Long-Term Relations Between Children’s Language,the Home Literacy Environment,and Socioemotional Development From Ages 3 to 8

Research Findings: This study investigated the long-term interrelations among children’s language competencies, their home literacy environment (HLE), and 3 aspects of socioemotional development from ages 3 to 8, controlling for characteristics of the child and family. For this sample of 547 typically developing German children, parents and teachers reported on cooperative behavior, physical aggression, and emotional self-regulation. Language was assessed using established test instruments. HLE was operationalized by the number of books in the household, the frequency of shared book reading, and an observation during shared book reading. Path analyses supported effects of language and HLE at age 3 on all 3 indicators of socioemotional development over the 5-year period. An additional mediational analysis revealed different patterns of results depending on the aspect of socioemotional competency under study. Although the effect of early language and HLE at age 3 on cooperative and (low) aggressive behavior at age 8 was partially mediated by language at age 5, children’s early language at age 3 was the best predictor of the development of emotional self-regulation. Practice or Policy: Findings identify a rich HLE and proper language skills as protective factors for socioemotional development in not-at-risk children; these factors should be further established in social skills training.     

Inclusive vocational schools in Canada and Germany. A comparison of vocational pre-service teachers′ attitudes,self-efficacy and experiences towards inclusive education

Both Canada’s and Germany’s school systems are transitioning into inclusive education systems. This transition is also happening in vocational schools. This paper addresses the new demands that vocational teachers face, due to the introduction of inclusive education in Germany and Canada, by examining Canadian and German pre-service vocational teachers’ attitudes, self-efficacy and experiences related to inclusive education. The study identifies significantly more positive ratings in the Canadian sample across all the three scales. We conclude that the different ratings relate to different school systems, experiences with inclusion and the teacher education systems. Based on these research findings, recommendations for teacher education are discussed.     

Searching the MEDLARS citation file on-line using elhill and stairs: An updated comparison

The purpose of this paper is to update the comparison of the ELHILL (currently ELHILL 3, formerly ELHILL 2) and STAIRS programs as they affect on-line searching of the MEDLARS citation file. The major areas follow the format of the previous paper (data base characteristics, commands, basic terminal interactions, search statements, and printing citations resulting from on-line or off-line processing).     

Are abusive fractures in young children becoming less common? Changes over 24 years

OBJECTIVE: To determine whether the proportion of fractures rated as abusive in children <36 months of age evaluated at a regional pediatric hospital increased over a 24-year period from 1979 to 2002. Fractures were chosen as an example of serious injuries in young children. METHODS: Medical records were abstracted for all children <36 months of age who were seen at a single pediatric hospital with a fracture during three time periods: 1979-1983, 1991-1994, and 1999-2002. After reviewing the abstracted and radiographic information, two clinicians (one an expert on child abuse) and two pediatric radiologists each rated the likelihood of abuse using explicit criteria and a seven-point scale from definite abuse to definite unintentional injury. Ratings were done independently; when disagreements occurred, the case was discussed, and a joint rating was agreed upon, if possible. The proportions of cases rated as abuse were compared over the three time periods, and logistic regression was used to calculate adjusted odds ratios (OR). RESULTS: In the early, middle, and late samples, there were 200, 240, and 232 children, respectively, with fractures. The proportion of cases rated as abuse decreased from 22.5% in the early period to 10.0% in the middle period and was 10.8% in the late period (p<.001). When comparing the odds of abuse in the middle and late groups to the odds of abuse in the early group (controlling for age, gender, ethnicity, type of medical insurance, and site of pediatric care), the adjusted ORs were .31 (95% CI=.15, .62) for the middle group and .45 (95% CI=.23, .86) for the late group. Thus, the odds of a given case being rated as abuse decreased by over 50% from the early period to the middle and late time periods. No statistically significant difference was found when comparing the odds of abuse for the middle group to those of the late group, OR: 1.46 (95% CI=.69, 3.08). CONCLUSIONS: The proportion of abusive fractures in young children decreased substantially from 1979-1983 to 1991-1994 and 1999-2002 at a major pediatric hospital. We speculate that this decrease may reflect early recognition of less serious forms of maltreatment and the availability of services to high-risk families.     

Teaching children science through storytelling combined with hands-on activities – a successful instructional strategy?

Earlier studies have discussed the usefulness of storytelling and hands-on activities when teaching young children science. However, few studies have investigated the use of the two methods in combination. This study reports on five pre-school teachers’ experience of combining storytelling and hands-on activities in teaching science and their perceived effects of the combination. Interviews with the teachers and a supplementary observation served as the data material, which was transformed into narratives and member-checked by the participating teachers. Some found the combination of methods important while others argued that hands-on activities were effective without the use of stories. The teachers’ enjoyment in adopting the combinatory method and their appreciation of the stories also made a difference.     

The significance of dealing with mistakes for student achievement and motivation: results of doubly latent multilevel analyses

European Journal of Psychology of Education - From a constructivist perspective on learning, mistakes are seen as natural elements of learning processes. A supportive and constructive way of...     

Introduction to the special Issue “applied metacognition: real-world applications beyond learning”

Metacognition and Learning - Research in the area of metacognition is on the rise. Translating and applying the fruits of basic scientific results to various end-users and real-world scenarios is...