Sex preference and body orientation preference in huddling behavior of rat pups

The social huddling of six litters of rat pups (Rattus norvegicus) was observed on Days 6–9 postpartum without the dam present. Each litter was reduced to three male and three female pups. Thirty-six pups were used as subjects (18 male, 18 female). Tests for the effects of sex of subject, age of subject, sex of littermate huddled against, and body orientation during huddling were carried out. Results indicated that subjects huddled against opposite-sex Uttermates more frequently than against same-sex littermates. Huddling was a curvilinear function of age, with average frequency of huddling reaching a peak on the second day of observation (Day 7 postpartum) and decreasing thereafter. Results also showed that subjects, regardless of sex, huddled using an orientation that allowed their heads to touch more frequently than an orientation in which the head was touching the body of a sibling. These data on early sex preference and body orientation pReferences during huddling suggest that rat pups are competent in aspects of behavior having attachment potential. The findings also help define the age of social competence in this species.     

Hard-to-Manage Preschool Boys: Symptomatic Behavior across Contexts and Time

Preschool boys identified by their parents and/or teachers as active, inattentive, and impulsive ( N = 69) at age 4 were compared with boys without problem ( N = 43) on observational measures of symptm-related behaviors, obtained across context (home, laboratory, and preschool). Problem boys differed from comparison boys on measures of activity/inattention, noncompliance, and impulsivity obtained in the 3 settings. At a 2-year follow-up, when they were 6 years old, problem boys continued to differ from comparison boys on laboratory measures of activity and impulsivity; there also was some stability in these symptomatic behaviors. Implications of these findings for the emergence and persistence of externalizing problems in preschool boys are addressed.     

Cultivating imaginative thinking: teacher strategies used in high-performing arts education classrooms

This article reports on recent case-study research that examined teacher- and student-level processes in nine Australian arts classrooms. The selected classrooms, based on the results of a connected longitudinal study, demonstrated strong positive links between arts participation and academic motivation, engagement and achievement. The focus here is on how teachers supported their students to conceive, shape and present imaginative work. Although different approaches were apparent in the dance, drama, film, music and visual arts classrooms, patterns were detected in the processes used to transform imaginative ideas into a creative work. The research indicated that important skills were being developed as the students encountered the ambiguity of the creative process. Furthermore, insights were gained into how work drawing on the imagination can be initiated and sustained through the highs and lows of development to become both a work of art and a learning experience that will augment future creative work.     

Clusters of second and third grade dysfluent urban readers

This study examined the heterogeneity within a sample of 140 urban second and third graders identified as at-risk for reading failure due to inefficient word and/or nonword reading. Cluster analyses were conducted using standardized factor scores from a four-factor structural equation model characterizing reading performance in this sample. These standardized factor scores represented performance on four distinct factors: efficiency of word-level skills, text level skills, decoding, and vocabulary. Results identified four clusters of children who show distinctive patterns of performance on the four factors of reading. These understudied groups show different compositions along demographic categories and reading disability categories. Additionally, they have unique instructional needs that call for differentiated instruction in the domains of phonological decoding, fluency, text reading, and vocabulary.     

The K-12 educational technology value chain: Apps for kids,tools for teachers and levers for reform

Historically implementing, maintaining and managing educational technology has been difficult for K-12 educational systems. Consequently, opportunities for significant advances in K-12 education have often gone unrealized. With the maturation of Internet delivered services along with K-12 institutional trends, educational technologies are poised to help support the transformation K-12 education by providing student access to educational resources on an anywhere, anytime, any device basis. In addition, an emerging body of empirical research shows that when implemented systematically, technology can support a wide range of potential education innovations including inverted classrooms, peer-to-peer teaching and customized learning as well as increased academic achievement.A major public policy question is how best to insure educational technology resources reach all K-12 students in the shortest time and most equitable way possible. In response, this paper adopted an educational technology value chain model to assess potential avenues and barriers to implementing educational technology inK-12 systems. We find that a fully implemented educational technology value chain would directly benefit students, teachers, school systems and society. However, the analysis also finds that efforts to implement educational technology in K-12 systems still must overcome challenges and risks.     

Fraction Instruction for Students with Mathematics Disabilities: Comparing Two Teaching Sequences

Abstract. This study investigated the effects of teaching middle school students with mathematics disabilities equivalent fraction concepts and procedures using the concrete‐representational‐abstract (CRA) instructional sequence or the representational‐abstract (RA) instructional sequence. Twenty‐six students formed the CRA group, and 24 students formed the RA group. The two treatment groups received carefully sequenced instruction over 10 lessons. The only difference between the two treatment groups was that the CRA group used concrete manipulative devices for the first three lessons while the RA group used representational drawings. Analyses of the data indicated that students in both treatment groups improved overall in their understanding of fraction equivalency from pretest to posttest. On all achievement measures, students in the CRA group had overall higher mean scores than did students in the RA group. Implications for classroom instruction and suggestions for further research are discussed.     

Educational issues for children of itinerant seasonal farm workers: a case study in an Australian context

Although many Australian children change schools during the course of a school year, the children of itinerant seasonal farm workers can move residences as well as schools on a regular basis, often two or three times annually. Surprisingly, however, educational itinerancy has not been widely researched, particularly in Australian contexts. The paper uses a case study approach to discuss some of the issues that affect the literacy learning of the children from one family, the members of which follow summer and winter harvesting seasons across state borders. Through this approach, the voices of the children and their families are heard alongside those of their teachers and other school personnel.