An examination of the research and training needs in the field of deaf education

THE NATIONAL CENTER on Low-Incidence Disabilities conducted a needs assessment of the research and training needs in the field of deaf education. A total of 331 professionals, parents, administrators, and university faculty responded to the survey. Overall, respondents indicated that the number-one priority was to educate administrators about services that are appropriate for students who are deaf or hard of hearing. The second most important concern was how to work within the education system to change it. The third priority was teaching reading strategies. Additional priorities are reported for all respondents, as well as comparisons among the different respondent groups. Implications of the results are presented.     

Suicide attempts in sexual abuse victims and their mothers

Suicide attempts occurred in 11 of 201 (5.4%) families in which sexual abuse was substantiated during a 2$\text{1}\text{2}$-year study period. Thirteen attempts occurred in the eleven families—five in mothers and eight in daughter-victims. No perpetrators in this social agency sample attempted suicide. Three mothers made attempts within the 1st week after the sexual abuse report; these three had borderline personalities, prior suicide attempts, personal histories of incest, and, surprisingly, all returned rapidly to adequate maternal functioning. The two mothers who made attempts later had primary depressions with underlying dependent personalities and never returned to successful mothering of their victimized daughters, both of whom themselves attempted suicide later in the family's treatment course. All eight daughters who attempted suicide were 14 to 16 years old and had been involved in incest with father figures. None of their families remained intact after the disclosure of incest, and their mothers actively blamed and disbelieved these victims. Seven of the eight had behavior problems which may have masked depression.     

Dimensions of child sexual abuse before age 15 in three Central American countries: Honduras, El Salvador, and Guatemala

OBJECTIVE: The prevalence of sexual abuse during childhood or adolescence varies depending on the definitions and age categories used. This study examines the first national, population-based data available on child sexual abuse that occurs before age 15 in three countries: El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras. This study uses comparable indicators and measures of sexual abuse for the three countries to document the prevalence of abuse, types of perpetrators, and the association of child sexual abuse with recent intimate partner violence. METHODS: Child sexual abuse was defined as sexual abuse that first occurs before age 15. Nationally representative data from El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras were used. In El Salvador, separate questions on forced intercourse and non-penetrative sexual abuse were asked. Bivariate and multivariate analyses were performed using STATA Version 8SE. RESULTS: The prevalence of child sexual abuse varied from 7.8% in Honduras to 6.4% in El Salvador and 4.7% in Guatemala. In all three countries, the overwhelming majority of women who reported child sexual abuse first experienced the abuse before age 11. Perpetrators tended to be a family member, a neighbor, or an acquaintance. Bivariate and multivariate analyses indicated that women who experienced child sexual abuse in Guatemala and Honduras were about two times more likely to be in violent relationships as women who did not experience abuse. This relationship was not significant in multivariate analyses for El Salvador where the prevalence of intimate partner violence was the lowest. CONCLUSIONS: Child sexual abuse in Central America is clearly a problem with the prevalence between 5% and 8%. Child sexual abuse can have long-term negative health impacts including exposure to intimate partner violence in adulthood. Programs to prevent abuse and treat victims of child sexual abuse are needed in Central America.     

Primary teachers as readers

In the context of the continued pressure and politicisation of the teaching of reading in England, the United Kingdom Literacy Association (UKLA) sought to ascertain patterns in primary teachers' reading, both personally and professionally. The project, undertaken in 11 Local Authorities in England, explored 1200 primary teachers' personal reading habits and preferences, investigated their knowledge of children's literature, and documented their reported use of texts in the classroom through a questionnaire. In addition, it sought to establish the extent of the teachers' involvement with and use of local area/school library services. This paper reports on the findings with reference to the teachers' personal reading, the frequency of this reading and the sources they use to select their reading material. It also considers the teachers' favourite childhood texts and the books they identified as highly significant to them, as well as their perceptions of the importance of literature. Connections are made to the data gathered about their knowledge of children's literature, and how primary teachers decide which literature to work with in the classroom.     

Measuring Parental Meta-Emotion: Psychometric Properties of the Emotion-Related Parenting Styles Self-Test

Parental meta-emotion, assessed through interviews, involves parents' philosophy about emotions and has been found to be related to parenting behaviors and children's emotional and social competence (e.g., Gottman, Katz, & Hooven, 1996; Katz & Windecker-Nelson, 2004). The Emotion-Related Parenting Styles Self-Test is a true-false (ERPSST-T/F) self-report version of the meta-emotion interview introduced in a parenting guidebook (Gottman, 1997). Although this test is user-friendly, its psychometric properties have not been evaluated. In the first study, 100 parents (89 mothers, 11 fathers) completed the ERPSST-T/F and evidence was found for the internal consistency and test-retest reliability of the measure (Lee, Hakim-Larson, & Voelker, 2000). In the second study, 31 parents (21 mothers, 10 fathers) completed a Likert-type scale version of the ERPSST (ERPSST-Likert) and the internal consistency of the scales was improved. In addition, the scales were found to correlate in expected directions with other measures of parenting attitudes regarding children's emotional expressions, even after controlling for parent gender and social desirability. These findings provide some preliminary evidence for the reliability and validity of the ERPSST-Likert and provide support for further development of the instrument.     

Knowledge and management strategies in incest cases: A survey of physicians, psychologists and family counselors

A questionnaire was mailed to all 255 psychologists, psychiatrists, pediatricians, and family counselors listed in the 1983 telephone directory. Of the 108 private practitioners who responded, over one-half had treated a child or adult incest victim in the past year; 86% requested more training in this area. Practitioners had a high level of general knowledge about intrafamilial child sexual abuse. Nevertheless, one-third stated they would not refer to protective services a child who had first made, but then retracted, an incest allegation. While most pediatricians would recommend physical examination of a child who had retracted, only half of other professionals would do so. Women practitioners were more realistic about the high frequency of actual father-daughter incest and were more likely to report the hypothetical case of the retracted allegation.     

Minding morphology: How morphological awareness relates to reading for English language learners

This study explored subprocesses of reading for 157 fifth grade Spanish-speaking English language learners (ELLs) by examining whether morphological awareness made a unique contribution to reading comprehension beyond a strong covariate-phonological decoding. The role of word reading and reading vocabulary as mediators of this relationship was also explored. Results showed that fourth grade morphological awareness did not make a significant unique direct effect on fifth grade reading comprehension, controlling for phonological decoding, word reading, and reading vocabulary. Fourth grade morphological awareness did, though, make a unique moderate total contribution to fifth grade reading comprehension with reading vocabulary, but not word reading, mediating the relationship when controlling for phonological decoding. In contrast, phonological decoding made a nonsignificant total contribution to reading comprehension with neither word reading nor reading vocabulary mediating the relationship when controlling for morphological awareness. Alternative models were also explored, showing the importance of including both predictors in a model of ELL reading comprehension, primarily to include the support of phonological decoding to word reading and the support of morphological awareness to reading comprehension via reading vocabulary. Results highlighted the importance of morphological awareness in facilitating reading comprehension via improving reading vocabulary knowledge, and also the potential of interventions involving morphological instruction to support reading achievement for Spanish-speaking ELLs.     

Science teacher orientations and PCK across science topics in grade 9 earth science

ABSTRACT

While the literature is replete with studies examining teacher knowledge and pedagogical content knowledge (PCK), few studies have investigated how science teacher orientations (STOs) shape classroom instruction. Therefore, this research explores the interplay between a STOs and the topic specificity of PCK across two science topics within a grade 9 earth science course. Through interviews and observations of one teacher’s classroom across two sequentially taught, this research contests the notion that teachers hold a single way of conceptualising science teaching and learning. In this, we consider if multiple ontologies can provide potential explanatory power for characterising instructional enactments. In earlier work with the teacher in this study, using generic interview prompts and general discussions about science teaching and learning, we accepted the existence of a unitary STO and its promise of consistent reformed instruction in the classroom. However, upon close examination of instruction focused on different science topics, evidence was found to demonstrate the explanatory power of multiple ontologies for shaping characteristically different epistemological constructions across science topics. This research points to the need for care in generalising about teacher practice, as it reveals that a teacher’s practice, and orientation, can vary, dependent on the context and science topics taught.