Living with parents every day of the year: A look at the three ‘L’ skills needed for effective parent-teacher communication

Living with parents every day of the year?! Sometimes it seems that way to early childhood teachers. Parents arrive with their children first thing in the morning. They have questions for you, and important things to tell you while you're trying to mix paint and to make sure the food has arrived and to put out the paper and puzzles and paste.     

埃维昂八国峰会展望

As a conservatively oriented concert,the G8 performsbest when it confronts a widespread array(排列)of serious,interrelated(相关的)challenges,led by readily(容易地)rec-ognizable second shocks that expose the vulnerabilities andthreaten the core interests and common democratic(民主的)values that all G8 members share.As the first half of 2003unfoldS(显露,呈现),the world is producing more than enonghof such demands to call forth a forceful G8 response.Thesechallenges arose simultaneously(同时地)and interrelatedly ineach of the political-security,economic,and North-Southdomains(区域).In each field they offer some immediate threatsthat all G8 members are affiicted(使痛苦、折磨)by,can readilyrecognize from earlier shocks,and can see as assaults on thecommon democratic values the G8 was created to protect.     

Environmental and social influences on reading skills as indexed by brain and behavioral responses

The research described in this article uses findings from longitudinal studies involving electrophysiological and behavioral assessments of infants and young children. Event-Related Potentials (ERPs) offer a basis for understanding how areas of the brain react to specific stimuli that are thought to play a role in the development of language and reading abilities. In this paper, we review a series of studies that identify markers in the ERPs that are related to differences in the development of language and reading skills. In addition, there is compelling evidence supporting the role of the home environment and other variables that influence the intellectual level of the child’s environment (e.g., SES, parental IQ, parenting practices, family activities) in the development of language and reading in preschool and school-aged children. In this paper, measures of these environmental variables are linked with predictions of language and reading skill development. Efforts to integrate information about the influence of the environment on brain responses to better understand the development of early language and reading skills are described.     

Dynamic visual support for story comprehension and mental model building by young,at-risk children

Multimedia technology allows precise coordination of linguistic and visual information and may provide teachers with tools for enhancing literacy foundations in children–especially those who might otherwise be at-risk for school failure. This research explores the hypothesis that a multimedia environment with dynamic visual support facilitates language comprehension when children listen to short stories. Kindergarten children heard stories in three conditions: Helpful video, in which dynamic, silent video accompanied the beginning of stories; No video, in which children only heard the stories; and Minimal video, in which static images of characters and places accompanied the beginning of stories. In all conditions, the ending of the story was presented without visual support. Overall, the pattern of results suggests that dynamic visual support can provide a framework for understanding and remembering linguistic information.This research was funded by the National Institute of Child Health and Development, grant P01 HD15051-12. The views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect the views of that organization.     

Optimierung einer videobasierten Lerngelegenheit im Problem Based Learning Format durch Cognitive Tools. Eine Interventionsstudie mit Lehramtsstudierenden

The following study aims to explore whether a video- and problem-based learning (PBL) environment can be improved using cognitive tools. Our hypothesis is that direct instructions in a PBL setting enhance pre-service teachers’ learning outcomes in classroom management. To answer this research question, we implemented a pre-post-design within which we assigned 237 master students to two learning environments: Classic problem-based learning (PBL), where students acquired central theoretical concepts and empirical findings on dealing with disruptions in groups (n = 113) or instructed problem-based learning (I-PBL), where students received extensive theoretical instructions (n = 124) during the first two seminar sessions. In the framework of a longitudinal self-report assessment we found that (1) teacher self-efficacy in the subscales “student engagement”, “instruction” and “classroom management competencies” increased in students of both groups. The highest increase was found in classroom management competencies. (2) In the evaluation with an objective measure students participating in the I?PBL group showed greater knowledge than students in the PBL group (multiple-choice test), and (3) regarding motivational processes students in the PBL group reported a higher degree of identification than students in the I?PBL group.     

Voluntary turnover and women administrators in higher education

A salient characteristic about the U.S. workforce is the continual process of voluntary employee turnover, which can be problematic for employers who invest a substantial amount of time and money in recruiting and training employees. This paper discusses the effects of workplace policies and practices on the voluntary turnover of women administrators in higher education. According to the results from in-depth interviews with ex-administrators of one Ivy League university, the top three reasons were conflict with supervisor, inadequate advancement opportunities, and incompatible work schedule. The results from this study revealed several interesting findings which add to our understanding of the staff turnover process for midlevel administrators in institutions of higher education. The findings could offer important insight into implementing cost-effective retention programs to help reduce unwanted turnover among women administrators in colleges and universities.