Literacy-based behavioural interventions delivered by peers: a teaching strategy for students with severe disabilities

Many children with severe disabilities do not perform basic daily living skills needed for typical school and home environments. Previous research on literacy-based behavioural interventions (LBBIs) has shown promise for promoting skill acquisition and maintenance in some learners; however, only one study has examined the effectiveness of this intervention when delivered by peers. In this study, peer classmates were taught to deliver an LBBI story that highlighted hand-washing skills in three students with severe disabilities. Results showed that the accuracy of students’ new skills increased dramatically after their peers delivered the stories with pictures and printed words, and these skills maintained after the LBBI stories were removed. Further, each of the students demonstrated accurate hand-washing in novel environments using different sinks. This study builds on previous LBBI studies by incorporating peers into the story delivery, and using the intervention to teach new self-care skills.     

Effects of peer-mediated instruction on the acquisition and generalization of written capitalization skills

This study investigated the effects of a peer teaching procedure, combined with student letter-writing activities, on the acquisition and generalization of capitalization skills. Three students, aged 9 years, obtained instruction from peer partners that included (a) an introduction and review of capitalization rules, (b) feedback on each participant's previous capitalization work, and (c) guided and independent practice on sentences that required capitalization. All three students demonstrated acquisition of the capitalization rules after participating in the teaching sessions with one or two peer partners. In addition, there were increases in capitalization accuracy in participants' letters to peers who did not serve as teaching partners, thus demonstrating a measure of across-peer (stimulus) generalization. Mixed results were obtained on a response generalization task (sentence writing). Finally, sentencing-writing activities also showed that two of the peer partners substantially improved their use of capitalization skills as a result of teaching the target students.     

Adaptation and Pilot Testing of a Sexual Health Intervention for Female Survivors of Violence

Experiences of violence and behaviors that increase the risk of acquiring a sexually transmitted infection are high among women in the United States, and they often intersect (Meyer, Springer, &; Altice, 2011 Meyer, J. P., Springer, S. A., &; Altice, F. L. (2011). Substance abuse, violence, and HIV in women: A literature review of the syndemic. Journal of Women's Health (2002), 20(7), 991–1006. doi:10.1089/jwh.2010.2328[Crossref] , [Google Scholar]; Montgomery et al., 2015 Montgomery, B., Rompalo, A., Hughes, J., Wang, J., Haley, D., Soto-Torres, L., &; Hodder, S. (2015). Violence against women in selected areas of the united states.e1-e11. Am J Public Health, 105(10), 2156–2166 [Google Scholar]; World Health Organization (WHO), 2010 World Health Organization (WHO). (2010). Addressing violence against women and HIV/AIDS: What works?. Geneva, Switzerland: World Health Organization. [Google Scholar]). However, there are few evidence-based HIV-prevention interventions that address the special needs and challenges faced by female survivors of violence (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, (CDC), 2017a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2017a). Compendium of evidence-based interventions and best practices for HIV prevention. Atlanta, GA: Division of HIV/AIDS Prevention, National Center for HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, Sexual Transmitted Diseases and Tuberculosis Prevention. Retrieved from https://www.cdc.gov/hiv/research/interventionresearch/compendium/rr/index.html [Google Scholar]). To address this gap, we adapted and pilot-tested an existing evidence-based women-focused sexual risk-reduction intervention (The Future Is Ours) with 23 self-identified female survivors of violence. The intervention comprised eight-weekly, two-hour cognitive behavioral group sessions focusing on reducing sexual-risk and improving trauma-based coping skills. Using mixed-methods analyses, the adapted intervention was determined feasible and acceptable to participants, and preliminary results suggest that participation could reduce risk factors for sexually transmitted infections. Therefore, testing on a larger scale is warranted.     

Where are the “People Like me”?: A Collaborative Autoethnography of Transnational Lives and Teacher Education in the U.S.

ABSTRACT

Global multicultural teacher education courses and programs have made claims to offer Prospective Teachers (PSTs) a global understanding of diversity and multiculturalism. However, there is very little research that has examined the classroom experiences of PSTs and teacher educators. Drawing on a collaborative autoethnography, this article explores the ways our transnational identities shaped our experiences (as a PST and a teacher educator) in a global teacher education course focused on diversity and multiculturalism. We were guided by the following research question: How do we, as South Asian transnational migrants, experience the curriculum of a global multicultural education course in the United States? We found that the curricular nationalism within multicultural education courses often negates any critical engagement with the influence of transnationalism on immigrants and their educational experiences. Transnational migrants are expected to translate their experiences, cultural practices, and life ways to fit into the container of the U.S. nation-state. Furthermore, there was a visible absence of narratives and research about transnational lives and identities in the course curriculum. As teacher education programs prepare PSTs to enter classrooms with growing immigrant populations, it is important that we attend to this glaring gap in both practice and research.     

The Right “Fit”: Exploring Science Teacher Candidates’ Approaches to Natural Selection Within a Clinical Simulation

Teachers and students struggle with the complexities surrounding the evolution of species and the process of natural selection. This article examines how science teacher candidates (STCs) engage in a clinical simulation that foregrounds two common challenges associated with natural selection—students’ understanding of “survival of the fittest” and the variation of species over time. We outline the medical education pedagogy of clinical simulations and its recent diffusion to teacher education. Then, we outline the study that situates each STC in a one-to-one interaction with a standardized student who is struggling to accurately interpret natural selection concepts. In simulation with the standardized student, each STC is challenged to recognize content misconceptions and respond with appropriate instructional strategies and accurate explanations. Findings and implications center on the STCs’ instructional practices in the simulation and the use of clinical learning environments to foster science teacher learning.     

Continuing Education Programs (CEP), an image of the professions: The case of social work

Although most social work continuing education units operate within stable academic institutions, this stability does not extend to the operation of these units. The greatest impediment is the demand by university administrators that the units operate on a pay as you go basis and turn any surplus revenues to the university for its discretionary use. In trying to meet university conditions while maintaining high standards of service, the units face several difficulties including competition from private providers, high costs, fewer sponsors, and indifferent faculty.In funding and budgeting the units for continuing education, universities tend to ignore two key arguments. The first is that CEP provide public services with spill over effects that add indirect demand to the demand expressed through registration. The second is that building quality into professional programs requires long term investments that forego immediate profits.Because continuing education programs are an image of their profession, social work programs need to correspond to the profession they serve, a profession that produces public goods (and services) while seeking to assure quality within non-profit environments. Unless universities assume a lead role in supporting these efforts through new approaches, continuing education programs will only be partially successful in fulfilling their mission.     

A “Toolkit” for developing critically reflective science teachers

The purpose of this paper is to describe various “tools” we use to facilitate critical reflection as we teach prospective science teachers. The notion of “tools” refers to materials and experiences used to facilitate prospective teachers’ critical reflection on science teaching and learning. Reflective tools are not intrusive devices used by instructors to analyse mechanically what prospective teachers are learning; rather, these tools are intended to provide prospective teachers with the means to generate and critique their own views of science teaching and learning. Each tool is described herein with respect to its potential use and the way in which it is introduced to prospective science teachers. We conclude with discussion of the potential for reflective tools to contribute to research on reform of science teacher education, with particular attention to primary teacher preparation.