The impact of teacher credentials on ADHD Stigma Perceptions

Attention‐Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is one of the most frequently diagnosed psychiatric disorders in childhood and adolescence. It is associated with high levels of stigma, which may lead to treatment barriers, self‐fulfilling prophecies, and social rejection. This study established the reliability of the ADHD Stigma Questionnaire (ASQ) when applied to teachers by evaluating its internal consistency and confirmed the previously reported factor structure. In addition, the study examined the extent to which holding a special education certification and having years of teaching experience impact teachers' perceptions of ADHD stigma. Results indicated that teachers holding special education certification endorsed higher ratings, which indicated high stigma perceptions, on the Overall Stigma score, as well as the three subscales, Disclosure Concerns, Negative Self‐Image, and Concern with Public Attitudes; however, years of teaching experience was not related to stigma scores. Implications for teacher training practices are discussed. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Characterizing and comparing the friendships of anxious-solitary and unsociable preadolescents

Friendships matter for withdrawn youth because the consequences of peer isolation are severe. From a normative sample of 2,437 fifth graders (1,245 females; M age = 10.25), a subset (n = 1,364; 638 female) was classified into 3 groups (anxious-solitary, unsociable, comparison) and followed across a school year. Findings indicated that it was more common for unsociable than anxious-solitary children to have friends, be stably friended, and participate in multiple friendships. For withdrawn as well as nonwithdrawn children, peer rejection predicted friendlessness, but this relation was strongest for anxious-solitary children. The friends of unsociable youth were more accepted by peers than those of anxious-solitary youth. The premise that friendship inhibits peer victimization was substantiated for withdrawn as well as nonwithdrawn youth.     

The influence of early science experience in kindergarten on children's immediate and later science achievement: Evidence from the early childhood longitudinal study

This study explores the impacts of selected early science experiences in kindergarten (frequency and duration of teachers' teaching of science, availability of sand/water table and science areas, and children's participation in cooking and science equipment activities) on children's science achievement in kindergarten and third grade using data for 8,642 children from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study‐Kindergarten cohort (ECLS‐K). A theoretical model that depicts the relationships between the study variables was developed and tested using structural equation modeling. Results demonstrated that availability of science materials in kindergarten classrooms facilitated teachers' teaching of science and children's participation in science activities. Likewise, the frequency and the duration of kindergarten science teaching was a significant predictor of children's science activities but not of the children's end of kindergarten science achievement scores. Children's engagement with science activities that involved using science equipment also was not a significant predictor of their end of kindergarten science achievement. However, children's participation in cooking activities was. Children's prior knowledge, motivation, socio‐economic status, and gender were all statistically significant predictors of their science achievement at the end of kindergarten and end of third grade. Results of this study indicate that early science experiences provided in kindergarten are not strong predictors of children's immediate and later science achievement. Findings of the study suggest that the limited time and nature of science instruction might be related to the limited effect of the science experiences. Implications for teacher education programs and educational policy development are discussed. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 48: 217–235, 2011     

Substance and show: Understanding responses to teacher education programme accreditation processes

This case study investigates how several universities in the state of Connecticut (United States) responded to teacher education accreditation policy between 2002 and 2006. Using a cognitive perspective on policy implementation and a purposeful sample, we describe three common responses: articulation of a programme-wide conceptual framework, greater focus on teacher candidate assessment, and the creation of data collection systems. In addition to these substantive responses, there were also more symbolic responses that allowed for compliance without significant change. Variation in responses was partially explained by the resources available to programmes, programme size and structure, and participants’ beliefs about professional practice.     

Helping Head Start Parents Promote Their Children's Kindergarten Adjustment: The Research‐Based Developmentally Informed Parent Program

Head Start enhances school readiness during preschool, but effects diminish after children transition into kindergarten. Designed to promote sustained gains, the Research‐based Developmentally Informed (REDI) Parent program (REDI‐P) provided home visits before and after the kindergarten transition, giving parents evidence‐based learning games, interactive stories, and guided pretend play to use with their children. To evaluate impact, two hundred 4‐year‐old children in Head Start REDI classrooms were randomly assigned to REDI‐P or a comparison condition (mail‐home math games). Beyond the effects of the classroom program, REDI‐P promoted significant improvements in child literacy skills, academic performance, self‐directed learning, and social competence, demonstrating the utility of the approach in promoting gains in cognitive and social‐emotional skills evident after the transition into kindergarten.     

Katsushika Hokusai and a Poetics of Nostalgia

Abstract

This article addresses the activation of aesthetics through the examination of an acute sensitivity to melancholy and time permeating the literary and pictorial arts of Japan. In medieval court circles, this sensitivity was activated through a pervasive sense of aware, a poignant reflection on the pathos of things. This sensibility became the motivating force for court verse, and through this medium, for the mature projects of the ukiyo-e ‘floating world picture’ artist Katsushika Hokusai. Hokusai reached back to aware sensibilities, subjects and conventions in celebrations of the poetic that sustained cultural memories resonating classical lyric and pastoral themes. This paper examines how this elegiac sensibility activated Hokusai’s preoccupations with poetic allusion in his late representations of scholar-poets and the unfinished series of Hyakunin isshu uba-ga etoki, ‘One hundred poems, by one hundred poets, explained by the nurse’. It examines four works to explain how their synthesis of the visual and poetic could sustain aware themes and tropes over time to maintain a distinctive sense of this aesthetic sensibility in Japan.     

学龄前儿童体力活动研究的十大问题

摘要：目的是回顾与3-5岁儿童体力活动有关的重要研究问题。本文将从三个主要研究领域进行分析：健康效果、体力活动模式、干预和政策。研究的首要问题包括：确定体力活动的健康效果,确定体力活动对保持健康体重的影响,探明体力活动对学习和行为习惯的影响,以及静坐行为对健康的影响。与体力活动模式相关的研究问题包括,3-5岁儿童满足现有体力活动推荐量的情况;影响体力活动的社会和环境因素,包括家庭、幼儿园、社区环境;体力活动如何对学龄儿童期、青少年时期和成年以后产生影响。关于干预和政策方面的研究问题包括,确定在家庭、保育机构、社区环境最有效的促进体力活动的干预策略,以及不同幼儿适用的干预方案,确定有效的干预手段和宣传策略,制定有效的能够增加幼儿体力活动水平的国家、州、地方和机构的政策。总之,全面的了解体力活动对3-5岁儿童健康的影响,以便于掌握该群体的体力活动特点,探索如何促进幼儿的体力活动。