Predictors of parental stress in mothers of young children with hearing loss

This study examined parental stress in 184 hearing mothers of young children who are deaf or hard of hearing. Stress levels were measured in three domains using the short-form of the Parental Stress Index (PSI; Abidin, 1995). Mothers in this study demonstrated significantly less parental distress on the PSI than a normative, hearing group, although this difference was quite small. Differences between the hearing and hearing loss samples did not reach conventional levels of significance for the Dysfunctional Parent-Child Interactions or the Difficult Child subscales. An examination of potential predictors of maternal stress revealed that mothers who perceived their daily hassles as more intense also obtained higher stress ratings on all three subscales. Additional predictors of parental distress were frequency of hassles, social support, and annual family income. Increased stress on the Dysfunctional Parent-Child Interaction subscale was predicted by children who had disabilities in addition to hearing loss, more delayed language relative to their chronological age, and less severe degrees of hearing loss. No additional, significant predictors were obtained for the Difficult Child subscale. When all measured variables were controlled for, characteristics that did not predict maternal stress on any of the three subscales included the child's gender, ethnicity, age of identification, mode of communication used, maternal education, and months between age of identification and child age at the time of observation.     

A Study of the Statistical Inference Criteria: Can We Agree on When to use Z Versus t?

Authors who write introductory business statistics texts do not agree on when to use a t distribution and when to use a Z distribution in both the construction of confidence intervals and the use of hypothesis testing. In a survey of textbooks written in the last 15 years, we found the decision rules to be contradictory and, at times, the explanations unclear. This paper is an attempt to clarify the decision rules and to recommend that one consistent rule be chosen to minimize confusion to students, instructors, and practitioners. Using the t distribution whenever σ is unknown, regardless of sample size, seems to provide the best solution both theoretically and practically.     

The influence of prices on graduate student persistence

The topic of how prices influence graduate student persistence has seldom been examined. Using the National Postsecondary Student Aid Study of 1987 to examine the influence of prices on within-year persistence by graduate students, this analysis indicates that graduate students, especially those enrolled in public institutions, are responsive to tuition charges in their persistence decisions. The major implication of this finding is that universities should examine the potential impact of price changes on graduate student persistence when they consider tuition increases each year.An earlier version of this paper was presented at the Eighth Annual NASSGP/NCHELP Research Network Conference, March 21, 1991, San Francisco, CA.     

The influence of student experience with word processors on the quality of essays written for a direct writing assessment

Although prior research has identified general procedural and qualitative differences between word-processed and pen and paper writing, little attention has been directed toward identifying how these differences relate to the prior word processing experiences of individual students. Additionally, few researchers have addressed the issue of fairness when discussing the use of word processors in writing assessment. This study investigates this relationship by comparing essays composed with pen and paper for a direct writing assessment to those composed with a word processor by students having different levels of experience with using word processors for writing.We observed differences between the two composition media similar to differences observed in previous studies of word-processed writing. That is, our results show that, overall, word-processed essays are neater and longer than were pen and paper essays. Word-processed essays also have a more formal tone and a weaker voice than their pen and paper counterparts. No composition medium differences were observed for the number of mechanical errors.In terms of how word processor experience interacts with writing quality, we found that word processors use neither improved nor worsen the quality of essays produced by students who have medium to high levels of experience using computers for writing. On the other hand, the word processor essays produced by students with a low level of experience writing with computers were scored, on a six-point scale, almost an entire point lower than those produced with pen and paper by these same students. Groups with high and medium levels of experience with word processors wrote slightly more words with a word processor than with pen and paper. On the other hand, the group with a low level of experience with using computers for writing wrote over 100 words fewer on word processors than with pen and paper. As for the number of simple sentences, groups with high and medium levels of comfort and experience with computers for writing wrote fewer simple sentences with a word processor than with pen and paper, while the group with a low level of comfort and experience with computers for writing wrote more simple sentences with word processors than with pen and paper. There were no group by media interactions for the number of mechanical errors.     

On the supranational spell of PISA in policy

Abstract

Background: PISA results appear to have a large impact upon government policy. The phenomenon is growing, with more countries taking part in PISA testing and politicians pointing to PISA results as reasons for their reforms.

Purpose: The aims of this research were to depict the policy reactions to PISA across a number of jurisdictions, to see whether they exhibited similar patterns and whether the same reforms were evident.

Sources of evidence: We investigated policy and media reactions to the 2009 and 2012 PISA results in six cases: Canada, China (Shanghai), England, France, Norway and Switzerland. Cases were selected to contrast high-performing jurisdictions (Canada, China) with average performers (England, France, Norway and Switzerland). Countries that had already been well reported on in the literature were excluded (Finland, Germany).

Design and methods: Policy documents, media reports and academic articles in English, French, Mandarin and Norwegian relating to each of the cases were critically evaluated.

Results: A policy reaction of ‘scandalisation’ was evident in four of the six cases; a technique used to motivate change. Five of the six cases showed ‘standards-based reforms’ and two had reforms in line with the ‘ideal-governance’ model. However, these are categorisations: the actual reforms had significant differences across countries. There are chronological problems with the notion that PISA results were causal with regard to policy in some instances. Countries with similar PISA results responded with different policies, reflecting their differing cultural and historical education system trajectories.

Conclusions: The connection between PISA results and policy is not always obvious. The supranational spell of PISA in policy is in the way that PISA results are used as a magic wand in political rhetoric, as though they conjure particular policy choices. This serves as a distraction from the ideological basis for reforms. The same PISA results could motivate a range of different policy solutions.     

Further abuse of sexually abused children

OBJECTIVE: To determine the incidence of re-abuse in children known to have been sexually abused and to find factors that increase the risk of re-abuse. METHOD: The study group consisted of 183 children with substantiated sexual abuse who presented to two children's hospitals' Child Protection Units in Sydney, Australia during 1988 through 1990. At intake, when the children were aged between 5 years and 15 years, data about the child, the family, and the nature of the index sexual abuse were collected. Six years after presentation for the abuse, records of the Department of Community Services were checked to see if any of the young people had been the subject of substantiated notifications for abuse/neglect before and after intake to the study. Predictors of notifications for abuse/neglect after presentation for the index sexual abuse were identified. RESULTS: Of the sexually abused young people, nearly one in three were the subject of subsequent substantiated notifications to the Department of Community Services for some form of child abuse and neglect or behavior which placed them at risk of harm. Later notifications for abuse/neglect were predicted by notifications for emotional abuse before the index sexual abuse (adjusted RR = 4.88, CI: 1.43 to 16.65), severity of the index sexual abuse (p = .03), and the number of changes in the child's primary caregivers before intake (p = .03). Approximately one in six of the sexually abused young people were notified for sexual abuse after intake to the study. One in 10 also had prior notifications for sexual abuse. Sexual abuse notifications after study intake were predicted by caregiver changes before intake (p = .01) and whether or not there were notifications for emotional abuse before the index sexual abuse (adjusted RR = 3.40, CI: 1.05 to 11.02). CONCLUSIONS: Revictimization of children appears to be a marker of ongoing family dysfunction. Intervention in child sexual abuse needs to consider a range of risk factors associated with re-abuse and, in particular, should focus on family functioning if further abuse is to be prevented.     

Using Qualitative Evaluation Methods to Identify Exemplary Practices in Early Childhood Education

The proliferation of early childhood programs for children with and without disabilities has occurred without clear indicators or standards of program quality. Evaluations of these programs often consist of compliance monitoring or outcome assessment. Little attention is given to program context or the quality of individual components of the program. In this paper, an alternative evaluation model, a connoisseurship or professional review model using on-site observations, interviews, and document review, was used to identify exemplary practices in early childhood education in one large midwestern state. The results indicated that with proper training and support, early childhood professionals without experience in qualitative methods can become proficient in interviewing techniques, observation, and document review. The resulting case study reports were useful for identifying and describing exemplary practices across the state, demonstrating the potential for this alternative approach to evaluation in early childhood education.     

Listening to Mothers II: Report of the Second National U.S. Survey of Women's Childbearing Experiences: Conducted January–February 2006 for Childbirth Connection by Harris Interactive? in partnership with Lamaze International*

With permission from Childbirth Connection, the “Executive Summary” for the Listening to Mothers II survey is reprinted, here. The landmark Listening to Mothers I report, published in 2002, described the first national U.S. survey of women''s maternity experiences. It offered an unprecedented opportunity to understand attitudes, feelings, knowledge, use of obstetric practices, outcomes, and other dimensions of the maternity experience. Listening to Mothers II, a national survey of U.S. women who gave birth in 2005 that was published in 2006, continues to break new ground. Although continuing to document many core items measured in the first survey, the second survey includes much new content, exploring earlier topics in greater depth, as well as some new and timely topics.     

Current Developments in Research on the Teaching of Grammar

With the rise of communicative methodology in the late 1970s, the role of grammar instruction in second language learning was downplayed, and it was even suggested that teaching grammar was not only unhelpful but might actually be detrimental. However, recent research has demonstrated the need for formal instruction for learners to attain high levels of accuracy. This has led to a resurgence of grammar teaching, and its role in second language acquisition has become the focus of much current investigation. In this