Empowering Latino families: Effects of a culturally responsive intervention for low‐income immigrant Latino parents on children's behaviors and parental stress

This randomized, controlled study examined the effectiveness of Child Parent Relationship Therapy (CPRT) in school settings with 48 low‐income Latino immigrant parents whose children were identified with behavioral concerns. Results from a 2 (group) × 2 (measures) split plot analysis of variance indicated that parents who participated in 11 weeks of CPRT reported statistically significant decreases (p < .001) in child behavior problems and parent–child relationship stress. Large treatment effects were demonstrated for all dependent variables. Clinical significance of findings and cultural considerations are discussed. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Leadership and Leader Behavior in Counseling: Neglected Skills

Leadership and leader behavior are important topics for any professional discipline. However, these issues have been neglected throughout the entire short history of counseling. Despite the fact that many counselors attain various leadership positions, little attention has been paid to training for leadership. While much has been written about the various roles of counselors, leadership and the behavior of leaders are rarely the focus. It is our contention that counselors, because of their unique training, can be effective leaders in a wide variety of settings. This article argues for a greater emphasis by counselor education on the role of counselor as leader.     

lol: new language and spelling in instant messaging

Written communication in instant messaging, text messaging, chat, and other forms of electronic communication appears to have generated a “new language” of abbreviations, acronyms, word combinations, and punctuation. In this naturalistic study, adolescents collected their instant messaging conversations for a 1-week period and then completed a spelling test delivered over instant messaging. We used the conversations to develop a taxonomy of new language use in instant messaging. Short-cuts, including abbreviations, acronyms, and unique spellings were most prevalent in the instant message conversation, followed by pragmatic signals, such use of emoticons, emotion words, and punctuation, and typographical and spelling errors were relatively uncommon. With rare exceptions, notably true spelling errors, spelling ability was not related to use of new language in instant messaging. The taxonomy provides an important tool for investigating new language use and the results provide partial evidence that new language does not have a harmful effect on conventional written language.     

Connecting with place: implications of integrating cultural values into the school curriculum in Alaska

Many authors primarily from industrialised nations discuss human relationships with the natural environment in the context of global environmental issues, and highlight the close relationships that ‘traditional’ societies have with nature. There is a growing trend among indigenous people in North America to restore such a connection with the land through place‐based education. This article reports on progress on such a programme at Russian Mission School in rural Alaska in the period 2002–2007 and its implications for sustainability. The programme actively seeks to integrate the community’s cultural values and activities into their curriculum. This has resulted in raising pupils’ academic skills and confidence, and seems to be bridging a gap of distrust between the school and community. An ethnographical approach was adopted with a mixed research design based primarily on participant observation, supported by semi‐structured interviews, written surveys, and conversations with stakeholders, student writings and secondary sources. The initial fieldwork in 2002 was followed up five years later.     

French-Arab students and verbal intellectual performance: Do they really suffer from a negative intellectual stereotype?

Stigmatized group membership leads to deleterious consequences for individuals. More specifically, according to stereotype threat literature, the awareness of negative intellectual stereotypes can impair stereotyped group members’ performance. Based on this framework, two studies were designed to explain the lower grades obtained by French-Arab students, compared to French students. An Implicit Association Test (Study 1) revealed that native French students automatically expressed a negative stereotype regarding French-Arab students’ intellectual abilities. The second study (Study 2) examined whether this negative stereotype could alter French-Arab students’ intellectual performance in a threatening context. As expected, French-Arab students underperformed when the verbal task was presented as a measure of intellectual ability, compared to French students. When the task was presented as non-diagnostic, their performance equaled that of French students. The discussion herein addressed implications of these results in terms of discrimination against the French-Arab population.     

Predicting,Explaining, and Preventing Children's Reading Difficulties

Several decades of research have made it clear that by the time children enter school they already vary widely in their reading-related knowledge and skills. How well do these differences predict differences in reading acquisition? What can they tell us about the causes of reading disabilities? How might these research findings be used to reduce the number of children who have difficulty learning to read? Answers to such questions are fundamental for designing early interventions for children at risk. In this paper, we summarize what has been learned so far, and discuss what directions need to be taken in future research so as to provide fuller answers.     

Developing creativity and promoting social harmony: the relationship between government,school and parents' perceptions of children's creativity in Macao‐SAR in China

The promotion of creativity in young children has been included in the agenda of the educational authorities in mainland China since 2001. Since then, attempts to implement this policy have appeared in different forms. The educational bureaux take measures by publishing documents and guidelines on the subject. While some kindergartens endeavour to restructure their programmes in order to accommodate the development of creativity, most practitioners are not yet ready to embrace this idea. Based on an ethnographic study, this article argues that there are gaps amongst the government's, practitioners' and parents' views of creativity and means to foster such ability in young children. It also highlights the fact that the observed phenomenon might be explained in terms of the social hierarchy that has been thriving in Chinese culture for centuries. Finally, it suggests that a reciprocal relationship amongst the three parties is yet to be built in order to form a strong support for the development of children's creativity in this southern Chinese city.     

Some of the Reasons Why Preparing for Exams Is So Hard: What Can Be Done to Make It Easier?

Why it is so difficult to prepare for academic exams is reviewed with respect to recent research. Textbooks, teaching, and information processing characteristics of students all contribute to undermining effective learning and review. Recommendations are made about how instructors can make it easier for students to review and appraise their test readiness, as well as about how students can make a difference in the quality of their own preparations for tests.