10 to 19 years, and 19 typically developing children (mean age = 4.9 years) matched with the DS individuals for mental age. Overall, reading ability in DS was very poor. There was no evidence that reading represents an “island of ability” in DS; instead, the average reading level of DS participants was even lower than would be predicted by their IQ. However, there were substantial individual differences in literacy among DS participants. DS word reading and spelling skill correlated strongly with the ability to read by phonological recoding. It also correlated with several language measures. As a matter of fact, the often reported language-mental age gap was found only among the poor readers with DS.     

The effects of self-efficacy,hope, and engagement on the academic achievement of secondary education in the Dominican Republic

Achievement in the academic settings has long lasting positive outcomes. In this study, hope, self-efficacy, and engagement are linked to academic success. The aims of this study were to test a model which predicts academic success in the Dominican Republic while testing for the mediator role of engagement. The sample was composed of 614 middle-school students. Scales of Dispositional Hope, Academic Self-Efficacy, Academic Self-concept, and Engagement were used. Academic performance was measured with students' grades in Spanish and Mathematics. Three structural equation models were tested. The retained model stated hope and self-efficacy as antecedents, engagement dimensions as mediators and grades and academic self-concept as final outcomes. There were significant effects of hope and self-efficacy on engagement, and behavioral engagement was the best predictor of academic success. These results point out that interventions should target variables, such as hope or engagement to increase academic success.     

The affective lives of doubled-up Latinx youth: Influences of school experiences,familism, and ethnic identity exploration

Doubled-up Latinx youth experience many daily challenges associated with ethnic minority status and residential instability. Doubled-up youth share housing with noncustodial caregivers such as friends and/or extended family members primarily because of economic hardship and a breakdown in available parental support. Using data from baseline and 10 days of twice-a-day surveys, this study examined how in-school positive experiences, familism (i.e., a perspective that gives precedence to the family), and ethnic identity (i.e., affirmation, exploration, and resolution) influence after school positive (e.g., feeling joyful/happy) and negative (e.g., feeling stressed/anxious) affect among doubled-up Latinx youth (70% female; M_age = 16.5). Results indicate that in-school positive experiences were associated with more after school positive affect and less after school negative affect. In addition, youth with higher levels of familism reported experiencing less after school negative affect. However, gender moderated the relation of ethnic identity exploration and experiences of after school positive affect. Specifically, females with higher levels of ethnic identity exploration reported relatively lower levels of after school positive affect compared with males. Overall, study findings highlight the importance of both person-level and varying contextual influences on the affective lives of doubled-up Latinx youth.