Binomial index of model fit: An elaboration

This article is an elaboration on the use of the binomial test of model fit value, which in this article will be referred to as the binomial index of model fit value, to gauge the degree that the data fit a path analytic or structural equation model. In addition, this article responds to the criticisms and comments made by Hsu (this issue), Drezner and Drezner (this issue), and Raykov and Penev (this issue) regarding the use of this approach to measuring the degree of model fit. We appreciate the comments provided by these authors. Their comments have assisted us in clarifying our reason for developing the binomial index of model fit procedure as well as our perception of its use.     

Teachers' Emotional Support Consistency Predicts Children's Achievement Gains and Social Skills

Research Findings: It is widely acknowledged that consistent, high-quality teacher–student interactions promote optimal developmental outcomes for children. Previous research on the quality of teacher–student interactions provides empirical support for this premise. Little research has been conducted on the consistency of teacher–student interactions. This study examines whether consistency in teachers' emotional support is related to better academic and social outcomes for children. Multiple observations were conducted in 694 prekindergarten classrooms. Mean levels of emotional support and consistency of emotional support were used as predictors in multilevel models. Results indicated that when mean levels of emotional support were controlled, within-day consistency of emotional support predicted several academic outcomes in prekindergarten as well as social competence in kindergarten. Practice or Policy: Results indicate that teachers' consistency of emotional support is a salient aspect of children's classroom environment. Findings suggest that consistency should be considered when evaluating teachers' emotionally supportive interactions.     

“We are a United Humanity”: Death,Emotion and Digital Media in the Church of Sweden

This article seeks to bring together the study of death, digital media, emotion and religion, using a Christian organization as a case study. The Swedish national church (Svenska kyrkan) has a large but declining membership and uses digital media extensively. We will analyze two of its attempts to respond to grief through media: a hybrid digital-physical technology installation in Swedish cemeteries and a series of posts about death and sadness on Facebook. In both projects, the Church presents emotion as a universal shared experience that unites all humanity, using this discourse to bring together its religious and non-religious audiences.     

Compassion in the face of terror: a case study of recognizing suffering,co-creating hope,and developing trust in a would-be school shooting

Current theoretical conceptualizations of compassion say little about communicating compassion to people whose suffering is wrapped in a cloak of anger, threat, resistance, and fear. This article attends directly to this issue by examining the conversational particulars of compassion communicated by school bookkeeper Antoinette Tuff to would-be school shooter Michael Hill. The case serves as the basis for advancing propositions about communicating compassion to unwilling recipients and suggests the importance of careful conversational timing, face-enhancement strategies, convergence/mirroring techniques, co-creating hope, physical presence, and vulnerable self-disclosure. The case extends current conceptualizations of compassion and provides a vivid picture for enacting compassion when sufferers are angry, threatening, or resisting help.     

The role of social competence in predicting gifted enrollment

The purpose of this study is to examine how children's starting level and development of social competence (i.e., task orientation and peer sociability) during kindergarten and first grade predict gifted program enrollment by third grade, even after considering children's cognitive ability. A second purpose is to examine the extent to which the relationship between children's social competence and gifted program enrollment differs depending on children's socioeconomic status (SES), ethnicity, and gender. Latent growth curve analyses conducted on 347 children revealed that students enrolled in gifted programming were not only those high in cognitive ability, but also those showing early task orientation. Neither peer sociability's initial status nor growth was a significant predictor of gifted enrollment. Multigroup comparisons demonstrated different predictive paths for higher versus lower SES groups. Implications are discussed including important questions raised by this study and the need for teacher training in the identification of giftedness. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Compression of parallel texts

The world-wide use of digital storage and communications devices is increasing the need to make texts available in multiple languages. In this article we explore the possibility of storing a compressed form of a translated version of a text, taking advantage of the availability of the original text. The original text provides some of the semantic content of the text that is to be compressed, and therefore makes it possible for compression to be more efficient than if that information were not available. We begin with an experiment to evaluate the information content of a text when a parallel translation is available. This is achieved by having human subjects guess texts letter by letter, with and without a parallel translation. The perceived information content of a text can be determined from the way subjects make their guesses. The design and results of this experiment are described. The main conclusion is that while the text is considerably more predictable with the aid of a parallel translation, there is a surprising amount of information introduced by the translation. Insights obtained from this experiment are then applied in the design of a mechanical system for compressing parallel texts. The system stores one translation of a text intact, and then compresses further translations of the text with the aid of the original. The method described is able to compress texts significantly better than is possible without the aid of a parallel text. Aspects of the design are also applicable to future compressors that might take advantage of the semantic content of a text to obtain better compression.     

Using argumentation as a learning strategy to improve student performance in engineering Statics

ABSTRACT

Research suggests that a significant reason that a large number of students earn low grades in the fundamental engineering science course Statics is that they may be entering the course with incorrect conceptual knowledge of mathematics and physics. The self-explanation learning approach called collective argumentation helps k-12 students to understand their misconceptions of mathematical principles that often appear abstract to them. This study investigated collective argumentation as an instructional approach that helps engineering students identify and correct their misconceptions of topics taught in Statics. Results suggest that argumentation improves student performance as measured by grades earned on semester exams. Survey and focus group results suggest that students did not understand the argumentation process. Therefore, the students did not like using it as a learning approach.     

Using Early Learning Standards to Provide High-Quality Education for All Children: The Early Learning Guidelines Toolkit

Today with the rise in the number of 3- to 6-year-old children enrolled in center-based early childhood programs, and a focus on program quality, it becomes imperative for educators to have a better understanding of the role research plays in establishing high-quality programs as these programs provide much of the foundation that supports early learning and development (Child Trends, 2014). Although psychology, and the role of child development research in particular, has always been integral to the field of early childhood education beginning with the seminal works of Piaget, Bronfenbrenner, Bruner, and others (Lickona,1971), the field had never fully embraced the use of research to inform practice, until the 1990s. This had been, in part, because the field of early childhood education originally viewed itself as a field of practitioners that provided for the everyday care and needs of young children, whereas it viewed child development researchers as scientists who paid little attention to the practical needs of classroom teaching (Takanishi, 1981 Takanishi, R. (1981). Early childhood education and research: The changing relationship. Theory into Practice, 20, 86–92.[Taylor & Francis Online] , [Google Scholar]). Although, today, there is no longer this ideological divide between the two areas, with the child development research being used to inform educational practice and policy (Center for the Developing Child, 2007), nevertheless there still remains a gap in the ability of educators to effectively implement evidence-based practices. Given the increased focus on providing young children with access to high-quality education, and the need for teachers to implement evidence-based practices the present paper attempts to bridge the gap by providing a brief overview of the science of early childhood development, its importance for development of early learning standards, and an overview of the Early Learning Toolkit which was developed to provide early learning educators guidance and resources to support the implementation of early learning standards within their own states as well as well across the nation. The goal of this article is to bridge theory and practice in early childhood education.     

Using student norms to create positive learning environments

Ever since brash young students goaded one another to race chariots through the streets of the ancient world, elders have tried to understand and harness the energy of late adolescent normative group behavior. John Braxton and Timothy Caboni introduce a perspective and survey instrument that may help today's educators do just that.