Children’s Self-Reported Effects of Stimulant Medication

This study determined the self-reported positive and negative physical, academic, and social effects of stimulant medication on middle/junior high school and high school students who have been diagnosed with AD/HD. The study also identified other students’ attitudes toward those diagnosed with AD/HD and receiving stimulant medication. Students in regular education classrooms, classrooms for students with an emotional disturbance, and classrooms for students with learning disabilities participated by filling out a questionnaire. A convenience sample of 925 students in Wisconsin and Minnesota participated in the study. Eighty-six of the students were taking stimulant medication for the treatment of AD/HD. Students did report experiencing side effects from the medication. The social and behavioural effects of the medication rather than the academic achievement enhancement effects appear to be the reasons for taking stimulant medication. Students not taking stimulant medication reported neither they nor teachers treated students taking stimulant medication differently.     

Conflict in the Dyadic Play of 3-Year-Old Children

Episodes of conflict provide a rich source of information about children's development of interactive skills. In the present study, 184 3-year-old children were observed in dyadic play and the 287 conflicts that occurred during their play were transcribed and coded. In general, children's conflicts arose in the context of ongoing play and were brief, lasting less than 15 seconds. Most disputes concerned toy possession, and almost 80% were ended by the simple withdrawal of one or the other children from the conflict. When children responded with emotional intensity to conflict, their conflicts lasted longer and were more likely to be followed by continued negative interaction. Individual difference data were available for one member of each dyad observed in play. Children rated in infancy as having difficult temperaments were found to be more intense during conflict, to spend more time in conflict, and to score higher on an index of conflict resolution competence, whereas concurrent social behavior was not related to conflict variables. Girls scored higher than boys on competence at conflict resolution, and children with better language skills spent less time in conflict. The more time children spent in nonmaternal child care up to age 3, the less likely they were to initiate conflict.     

How is Challenging Behaviour Associated with Depression in Boys with an Autism Spectrum Disorder?

The association between aberrant behaviour and depression was examined in a sample of 150 young males with Autism Spectrum Disorder via parent ratings on the Aberrant Behavior Checklist (ABC) and the Major Depressive Disorder subscale of the Child and Adolescent Symptom Inventory (CASI-4-D). Although several subscales of the ABC were significantly correlated with CASI-4-D scores, only the Irritability subscale was a significant predictor of CASI-4-D, but with different patterns of association across younger (6–12 years) and older (13–18 years) participants. When examined at an individual ABC item level, adolescents’ depression was primarily predicted the presence of temper tantrums that were associated with the introduction of variability or frustration at not getting his or her own way.     

Self-Study as a Means for Urban Teachers to Transform Academics

Our self-study has two main purposes: (1) to understand the value of self-study for credential program graduates to confront in transformative ways the pedagogical challenges of urban schools, and (2) to add to an exploration of self-study for non-teacher educators and strengthen our preparation of candidates to enact such inquiry. To answer these questions, we orchestrated a dialogic exchange with three Master's students who used self-study to research and improve their teaching in urban elementary schools. We analyzed their papers both to see how consistent they were with the characteristics of self-study and to determine the nature of lessons learned in relation to our social justice goals. In addition, in the following year we gathered and analyzed information about their post-study reactions to self-study and its continuing influence. In their self-studies all three examined assumptions guiding their teaching by analyzing pertinent data and functioning as critical friends for each other; their work was consistent with self-study requirements. Written reflections and interviews all mentioned the transformative influence of self-study on their thinking and practice. We also discovered that we should strengthen our guidance with regard to the specifics of self-study methodology, as in the need to look for disconfirming evidence. Although their commitment to the process was maintained, we need to explore whether and how self-study might be engaged more informally. Overall, we found that self-study invites teachers to question discriminatory categories with empirical evidence and empowers them to redefine their profession and question regressive policies.     

Factors of Professional Learning Community Implementation and Effect on Student Achievement

ABSTRACT

Professional learning communities (PLCs) promote collaboration among school personnel in an effort to stimulate student learning. Using data obtained from a larger statewide initiative in Missouri, the current study examined data from 181 schools (102 elementary schools, 32 middle schools, 41 high schools, and 6 other schools, average of 428.76 students) to determine (a) the factors that can be used to assess the effects of PLCs, (b) how well PLCs relate to student achievement, and (c) the extent to which teams differentially implement the factors. An exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analyses resulted in two broader constructs that represented PLC attributes, collaborative leadership process and data-driven systems for learning, both of which correlated with student achievement and together provided unique variance in mathematics beyond school variables and achievement scores from before the PLC began. Directions for future research and implications for practice are discussed.     

High School Teachers' Use of Data to Inform Instruction

The expectation that teachers will use student achievement data to improve their instruction is a major feature of national and local reform agendas. The theory of action behind data-driven decision making is a mostly causal model of professional action, whereby teachers diagnose weaknesses and implement solutions. The purpose of this article is to examine how high school teachers, situated within their policy and work contexts, use data to inform instructional decisions. Using a framework that draws upon sense-making and co-construction theories on reform implementation, we analyze qualitative data gathered in 4 urban public high schools in the United States. Findings reveal that the process of data use by teachers is complex, multilayered, and influenced by teacher interpretations and social interactions. Teachers used a variety of forms of data to inform their decision making and struggled to reconcile policies promoting data-driven decision making with local beliefs and practices. Implications for research and policy are discussed.