Longitudinal Trajectories of Family Functioning Among Recent Immigrant Adolescents and Parents: Links With Adolescent and Parent Cultural Stress,Emotional Well-Being,and Behavioral Health

This study examined longitudinal effects of adolescent and parent cultural stress on adolescent and parent emotional well-being and health behaviors via trajectories of adolescent and parent family functioning. Recent immigrant Latino adolescents (M_age = 14.51) and parents (M_age = 41.09; N = 302) completed measures of these constructs. Latent growth modeling indicated that adolescent and parent family functioning remained stable over time. Early levels of family functioning predicted adolescent and parent outcomes. Baseline adolescent cultural stress predicted lower positive adolescent and parent family functioning. Latent class growth analyses produced a two-class solution for family functioning. Adolescents and parents in the low family functioning class reported low family functioning over time. Adolescents and parents in the high family functioning class experienced increases in family functioning.     

Preschool inclusion in the United States: a review of research from an ecological systems perspective

Using an ecological systems conceptual framework proposed by Bronfenbrenner, research on the inclusion of preschool children with disabilities in programs with typically developing children was reviewed. Drawing mainly from studies conducted in the United States, research on child characteristics (biosystem), classroom practices (microsystem), family perspectives (mesosystem), social policy (exosystem), culture (macrosystem), and changes in variables across time (chronosystem) is described. Positive developmental and behavioral outcomes occur for children with and without disabilities in inclusive settings, although as a group, children with disabilities are not as socially integrated as their typically developing peers. Parent attitudes are generally positive although they voice some concerns about inclusion. Several social policy issues within the U.S. system (e.g., enforcement of standards, fiscal issues) serve as barriers to and facilitators of implementation of preschool inclusion, and cultural variables shape the nature of inclusive classrooms as well as family access to inclusive settings.     

Taking the risk to engage in race talk: professional development in elementary schools

Developing public education where every child has the right to learn requires that teachers pay attention to and engage in race talk – open discussion about race, social construction of race, and racism. While it is clear that children engage and reflect critically about these aspects of race even at a young age, teachers rarely engage in race talk with them. In this study, an African-American preservice teacher and a White teacher educator explore how African-American, Polynesian, and White in-service teachers, participating in Courageous Conversations professional development, address or avoid race talk in their elementary schools through the lens of Critical Race Theory (CRT) and what risks they take when they do. Findings, through in-depth, semi-structured interviews, demonstrate that (1) racism was observed and/or experienced by all teachers in elementary schools; (2) lived racial experiences impacted teachers’ approach to conversations about race; (3) creating an open space was crucial for race conversations; (4) Courageous Conversations provided a ‘new language’ to talk about race; and (5) administrative support facilitated more attention to race. Findings indicate the road to greater equity in schools requires more professional development about race talk in elementary schools.     

Who Benefits Most from a University Degree?: A Cross-National Comparison of Selection and Wage Returns in the US,UK, and Germany

Recent research on economic returns to higher education in the United States suggests that those with the highest wage returns to a college degree are least likely to obtain one. We extend the study of heterogeneous returns to tertiary education across multiple institutional contexts, investigating how the relationship between wage returns and the propensity to complete a degree varies by the level of expansion, differentiation, and cost of higher education. Drawing on panel data and matching techniques, we compare findings from the US with selection into degree completion in Germany and the UK. Contrary to previous studies, we find little evidence for population level heterogeneity in economic returns to higher education.     

Attachment,Entitlement, and the Impostor Phenomenon in Female Graduate Students

This study examined the utility of attachment and entitlement as predictors of the impostor phenomenon in female graduate students. Findings suggested that individuals with high levels of self‐reliance/self‐assurance entitlement are able to associate positive feedback with stable internal attributes. Those with anxious attachment and narcissistic expectations/self‐promotion entitlement, however, were unable to openly accept positive feedback because of perceived deficits in self‐worth. Implications are discussed for addressing these issues with female college counseling clients.     

Does Cartoon Violence Beget Aggressive Behavior in Real Life? An Opposing View

A commonly accepted belief is that the violence depicted in television programs, particularly cartoons, has a negative impact on young children’s behavior. However, young children may be less inclined to emulate violent actions seen on television than currently thought. Research indicates that young children have limited comprehension of television content but relatively sophisticated moral reasoning. Children’s understanding of the immorality of violence on television and the distinction between reality and make-believe may mediate these effects, as may the comic aspect of cartoons they view. We review current research concerning the effects of cartoon violence on children’s moral understanding and behavior to with the goal of helping early childhood educators and parents make informed decisions about children’s television viewing.     

Test Anxiety and Metacognitive Performance in the Classroom

Educational Psychology Review - Test anxiety is a context-specific academic anxiety which can result in poorer academic and metacognitive performance. We assessed how the quantity and relative...     

Representations of sibling relationships in young children’s literature

Children’s conceptions of what sibling relationships can be like may be influenced, in part, by the literature they read. This study examined the degree to which positive and negative dimensions of sibling relationships were portrayed in a sample of children’s books (n = 261). We also investigated how mothers and fathers were depicted when responding to sibling conflict. Results indicated that although children’s books often represent warmth and involvement between siblings, they rarely described children engaging in conflict management or relational maintenance activities. Parents were predominantly portrayed as responding to children’s conflict using controlling methods rather than techniques that might foster negotiation and problem solving. Characters who were middle children are under-represented in children’s literature. Results are discussed in terms of how educators can select, use, and adapt books in their efforts to help strengthen children’s sibling relationships.     

Information and Communication Technologies for Development: The Bottom of the Pyramid Model in Practice

The currently influential model for information and communication technologies for development (ICT4D) is based on increasing the well-being of the poor through market-based solutions, and by using low-cost but advanced technologies. Using ethnographic methods, we chart out the contradictions that could arise when such a development-through-entrepreneurship model is implemented. We examine the Akshaya project, a franchise of computer-service kiosks in Kerala, India, which strives simultaneously for social development through access to computers and financial viability through cost recovery and entrepreneurship. We show that tensions within the state and among entrepreneurs and perceptions of public versus private among consumers make it challenging to meet the twin goals of commercial profitability and social development.     

Can Religious Education Change A Prison?

Abstract

This essay offers a glimpse into what is possible when religious educators traverse the walls of the justice system and work with students-incarcerated to curate spaces of hope, grace, and transformation in prison. Herein I present both a dream and a challenge to the future of religious education to live into a life-saving mission to offer the millions of people in jails, prisons, and detention centers opportunities and resources to resist prison practices, prevent devaluation, and promote survival. Finally, I ask if Religious Education Association can be a place where we dream of this future together?