“I don’t think that word means what you think it means”: A proposed framework for defining learning communities

In this paper we address the obfuscation surrounding the concept of learning communities by operationalizing community according to four characteristics that serve as boundaries for defining a community: access, relationships, vision, and function. Although these community boundaries sometimes overlap, they represent distinctive features of possible community structures. In addition to defining and discussing learning community boundaries, we share insights for researching learning communities. We believe a clearer understanding of how to define learning communities can assist scholars and practitioners in cultivating and studying these communities.     

Increasing Situational Interest in the Classroom

This paper explores three ways to increase situational interest in the classroom. Situational interest is defined as temporary interest that arises spontaneously due to environmental factors such as task instructions or an engaging text. We review the history of interest research and summarize recent empirical work. We describe three ways to increase interest based on offering meaningful choices to students, selecting well-organized texts that promote interest, and providing the background knowledge needed to fully understand a topic. We conclude with six specific suggestions for increasing situational interest in the classroom.     

The influence of feedback of diagnosis and executive function skills on rates of false positive and false negative outcomes for ADHD

This study examined executive function (EF) skills and self-reported symptoms of ADHD. EF skills were measured to determine whether skills were different between groups that reported clinical levels of ADHD symptoms (clinical group) and nonclinical levels of ADHD symptoms (nonclinical group). EF skills in the nonclinical group were also investigated to determine whether differences existed for those who received false positive and negative feedback about an ADHD diagnosis. Results indicated statistically and clinically significant differences in EF skills between the clinical and nonclinical group. Participants in the nonclinical group who reported elevated scores on the ADHD screener after receiving false positive feedback had statistically significantly different EF function scores, but not clinically significant scores, compared to the participants in nonclinical group who received negative feedback.     

A twin-study of sleep difficulties in school-aged children

This study examines frequency, overlap, and genetic and environmental influences on sleep difficulties, which are understudied in school-aged children. The Sleep Self Report and the Children's Sleep Habits Questionnaire were completed by 300 twin pairs (aged 8 years) and their parents. Child report suggested more frequent sleep problems than parent report (e.g., regular sleep onset delay was reported by 45% of children and 17% of parents). Associations between most of the sleep difficulties were small but significant (e.g., r(s)=.16 for parent report of bedtime resistance and sleep onset delay). Twin correlations based on parent reports suggest greater genetic influence (M=50%) than those based on child self-report (M=18%). Possible rater effects should be considered when evaluating children's sleep problems.     

More Powerful Tests of Simple Interaction Contrasts in the Two-Way Factorial Design

For the two-way factorial design in analysis of variance, the current article explicates and compares three methods for controlling the Type I error rate for all possible simple interaction contrasts following a statistically significant interaction, including a proposed modification to the Bonferroni procedure that increases the power of statistical tests for deconstructing interaction effects when they are of primary substantive interest. Results indicate the general superiority of the modified Bonferroni procedure over Scheffé and Roy-type procedures, where the Bonferroni and Scheffé procedures have been modified to accommodate the logical implications of a false omnibus interaction null hypothesis. An applied example is provided and considerations for applied researchers are offered.     

Evidence of efficacy of the Integrated Literacy Study Group professional learning program to enhance reading instruction for students with emotional and behavioral disorders

This article reports on a pilot study of the Integrated Literacy Study Group, a digitally delivered professional learning intervention to prepare elementary school teachers to provide evidence-based reading instruction and behavioral strategies to students with or are at risk for emotional and behavioral disorders. Using broadcast methods, we recruited 72 teachers across five states in the western United States to participate in the randomized controlled trial. Intervention teachers, relative to controls, made significant gains in self-efficacy and use of the reading and behavioral strategies learned in the professional learning program. Students with or at risk of emotional and behavioral disorders served by participating teachers made significant improvements in academic competence and engagement. Teacher professional learning can improve teacher knowledge of evidence-based reading and behavioral strategies for students with (or at risk for) emotional and behavioral disorders, teacher self-efficacy, and teacher practice, with positive impacts on student early literacy and academic competence.     

Indigenous students' persistence in higher education in Australia: contextualising models of change from psychology to understand and aid students' practices at a cultural interface

The need to address the substantial inequities that exist between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians in higher education is widely recognised. Those factors that affect the performance of Indigenous students in tertiary education have been reasonably well documented across different institutions, disciplines, and programme levels but there has, to date, been less consideration of the processes by which Indigenous students either persist or desist in higher education. This paper aims to present a conceptual understanding of academic persistence that can inform the delivery of tailored academic support interventions to Indigenous students who are at high risk of leaving higher education.     

Mothers' Social Coaching, Mother-Child Relationship Style, and Children's Peer Competence: Is the Medium the Message?

Contributions of mothers' social coaching and responsive style to preschoolers' peer competence were evaluated in 2 studies. In Study 1, 43 mother-child dyads participated in 3 laboratory tasks; videotapes were coded for responsive interaction style in play, advice regarding videotaped peer dilemmas (coaching), and nonsocial teaching in a puzzle task. Coaching and style were largely independent and were correlated with measures of social competence. In Study 2 ( n = 62), coaching and style uniquely predicted teacher ratings, but only style predicted peer acceptance. To investigate whether coaching mediated the effects of style and/or whether style moderated the effects of coaching, the samples were combined. No evidence was found for mediation, but coaching was a more powerful predictor of lower levels of boys' aggression when the mother-child relationship was less responsive. Discussion focuses on models of socialization that stress the interplay of general style and specific socialization practices in promoting social competence.