Student Assessment of Self-Efficacy and Practice Readiness Following Simulated Instruction in an Undergraduate Social Work Program

ABSTRACT

The use of simulated instruction is a growing trend in social work education. This study examined the effectiveness of simulated instruction with undergraduate social work students. In this mixed methods study, the extent to which simulated instruction improved self-efficacy and practice readiness was assessed. Results of the study suggest that simulated instruction helps improve key practice skills and increases recognition of diversity in practice. Moreover, students self-reported increased mastery in interviewing, managing emotions, and engaging in culturally competent practice.     

Teacher engagement in core components of an effective,early childhood professional development course: Links to changes in teacher–child interactions

This study built on prior research regarding the effectiveness of the National Center for Research in Early Childhood Education (NCRECE) course by exploring the individual course components. Core aspects of course engagement and performance were described and examined in relation to improvements in the observed quality of teacher–child interactions. Teacher characteristics were also examined as predictors of course engagement and performance. A sample of 150 preschool teachers participated in a semester-long, credit-bearing, college course designed to improve the quality of their emotional, organizational, and instructional interactions with children. Teachers’ participation and performance in the course were high on average. Teachers’ skill level in accurately and specifically explaining other teachers’ instances of effective teacher–child interactions was related to improvements in their own observed teacher–child interactions. Finally, teachers with an early childhood major and those endorsing child-centered beliefs displayed better skills in detecting other teachers’ high-quality interactions with children. Results are discussed in relation to designing more effective early childhood professional development programs.     

Risk factors for infant maltreatment: a population-based study

CONTEXT: Of the approximately 900,000 children who were determined to be victims of abuse or neglect by US child protective services in 2002, the birth-to-3 age group had the highest rate of victimization (1.6%) and children younger than 1 accounted for the largest percentage of victims (9.6%). OBJECTIVE: To identify perinatal and sociodemographic risk factors associated with maltreatment of infants up to 1 year of age. DESIGN AND SETTING: Observational cohort study. PARTICIPANTS: 189,055 children born in 1996 in Florida. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: Infant maltreatment, defined as a verified report of abuse, neglect, or threatened harm that occurred between day 3 of life and 1 year. RESULTS: 1,602 children (.85%) of the 1996 birth cohort had verified instances of maltreatment by age 1. Of 15 perinatal and sociodemographic variables studied, 11 were found to be significantly related to infant maltreatment. Five factors had adjusted relative risks (RR) of two or greater: Mother smoked during pregnancy (RR 2.8); more than two siblings (RR 2.7); Medicaid beneficiary (RR 2.1); unmarried marital status (RR 2.0); low birth weight infant (RR 2.0). Infants who had four of these five risk factors had a maltreatment rate seven times higher than the population average. CONCLUSIONS: Data on nearly all risk factors found to be significantly associated with infant maltreatment are available on the birth certificate. Such information can be incorporated into a population-based risk-assessment tool that could identify subpopulations at highest risk for infant maltreatment. Because resources are limited, these groups should be given priority for enrollment in child abuse prevention programs.     

Differences in transitional needs of high school students with and without learning disabilities

Studies investigating the post-high-school vocational status of individuals with disabilities have frequently found that these individuals are more likely to be unemployed, underemployed, or employed part-time, when compared to nondisabled peers. Transition programs are needed for adolescents with disabilities to facilitate their vocational success. The current study surveyed 80 high school students with learning disabilities (LD) and 80 nondisabled (NLD) peers to determine their transitional needs. Results indicated that (a) more students with LD than NLD students are involved in transition programs; (b) career goals were established by the majority of both groups; (c) parents provided most of the assistance in making career decisions; and (d) twice as many NLD students as students with LD wanted to go to college, while twice as many students with LD as NLD students wanted to enter the job market. More students with LD than NLD students were aware of vocational rehabilitation (VR) services, but the number was still below 50%. The majority of the information about VR services came from the school.     

Degree apprenticeships,the ‘joy of learning’ excellence framework,and the common good

Degree Apprenticeships are fairly recent in the landscape of UK Higher Education. As is often the case with initiatives that try to build bridges between the world of work and the world of university education, there is suspicion that in such relationships higher education becomes servant to the needs of business and industry. Alternatively, Degree Apprenticeships perhaps offer a way for Higher Education to add value to the students’ working life. In our paper we try to argue for ways in which the value of the University-side of the provision within Degree Apprenticeships might reflect something of the value of the common good, and of the value of the joy of learning. Leaning on the venerable history of the triangle in the Western philosophical canon, and in Plato in particular, we demonstrate ways in which Degree Apprenticeships and Plato’s famous example of education as the journey to and from the cave can be brought together. In passing, we are claiming that Higher Education in all its forms would do well not to lose sight of its responsibilities to education as a servant of the common good, and above all, to the joy of learning.     

Supplemental reading strategy instruction for adolescents: A randomized trial and follow-up study

In this study, the authors examine the impact of a yearlong supplemental reading course involving daily instruction in the learning strategies curriculum on lower achieving adolescent students' reading achievement and motivation. Using a multiple-cohort randomized treatment-control group design over 4 years, they compared achievement and motivation outcomes for 605 sixth-grade students who participated in the intervention with 530 students who did not participate and 593 ninth-grade students who participated in the intervention with 535 students who did not participate. Results indicated significant impacts of the intervention on reading achievement for ninth-grade students but not for sixth-grade students. Significant impacts on reading motivation were found for both sixth- and ninth-grade students. An exploratory follow-up study indicated potential benefits of a second year of intervention for sixth-grade students who are still low achieving after 1 year of intervention.     

Globalisation and science education: Rethinking science education reforms

Like Lemke (J Res Sci Teach 38:296–316, 2001), I believe that science education has not looked enough at the impact of the changing theoretical and global landscape by which it is produced and shaped. Lemke makes a sound argument for science education to look beyond its own discourses toward those like cultural studies and politics, and to which I would add globalisation theory and relevant educational studies. Hence, in this study I draw together a range of investigations to argue that globalisation is indeed implicated in the discourses of science education, even if it remains underacknowledged and undertheorized. Establishing this relationship is important because it provides different frames of reference from which to investigate many of science education's current concerns, including those new forces that now have a direct impact on science classrooms. For example, one important question to investigate is the degree to which current science education improvement discourses are the consequences of quality research into science teaching and learning, or represent national and local responses to global economic restructuring and the imperatives of the supranational institutions that are largely beyond the control of science education. Developing globalisation as a theoretical construct to help formulate new questions and methods to examine these questions can provide science education with opportunities to expand the conceptual and analytical frameworks of much of its present and future scholarship. © 2005 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.     

The Power and the Story

Role-play can be empowering, engaging and motivating. Very young children naturally incorporate the texts they have seen and heard into their role-play in quite sophisticated ways. This article seeks to explore the collaborative and creative nature of role-play and to connect this living through imagined experience to early reading encounters.     

Promoting Interaction with Children using Augmentative Communication through a Peer‐directed Intervention

One factor that is critical to the successful integration of children using augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) systems is establishing interaction with peers. AAC systems have the potential to increase the opportunities for interaction, but successful social interaction is dependent on a range of factors including the communicative knowledge, skills, and attitudes of partners. The present study attempted to increase the quantity of social interaction in classroom settings between children (aged 5 to 9 years) using AAC systems and their peers. A multifaceted intervention was directed at communicative partners, and most particularly, peers. The study was 15 weeks in duration and utilised a multiple baseline across subjects design. The study demonstrated the effectiveness of an intervention to increase social interaction.