Teacher education,motivation, compensation,workplace support,and links to quality of center-based child care and teachers’ intention to stay in the early childhood profession

The purposes of this study were to present a conceptual model for selection into the early childhood profession and to test the model using contemporaneous assessments. A stratified random sample of center-based child care providers in 4 Midwestern states (n = 964) participated in a telephone interview, and 223 were also assessed with the Early Childhood Environment Rating Scale—Revised or the Infant–Toddler Environment Rating Scale to rate global observed quality, and the Caregiver Interaction Scale to rate interactional quality. When the model was tested with infant–toddler and preschool teachers combined, having a Child Development Associate (CDA) predicted global observed quality, education years and child development coursework predicted compensation, and compensation predicted observed quality. When the model was tested separately for infant–toddler teachers, years of education and child development coursework predicted compensation, but none of the education variables predicted observed quality and compensation did not predict observed quality. For preschool teachers, years of education predicted compensation and having a CDA predicted observed quality, but compensation did not predict observed quality. For all of the models, only motivations for child care work predicted intention to stay in the profession. No variables in the structural equation models predicted interactional quality.     

Advances in early years screening for dyslexia in the United Kingdom

In this article, we describe two United Kingdom (UK) screening tests for dyslexia: the Dyslexia Early Screening Test (DEST) and the Cognitive Profiling System (CoPS 1), both normed and designed to be administered by teachers to children four years and older. We first outline the political context in the UK, which for the first time, makes the use of such tests viable. We then outline the research programs behind and the components of each test; reliability and validity are also discussed. Information is presented on the tests in use. We conclude that tests such as these have the potential to identify children as at risk before they fail, halting the cycle of emotional and motivational problems traditionally associated with dyslexia. Both tests are appropriate for use in the United States, and initial reactions from the education sector have been favorable.     

Inter and intra-document contexts applied in polyrepresentation for best match IR

The principle of polyrepresentation offers a theoretical framework for handling multiple contexts in information retrieval (IR). This paper presents an empirical laboratory study of polyrepresentation in restricted mode of the information space with focus on inter and intra-document features. The Cystic Fibrosis test collection indexed in the best match system InQuery constitutes the experimental setting. Overlaps between five functionally and/or cognitively different document representations are identified. Supporting the principle of polyrepresentation, results show that in general overlaps generated by three or four representations of different nature have higher precision than those generated from two representations or the single fields. This result pertains to both structured and unstructured query mode in best match retrieval, however, with the latter query mode demonstrating higher performance. The retrieval overlaps containing search keys from the bibliographic references provide the best retrieval performance and minor MeSH terms the worst. It is concluded that a highly structured query language is necessary when implementing the principle of polyrepresentation in a best match IR system because the principle is inherently Boolean. Finally a re-ranking test shows promising results when search results are re-ranked according to precision obtained in the overlaps whilst re-ranking by citations seems less useful when integrated into polyrepresentative applications.     

Theorising student engagement in higher education

Student engagement has become problematic following the rise of mass and universal forms of higher education. Significant attention has been devoted to identifying factors that are associated with higher levels of engagement, but it remains the case that the underlying reasons for student engagement and, indeed, the notion itself of ‘student engagement’ remain weakly theorised. In this article, we seek to develop the theoretical basis for student engagement in a way that highlights the student's own contribution. We explore how learning involves students taking responsibility for action in the face of uncertainty, whether in pursuit of personal or communal concerns. Drawing on perspectives primarily from realist social theory, we suggest that student engagement may be shaped by extended, restricted and fractured modes of reflexivity and co‐reflexivity. In this way student engagement in higher education is theorised as a form of distributed agency, with the impact of a learning environment on this agency mediated by reflexivity. Reflexivity itself is further influenced by the tasks and social relations encountered by students in a given learning environment. The role that social relations play in students' responses to learning specifically offers a means to strengthen the moral basis for education. Our account provides an explanation as to why specific educational practices, such as those termed ‘high impact’, might lead to higher levels of student engagement within the wider context of a knowledge society. We thus offer insights towards new forms of educational practice and relations that have the potential to engage students more fully.     

Teaching as a system: COVID-19 as a lens into teacher change

Educational Studies in Mathematics - In the spring of 2020, schools and universities around the world were closed because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The relative lockdown affected more than...     

II. DEVELOPMENT OF ADOPTED CHILDREN WITH HISTORIES OF EARLY ADVERSITY

This chapter first presents a review of research on the development of adopted children, focusing on meta‐analytic evidence and highlighting comparisons between adopted children with and without histories of early adversity. Some methodological issues arising from this literature are considered as well. Second, 7 longitudinal studies of adopted children's development are described, and the convergence of findings across the longitudinal studies and with the cross‐sectionally based meta‐analytic evidence is discussed. Third, the role of the adoptive family in supporting adopted children's development is explored.     

In pursuit of the effective neighborhood information system: User-friendliness and training

The goal of this research is to address the effectiveness of Neighborhood Information Systems (NIS) as an Information Technology (IT) tool in assisting community development. NISs are hybrid applications of Geographical Information Systems (GIS) and web technologies that provide demographic, social, and economic information to community stakeholders. Government agencies, nonprofit organizations, and community organizations engage in decision-making process for community development, and NISs are designed to help information-sharing and effective and participatory decision-makings for community development stakeholders.     

Improving quality of the child care environment through a consultancy programme for centre directors

This study examined the effects of a newly developed on-site consultancy programme to improve global quality of the child care environment in non-parental child care centres for 0- to 4-year-old children as measured with the ITERS-R/ECERS-R. Using a randomised controlled trial with a pretest, posttest, and follow-up test, we compared 35 experimental group with 33 control group. The consultancy programme comprised three consultations in total. Analysis on the items that were specifically targeted during the consultancy showed a significant improvement on these targeted items between pretest and posttest and between posttest and follow-up. The effect of the consultancy programme on the total scores (including the non-targeted items) was not significant.