Developmental Cascade and Transactional Associations Among Biological and Behavioral Indicators of Temperament and Maternal Behavior

An empirical model of temperament that assessed transactional and cascade associations between respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA), negative affectivity, and the caregiving environment (i.e., maternal intrusiveness) across three time points during infancy (N = 388) was examined. Negative affectivity at 5 months was associated positively with maternal intrusiveness at 10 months, which in turn predicted increased negative affectivity at 24 months. RSA at 5 months was associated positively with negative affectivity at 10 months, which subsequently predicted greater RSA at 24 months. Finally, greater RSA at 5 months predicted greater negative affectivity at 10 months, which in turn predicted greater maternal intrusiveness at 24 months. Results are discussed from a biopsychosocial perspective of development.     

Surreptitious warfarin ingestion

Munchausen by proxy has been reported involving children who have been given various drugs or toxins. In addition, there is a body of adult literature regarding covert anticoagulant ingestion. This is a case of an 11-month-old female who appears to combine features of both of these syndromes. This child presented with an acute left hemorrhagic otitis media. The physical examination was unremarkable except for the following: weight, fifth percentile; left external auditory canal filled with blood with the right external canal and tympanic membrane being normal; and several scattered 1 X 2 cm firm, movable, nontender, purple nodules on extremities, chest and forehead. The coagulation studies were consistent with Vitamin K deficiency secondary to anticoagulant ingestion. A serum warfarin study confirmed our suspicions. The mother was noted to have a dependent relationship with her child and characteristics of those involved in Munchausen by proxy: falsifying information and thwarting medical assessment. In addition, she displayed some of the characteristics found commonly in anticoagulant malingerers. She was depressed, with limited medical knowledge, and had access to warfarin. The mother was admitted for inpatient psychiatric care and the patient placed with an extended family member. This case report describes the use of an anticoagulant to induce illness in a child by a psychologically ill mother. This form of child abuse must be considered in the differential diagnoses of hemorrhagic disorders.     

The etiological relationship between reading disability and phonological disorder

The present study investigated the etiological relationship between two disorders: dyslexia or reading disability (RD) and phonological disorder (PD). These disorders manifest at different ages and have typically been studied by researchers in different disciplines. However, a growing body of evidence suggests that the disorders overlap at symptomatic, cognitive, and etiological levels of analysis. In previous studies, each disorder has been found to be heritable, and there is also evidence that RD and PD run together in families, but no studies to date have documented whether there is a shared genetic influence between the two disorders. The present study examined this question in a sample of RD and non-RD twins. Subjects with a history of PD were identified and the etiological relation between the two disorders was examined. Results indicated that in the present sample, RD and PD are each heritable on their own. Further, even when correcting for RD, the two disorders were found to be coheritable, indicating that the finding of cofamiliality of RD and PD is at least partially driven by genetic influences. The implications of these results for the conceptualization, identification, and treatment of these two disorders are discussed.     

Supporting new science teachers in pursuing socially just science education

This forum explores contradictions that arose within the partnership between Teach for America (TFA) and a university teacher education program. TFA is an alternate route teacher preparation program that places individuals into K-12 classrooms in low-income school districts after participating in an intense summer training program and provides them with ongoing support. This forum is a conversation about the challenges we faced as new science teachers in the TFA program and in the Peace Corps program. We both entered the teaching field with science degrees and very little formal education in science education. In these programs we worked in a community very different from the one we had experienced as students. These experiences allow us to address many of the issues that were discussed in the original paper, namely teaching in an unfamiliar community amid challenges that many teachers face in the first few years of teaching. We consider how these challenges may be amplified for teachers who come to teaching through an alternate route and may not have as much pedagogical training as a more traditional teacher education program provides. The forum expands on the ideas presented in the original paper to consider the importance of perspectives on socially just science education. There is often a disconnect between what is taught in teacher education programs and what teachers actually experience in urban classrooms and this can be amplified when the training received through alternate route provides a different framework as well. This forum urges universities and alternate route programs to continue to find ways to authentically partner using practical strategies that bring together the philosophies and goals of all stakeholders in order to better prepare teachers to partner with their students to achieve their science learning goals.     

Father's unemployment andcareer related variables of his adolescentchild

Unemployment is considered to be a personal andfamily crisis that damages the routine offamily life. This study explores the relationsbetween father's unemployment and three careerrelated variables of his adolescent children:work values, career maturity, and expectationsfor success in work. Based on the assumptionthat the father's employment status and theatmosphere in the home are primary factorsinfluencing adolescents' career development,specific career related differences wereexpected between adolescents with employedversus unemployed fathers. Participantscomprised 91 eleventh and twelfth gradestudents (42 males and 49 females) from twocities in Israel, of whom 45 had an unemployedfather. Two-way analysis of variancedemonstrated that adolescents with employedfathers demonstrated significantly higherexpectations for success than those withunemployed fathers, with a larger differencefound for females. Similar differences betweengroups were also found in four of the workvalue subscales and in the extrinsic valuedimension; however, differences in the careermaturity were not significant. Implications forother research and for career counselors arediscussed.     

Connected and culturally embedded beliefs: Chinese and US teachers talk about how their students best learn mathematics

This study compares US and Chinese elementary mathematics teachers' beliefs about how students learn mathematics. Interviews with teachers in each country revealed that Chinese and US teachers have distinct ways of thinking about how mathematics should be taught and how students learn. Many Chinese teachers talked about developing students’ interest in mathematics and relating the content of mathematics lessons to real-life situations. The US teachers talked about students' learning styles and using hands-on approaches to learning mathematics. Furthermore, these beliefs may be widespread and persistent within each country because the set of ideas among teachers appear to be internally consistent. Implications for teacher change and the study of teachers' beliefs are discussed.     

The writing on the wall: Classroom context,curriculum implementation,and student learning in integrated,community‐based science projects

In this study we examined curriculum integration in new ways by exploring the link between classroom context, the implementation of community‐based, integrated science projects, and the subsequent student learning. The literature is inconsistent regarding the benefits of an integrated approach to curriculum. The research design was a multiple case study conducted in two classrooms in different schools. We employed a “worldly interpretive framework” that recognizes and embraces the importance of context in framing curriculum practices and outcomes. We found that similar projects in the two classrooms produced distinctly different (and equally valid) outcomes—focused either on bounded discipline‐specific knowledge or, alternatively, on issues and problems that transcended disciplinary boundaries. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 45: 857–880, 2008     

RETHINKING THE BOUNDARIES AND BURDENS OF PARENTAL AUTHORITY OVER EDUCATION: A RESPONSE TO ROB REICH'S CASE STUDY OF HOMESCHOOLING

A bstract .  Rob Reich's claim that fruitful discussions about the balance among state, parental, and children's educational interests would benefit by contemplating the widespread phenomenon of homeschooling is a welcome suggestion. His policy recommendations, however, place an unjustified burden on parents to show the adequacy of homeschooling arrangements instead of placing the burden on the state to clarify commonly agreed-upon outcome measures. In this essay, Perry Glanzer argues that Reich places the burden on parents by overstating the threat that the freedom given to homeschooling parents represents to the interests of liberal democratic states and children. Reich, Glanzer contends, also underestimates the state's tendency to use regulation to weaken the civil society essential for liberal democracy. To counter Reich's proposal, Glanzer offers recommendations regarding the proper limits of parental authority in education in general and in the case of homeschooling in particular.     

The prevalence of ‘life planning’: evidence from UK graduates

At a time when ‘personal development planning’ is being rolled out across the UK higher education sector, this paper explores young adults’ inclinations to plan for the future in relation to work, relationships and other aspects of life. Although Giddens has emphasised the prevalence of strategic life planning (or the ‘colonisation of the future’) in all strata of contemporary society, du Bois Reymond has argued that there are important differences by social class, with young people from more privileged backgrounds more likely than their peers to engage in such life‐planning activities. This paper draws on interviews with 90 young adults (in their mid‐20s) to question some of these assumptions about relationships between social location and propensity to plan for the future. It shows how, within this sample at least, there was a strong association between having had a privileged ‘learning career’ (such as attending a high‐status university and identifying as an ‘academic high flier’) and a disinclination to form detailed plans for the future. In part, this appeared to be related to a strong sense of ontological security and the confidence to resist what Giddens terms ‘an increasingly dominant temporal outlook’.     

Primary school literacy in Southern Africa: African perspectives

This research review examines trends in recent scholarship concerning primary school literacy instruction in Southern Africa. Past scholarship, particularly that which originated from western researchers, focused on technical or structural issues facing literacy instruction in the region, such as language of instruction, school conditions, availability of books, and teacher training. Newer scholarship that has emerged primarily from African researchers focuses more on sociocultural and sociopolitical issues such as promoting a ‘reading culture’, shaping language policy, and examining literacy as a local social practice. Increasingly, researchers advocate local, rather than western/northern, solutions to African problems in literacy development and instruction. However, African perspectives are nevertheless influenced by western perspectives and agendas, as a result of colonialism, postcolonialism, and globalisation. Hybrid solutions that combine western and African perspectives therefore may be important for literacy development in the region.