Urban Schools Rethink Themselves: Developing Instructional Skills in the Process of Change

The Urban Review - Educational reform challenges teachers to change both their schools and their craft. Can skills learned in the process of school improvement transfer to teaching? The Accelerated...     

Parent education: The Dreikurs model

The effects of a 10-week Dreikurs parent education program was investigated in terms of maternal attitudes, expressed practices, and parent-child behaviors. Variables assessed included maternal control, maturity demands, communication and nurturance. Using a Posttest-Only Control Group design, 60 mothers of kindergarten children in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, were randomly selected from a pool of 81 volunteers. The mothers (Ss) were randomly assigned to one of two treatment conditions: experimental and control. Ss in the experimental group participated in the Dreikurs parent education program, while control Ss received delayed treatment. Using Baumrind's (1967) Parent Interview Schedule and Scales, Ss were interviewed and rated regarding their child-rearing attitudes and practices. Ss were videotaped interacting with their kindergarten children in a structured situation and tapes were rated using Baumrind's (1967) Home Visit Sequence Analysis. Results indicated that Ss who participated in the Dreikurs program had more positive attitudes toward independence training and independence granting. Specific suggestions were made for further studies in terms of research design and revision of instruments. Additional suggestions included focus on personality characteristics of parents.The study formed the basis of a doctoral dissertation by the first authorThe paper was presented at the Eight International Conference and Seminar of Counseling, Oslo, Norway in July, 1978.The first author has moved to the University of Calgary since the study was completedInquiries or request for reprints should be directed to Dr. S. Robertson, Department of Educational Psychology, The University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada, T2N 1N4.University of Alberta     

Predictors of Haitian-American Infant Development at Twelve Months

Perinatal and early childhood influences on the development of 66 Haitian-American children were examined as part of an ongoing home visiting program. Although all participants were impoverished, approximately two-thirds lived in an urban setting with some access to social and health services, while one-third lived in a rural farmworkers' community where housing and services were sharply substandard. Measures used to examine the development of infants in these 2 settings included birthweight, household crowding, parental contributions to the child-rearing environment (the HOME), and developmental progress at 12 months on the Bayley Scales of Infant Development. Results showed that the urban sample was advanced on the Mental Development Index of the Bayley Scales. Regression analyses showed birthweight and the HOME score measuring child-rearing environment to be significant predictors of mental development, while psychomotor development was related to birthweight and household crowding. The results indicate that even within this disadvantaged Haitian entrant population, environmental differences exist that influence infant development in subtle but significant ways.     

For which students with learning disabilities are self-concept interventions effective?

We have previously conducted a meta-analysis of outcomes of school-based interventions aimed at enhancing the self-concept of students with learning disabilities (LD). This study extends the previous findings by analyzing intervention effect sizes in relation to students' levels of self-concept prior to intervention. The results of these analyses indicated that only groups of students with documented low self-concept benefited significantly from intervention. For these students, intervention effects were much larger than the effects previously estimated from aggregations that included groups with wide-ranging or unknown levels of self-concept prior to intervention. These findings underscore the need for researchers and practitioners to identify students for self-concept intervention based on their documented need, rather than assuming a need based on the students' identification as students with LD.     

Child care in poor communities: early learning effects of type, quality, and stability

Young children in poor communities are spending more hours in nonparental care because of policy reforms and expansion of early childhood programs. Studies show positive effects of high-quality center-based care on children's cognitive growth. Yet, little is known about the effects of center care typically available in poor communities or the effects of home-based care. Using a sample of children who were between 12 and 42 months when their mothers entered welfare-to-work programs, this paper finds positive cognitive effects for children in center care. Children also display stronger cognitive growth when caregivers are more sensitive and responsive, and stronger social development when providers have education beyond high school. Children in family child care homes show more behavioral problems but no cognitive differences.     

Perceptions of male and female academics within a teaching context

One hundred and sixty male and female undergraduates were exposed to one of four videotaped lectures that differed on two dimensions: sex of lecturer (male or female), and style of presentation (affiliative or instrumental). Analyses revealed that students' perceptions of lecturers are dependent largely on lecturing style. In general, all students preferred an affiliative style of lecturing. Affiliative lecturers were seen as more effective lecturers as well as more confident, professional, and approachable. Students also indicated that they would be more likely to approach lecturers presenting affiliatively to discuss content issues. Although the findings do not distinguish between male and female lecturers except as gender relates to lecturing style, they do support earlier research and indicate a highly responsive environment for male and female lecturers conducive to the development of high self-efficacy within a teaching context. Implications for female lecturers, for whom it is argued that an equally responsive research environment does not exist, are discussed in terms of differential career paths.     

Preservice teacher education

Conclusion Responsible educators find the need for continual renewal. The rapid advance of technology requires teachers learn new strategies and techniques for the productive use of these tools. The projects described above provided preservice faculty, students, and inservice educators with opportunities to learn about new technologies and to explore innovative uses of the technology. Opportunities to utilize distance education systems, such as the Iowa Communications Network, are numerous throughout the entire teacher preparation process. Iowa teacher educators have the opportunity to prepare their students to be capable classroom teachers who have the knowledge and skills to facilitate learning in an array of educational environments.     

The Design Brief as a Creativity Catalyst in Design Education: Priming through Problem Statement

The design brief informs particularly the first phases of the design process; however, there are very limited studies on its role and functions. The current study proposes a framework that relates problem statement types in a design brief to creative outcomes by promoting the priming effect, which is a cognitive phenomenon describing the ways individuals behave accordingly to the way they receive a stimulus. The claim is that the brief has the potential to stimulate creativity and influence the type of outcomes by priming the design students using the problem statement. An experiment was conducted in which two groups of design students generated sketches in response to two types of problem statements (in noun and verb formations) in similar design briefs. The problem statements in verb formation were found to lead to a higher number of sketches containing more novel and flexible, yet less realisable ideas. The results support the contention that the design brief and the type of problem statements have the potential to act as a catalyst for creativity early in the design process.     

“UNIFIED”: Bridging the Researcher–Practitioner Divide in Mind,Brain, and Education

Mind, Brain, and Education (MBE) science is by definition transdisciplinary. However, the communication and collaboration between constituent disciplines needed for true transdisciplinarity remains relatively rare. Consequently, many of the potential benefits of MBE science remain unrealized for parties on all sides of the discipline. The present commentary first conducts an analysis of the current strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats of transdisciplinary partnerships in MBE. A new, free, and international web platform (“UNIFIED”) is then proposed to broker relationships between researchers and teachers within schools. This website would allow users to form collaborations based on a system of tags indexing their research interests as well as practicalities such as their location. Such a website appears well placed to realize many of the opportunities, and mitigate the threats and weaknesses, of transdisciplinary MBE research. The article concludes with an appeal to interested researchers and schools to contribute to the development of the project.