Analyzing Challenges to Library Materials: An Incomplete Picture

This research project used Freedom of Information requests to obtain public records from Alabama institutions about challenges to materials in public schools and public libraries. Challenges occur when a patron objects to certain content. In this analysis, we examine the records of challenges. The research questions were as follows: How many challenges occur in public schools and libraries? What is the nature of these challenges? Are there institutional or demographic factors that are correlated to the occurrence of challenges? In this exploratory study, the number of reported challenges was surprisingly low. We investigated whether reported challenges were related to certain institutional or demographic factors, but did not find any discernible relationships. The data suggest that most challenged material is retained, but that librarians may be self-censoring to reduce controversy in their collections.     

Scaling and Sustaining an Intervention: The Case of Reading Recovery

ABSTRACT

In every school district across the country, every year, initiatives are adopted with the goal of improving the literacy performance of young students, and, just as frequently, these initiatives fail or quickly become passing fads. In this article, Rodgers reviews literature related to scaling educational innovations and describes challenges and barriers to implementing and maintaining evidence-based reform. Using Reading Recovery as a case example, she describes features of the intervention that are thought to be linked to its longevity in terms of scalability and sustainability. She also shares lessons learned from the most recent period of its expansion with the 5-year grant to scale up Reading Recovery across the county. Implications from this article include the importance of adopting an initiative that has a well-articulated design, collecting data on the progress of the students served, and having a person in the district who acts as a redirecting agent, maintaining the design of the initiative and guarding it against tendencies to pare down the design.     

A Father’s Interactions with His Toddler: Personal and Professional Lessons for Early Childhood Educators

In this article a university professor, former student, and father describe the father’s interactions with his toddler-age son within a parent–child playgroup. The authors discuss the important role of fathers, what they learned from observing the father interact with his son, and implications for teachers and other professionals.     

Human stones

Stones occur in several parts of the human body—kidneys, bladder, prostate gland, gallbladder, salivary glands, pancreas. Although not regarded as life-threatening, they can be a source of considerable pain and discomfort. The world-wide occurrence of the various types of stone is such that many people are likely to be affected at one time or another, either directly or indirectly.     

The mediating role of teacher self-efficacy in the relation between teacher–child race mismatch and conflict

The far-reaching impacts of the teacher–child relationship, including academic achievement and social/behavioral adjustment, have been well-documented. At the same time, literature also suggests that teacher perceptions of teacher–child relationships are impacted by the race/ethnicity match or mismatch between teacher and child, with matching related to more positive teacher perceptions. However, limited work has focused on children who are at-risk for emotional and behavioral disorders (EBDs) or tested the mechanisms that mediate the relation between a mismatch in the race and teacher-perceived conflict. Thus, the current study used multilevel structural equation modeling to test whether a higher proportion of race mismatch between children in the classroom with problem behavior and teachers was related to teachers' classroom management self-efficacy and, in turn, teacher-perceived conflict with children among 148 teachers and 354 preschool-aged children. Results indicated that among students most at-risk for EBDs, a higher proportion of race mismatch between teachers and children significantly predicted less teacher classroom management self-efficacy and, in turn, significantly predicted teachers' greater perceived conflict with children. Furthermore, this mediation pathway was significant. Findings highlight the importance of teacher training and support that focused on increasing self-efficacy to improve relationships between teachers and children.