What Is the Long‐Run Impact of Learning Mathematics During Preschool?

The current study estimated the causal links between preschool mathematics learning and late elementary school mathematics achievement using variation in treatment assignment to an early mathematics intervention as an instrument for preschool mathematics change. Estimates indicate (n = 410) that a standard deviation of intervention‐produced change at age 4 is associated with a 0.24‐SD gain in achievement in late elementary school. This impact is approximately half the size of the association produced by correlational models relating later achievement to preschool math change, and is approximately 35% smaller than the effect reported by highly controlled ordinary least squares (OLS) regression models (Claessens et al., 2009; Watts et al., 2014 ) using national data sets. Implications for developmental theory and practice are discussed.     

Preparing Teachers for Effective Child Protection: a pre‐service curriculum approach

A pilot programme on child abuse issues was introduced into the pre‐service teacher education curriculum at University College of Central Queensland in 1987. Queensland Department of Family Services personnel provided assistance in planning and provision of resources. Time was allocated in each of the three years so that students’ developing educational ideas could be paralleled with growth in attitudes, knowledge and thinking about child abuse. Student evaluation determined subsequent content and processes. Students involved in the programme now have completed their first year in the field and their perceptions of the programme are described together with survey results for entering students. Implications for reporting, continuing education and professional roles in prevention of child abuse are outlined.     

Applying radical empathy to Women's March documentation efforts: a reflection exercise

The Women’s March was a global phenomenon, with close to 5 million people participating worldwide. With a protest this complex, it is easy to see that its related records will have historical value. Indeed, many repositories have called for ephemera and stories from the event. But is documenting the event itself enough? The March was criticised for its lack of intersectionality and inclusion: are these criticisms not crucial to future understandings? This article follows the work of bell hooks, Verne Harris, Jarrett Drake and others in the call for social justice in archival work. The work of Michelle Caswell and Marika Cifor on radical empathy is particularly well poised to answer these questions, because of its emphasis on prioritising people over records. Central to radical empathy are an archivist’s relationships with four constituents: the creator, the subject, the user and the community. Considering the roles of these stakeholders represent a departure in traditional archival theory, one that the author believes will make archives more equitable. Using these perspectives, this article will explore what it means to document the Women’s March in a pluralistic way and suggest pathways to do the same elsewhere.     

Do High-Quality Kindergarten and First-Grade Classrooms Mitigate Preschool Fadeout?

Prior research shows that short-term effects from preschool may disappear, but little research has considered which environmental conditions might sustain academic advantages from preschool into elementary school. Using secondary data from two preschool experiments, we investigate whether features of elementary schools, particularly advanced content and high-quality instruction in kindergarten and first grade, as well as professional supports to coordinate curricular instruction, reduce fadeout. Across both studies, our measures of instruction did not moderate fadeout. However, results indicated that targeted teacher professional supports substantially mitigated fadeout between kindergarten and first grade but that this was not mediated through classroom quality. Future research should investigate the specific mechanisms through which aligned preschool-elementary school curricular approaches can sustain the benefits of preschool programs for low-income children.     

Careers guidance services within the European Community: contrasts and common trends

The main features of the guidance systems for young people aged 14–25 in the Member-States of the European Community are outlined. A number of important differences are analysed: in terms of the main location of guidance services, the focus of such services, the range of guidance activities, the structure of financing, and the professional identity of those occupying guidance roles. At the same time, three common trends are identified which have a general if not universal validity across the Member-States: the view of educational and vocational guidance as a continuous process; the emergence of a more open professional model; and the greater emphasis on the individual as an active agent, rather than as a passive recipient, within the guidance process.     

Book reviews

International Review of Education -     

Protecting Museum Collections from Vibrations Due to Construction: Vibration Statistics,Limits, Flexibility and Cooperation

ABSTRACT

Vibrations due to heavy construction work continue to be a major concern for museums. Although there has been an increase in research on the effect of vibrations on objects of cultural heritage in recent years, selecting measures to protect collections and remain open during construction work continues to be difficult because of a lack of data on what objects can actually withstand, the complexity of vibration loads, and the uniqueness of each situation. The major renovation of the Central Library in Liverpool, UK, which shared walls with the World Museum and Walker Art Gallery, both of which belong within National Museums Liverpool, showed how museums and other institutions can successfully deal with such situations. An integral approach was taken, beginning with an extensive risk analysis to determine which objects could remain on display, which needed extra protection and regular condition monitoring, and which had to be removed. The museums then negotiated a vibration protocol and action plan with the contractors, including continuous monitoring, and trigger levels requiring consultation or work stoppage. Vibration data were also stored and used for later analysis. This integral approach was successful in protecting the collections on exhibition, with only two incidents of reported damage directly related to vibrations. A combination of museum staff experience, excellent communications with the contractors, and some flexibility in defining vibration limits provided a successful recipe for both museums. The analysis of the vibration data using the basic engineering concept of the Palmgren-Miner rule, supports a more flexible approach to setting vibration limits based on recently published guidelines.     

In search of a better means of increasing student receptivity to science: a look at American Buddhists and their disproportionately high acceptance of the theory of evolution

Cultural Studies of Science Education - This paper examines how Buddhists in America have been able to integrate evolution into their worldview to a much greater extent than other religious groups...     

Questions of chemistry

The research reported here derives from the general field of learner-centred teaching and learning, with specific reference to undergraduate chemistry. It documents the use of student-generated questions as diagnostic of their willingness to engage in classroom interactions. It explores four ways of gathering students' written questions and their relative effectiveness. It examines students' capacity to design and present 'quality questions' during phases of their learning and the extent to which these questions are indicative of particular styles of interaction in the classroom, both with tutors and with other students. The results are drawn from data collected through written questions posted into a question box, the 'hits' recorded on a computer software system, and through one-to-one interviews with a sample of 32 students. The results provide an opportunity to discuss the quality of interactions within fairly formalized systems of teaching and learning of chemistry in a university setting and to suggest further research required in this field.