Congruence between Mothers' and Fathers' Differential Treatment of Siblings: Links with Family Relations and Children's Well-Being

We studied patterns of mothers' and fathers' differential treatment of firstborn (average age 10.5 years) and secondborn (average age 8 years) school-age siblings, and we examined the links between parents' differential treatment and children's well-being and dyadic family relationships. Mothers, fathers, and both siblings in 110 families were interviewed in their homes. For each dimension of parental behavior that we assessed (i.e., differential affection and discipline) we created groups of families that reflected mothers' and fathers' levels of differential treatment (e.g., discipline the firstborn more, equal treatment, discipline the secondborn more). Although we detected substantial correspondence between the 2 parents' differential treatment, we found a sizable group of families in which parents' reports were incongruent (i.e., 1 parent reported equal and the other differential treatment). Parental patterns were linked to differences between the siblings' well-being and both sibling and parent-child relationships, with younger siblings exhibiting greater vulnerability to differential treatment. Incongruence in differential warmth was associated with marital distress.     

Using Problem Solving to Assess Young Children’s Mathematics Knowledge

Mathematics problem solving provides a means for obtaining a view of young children’s understanding of mathematics as they move through the early childhood concept development sequence. Assessment information can be obtained through observations and interviews as children develop problem solutions. Examples of preschool, kindergarten, and primary grade children’s approaches to problem solving are provided in the article. Prekindergarten and kindergarten age children discover problems during play. For example, they figure out how to use informal measurement to use construction materials such as unit blocks and Lego to build a desired building or make a desired object. Moldable materials such as clay and play dough provided shape experiences. The daily sequence of activities builds on their concept of time. Primary grade children solve adult- and child-generated problems. They may use manipulatives and/or drawings to generate problem solutions prior to using symbols and notation. Teacher and/or student devised rubrics can be used to guide evaluation.     

Canadian Communication

E.B. Ogle, Long Distance Please: The Story of the TransCanada Telephone System (Toronto: Collins, 1979—$14.95)

Stuart McFadyen, et al., Canadian Broadcasting: Market Structure and Economic Performance (Montreal: Institute for Research on Public Policy/available in U.S. from Renouf, Old Post Rd., Brookfield, Vt. 05036—$15.95, paper)

The Information Revolution and its Implications for Canada by Shirley Serafini and Michel Andrieu (November 1980, 113 pp. —$4.95, paper)

Telecommunications and Canada: Consultative Committee on the Implications of Telecommunications for Canadian Sovereignty (March 1979, 98 pp.—$6.00, paper)

The 1980s: A Decade of Diversity–Broadcasting, Satellites, and Pay-TV (.July 1980, 94 pp.—$3.95, paper)

Attitudes of Canadians Toward Advertising on Television (1978, 55 pp.—$2.00, paper)     

Practical Guides

THE ART AND SCIENCE OF RADIO, by Linda Busby and Donald Parker (Boston: Allyn and Bacon, 1984-$20.00).

ELECTRONIC ARTS OF SOUND AND LIGHT, by Ronald Pellegrino (New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold, 1983—$28.50).

TELECONFERENCING HANDBOOK: A GUIDE TO COST-EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION, by Ellen Lazar et al. (White Plains, New York: Knowledge Industry Publications, 1983—$34.95).

THE CREATIVE CONNECTION: ADVERTISING COPYWRITING AND IDEA VISUALIZATION, by Arthur A. Winters and Shirley F. Milton (New York: Fairchild Publications, 1982—$16.50).

BROADCAST NEWSWRITING AS PROCESS and BROADCAST COPYWRITING AS PROCESS by J. Clark Weaver (New York: Longman, 1984—price not given, paper).

PUBLIC RELATIONS/PUBLICITY: A KEY LINK IN COMMUNICATIONS, by Lois Ehrenkranz and Gilbert Kahn (New York: Fairchild, 1983—$14.50).

EXPERTS IN ACTION: INSIDE PUBLIC RELATIONS, by Bill Cantor (New York: Longman, 1984—$29.95/ 14.95).     

The Relationship Between Trait Affect and Job Attitudes in Library Employees

This research explores the relationship between employees’ disposition and several important job attitudes. Dispositional affect is a personality trait that describes people's emotional responses to situations. This study explored how affective disposition influences the job attitudes of work engagement, organizational commitment, and job satisfaction. Data were collected from a sample of librarians, and the results show that affective disposition strongly predicted the three job attitudes in the expected directions. The findings contribute to knowledge of the role of personality in the workplace and provide guidance for library managers on how best to facilitate positive job attitudes.     

Making the written word “speak”: Reflections on the teaching of correspondence courses

Abstract

Learning outcomes for an interactive television‐based distance learning course in introductory high school Japanese were evaluated in three successive years by comparing student achievement in the distance learning course to that in traditional classes. Year‐end achievement tests of listening and written language competency were administered to students in both the distance and face‐to‐face courses. Results in the first two years showed that test scores of students in the distance learning course were higher than those of students in the face‐to‐face classes; however, possible group differences in motivation, general ability, and experience as language learners could not be ruled out as explanations for the difference. Therefore, achievement measures were supplemented in the third year with data on students’ perceived efficacy as Japanese language users, their grades, and their previous foreign language learning experience. The achievement data again showed differences favoring the distance learning group; trends were consistent for students with differing levels of school success and amount of prior language learning experience. Factors that could account for these results are hypothesized and suggestions for future research are proposed.     

Embedded Assessment in Project‐based Science Courses for the Gifted: Insights to inform teaching all students

The present study of gifted students’ views of assessment is aimed at understanding how the employment of Embedded Assessment for Learning (EAfL) framework in science courses for the gifted affects the students’ views throughout the learning process. The participants were 86 students in three programmes for the gifted who elected project‐based science courses. The data included questionnaires, distributed at the beginning and at the end of the assessment processes in each science course, and in‐depth interviews with 12 students, which were analysed according to three main themes: general view of assessment; assessment modes; and relationships between assessment and learning. The students viewed the EAfL framework as an integral part of the learning process, and perceived it as a means of expressing autonomous learning and a range of performances; characteristics that correspond with the students’ unique needs. In addition, students addressed cognitive and social processes they had undergone. This implies that assessment which is explicitly designed to promote learning in science courses is a powerful tool for teachers as well as for students, and contributes to meaningful learning.     

An end of innocence: African-American high school protest in the 1960s and 1970s

This paper considers African-American student protests in secondary schools during the 1960s and early 1970s. Taking a national perspective, it charts a growing sense of independence and militancy among black students as they made the schools a focal point of activism. Activist students challenged established civil rights organisations on a variety of questions. They also engaged in an escalating series of protest activities to make schools change. Much of this focused on curricular change, particularly adding black history courses and hiring African-American teachers and principals. Generally, these protests proved quite successful. Black students also protested against conditions encountered in integrated schools, where they often met hostility from whites. Distinct regional patterns characterised such activities, with more protest over school issues in the North and greater conflict regarding desegregation in the South. By the mid-1970s the era of black secondary student protest concluded, although its legacy continues to live.