Development and Effectiveness of a Dairy Foods Curriculum Packet and Inservice and the Assessment of Barriers to Dairy Foods Education

ABSTRACT: A Dairy Foods Curriculum Packet and inservice training were provided to South Dakota high school agricultural education instructors. Instructors rated barriers to implementation of teaching dairy foods as "small to medium barriers." After curriculum distribution and inservice training, more than half of instructors indicated an increase in class time spent on dairy foods instruction. More than half of instructors taught a greater variety of dairy foods topics after receiving the curriculum. More than 1/3 of instructors who increased dairy foods instruction attributed 75% or more of their increase to the packet and inservice. High school dairy foods education can be enhanced by providing curriculum and training to instructors. Dairy foods education is necessary to ensure high school graduates are educated about dairy products and exposed to potential dairy science careers.     

A longitudinal investigation of the dynamics of mental state talk in families

Thirty-seven mothers and fathers were observed in their homes interacting with their 2- and 4-year-old-children at Time 1 and 2 years later. Parental mental state talk to children varied as a function of children's age, the context in which talk occurred, and the gender of the parent. Four-year-old children, with an older sibling, produced and heard more cognitive talk and less desire talk than children without an older sibling. Cognitive and feeling talk by family members at Time 1 predicted change in younger children's cognitive and feeling talk (respectively) 2 years later, after controlling for initial levels of younger children's talk and general language ability. Findings are discussed in the context of theory of mind understanding and family talk about the mind.     

Out-of-school and ‘at risk’?: Socio-demographic characteristics,AIDS knowledge and risk perception among young people in Northern Tanzania

This paper investigates the reasons why young people in urban and rural Kilimanjaro, Tanzania do not attend school, their socio-demographic characteristics, AIDS knowledge and risk perception. A structured face-to-face interview was conducted with 1007 young people between the ages of 13 and 18. Findings suggest that non-attendance is the product of a complex interaction of economic, individual, family and school-related factors. Boys have more AIDS knowledge than girls, and those from urban areas are more knowledgeable than their rural counterparts. AIDS knowledge increased significantly at each level of education. Those with the highest risk perception were male, of young age and from rural areas. Expanding access to AIDS information, particularly in rural areas, while concomitantly addressing the social and structural determinants of educational attainment is crucial to improving the health of young people.     

“Does Hope Change? Testing a Project-Based Health Intervention Among Urban Students of Color”

Hope is positively correlated with educational attainment and health. Interventions based on project-based learning (PBL) may increase youth hope. This study examined how a PBL intervention affected hope among urban students of color. Students in health classes were invited to participate. A PBL health class was implemented in four classrooms. The standard curriculum was implemented in four control classrooms. Questionnaires with measures of hope were administered at three time points. Generalized linear modeling examined the intervention effect on hope. There were no intervention effects on hope. There were significant differences in hope between certain racial and ethnic groups. One PBL class may not increase hope among urban students of color. Research should identify approaches that enhance hope in order to increase educational attainment and health.     

Course of depression and anxiety symptoms during the transition to parenthood for female adolescents with histories of victimization

The aim of the current study was to increase understanding of how victimization history impacts the longitudinal course of depression and anxiety in a sample of 55 adolescents emerging into parenthood. Adolescents were interviewed about their victimization experiences during their second trimester of pregnancy, and interviews were subsequently classified according the Maltreatment Classification Scale (Barnett, Manly, & Cicchetti, 1993). Adolescents reported on their symptoms of depression and anxiety prenatally and 6 and 12 months postpartum. Growth curve modeling revealed that, on average, there was a steady linear decline in depression and anxiety symptoms across the transition to parenthood, with a rate of change of 25% and 20%, respectively, from the prenatal assessment to 12 months postpartum. Sexual abuse history attenuated the likelihood of a decrease in depressive symptoms over time. Neglect history was associated with higher prenatal levels of anxiety, as well as a steeper decline in anxiety symptoms over time. Future research is needed to determine the role of poly-victimization in predicting the onset and change of depression and anxiety symptoms. Findings from the current study have the potential to aid in the design of preventative and intervention efforts to reduce risks of mental health difficulties in adolescent parents.     

Nontraditional Students' Service Needs and Social Support Resources: A Pilot Study

In response to a mail survey, 53 nontraditional undergraduates provided information about their reasons for reentering college, the likelihood of using services for nontraditional students, and sources of social support. Participants reported career, self‐improvement, and family issues as primary reasons for reentry. They reported they would be likely or very likely to use campus services, especially career counseling. More than 60% reported strong social support from family and friends.     

US teachers' and school counsellors' strategies for handling school bullying incidents

A sample of 735 US teachers and school counsellors completed an online survey asking how likely they would be to use various strategies to respond to a hypothetical bullying incident. Analyses examined their use of five strategies: Ignoring the incident, Working with the bully, Working with the victim, Enlisting other adults, and Disciplining the bully. Differences in mean scores based on these strategies were found by gender of participant, the presence or absence of school anti‐bullying policies and programmes, and previous anti‐bullying training. Teachers and school counsellors differed on four of the five scale scores. Qualitative comment data add to the findings. Implications of the findings are discussed.