Joint Attention and Conversation in Mother-Infant-Sibling Triads

The current study investigated the general nature of joint attentional and conversational interaction in mother-infant-sibling triads. 9 19-month-old infants and 9 24-month-old infants were videotaped during 20 min of free play with their mothers and preschool-aged siblings around a common activity. Analyses revealed that even 19-month-old infants were capable of participating in triadic interactions and conversations, and that the proportional frequency of both these measures increased with age. Triadic conversations were nearly 3 times longer and elicited nearly twice as many infant turns per conversation as dyadic conversations. Infants were more likely to join into an ongoing conversational topic than to initiate one themselves, and they were more likely to take a turn in those conversations if they were in a joint attentional state with the speaker. Infants were just as likely to respond to a comment or request directed to another person as they were to one directed to themselves, indicating reliable comprehension of language not addressed to them. These results suggest that the mother-infant-sibling interactive context differs in important ways from the mother-infant dyadic context and that it is a richer language learning environment than previously supposed.     

Developing a sustained interest in science among urban minority youth

This study draws upon qualitative case study to investigate the connections between the “funds of knowledge” that urban, high‐poverty students bring to science learning and the development of a sustained interest in science. We found that youth developed a sustained interest in science when: (1) their science experiences connected with how they envision their own futures; (2) learning environments supported the kinds of social relationships students valued; and (3) science activities supported students' sense of agency for enacting their views on the purpose of science. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 44: 466–489, 2007     

Social disaffection among deprived groups

One test of societal cleavages is the extent of differences in the population between subgroups such as race, social class, or generations, at three levels: nationalism, support for the political system, and satisfaction with aspects of every day living. National sample data indicate no clear marks of division on these three dimensions in the U.S. for groupings based upon income, education, occupation, age, or sex. The greatest potential cleavage is racial, for here there are differences between Blacks and Whites. consistent though not great, at all three levels. Various groups are tied into the system in different ways. People in the lower strata are stronger than managerial groups in their nationalism and evaluation of administrative agencies but lower on their confidence in national political leadership.     

Culture, food, and language: Perspectives from immigrant mothers in school science

The article explores the role of immigrant parents in middle school science as both teachers and learners as part of an urban middle school curriculum, the Linking in Food and the Environment (LiFE) program. The curriculum engaged parents as partners with science teachers to teach science through food. Over a 2-year period, parents attended a series of bilingual workshops, collaborated with classroom teachers, managed activities, guided student inquiry, and assisted in classroom management. The following study analyzes the role of culture, language, and identity as four mothers navigated their position as ‘insiders’ in a science classroom.

School and Neighborhood Friendship Patterns of Blacks and Whites in Early Adolescence

This research examined the school and neighborhood friendships of 292 black and white children who attended an integrated junior high school. Most students reported having a close other-race school friend, but only 28% of the sample saw such a friend frequently outside of school. Reports of an interracial school friendship that extended to nonschool settings were significantly more common among black students than whites and among children who lived in integrated neighborhoods rather than segregated ones. Race differences in reported friendship behavior were also found on other friendship variables. Compared to whites, blacks reported more extensive neighborhood friendship networks but indicated that they talked to fewer friends during the school day. In addition, the study replicated prior findings that white girls report more peer social support than white boys but failed to find a gender difference in peer support among blacks. The discussion emphasizes the importance of the school/nonschool ecology and the need for further comparative study of white and black children's friendship patterns.     

Preparing for Leadership Turnover in Christian Higher Education: Best Practices in Succession Planning

In the face of unprecedented disruption and complexity, the higher education sector appears to be largely underprepared for the projected exodus of senior-level administrators due to retirements and briefer tenures in leadership roles. Given that religiously affiliated institutions account for more than one in five colleges and universities in the United States, it is concerning that relatively few studies have addressed succession planning in this sector, and in Christ-centered higher education in particular. This article provides a review of the literature that has addressed the topic of succession planning and discusses the findings from a single-institution ethnographic case study that explored the culture of succession planning and leader development at Lipscomb University in Nashville, Tennessee. The conceptual framework used in this study was developed through the dissertation research of C. L. Richards in 2009, and is referred to as the 5Cs Model: Strategies for Succession Planning in the Academy. Through a grounded theory study, Richards suggested five strategies leaders should consider as they approach succession planning in academic institutions: culture, champions, communication, competency-based, and continuous. The article then discusses succession planning as an effective process that presidents, boards, and senior leaders can use to intentionally develop a cadre of future leaders, highlighting the unique challenges and best practice opportunities of pursuing this strategy, and recommends several implications for practice in Christian higher education.     

Humanizing the Journey Across the Mexico–U.S. Border: Multimodal Analysis of Children’s Picture Books and the Restorying of Latinx (Im)migration

Children's Literature in Education - In response to current anti-immigration rhetoric and policy coming from national leadership, the authors engage in multimodal analysis of picture books that...