A developmental approach to the risk of a first recurrence in child protective services

The objective of this study is to estimate the risk of a first recurrence over a five-year period following initial child protective services (CPS) intervention and identify the characteristics associated with the risk of recurrence for three different age groups. Recurrence is defined as the first substantiated report within the observation period after initial services have ended. The study involved a cohort of 25,897 Quebec children who received postinvestigation services for the first time and whose cases were closed between 2005 and 2009. Survival analysis was used to estimate the five-year risk of recurrence and Cox regression to model the risk of recurrence for three age groups. The covariates introduced into the regression analyses were characteristics of the child and initial services. The risk of recurrence in the five years following termination of initial CPS services was 36% for the entire cohort and varied depending on the child's age at the time of case closure. Children aged 6–11 when their cases were closed had the highest risk of recurrence. Although Aboriginal descent and prior CPS investigations have a consistent effect on the risk of recurrence in all three age groups, the effects of other covariates, such as out-of-home placement and court involvement, vary or are even reversed, depending on the child's age. These findings highlight the need to adopt a differential approach that takes into account the child's age, both in the provision of protective services and in research involving the population receiving such services.     

Speaking of books

Changing Aims in Religious Education. Edwin Cox. New York: Humanities Press, 1967. 102 pp. $3.50.

Contemporary Mathematics for Elementary Teachers. Howard F. Fehr and Thomas J. Hill. Boston: D. C. Heath and Company, 1966. 394 pp. $7.95.

Creative Encounters in the Classroom: Teaching and Learning Through Discovery. Bryon G. Massialas and Jack Zevin. New York: John Wiley &; Sons, Inc., 1967. 274 pp. $3.50.

Gods and Rituals: Readings in Religious Beliefs and Practices. John Middleton, New York: The Natural History Press, 1967. 468 pp. $6.95.

Language and Learning. Janet A. Emig, James T. Fleming, and Helen M. Popp, editors. New York: Harcourt, Brace and World, Inc., 1966. 301 pp. $3.50.

Schools of Europe. Richard Emerson Werstler. Adrian, Michigan: Swenk‐Tuttle Press, 1967. 203 pp. $10.00.

Teaching Adults to Read. Wayne Otto and David Ford. Boston: Houghton‐Mifflin Company, 1967. 176 pp. $3.95.

What Is a Teacher? Henry W. Simon. New York: Collier Books, 1966. 96 pp. $.95.

Paul A. Witty, editor. The Educationally Retarded and Disadvan‐taged The Sixty‐Sixth Yearbook of the National Society for the Study of Education, Part 1. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1967. 384 pp.

Report of the Harvard Committee. The Graduate Study of Education. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1966. 125 pp. $2.75.     

Exploring School Improvement in Hong Kong Secondary Schools

Scholars have increasingly sought to understand how the process of school improvement differs among schools operating in different school levels, conditions, and contexts. Using Rosenholtz's (1985 Rosenholtz, S. 1985. Effective schools: Interpreting the evidence. American Journal of Education, 93: 352–388. [Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]) conception of “moving” and “stuck” schools as a framework for thinking about school improvement, this study examines the learning outcomes of 39 Hong Kong secondary schools over a 3-year period. We examine whether features of leadership and school capacity differed with respect to these learning outcomes within the sample of moving and stuck schools. This research in Hong Kong has identified several factors that appear to synergistically contribute to differences in patterns of improvement in learning across different subjects in both moving and stuck schools. These factors include resource management of principals and school capacity in terms of professional learning community; workload of teachers; alignment, coherence, and structure; and resource capacity. This study extends the research on leadership and capacity building as a means of school improvement, in the process elaborating on their impact within a non-Western society.     

‘I am reading to her and she loves it': benefits of engaging fathers from disadvantaged areas in their children's early learning transitions

Findings presented here relate to the evaluation of a one-year father-inclusion project, which took place in an area of multiple deprivation in the North of England. The project's goal was to engage fathers and male carers in their children's transition from an early years setting to a reception class and to maintain that involvement in the mainstream school setting. The project was successful in engaging men, recording 76 male attendances, 19 of which were recorded at school-based activities after the transition. Key benefits identified by fathers engaged in the project were closer relationships with their children and greater involvement in their play and learning. Children were very positive about their fathers' involvement and school staff identified a better rapport with fathers following the project.     

Action research and narratives: ‘Finely Aware and Richly Responsible’ 1

This paper explores the central place of stories and narratives in action research practices and accounts to argue that it is hard to imagine how we might do or write about action research in a non‐storied way. The paper argues that good stories help us to think well and more wisely about ourselves and our practice. An historical example is chosen to illustrate the compelling potential of stories about real people and real lives, followed by a teasing out of six methodological issues that arise.     

From Virtual Frog to Frog Island: Design studies in a development project

We describe the efforts of a curriculum development team to create computerized virtual creatures for biology education. The original purpose was to create a virtual frog that biology students could dissect on computer. As the project developed, the vision changed radically. Instead of a virtual creature, the team created a virtual world, Frog Island, that contained a wealth of resources in various media for learning about the biology of frogs. The impetus for the shift from Virtual Frog to Frog Island came from a series of design studies in which the team discovered that the original vision did not match the needs of students and teachers. On the basis of this experience, we make a case for the value of early design studies in the development of educational innovations.     

Playful Postmodernism: Building with Diversity in the Postmodern Classroom

The authors surveyed program directors at all bachelor of social work and master of social work programs accredited by the Council on Social Work Education using an online tool that assessed whether and how their respective social work programs are covering content related to HIV/AIDS. Of the 650 program directors, 153 (24%) participated in the survey. Programs reported coverage of HIV/AIDS content in various foundation content areas, including human behavior in the social environment, populations at risk, and social work practice. The authors also surveyed use of various pedagogical methods, and respondents reported the most use of guest speakers, lectures, and readings in delivering HIV/AIDS content. More than 70% of bachelor and master of social work programs reported having at least 1 field placement specific to HIV/AIDS. In addition, the authors evaluated social work textbooks for specific content on social work with HIV/AIDS, and recommendations are made for inclusion of more HIV/AIDS specific content.     

Emergent literacy profiles among prekindergarten children from low-SES backgrounds: Longitudinal considerations

This study represents a longitudinal follow-up to a prior investigation that identified five profiles of emergent literacy skills among children in the fall of their prekindergarten year. Here, we examined: (a) how profile patterns changed from fall to spring, (b) the extent to which children remained stable in their profile membership, and (c) possible factors that may explain children's movement in profile membership from fall to spring. Participants were 484 children enrolled in needs-based programs. Eight measures of emergent literacy, across oral language and code-related domains, were administered in both the fall and the spring of the prekindergarten year. Latent profile analysis was used to classify children into fall and spring profiles (N = 484, 369, respectively). Although there were fewer profiles identified in the spring, children's membership within the profiles was characterized by a degree of stability, especially in the extremes of performance. Among children who shifted membership from fall to spring (35%), movement to a more desirable profile was primarily associated with children's emergent literacy skills, particularly oral language, at the beginning of the prekindergarten year.